Structure of the central Death Valley pull-apart basin and vicinity from COCORP profiles in the southern Great Basin

Serpa, Laura; Voogd, B. de; Wright, Lauren; Willemin, James H.; Oliver, Jack; Hauser, Ernest C.; Troxel, Bennie W.

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1988)100<1437:sotcdv>2.3.co;2

Cited by 58 publications

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“…Several authors (deVoogd et al 1986;Serpa et al 1988) suggest a midcrustal bright spot below southern Death Valley is associated with the Split Cone, a Quaternary basalt center formed along and offset by the southern Death Valley fault. They suggest lowangle faults provided migration pathways for the basalt magma.…”

Section: A Detachment Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of volcanism studies for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Crowe¹,

Perry²,

Murrell³

et al. 1995

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; ifs unique idenfzfier assigned to fhis appendix is LA-EES-13-LV-12-95-002. To obtain rgerences bgore fhe appendix is issued, confacf Kean Finnegan at (7021-794-7273 ABSTRACTChapter 1 introduces the volcanism issue for the Yucca Mountain site and provides the reader with an overview of the organization, content, and significant conclusions of this report. The risk of future basaltic volcanism is the primary topic of concern including both events that intersect a potential repository and events that occur near or within the waste isolation system of a repository. Future volcanic events cannot be predicted with certainty but instead are estimated using formal methods of probabilistic volcanic hazard assessment. Chapter 2 describes the volcanic history of the Yucca Mountain region (YMR) and emphasizes the Pliocene and Quaternary volcanic record, the interval of primary concern for volcanic risk assessment. The distribution, eruptive history, and geochronology of Plio-Quaternary basalt centers are described by individual center emphasizing the two cycles of the Postcaldera basalt, the Older postcaldera basalt and the Younger postcaldera basalt. The Lathrop Wells volcanic center is described in detail because it is the youngest basalt center in the YMR, it has been problematic to establish the geochronology of the center; and it probably formed during multiple, timeseparate eruptive events, an unexpected difference from typical monogenetic basaltic volcanic centers. Chapter 3 describes the tectonic setting of the YMR and presents and assesses the significance of multiple alternative tectonic models. The Crater Flat volcanic zone is defined and described as one of many alternative models of the structural controls of the distribution of Plio-Quaternary basalt centers in the YMR. Geophysical data are described for the YMR and are used as an aid to understand the distribution of basaltic volcanic centers. Chapter 4 discusses the petrologic and geochemical features of basaltic volcanism in the YMR, the southern Great Basin and the Basin and Range province. Geochemical and isotopic data are described that indicate basalt of the southern Great Basin was derived from ancient lithospheric mantle. The long time of activity and characteristic small volume of the Postcaldera basalt of the YMR result in one of the lowest eruptive rates in a volcanic field in the southwest United States. Quaternary lavas of the YMR lack plagioclase phenocrysts and fractionated at high pressure in the lower crust or upper mantle before ascent and eruption. The compositional variation of the Lathrop Wells center provides strong evidence of formation from separate and unrelated magma batches. Chapter 5 summarizes current concepts of the segregation, ascent, and eruption of basalt magma. Magma ascending as dikes probably followed northwest-trending structure at depth and diverted at shallow depths following the direction of maximum compressive stress. Chapter 6 summarizes the history of volcanism studies (1979 through early 1994), including work f...

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Section: A Detachment Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of volcanism studies for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Crowe¹,

Perry²,

Murrell³

et al. 1995

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“…The central Death Valley basin is a half-graben faulted along the Black Mountains to the east of the basin [2,15,16]. This structural geometry is supported by the eastward tilt of the Badwater saltpan, and by the asymmetry of alluvial-fan size and shape from one side of the valley to the other [17] and by geophysical data [2,[17][18][19]. The geophysical data indicate that the valley fill consists of approximately 3 km of alluvium, lacus-trine, volcanic, and evaporite deposits.…”

Section: Tectonic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crystalline assemblages are separated from the floor of Death Valley by a system of late Cenozoic faults that include young scarps in alluvial fans [14,15]. The central Death Valley basin is a half-graben faulted along the Black Mountains to the east of the basin [2,15,16]. This structural geometry is supported by the eastward tilt of the Badwater saltpan, and by the asymmetry of alluvial-fan size and shape from one side of the valley to the other [17] and by geophysical data [2,[17][18][19].…”

Section: Tectonic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It represents an ideal region to study basin evolution and structure because it is actively deforming, there is little vegetation, and the sedimentation rates are low. As a result of these attributes, numerous models have been developed to describe the basin evolution and to determine which processes may be important in that evolution [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Of particular interest here is the presence of a high amplitude seismic reflection anomaly, termed the Death Valley "bright spot" [8] (Figure 1) which has been suggested to be associated with a magmatic intrusion and volcanism in central Death Valley. Reference [9] did not find evidence for such a feature elsewhere in the region in his seismic studies and, similarly, a magnetotelluric study [10,11] north of the seismic study area did not find supporting evidence for magma in the crust.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To study the bright spot, we used receiver function, gravity, and magnetic data combined with preexisting seismic reflection models of [2,12] to produce crustal models of the Death Valley region around the inferred bright spot. The bright spot can be associated with a magma body in the Death Valley subsurface and magma may extend from the surface into the upper mantle where it may be associated magmatic underplating of a large region around the Central Death Valley basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imaging the Deep Structure of the Central DeathValley Basin Using Receiver Function, Gravity,and Magnetic Data

Hussein¹,

Serpa²,

Doser³

et al. 2011

IJG

Self Cite

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We use receiver function, gravity, and magnetic data to image the deep structures of central Death Valley. Receiver function analysis suggests the Moho is 24 km deep in the central part of the basin and deepens to 33 km to the east and 31 km to the west. The estimated lower crustal density is 2900 kg/m 3 , which suggests a gabbroic composition, whereas the upper crustal density, excluding basin sediments, is estimated to average 2690 kg/m 3 or approximately a quartzofeldspathic composition. We modeled the magnetic sources as upper crustal to suggest a relatively shallow Curie depth in this region of high heat flow. We developed models to test the hypothesis that a low-density, non-magnetic body (magma or fluid-rich material?) within the lower crust at a depth of 15 km could coincide with the location of the Death Valley bright spot imaged on a deep seismic reflection profile. Those models suggest that if there is a low density region in the mid to lower crust in the area of the bright spot, then the region is also likely to be underplated by mafic or ultramafic materials which may have contributed to heating, uplift, and thinning of the crust during extension.

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Seismic Studies of the Earth's Crust

Braile

1991

Reviews of Geophysics

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Structure of the central Death Valley pull-apart basin and vicinity from COCORP profiles in the southern Great Basin

Cited by 58 publications

References 0 publications

Status of volcanism studies for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Status of volcanism studies for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Imaging the Deep Structure of the Central DeathValley Basin Using Receiver Function, Gravity,and Magnetic Data

Seismic Studies of the Earth's Crust

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