Strain transfer and partitioning between the Panamint Valley, Searles Valley, and Ash Hill fault zones, California

Abstract

We report new geologic and geomorphic observations that bear on the interpretation of connectivity and strain transfer among the Panamint Valley, Searles Valley, and Ash Hill fault zones, southern Walker Lane belt of California. Although these faults partition strain regionally onto dominantly normal and strike-slip structures, strain transfer occurs in a complex way not typical of linked strike-slip and extensional faults. The Searles Valley fault (W-directed normal fault) transfers slip onto the Panamint Valley zone, which changes from dom-inantly NNW-trending dextral strike-slip to more normal motion where they join. The Ash Hill fault (mostly right-lateral strike slip) transfers strain into the northern continuation of the Searles Valley zone, via a complex array of hanging-wall normal and strike-slip faults. These complex interactions, based on the age of structurally offset markers, appear to be stable over ϳ10 5 years.

Middle Miocene to recent exhumation of the Slate Range, eastern California, and implications for the timing of extension and the transition to transtension

“…2) parallels Layton Canyon. This work complements studies of late Cenozoic deformation in the southern and northern Slate Range (Walker et al, 2005;Numelin et al, 2007;Andrew and Walker, 2009). …”

“…2; Moore, 1976;Smith et al, 1968;Walker et al, 2005;Numelin et al, 2007). Pre-Cenozoic rocks along the northern transect consist of 100 Ma Stockwell diorite, 159 Ma Copper Queen alaskite, and 166 Ma Isham Canyon granite (Moore, 1976;Dunne and Walker, 2004) containing pendants of Paleozoic and Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks.…”

“…2). The Searles Valley and Manly Pass fault zones constitute a younger, segmented fault system (Walker et al, 2005;Numelin et al, 2007) that we refer to as the Searles Valley fault zone (SVFZ). The Slate Range detachment is the older structure, because it is variously exposed in the footwall and hanging wall of the Searles Valley fault and the hanging wall of the Manly Pass fault (Fig.…”

Temporal variations in extension rate on the Lone Mountain fault and strain distribution in the eastern California shear zone–Walker Lane

“…For most plate boundaries, comparisons of shortterm (decadal) geodetic and long-term (e.g., 10 3 -10 6 yr) geologic plate motion data indicate that rates of strain storage and release are relatively constant over a wide variety of time scales (e.g., Sella et al, 2002). However, a growing number of studies along the Pacifi c-North America plate boundary suggest that distinct sections of the plate boundary record different spatial and temporal deformation rate patterns (e.g., Argus and Gordon, 2001;Peltzer et al, 2001;Lee et al, 2001aLee et al, , 2001bLee et al, , 2009aLee et al, , 2009bOskin and Iriondo, 2004;Kylander-Clark et al, 2005;Walker et al, 2005;Kirby et al, 2006Kirby et al, , 2008Le et al, 2007;Frankel et al, 2007aFrankel et al, , 2007bFrankel et al, , 2008aOskin et al, 2007Oskin et al, , 2008Andrew and Walker, 2009;Ganev et al, 2010). Differential plate motion across the Pacifi c-North America plate boundary is primarily accommodated along the dextral San Andreas fault system, and much of the remaining motion is thought to be taken up by structures in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) and Walker Lane belt in the western United States (e.g., Burchfi el, 1979;Dokka, 1983;Stewart, 1988;Dokka and Travis , 1990;Reheis and Dixon, 1996;Reheis and Sawyer, 1997;Hearn and Humphreys, 1998;Dixon et al, 2000Dixon et al, , 2003Oldow et al, 2001;Bennett et al, 2003;Wesnousky, 2005aWesnousky, , 2005bKirby et al, 2006;…”

Acceleration and evolution of faults: An example from the Hunter Mountain–Panamint Valley fault zone, Eastern California

“…In general, we expect that geologic rates averaged over Holocene time should be similar to present day geodetic rates, unless there is complex temporal behavior, or earthquake cycle effects bias the geodetic measurement (Dixon et al, 2003;Johnson et al, 2007), or if the fault is spatially complex and some deformation is missed in the geologic study (Lee et al, 2001). South of the Hunter Mountain fault, deformation may be partitioned between the Panamint Valley fault, a shallow, west dipping oblique slip fault that crops out on the east side of the valley, and more steeply dipping or vertical right lateral strike slip faults to the west, within the valley, such as the Ash Hill fault (Densmore and Anderson, 1997;Walker et al, 2005). Geologic studies on individual faults in Panamint Valley may therefore yield rates that are low compared to the entire deforming zone that includes the paired normal fault -strike slip fault system, or to the Hunter Mountain fault to the north, where deformation is more focused (Figure 3a).…”