Geologic Map of the Central Grapevine Mountains, Inyo County, California, and Esmeralda and Nye Counties, Nevada

Abstract

The range rises from 300 m on the fl oor of Death Valley to 2550 m at the top of Grapevine Peak. This study covers the central portion of the range, extending from Titus Canyon in the south to Scotty's Castle and Grapevine Canyon in the north (Fig. 1). Geologic studies that cover adjacent or proximal areas are shown on Figure 2. Mapping was conducted at scales of 1:12,000 and 1:24,000 both on topographic base maps and on conventional and digital aerial photographs from 1996 to 2000. This mapping was 1 The Geological Society of America Digital Map and Chart Series 12

A new hypothesis for the amount and distribution of dextral displacement along the Fish Lake Valley–northern Death Valley–Furnace Creek fault zone, California‐Nevada

“…In the footwall of each fault, granitic rocks intrude the same Lower Ordovician siliciclastic unit [Buckley, 1971]. Some workers have correlated the Slate Canyon and Dry Creek faults with the Krauskopf [1971], Crowder et al [1972], Robinson and Crowder [1973], Stewart et al [1974], Wernicke [1989, 2000], Snow [1992a], Reheis and Sawyer [1997], Wright and Troxel [1999], Niemi [2002], Miller and Pavlis [2005], and Oldow et al [2008].…”

“…[11] The Grapevine thrust in the Grapevine Mountains (G in Figure 3; see also Figure 1) is widely considered to correlate with the Last Chance thrust system in the Last Chance Range and Cottonwood Mountains (LC in Figure 3; see also Figure 1) [e.g., Stewart et al, 1966;Wernicke et al, 1988a;Wernicke, 1989, 2000;Snow, 1990Snow, , 1992aNiemi, 2002]. Both structures verge eastward and have stratigraphic throws estimated at~5-6 km [Reynolds, 1969;Snow, 1990Snow, , 1992aSnow and Wernicke, 2000;Niemi, 2002].…”

“…Snow and Wernicke [2000] inferred that a ramp in the system had been displaced ≥ 63 km between the Cottonwood and Grapevine Mountains. Niemi [2002Niemi [ , 2012 showed that the Grapevine ramp actually reflects the cutoff of an antecedent anticline, and does not match the ramp in the Cottonwood Mountains.…”

“…[15] East of Death Valley, the box fold includes several structures dispersed by subsequent faulting. The west vergent structure manifests in the northern Grapevine Mountains as the imbricate Bonnie Claire thrust system (BC in Figure 3) [Niemi, 2002] and in the central and southern Grapevines as an upright to recumbent fold pair: the Titus Canyon anticline and associated synclines (TC in Figure 3) [Reynolds, 1969;Snow and Wernicke, 1989;Niemi, 2002]. This correlation assumes that the Grapevine Mountains structures have rotated counterclockwise [Snow and Prave, 1994;Snow and Wernicke, 2000].…”

“…There has been disagreement over the correlation of piercing points as well as the original configuration of correlated markers, e.g., local sinuosity in the regional trends of isopachs and facies boundaries [e.g., Wright, 1986a, 1986b;Stewart, 1986]. Comprehensive syntheses have been published [e.g., Wernicke, 1989, 2000;Serpa and Pavlis, 1996], but several recent observations along the Death Valley portion of the fault zone cast doubt on elements of those reconstructions [e.g., Miller and Friedman, 1999;Turner and Miller, 1999;Czajkowski and Miller, 2001;Czajkowski, 2002;Niemi, 2002;Miller, 2003;Çemen and Baucke, 2005;Golding Luckow et al, 2005;Miller and Pavlis, 2005;Renik et al, 2008]. Few interpretations have integrated piercing points from the entire length of the fault zone, from northern Fish Lake Valley, through Death Valley and Furnace Creek Wash, to the central Amargosa Valley in the vicinity of Eagle Mountain (FLV, DV, FCW, AV, EM in Figure 1).…”