California Geology Magazine December 1991

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~ ~ A L I F O R N I AGEOLOGY

51.25

December 1991

CALIFORNIA

GEOLOGY

Goes Bimonthly

YOSEMITE

CALlFOR'IA

DEPART\lE'' 'OF

co,<>ER'"ATIO'

Oi .. \"\on of \1m'-...and C * " O I ~ ~

California's GeologyOur Resources Our Hazards

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It PUBLICATION OFTHEDEPARTMENTOF CONSERVAOON

DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY

CALIFORNIA

GEOLOGY

51.- 01 Calbful PETE WILSON.......

nw DOUGLAS P WHEELER_..-~ : : I l ~ eOWARDG HEIDIG

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o.-an Ill.,...... GeolooJ JAMes F DAVIS

""..CALIFORNIAGEOlOGY

A$sISlilllt TechnocaJ Ed lorA5sislam EOIOl'

GfaphlCS a-w;l Desogn'

E ~ S 8 Man,$Ol1

lena Tebollo

Peggy Walk.,

In This Issue ISNOW LAKE PENDANT ,.. 267MUIR, WHITNEY. AND THE ORIGIN OF YOSEMITE VALLEy 275SUBSCRIPTION FORM

_283BOOK REVIEWS 284

ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERING GEOLOGISTS (AEG)

BOOK SALE 285DMG OPEN-FILE REPORT RELEASE 286ANNOUNCEMENTS . 287

GROUNDWATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION (GRA)

OF CALIFORNIA FOUNDED _..... ...287PHYSIOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF THE SEA FLOOR AVAILABLE 287

BIQ-LEACHING MINERALS SYMPOSIUM 287UPDATE ON THE SURFACE MINING AND

RECLAMATION ACT OF 1975 _ 288

TEACHER FEATURE 291

INDEX TO VOLUME 44 - 1991 293

CALIFORNIA GEOlOGY GOES BIMONTHLY 295

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December'VoIume 44 Number 12

caeoA 44 (12) 265·296 (1991)

Cover photo: Hall Dome. YosemIte National

Palk. CalifornIa Photo by Gary Vielbaum.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY

GOES BIMONTHLY

For more Information. see page 295.

CORRECTION:

November 1991 issue - N. King Huber isprinted incorrectly as King N. Huber on

page 249.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

November 1991 issue - Figure 2a on page

244 is an illustration by Tau Rho Alpha.

'" CALIFORNIA GEOlOGY DECEMBER '991



SNOW LAKE PENDANTYosemite-Emigrant WildernessEvidence for a Major Strike-slip Fault Within the Sierra Nevada, California

MARY M. LAHREN

University of Nevada. Reno

Photo 1. Looking northeast toward Quartzite Peak and the north shore ot Bigelow Lake. White Stirling Quartzite appears in the foreground.

Zabriskie Quartzite occurs on the summit of Quartzite Peak. Phoros by author.

INTRODUCTION

The Snow Lake pendant· lies in the

northern part of Yosemite National Park

Wilderness and the southern part of the

Emigrant Wilderness south of Sonora

Pass and Highway 108 in the cenlral

Sierra Nevada (Figure 1. Photos 1 and 2).

The pendant is accessible via the Pacific

Crest Trail from late June through Sep

tember. Numerous tungsten prospects

" rern>s '" boIdllc. " ' . on l!1e glossary " " page 274

are in the Snow Lake pendant and in

the Sachse Monument pendant which

is about 1/2 mile ( l km) southwest of

Snow lake pendant. Several of the tung·

sten mining claims are active. with access

permitted to the claim holders on a

restricted-use road that branches off

Highway 108 several miles east of

Sonora Pass.

New detailed work on metasedimen·

tary rocks in the Snow lake pendant

CALIFORNIAGEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991

(Rgure 1. Photos 1 and 2) has identified

previously unrecognized uppermost Prot·

erozoic and Lower Cambrian miogeo-

clinal rocks in the axial part of the Sierra

Nevada batholith (lahren and Schweickert.

198&. 1988b; lahren. 1989; lahren

and Schweickert. 1989: lahren and oth

ers. 1990: Schweickert and lahren.

1990. 1991). These rocks. formed from

sediments deposited in a shallow marine

environment. seem out of place whencompared to other (deep marine) rocks

267



o to 25miI I'. ' , ' i Io 10 20 30 40 kin

,0Q'~ / - S ~ l : ' e) ~ e n d a n t

Sonln migrant yosemite..... ' \

Wilderness I l \ - < ~ I ~ : : : ''0 I(

neYllb&o/

~ = . r Pari< J-\

Figure 1. LocatIOn map of Snow Lake pendant.

5

GEOLOGY OF SNOW LAKE PENDANT

Research at SnO\W Lake pendant included geologic

mapping combined with detailed structural and stratigraphic analyses (F"IQure 3) (Lahren. 1989). The rocks

in the pendanl are highly deformed and regionally

melamorphosed 10 Ioo.rer amphibolite or upper

greenschist fades arK! have been contact metamorphosed to hornblende hornfels fades by the surround

ing Crelaceous plutons. Hoo.vever. primary cross

bedding and bioturbatoo features (horizontal andvertical \.VOfITl burrOlAlS) are \.\len preserved in the OIigi·

naUy sandy W"iits. The most abundant rock type is

q.Janzite. but there is also abundant mlcaceous felds-pathic q.Jartzite. (f.JaI1Z-mica schis!:. marble. c a l c - s i ~ cate schist. and calcareous quartzite. 1hese rocksoriginally formed as sediments deposited in a shaIk:7.v-waler marine sening along the continental margin,

The protoliths of these metarnorphlc rocks werequartz sandstone. feldspathic sandstone. siltstone.mudstone. lime:slone. arK! marl.

in the region. This raises .he question ofhow they arrived at their present ge0-

graphic position. Because rocks of thislithology and age are underlain by Precambrian continental crust in areas nearDeath Valley, California. Precambrianbasement may be present within the

Sierra. as previously suggested by strontium isotopic data (Kistler and Petennan.

1973). The lithologic and stratigraphic

affinities of these rocks suggest that alarge block of continental crust (the Snow

Lake block) has undergone large lateral

displacement along an ancient strike-slip

fault. This hypothetical fault is referred toas the Mojave-Snow Lake fault (Figure 2)

(Lahren and Schweickert. 1988a, 1988b;Lahren. 1989: Lahren and Schweickert.1989: Lahren and others. 1990:Schweickert and Lahren. 1990. 1991).

The rTlOSI logical source for the SnowLake rocks is the western Mojave Desert.where Precambrian crystaUine basemenland uppermost Proterozoic to l..D.ver

Cambrian stratigraphic units of the DeathValley fades are present. This suggestS

that the SOOYJ Lake block was translaledabout 250 miles (400 km) northward

from the vicinity of Victorville and theShadow Mountains. a displacement similar in magnitude to that aklng the modem

San Andreas faultPhoto 2. View to the southwest toward Snow Lake WIthin Emtgrant Wilderness. MetamorptllC rocks of Snow lake pendant make up the cliffs on the left.

CAUfQRNIA GEOlOGY DECEMBER 1991



20 mi

.,30 km

inferred crustalboundaries withinthe batholith:strike-slip, thrust.& unknown types

J--'"'<-

---- ; : ; -

---

SaddlebagLakependant

\\\\\\ \ \Glen \Aulin \pendant \

Snow Lakependant

,. ~ 9 Piute Mtnpendant' Emigrant

Basinpendant

' \ ,\ Tuolumne

\ Peak

;:1\ pendant ~ Shoo Fly \\ / '

Complex May Lake

\ pendant

\.... CALAVERAS- \ MOJAVE-SNOW

SHOOFLY I 1 LAKE FAULT:TIlRUST V

'iiI-\',o -0~ I ~ I ' ; , J' 'd"' \ II <.

"_I"<t \ Strawbcr':'"y " Ifo 0 MlOe Ml. MOrrisonC} \ - Quartz Mtn pendant pendant

Calaveras I l\ pendant \ 0Complex 1 10

\ \ Iron Mtn pendant l'S'

D Cenozoic covcr

c=J Mesozoic granitic rocks

f< 'r';'1 Triassic. Jurassic. & Cretaceous''''>' metamorphic rocks

Paleozoic-Jurassic rocks of the Don Pedroterrane

Paleozoic-Triassic rocks of the CalaverasComplex

lower Paleozoic rocks of the Shoo Fly Complex

lower Paleozoic eugcoclinal rocks-Antlerorogenic bell

Paleozoic miogeoclinal rocks of the Inyo fac ies

Protcrozoic, Cambrian, & Triassicmetasedimclltary rocks of the Snow Lake block

,--....,sV\(SN)

boundary of theSierra N"cvadabatholith (SN)

Figure 2. Sketch map of pendants III the vicinity of Yosemite NaHonal Park between 37'"30' and 38Q1S' N latitudes. From

Schweickert and Lahren. 1991.


'"



METAMORPHIC ROCKS

Tertiary oblique-slip faults

IGNEOUS ROCKS

/ '" \.. contacts

thrust faults (teeth on upper

plate)

gabbroic complex & granite

of Bigelow Lake (148 Ma)

<g, l ~ · ~ ; · ; .J Stirling Quartzite

Fairview Valley Formation

rocks of Sachse Monument

pendant (age unknown)

c Carrara Formationm

]5 • Zabriskie QuartziteE

8 Wood Canyon Formation

granite of

Bond PlISS

alaslcilC ofGrace Mcadows

Gril.zIy faulL

..

granodiorite ofFremont Lake

N

1J

granite ofUpper Twin Lake

Lower TwinU k ,

...

o 2 mi

I---.----l,,---,J,'o 2 3 Ion

Figure 3. Geologic map of Snow Lake Pendant p€ Precambrian

The rocks of the Snow Lake pendantwere intruded by dikes of the Late Juras

sic Independence dike swarm (Lahren.

1989; Lahren and others. 1990). The

southern part of Snow Lake pendant isintruded by a metamorphosed Late Jurassic gabbroic complex and by the Late

Jurassic granite of Bigelow Lake. bothabout 150 million years old (Figure 3)(Lahren and others. 1990). Other parts ofthe pendant were intruded by Cretaceous

plutons (Robinson and Kistler. 1986;

Wahrhaftig. unpublished maps of TowerPeak quadrangle). These are. in order ofdecreasing age, the granodiorite of Lake

Harriet. the granite of Bond Pass, the

granite 01 Upper Twin Lake. the alaskiteof Grace Meadows, and the granodiorite

of Fremont Lake (Figure 3).

Rocks of Sachse Monument form asuite of eugeoclinal rocks that structurally overlies the miogeoclinal rocks ofSnow Lake along the Sachse thrust (Figures 3 and 4) (lahren and Schweickert.1991a).

Strallgraphy

The units at Snow Lake pendant havebeen correlated with formations in the

western Mo;ave Desert based on litho

logic similarity. approximate thicknesses.stratigraphic sequences. trace fossils.environments of deposition. provenance

of the quartz sandstones. and tectonicsetting. Brief descriptions of the units

follow.

Stirling Quartzite. The oldest rocksconsist of at least 2.300 feet (700 m) ofwhite to gray vitreous quartzite, feldspathic quartzite. and subordinate pebblyquartzite containing granules and pebblesof quartz. Minor brown quartz-mica

schist. greenish-brOVJll calc-silicate schist.and white to buff coarse-grained marbleare interlayered with the quartzite. Thequartzite is thickly laminated to very

thickly bedded. Preserved bedding iseither massive. parallel laminated. orcross-bedded. Cross-bedding is tabularwith both angular and tangentially basedforesets. The base of this unit is not

exposed.

Wood Canyon Formation. TheStirling Quartzite at Snow Lake is conformablyoverlain by dark-brOVJll quartzmica-felclspar-anclalusite-gamet schist andsubordinate interbedded rust--colored. fine

grained. micaceous. feldspathic quartzite.

gray. white. and buff marble and dolomi

tic marble. and greenish-brown calc-sili

cate schist. The marbles and calc-silleale

schists have a combined thickness of

about 200 feet (60 m) and occur near thetop of the formation. Numerous vertical

Skolithos worm burrows occur within

quartz-mica schists (siltstone protolith) and

micaceous feldspathic quartzites. Horizontal burrows are also common. Small·

scale tabular cross-bedding occurs withinthin- to medium-bedded quartzite units.

Zabriskie Quartzite. The WoodCanyon Fonnation is structurally overlainby up to 590 feet (180 m) of pinkish-gray

to white-gray. vitreous. massive andcross-stratified. thick- to very thick-bedded

quartzite. Tabular cross-bedding. bothtangentially and angular based. is common (Photo 3). This quartzite is approxi

mately 98% quartz with minor muscoviteand zircon. An average U/Pb age determination of 1.6 Ga (Lahren. 1989) ondetrital zircon from this quartzite indicatesa Precambrian continental source for theoriginal sediments. Possibie source rocks

in the San Bernardino Mountains are1.750 ± 15 Ma crystalline rocks (Silver.1971).

270 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991



Photo 3. Cross-bedding preserved in the Zabriskie Quartzite.

Carrara Formation. The ZabriskieQuartzite at Snow Lake is overlain conformably by about 800 feet (250 m) ofdark-brown quartz-mica-gamet schist.

thinly bedded micaceous feldspathicquartzite. white. gray. and buff marble.

and greenish-brown calc-silicate schist of

the Carrara Formation. The lowest part

of this formation is composed of quartzmica schist and micaceous feldspathic

quartzite: the middle part is composed ofabout 215 feet (65 m) of marble with

interlayered calc-silicate schist. The upper

pan consists of quartz-mica schist andquartzite with subordinate marble and calcsilicate schist. Skolithos trace fossils alsooccur in the upper part of the section.

Lower Triassic Fairuiew Valley For-

mation. A unit in Snow Lake pendant that

has been correlated with the FairviewValley Formation of the western Mojave

Desert unconformably overlies the folded

and metamorphosed miogeoclinal strata(Lahren. 1989: Lahren and Schweickert.

1989). This is the same relation found atBlack Mountain and Quartzite Mountainnear Victorville in the western Mojave. In

both areas the Fairview Valley Formation

consists of a basal conglomerate contain

ing clasts of marble and quartzite. overlainby calcareous siltstone and mudstone.siltstone. and silty limestone that is typically thinly laminated to thinly bedded andweathers to a distinctive rusty-orange.

In both areas small-scale cross lamination

is locally present and minor interbeds ofmarble occur throughout the sections

(Miller. 1978. 1981; Walker. 1988).

Summary ot Stra\lgraphic Correlations

The stratigraphic sequence at SnowLake pendant correlates with uppermost

Proterozoic to Middle Cambrian units

(Stirling Quartzite. Wocx.l Canyon Formation. Zabriskie Quartzite, and Carrara

Formation) in the San Bernardino Moun

tains and at Quartzite Mountain near

Victorville.

The depositional environment ofextensive. thick. clean quartz sandstonesof the Snow Lake rocks is incompatiblewith origin within a magmatic arc whereabundant volcanic rocks would be pres

ent. However. it is consistent with known

shallow·water shelf or open-ocean envi

ronments of miogeoclinal rocks in theDeath Valley. Mo}ave Desert. and SanBernardino Mountain regions (Stewart.1970; Stewart and Poole. 1975;Cameron. 1982). The overlap sequence

at Snow Lake correlates with the LowerTriassic Fairview Valley Formation in thewestern Mojave where it occurs in thesame stratigraphic position.

Rocks of Snow Lake pendant may alsocorrelate with rocks in other Sierran pendants at Piute Mountain. Glen Aulin. May

Lake. Tuolumne Peak. Dinkey Creek.and Boyden Cave (Rgure 2). Each pen

dant contains major amounts of quartziteand interlayered schist. marble. and calcsilicate schist resembling uppermost Proterozoic to Middle Cambrian miogeoclinalstrata. The metasedimentary rocks of

Dinkey Creek pendant (Kistler and

Bateman. 1966) and thewestern part ofBoy::len Cave pendant (Girty. 1985) arepresumably miogeoclinal strata of Paleo

zoic age.

Additional Features Comparable

with the Western Mojave

Three additional points that strengthen

the correlation of the rocks at Snow Lakewith rocks of the western Mojave Desertand San Bernardino Mountains are:

1) dikes of the Independence dike swarmare present in both areas; 2) both areas

have associated gabbroic complexes ofthe same age (148-150 Ma); and 3) both

areas have eugeoclinal rocks that wereemplaced by a fault that was intruded bygabbro 148 million years ago.

Independence dike swarm. Thedike swarm at Snow Lake pendant con

sists of porphyritic microgranite andmicrodiorite. The microgranite dikesvary in width from 3 to 26 feet (1 to 8 m).

and the microdiorite dikes vary between1.6 and 10 feet (0.5 and 3 m) in width.

Whole rock and trace element chemicaldata (Lahren. 1989) are comparable with

analyses on the Independence dikeswarm reported by Chen and Moore(1979) and Griffis (1987). Dikes of the

CALIFORNIAGEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991 '"



NEA'

Quartzite Peak thrust

Buckskin thrust ~ - 7 " " ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ',-_J---> 'tY '< - y / y

y /Y y , /

/ l h - - - - - t 1 ~ 7 1 tBigelow Peak thrust

o 05 miI i - ~ - " " " '-r---'-"o 0.5 I km

,Sachse thrust

SWA

.", '

."."-",,-4,,,,_

leel

,,,,w

Zabriskie Ouartzite

Stirling Ouartzite

Canyon Fm

SNOW LAKE PENDANT

MIOGEOCLINAL ROCKS

Fairview Valley Fm

Carrara Formation€

€

; eugeoclinal rocks (1)

Igneous rocks

granitic rocks (undifferentiated)

148 Ma gabbroic complex and granite of

Bigelow Lake

gEJ

SACHSE MONUMENT PENDANTp,.(?)

Figure 4. Geologic cross section 01 Snow lake and Sachse Monument pendants. Tr. Tnasslc: € '" Cambrian: p€ '" Precambrian:pz '" Paleozoic.

Independence dike swann in eastern

California (Chen and Moore. 1979) and

the western Mojave Desert (James. 1987.

1989) have U!Pb ages of 148 Ma. Thedikes at Snow Lake pendant have a

U/Pb age of 150 Ma (Lahren and

others. 1990).

In the eastern Sierra. dikes of the Inde

pendence dike swann do not occur northof the Pine Creek area (Moore and

Hopson, 1961: Chen and Moore. 1979).

Therefore it is unlikely that the dikes in

the Snow Lake pendant simply represent

a northern continuation of the swann.

The western Mojave Desert and the San

Bemardino Mountains are the only other

areas in Califomia where rocks of the

Death Valley facies are cut by dikes of the

Independence dike swann (Miller. 1981;

Cameron. 1982: James. 1987. 1989;

Karish and others, 1987).

Gabbroic Camp/exes. The gabbroiccomplex along the southern edge of

Snow Lake pendant (Figures 3 and 4) is

petrographically similar to the gabbroic

complexes in the western Mojave. In

addition. the granite of Bigelow Lake is

similar to defonned granites associated

with gabbroic complexes in the Mojave.

New geochronologic data (Lahren and

others. 1990) confinn that the Snow

Lake gabbroic complex is the same age

as the r e ~ r t e d age of both the gabbro

at G:>ldstone (Miller and Sutter. 1981)

and the gabbroic complex at the Shadow

Mountains (Walker and others. 1990:

Martin, 1991). Additional geochemical

studies are underway to test this correla

tion. Gabbroic rocks are not unique

to these areas. but the association of

148·Ma gabbroic complexes with many

other distinctive features in both areas

(discussed here) argues for the correlation.

Eugeoclinal Rocks and Pre-MioceneStructural Configuration

Eugeoclinal rocks of Sachse Monu·

ment pendant structurally overlie the

miogeoclinal rocks of Snow Lake pen

dant. and the fault between them is

intruded by the Late Jurassic gabbroic

complex (Figures 3 and 4) (Lahren and

Schweicken, 1991a). The eugeoclinal

rocks appear to occupy a structural posi

tion analogous to that of eugeoclinalrocks in the pre-Tertiary westem Mojave.

Glazner and others (1989) have argued

that restoration of 25 miles (40 km) of

slip on the Waterman Hills detachment

fault places the eugeocHnal rocks of the

western Mojave structurally above and

possibly west of the miogeoclinal rocks.

In their restoration. a Late Jurassic gab

broic complex obliterates the presumed

thrust between the eugeoclinal and mio

geoclinal/cratonal rocks (Glazner and

others. 1989). exactly as it does at Snow

Lake pendant.

Structure

The large-scale structure of the pen

dant forms a structural window that ex

poses three upright thrust sheets (Figures

3 and 4). The structural history of Snow

Lake pendant is separable into four dis-

tinct perioos of penetrative defonnation

and at least tw o nonpenetrative defor

mational events. The units correlated with

the Lower Triassic Fairview Valley Forma

tion were involved in all defonnational

events except the first.

The oldest defonnational event

resulted in the development of isoclinal

folds and the pervasive development of

a composite fabric consisting of bedding

and compositional layering in the Stirling

Quartzite. Wood Canyon Fonnation.

Zabriskie Quartzite, and Carrara Forma

tion. The first defonnational event probably was pre-Early Triassic (based on the

inferred Early Tliassic age of the Fairview

Valley Formation) and post-Middle Cam·

brian (the age of the Carrara Formation).

The second defonnation affected all

the metasedimentary rocks in Snow

Lake and Sachse Monument pendants.

This defonnation resulted in the develop

ment of northeast'\lergent thrust faults

and folds (Figures 3 and 4) (Lahren.1989).

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 199t



The second deformational event

occurred after the Early Triassic and prior

to 150 Ma. Subsequent to this event. the

gabbroic complex. the granite of Bigelow

Lake. and the dikes of the Independence

dike swarm were emploced.

Younger structures include northwest

trending folds and follations and east-

west trending folds that formed between

148 and 115·120 Ma (Mallinson and

Lahren. unpublished data: preliminary

U/Pb zircon age on granocliorite of Lake

Harriet . 1990). In addition. the pendant

is cut by several northeast to east-north

east trending high-angle. oblique-slip faults

of Tertiary age (Lahren and Schweickert.

1991bl.

POSSIBLE DISPLACEMENT HISTORY

AND TECTONIC IMPLICATIONS

The western Mojave Desert seems to

be the only plausible source area for the

Snow Lake block because it is the only

area where deformed rocks of the Death

Valley facies are overlain by the FailView

Valley Formation and intruded by 148-Ma

gabbroic rocks and by the Independence

dike swarm. These features argue for a

match between the two areas.

Mojave-Snow Lake fault

Based on this evidence. I have proposed that Snow Lake pendant and cor

relative pendants to the south are part of

a cryptic crustal slice (Snow Lake block).

possibly including Precambrian sialic base

ment. which was translated approximately

250 miles (400 !un) northward from the

vicinity of the western Mojave Desert

along the intrabatholithic Mojave-Snow

Lake fault during the Early Cretaceous

(Figure 2). Translation of the Snow Lake

block postdated the Independence dike

swarm (148 Ma) and predated the 80-to

110·Ma plutons in the axial part of the

Sierra Nevada batholith.

Although relative plate motions during

the Early Cretaceous are equivocal

(Engebretson and others. 1985). I specu

late that dextral displacement of the Snow

Lake block may have resulted from right

oblique subduction of oceanic lithosphere

beneath the North American plate. The

Sierra Nevada batholith thus intruded

and now conceals the Mojave-Snow Lake

fault.

CONCLUSIONS

My principal conclusions are: 1) upper

most Proterozoic and Lower Cambrian

miogeoclinal rocks of Death Valley facies

(Stirling Quartzite. Wood Canyon Forma

tion. Zabriskie Quartzite. and CarraraFormation) occur in the Snow Lake pen

dant: 2} these rocks are unconformably

overlain by a unit identical to the Lower

Triassic Fairview Valley Formation of the

western Mojave Desert: and 3) rocks in

Snow Lake pendant are cut by 150-Ma

dikes of the Independence dike swarm

and by 148-Ma gabbroic rocks. These

relations support the hypothesis that

Snow Lake pendant and related pendants

to the south were translated approxi

mately 250 miles (400 km) northward

along the Mojave-Snow Lake fault from

the vicinity of the western Mojave Desertor the San Bernardino Mountains. Trans

lation probably postdated the Indepen

dence dike swann (150 Ma) and predated

110·Ma plutons of the Sierra Nevada

batholith.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Field studies were supported by Na

tional Science Foundation Grants EAR

84-18338. EAR-87-07312. and EAR

89-03963. and were completed as part

of my Ph.D. under Dr. Richard A.

Schweickert at the University of Nevada.Reno. I thank both C. Wahrhaftig for

providing his unpublished maps of Tower

Peak quadrangle. and RA Schweickert

lo r his assistance and guidance on this

project. Special thanks go to Koguma

and Brian Lahren lo r field assistance.

REFERENCES

Cameron. C.S" 1982. Strallgraphy andSignificance of the upper Precambrian

Big Bear Group, in Cooper. J.B" editor.

Geology of selected areas in the San

Bernardino Mountains, western Mojave

Desert and southern Great Basin.California: Shoshone. California: Death

Valley Publishing Company. p. 5·20.

Chen, J.H" and Moore, J.G.. 1979. Lale

Jurassic Independence dike swarm

in eastern California: Geology. v. 7.p.129-133.

Engebretson. D.C .. COl(. A.. and Gordon.R.G .. 1985, Rela\lve motions between

oceanic and continental plates In the

PaCific baslO; Geological Society of

America Special Paper 206. 59 p.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991

Glrty, G.H., 1985. Shallow marine deposits in

Boyden Cave roof pendant. west central

Sierra Nevada: CALIFORNIAGEOLOGY,

'0'.38. p. 5t-55.

Glazner. A.F .. Bartley. J. M" and Walker.

J.D .. 1989, Magnitude and significance of

Miocene crustal extension in the centralMojave Desert. California: Geology. '0'.17,

p. 50

Griffis, A.A., 1987, Kern Knob pluton and

other highly-evolved granitoids in east·

central California [M.S. thesisl: Calilornia

State University. Northridge. 305 p.

James. E.W.. 1987. Extension otthe Inde·

pendence dike swarm to the western

Mojave Desert and eastern TransverseRanges of California: Geological Society

of America Abstracls with Programs.

'0'.19, p. 715.

James. EW .. 1989. Southern extension of

the independence dike swarm of easternCalifornia: Geology. '0'.17. p. 587·590.

Karish. CR. Miller. E.L.. and SUller. J.F..

1987. Mesozoic tectonic and magmatichistory of the central Mojave. in Dickinson.

W.R" and Klute. M.A .. editors. Mesozoicrocks of southern Anzona and adjacenl

areas: Arizona Geological Society Digest.

v. 18. p. 15-32.

Kistler. R.W .. and Baleman, P.C .. 1966.

Stratigraphy and structure ot the Dinkey

Creek rool pendant in the central Sierra

Nevada. California: U.S. GeologicalSurvey Professional Paper 524-B. 14 p.

Kistler. R.W .. and Peterman. Z.E .. 1973.Variations in Sr, Rb. K. Na. and lOitial

.ISr"-Sr in Mesozoic granitic rocks and

intruded wall rocks in central California:

Geological Society of Amenca Bulletin.

'0'.84. p. 3489-3512.

Lahren, M.M.. 1989. Tectonic studies of the

Sierra Nevada: Structure and stratigraphy

of miogeoclinal rocks in Snow Lake pen-

dant. Yosemite·Emigrant Wilderness; andTIMS analysis of the Northern Sierra

terrane [Ph.D. disserta\lonl; University ot

Nevada. Reno. 260 p.

Lahren. M.M.. and Schweickert, R.A.. 1988a.

Possible ProlerozolC 10 Lower Cambnan

miogeoclinai rocks in Snow Lake pendant

(SNLP). northern Yosemite National ParX.

Sierra Nevada. California: GeologicalSociety ot Amenca Abstracts with Pro-

grams. v. 20. p. 174.

Lahren. M.M" and Schweickert. R.A .. 1988b,Snow Lake pendant (SNLP). YosemlteEmigrant Wilderness. Sierra Nevada.California: Evidence lor major Early Cretaceous dextral translation of a continentalcrustal shver: Geological Society of

America Abstracts with Programs. v. 20,

p. A272.

273



GLOSSARY

eugeocl inal : Pertains to mar ine volcanic and sedimenfary rocks formed in

island arc o r deep ocean !Ioor enVIronments.

foresel: Inclined layers depoSited along the advancing frontal slope of abody of sediment.

microdiorite: Fine-grained dionte.

microgranite: Fine-grained granite,

miogeocl inal : Pertains to shallow-marine sedimentary rocks deposited

along a passive continental margin,

pendant: The downward projection of counlry rock into an igneous

intrusion (also called a roof pendant because it is on the roo f o f the

intrusion).

protollth: The rock type before metamorphism.

vergent: Refers to the direct ion a fealure faces or moves.

Lahren. M.M" and SChweICkert, RA, 1989,ProterozOIC and Lower Cambnan

mK>geoclinal rocll.s of Snow Lake pen·

dant. Yosemlte·Emlgrant Wilderness,

Sierra Ne...ada. Calilornla: E...idence lor

major Early Cretaceous delttral transla·

tion: Geology..... 17, p. 156·160.

Lahren. M.M.. and SChweickert. A.A .. 1991a.StruCtural relations of metamorphic rocks

at Sachse Monument pendant. Sierra

Ne...ada. California. and their tectonic

implications: Geological Society of

Amenca Abstracts with Programs, v. 23,

p.44.

lahren. M.M., and Schweickert. A.A.. 1991b,

Ternary brinle deformation in the centralSierra Nevada. California: Evidence for

late ~ J h o c e n e and possibly younger faulting: GeologicaJ Society of America Bulle·

hn, v. 103, p. 898·904.

Lahren, M.M., Schweickert. A.A.. Mallinson.

J.M., and Walker, J.D., 1990, Evidence of

uppermost Proterozoic to Lower Cam·bnan miogeoclinal rocks and the Mojave·

Snow lake fault: Snow Lake pendant.

central Sierra Nevada, California: TectOrl

ICS. v. 9. p. 1585·1608.

Martin, M,W., 1991. Structure. stratigraphy,

ancI geochronology 01 the ShadowMoon

tains, western Mojave Desert, C a ~ f o r n l a :Geological Society of AmerICa Abstracts

with Programs, v. 23. p. 76.

Miller. E.L, 1978. The FaHview Valley For

mation: A Mesozoic intraorogenlc depoSII

in the soulhwestern MOjave Desert. in

Howell, D.G.. and McDougall. KA. edi·

tors. Mesozoic paleogeography of the

western United States: Society of Eco

nomic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.

Pacific Section, Pacihc Coast Paleogeog·

raphy Symposium 2. p. 283·289,

Miller. E.L.. 1981, Geology of fhe Victorville

region. Cahfornla: Summary: Geological

Society of America Bulletin, v. 92, Part I,

p. 160·163: Part II. p.554-608.

Miller. E.L. and Suner, J.F.. \981. "'ArP'JAr

age spectra for biotite and hornblende

Irom plutonIC rocks in the Victorville

reglOfl. Cahfornla: Geological Society of

AmerICa Bulletin. Part I. v. 92. p. 164-169.

Moore. J.G.. and Hopson. CA. 1961, The

Independence dike swarm in easternCalifornia: American Journal of Science.v. 259. p. 241·259.

Robinson, A.C., and Kistler, A.W., 1986,

Maps shoWing isotopic dating in the

Walker lake 1 by 2 quadrangle,

California and Nevada: US . Geological

SurveyMiscellaneous Fieldlnvesllga

lions Map MF 1382N. scaJe 1:250,000.

SChweickert. R.A., and Lahren, M M , 1990,

Speculative reconstructIOn of a maJOrearly Cretaeeous(?) delttrallault zone

in the SIerra Nevada' ImplicatIOns for

Paleozoic and MesozOIC orogenesis In

fhe western United States: TectonICS.

v. 9. p. 1609·1629.

SChweickert. RA. and Lahren. M M.. 1991.

Age and tectOniC significance of mela

morphic rocks along lhe altis of the

Sierra Nevada batholith: A cntlClll reap

praisal. in Cooper, J., and Stevens, C.,

editors, PaleoZOIC paleogeography of the

western United Stales. II. SEPM PaCific

SecMn. p. 653-676.

Silver, L.T" 1971, Problems 01 crystalline

rocks of the Transverse Ranges: Geo·logical Society of Amenca Abstracts With

Programs, v. 3, p. 193-194.

Stewart, J.H., 1970, Upper Precambrian

and lower Cambrian slrata In the south

ern Greal BaSin, Cahlornia and Nevada:

U.S. GeologICal Survey Professional

Paper 620, 206 p.

Stewart. J.H.. and Poole. F.G.. 1975. Eltten·

sion of the Cordilleran mlogeosyncllnal

bell to Ihe San Andreas taull. southernCalifornia: Geological Society ot America

Bullelln. v. 86, p. 205·21 1.

Walker, J.D" 1988, Permian and Triassic

rocks 01 the MOJa ...e Desert and their

implICations lor timing and mechanismsof contlnenlal truncation: Tectonics. v. 7,

p.685·709.

Walker, J.D., Martin, M.W., Bartley, J.M .. and

Glazner, A.F .. 1990. Middle to late JurasSIC deformatIon belt through the MOla...e

Desert, CaJifornia: GeologICal Society of

Amenca Abstracts With Programs, .... 22.

p.91.

Dr. Lahren is a jaculryreser;Jrch associate In rhe

Deportment oj GeologicalSciences 0 / the Uniuerslty

oj Neooda, Reno, Her r/?>

search includes /he structure

and rectonics oj/he Sierra

Neooda and tile Basin an d

Range.

'" CALIFORNIA GEOlOGY DECEMBeR 1991



Muir, Whitney, and the Origin

of Yosemite Valley

InDefense of Whitney

BILL GUYTON, Geologist

California Stale University. Chico

Yosemite Valley. looking east trom EI Capitan, Yosemite National Park, Calilornla. Photo by Mary Hili.

INTRODUCTION

About 1870. John Muir (Photo 1) andJosiah Whitney (Photo 2) became antago

nists in a sometimes acrimonious dispute

regarding tile origin of Yosemite Valley in

the Sierra Nevada of California. Muir. a

naturalist and amateur geologist. believedthaI glaciers had formed the remarkable

valley {Muir. 1871 et seq). Whitney. pro-

fessional geologist. Yale graduate. andState Geologist of California. argued thai

lhe valley was formed when the bottomdropped thousands of feel during a

Mgrand cataclysmM (Whitney. 1865,1868. 1869). Here was a conflict in the

manner of David and Goliath: the likeable

amateur versus the government profes-


sional. To the delight of subsequent gen

erations. Muir won. The slOTY has been

told many times. Most books about the

Sierra Nevada mention the dispute at

least briefly. so briefly as to be unfair toWhitney. With each retelling. detailsbecome blurred and the characters moresharply drawn: Muir becomes a visionary

who can do no wrong and Whitney

275



Photo 1. John MUIr. 1902. Phoro courtesyof Ihe California SectIon, CalIfornIa Slareubrary.

WHITNEY AND MUIR COME

TO CALIFORNIA

JosiahWhitney was appointed State

Geologist of California in 1860 at age41 . Prior 10 this he gradualed from Yale

University. studied in Europe, and panici-

pated in geoIogkal surveys in New York.New Hampshire, Iowa. and WisconsinHe was a respected geologist capableof arnacting talented men to work for

the new California GeoIogieal &.avey.Wtlliam Brewer and C1arence King were

two of the most celebrated among them.

contributing 10 the exploratiOn of the

Sierra Nevada and our kncM-Iedge ofglaciation and glacief"s in California(Photo 2).

John Muir anived in California in1868 al age 30. His walk from San Fran-

cisco to Yosemlte Valley was pan of anodyssey that already included a \l!alk from

lndiana 10 Florida and visits to Cuba.South America. and Panama. Muir had

attended the University ofWisconsin but

had no degree. He was knowledgeableabout botany and geology. but did no t

claim 10 be a scienlist in the professionalsense: he was a naturalist and Io\.'et" of

nature. if those are two different things.He possessed a fine intellect and excep

tional powers of observation. but It is

perhaps fair to suggest that nature ap

pealed more to his emotions than 10 his

intellect. Muir fell in love with Yosemite

and worked as shepherd and sawmilloperator to stay there. Great things were

to come to John Muir. but in 1868 hewas a noOOdy.

THE SPECIALIST ANDTHE GENERALIST

Josiah Whitney's duties as StateGeologist were...

"...10 make an accurate and completegeologICal survey of the state. to descnbeIn reports andmaps lhe rocks. fosSils.SOlls. rmnerals. botarncal and zoologICalproducbons. and 10 collect speomens .. "

(Oakeshon.1971.p.23)

No small assignment that. Realizing

that accurate maps were vital to thefuture of the State. Whitney hired topog-

raphers and geologists 10 begin a systematic program of mapmaking and basic

geologic studies. This approach soon

brought canflic! with the California legis

lature. members of which were impatient

for quick and dramatic results. preferably

in the fonTl of some discovery that \l.OUk:I

produce another economic boom like the

then fizzling gokl rush. Failing to produce

such a miracle. Whitney was soon threat-

becomes a pompous fool incapable of

seeing the obvious. What a shame that

Mount Whitney is 479 feet higher thanMount Muir!

Was it really so clear-cut? Did Whitney

really miss the obvious? Is it true that the

more you 90 to school the less you canIeam from nature? [s there anything to

be said for lhe novJ discredited views of

Whitney? The situation was not as simpleas some accounts wouk:I have us believe.

The glacial origin of Yosemite Valley isnot oo.oous and Muir <::NCfSIated his case.Going to school does not make one blind

to nalure. and yes. there are things to besaid in defense of Whitney and his mis

taken hypothesis regarding the origin ofYosemite. Josiah Whitney made impor-

tant contributions 10 our knoo,.iedge of

the Sierra Nevada and California and to

the preservation of Yosemite. and hedeserves better lhan the narrow view of

him that many people have.

Photo 2. Chester Avenll. Wllbam Gabb. Wllbam Ashburner, JoSIah Dwight Whltney, ChaI1esF. Hoffmann. Clarence KlOg. and Wilham HenlY Brewer. members of the C a ~ f o m l a Geologl-

cal Survey II'l 1860. when WI'IItney was State GeologIst Courtesy of Yale UnwefSltyPress

27. CAUFOANIA G£OlCX:;Y DECEMBER 1991



Photo 3. Glacial striae in glacially·polished rock along the middle fork of the Kings Riversouth of Grouse Meadow. Sequoia National Park. California. Photo by George J. Young.

ened with having funds for the SutveY

discontinued. In fact in its last years

Whitney paid some SutveY expenses out

of his own pocket. In 1864. Whitney

eloquently expressed his opinion on the

legislative noor when he said...

'We have escaped perils by flood andtield, have evaded the lriendly embrace ofthe grizzly, and now tind ourselves in the

jaws of the Legislature:·

In addition to fighting fo r the l ife and

integrity of the Survey. Whitney directed

field parties in various parts of Califomia

and prepared and published reports as

wen. There was much to do besides inves

tigate the origin of Yosemite Valley.

John Muir managed to find ways to

l ive in Yosemite fo r many years. Even

while working as a shepherd he wrote in

his diary about glacial features he saw in

or near Yosemite. As soon as he could.

he quit sheepherding and sawmilling and

became a full-time naturalist and writer.

Among other things. he wrote about the

evils of sheep and logging and about the

damage done to his beloved mountains.

• OakeShOIl, 1971. p. 24

His travels and observations extended

from Yosemite Valley into the higher

elevations and south throughout the

Sierra. His style of living kept him close

to the land and provided constant oppor

tunity for him to study the effect of ice

on the magnificent Sierra landscape.

Whitney the geologist was doing

almost everything except studying geol

ogy while Muir the generalist was spend

ing almost every day making geological

observations. This would not bode well

fo r Whitney in the coming dispute.

RECOGNITION OFANCIENTGLACIATION

In June of 1863 Josiah Whitney and

W. H. Brewer. having visited Yosemite

Valley. travelled on to Tuolumne Mead

ows in what is now Yosemite National

Park and found ..

•... traces of enormous glaciers here in

earlier limes. the tirst found on the Paciticslope_." (Brewer, 1864. p. 409)

Brewer also wrote...

"A great glacier once 'ormed far backIn the mountams and passed down the

valley, polishing and grooving the rocks

for more than a thousand feel up on each

side. rounding the granite hills into domes[Photo 3]. It must have been as grand in

its day as any that are now in Switzerland.But the climate has changed. and it hasentirely passed away. There is now noglacier in thiS state-the climatic conditionsdo not exist underwhich any could be

lormed: (Brewer. 1864. p. 410)

In July of 1863 Brewer climbed and

named Mount Lyell at the source of the

former great Tuolumne glacier. In making

the climb he walked across the Lyell

Glacier. second largest in the Sierra. with

out recognizing it as a glacier. He took it

to be simply a perennial snowfield. How

could a knowledgeable person sensitive to

the ghost of a glacier fail to recognize (I

real glacier underfoot? The answer is that

the Lyell Glacier (and all other Sierra gla

ciers) (Ire unlike the classic glaciers of the

Alps. Alpine glaciers are often described

as "rivers of ice" because they are long.

narrow. confined by rock walls. and flow

in the direction of their length. The Lyell

Glacier was not shaped at all l ike "a river

of ice." I t was. and is. more like a small

lake of ice; i ts length is about the same as

its width. and neither dimension is large

compared to the glaciers of the Alps.

We have a special name fo r these ponds

of ice that survive in depressions on the

north face of high peaks...cirque glociers.

in contrast to oo/ley glociers. the alpine

standard (Figure 1). Cirque glaciers are

unimportant in the Alps but they (Ire all

we have in the Sierra. Yes. they are real

glaciers. but we should no t push the

point. or be critical of Brewer fo r failing

to recognize that the snow and ice under-

foot was a glacier.

A year later (summer 1864). OarenceKing. also of the California Geological

Survey. ObselVed prominent glacialfea

tures on his way to his ascent of Mount

Tyndall (an under-celebrated event that

was remarkable fo r its time. prior to the

scaling of the Matterhorn in the Alps): heidentified ridges of loose rocky debris as ..

•...evidently the lateral moraineslFigure 1Jof a vast extinct glacier, and thatopposite us seemed to offer an easy rideinto the heart o f the mountains...As we

ascended toward the mountains the causeway was more and more isolated from thecliff. until the depression between them

widened to half a mile, and to at least fivehundred feet deep (0.8 km wide and 150 mdeep): {King, 1872, p. 67}

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991 277



Horn

lateral

RecessionalMoraine

TerminalMoraine

Figure 1. Cirque glaciers form as snow accumulates on a mountain crest. The glaciers pluckblocks of rock from the mountain. forming bowl-shaped features called cirques. A iaggedridge. an arete. forms where two cirques grow toward each other. A horn forms where threeor more cirques meel. A valley glacier moves down a valley, transporting and depositingboulders. sand. and day. Ridges of glacial deposits are calfed morames. Lateral morainestorm on the sides of a glaciated valley: terminal moraines form at the terminus of the glacier:recessional moraines form as a glacier retreats. Modified from Huber. 1987.

Clarence King recognized many signs

of ancient glaciers in the Sierra Nevada

during the summer of 1864 and subse

quent field seasons. In Mountaineering in

the Sierra Neuada he described the range

as it once was..

"The whole Sierra crest was one pile

of snow, from whose base crawled out

the ice-rivers, wearing their bodies into the

rock. sculpturing as they went the torms of

valleys. and brightening the surlace a! their

tracks by the friclion a! slones and sandwhich were bedded. armor·like. in their

nether surlace: (Figure 2) (King. 1872,p.24)

In 1865 Josiah Whitney published a

report of the Geological Survey. Volume 1.

Geology. In it he wrote that his field staff.

Clarence King and James Gardiner. found

ample evidence that a glacier had onceoccupied Yosemife Valley. and that the

ice may have been a thousand feet (300m)

thick. Moraines in the valley were descibed

in detail.

It is dear that years before John Muir

arrived in Califomia. Josiah Whitney

Frgure 2. Tioga icefleld and valley glaciers. showing maximum extent during the Tioga glaciation. the last major glaciation in the SierraNevada. which peaked about 20.000 to 15.000 years ago. From Huber. /987. courtesyof the U.S. Geological Survey.

'"CALIFORNIA GeOLOGY OECEM8ER t99\



was well aware of the fonner existence

of great glaciers throughout the Sierra

Nevada and in Yosemite Valley. He did

not. hOVJever. believe that glaciers were

capable of much erosional VJOrk. a v iew

that was widespread among geologists

of the time.

LIVING GLACIERS IN CALIFORNIA

In 1866 Oarence King and James

Gardiner described a possible glacier

on Mount Ritter in the Sierra Nevada.

Whitney was aware of their find but

expressed doubt about it being a true

glacier. and dismissed it as being of no

geologic significance. This view was

narrow. uninspiring. and technically

wrong. but it was not foolish...modern

Sierra glaciers are more of a curiosity

than they are of geologic significance.

In September of 1870 Clarence King

re<:ognized the existence of glaciers on

Mount Shasta in northern California.

His report Active Glaciers Within the

United States was published in the Atlan

t ic Monthly in March 1871. King·s words

in Mountaineering in the Sierra Neooda

showed that he. along with Mui r. had an

emotional as well as an intelle<:tual side...

YOSEMITE GLACIAL FAULT BLOCK

VALLEY TROUGH BASIN

:;a:0

N S..w( )

'"..a:=>

"'

wN( ) S

'"..a:=>

"''"=> "&"'

.. ".

H H

Figure 3. ldealized cross sections showmg how lake sediments in Yosemite Valley make theglaciallrough resemble a tau II-block basin.

"I found it strange and suggestive that

fields of perpetual snow should mantle the

slopes of an old lava caldron. that the veryvolcano's throat should be choked with a

pure little lakelet. and sealed with unmelt

ting ice. That power of e ~ t r e m e s . which

held sway over lifeless nature before therewere human hearts to e ~ p e r i e n c e its

crush. e ~ p r e s s e d itself with poetic elo

quence. Had Loweillpresumably James

Russell Lowell. 1819·1891. American poet

and diplomat) been in our bivouac, I know

he must have fell again the power of his

own perfect figure of ..:burned·out craters

healed with snow."" (King. 1872. p. 245)

In October 1871 John Mui r discovered

~ l iving glacier'· near Merced Peak notfar from Yosemite Valley. During the next

few years Muir would identify and study

many other glaciers throughout the Sierra

Nevada. including the Lyell and Madure

glaciers. Most of his glaciers were real

enough. but somemay have been simply

snow masses. for Clarence King stated in

1882 lhat some places where Muir de"

scribed glaciers were free of snow during

the dry season of 1864--65. Then again.

perhaps King was mistaken in recollec-

tion. It is dear that Muir did find glaciers.

but King·s doubts remind us that our

Sierra glaciers are small and hard to dis

tinguish from perennial snow banks. The

first glacier Muir discovered was inactive

when the area was visited about 30 years

later. Difficulty in identifying Sierra gla

ciers slill exists in this age of aerial pho

tography and remote sensing. In 1980.

W.B. Raub and others reported the exist

ence of 497 glaciers and at least 847

smaller perennial ice patches in the Sierra

Nevada. but their definition of "glacier'·

has been challenged by other workers asbeing too broad. The number of glaciers

in the Sierra is unknown and debatable.

but I believe thaI most people who are

interesled in the question think that the

number is closer to 80 (Hill . 1975) than

to 497. The Palisade Glacier is the larg"

est in the Sierra with a surface area of

about one-half square mile (1.3 kin:!);

most of the others. whatever the correct

number. are much smaller than the

Palisade Glacier. Al l of the glaciers were


larger when Muir studied them but even

then they were small by any standard.

GLACIAL TROUGHS ANDFAULT·BLOCK BASINS

The primary f onn o f Yosemite is

steep cliffs rising above a flat valley floor.

Figure 3 shows this fonn along with

idealized models of two well-known land-fonns-the glacial trough and the fault

block basin. A glacial trough. is a gla·

cially"modified river valley where the

"V·· shape fonned by a river is widened

into a more open concave fonn. a ··U"

shape (Figure 4). A fault-block basin is a

doum-dropped area. the result of move

ment on two somewhat parallel faulls.

The resulting landfonn commonly has

steep walls rising above a flat floor.

Both glacial troughs and fault"block

basins (grabens) are found in various

parts of California. The most famous

fault-block basin is Death Valley. Glacial

troughs are found throughout the Sierra



There are glacial1andfonns in Yosemite Valley but they are not promtnent

The trademark features of Yosemite

are not glacial in origin. Half Dome.North Dome. and Sentinel Dome are

products ofweathering and exfoliationThe monolithic EI Capitan is under-

stood In terms of ;ointing or lack

thereof Off details such asthose of Royal Arches.

Three Brothers. andWashington Column

\YeTe formed byjointS and

rockfall.

tenninal moraines. cirques. horns.aretes. tams (lakes in cirques). glacialpolish. roches m o u t ~ . glacial maticS (rocks carried by a glacier and deposited away from the source outcrop). and

kettles (basin-shaped depressk>nS formedby blocks of ice mehing in glacial

deposits).. .far more things than are tobe found in Yosemite Valley (Photos 3

aM 5. F"lQure 1).

'?""'v.

'r",

" ' ">",

"'"," ' ~ O The fiat "«(C";. ' "

valley floor wasformed by a riverfilling a lake with sedi-ment. Yosemite Falls andBridalveil Fall spin over hangingvalleys. but hanging valleys are notuniquely glacial: they also form alongfault scarps and where seaclilf retreat is

rapid. and their presence neither provesthe glacial hypothesis nor disproves the

fault hypothesis (Photo6). The mostprominent feature of Yosemite Valleythai is unmistakably glacial in origin is

the glacial trough in which BridalveilCreek fk:Jws before it lakes the piI..Irgeinto Yosemite VaIIey. and this provesonly the glacial origin 01 Bridalveil Valley.not Yosemite. The near-\lCrtical valley

walls are the product of g\adal widening

of a river valley. but the fiat valley floorconfuses the issue as discussed already.

THE TEMPLE OF GLACIATtON

Although extensively glaciated and

remarkably beautiful. YosemIteValley is

not rich in landforms that are typically oruniquely glacial in origm. There are many

places in the Sierra that one could visitto see glaciallandlorms better displayed

and in greater variety. In Uu1e U!kesValley aklng Rock Creek in the John Muir

Wildemess there are lateral morauleS.

Perhaps you will be generous enoughto agree thatWhitney's ~ b o t t o m droppedoutW hypothesis was no t unreasonabk!.

but why did he fail to see the evidence thatpointed to the glacial origin of Yosemite

Valley? After aD. is not YosemIte VaIIeythe finest example of a glaciated area any

\.\:here?

"If the bouom ot the Yosemite did 'dropout,' to use a homely but expressillephrase, It was not all done In one pIeCe. orWith one mol/ement, [but different SIZedsegments] may have descended tounequaldepths: (Colby. t95O, p. xvi, XI/Ii)

Whitney'S kIea that Yosemite Valley fonned byfaulting was a reason

ab'e interpretation. and he

offered it

asohypoIhesl'.not as dogma.as evidenced by thephrase. ~ 1 the bouomof the YosemIte did 'dropout.' His hypothesis has been

proved wrong. but that happens

often in science and should not bea liability to Whitney. Half Dome wasindeed ~ s p l i t a s u n d e r . ~ but by joints. not

faults. as VJe now know. and the missing

hall did not drop into the depths. but wasbroken loose and transported by someunknovm combination of landslide. river.

and glacier.

...

Nevada as well as in the Klamath andCascade mountains of California. In theSierra Nevada. good examP'es are BigArrayo and Kern Canyon in SequoiaNational Park. and upper Merced RiverCanyon in Yosemite National Park(P\lo(o 4). rNJ for a test. Compartng the

idealized forms of PIgure 3. which mostclosely resembles that of Yosemite Val

ley? That is ""that misled Josiah Whitney.Yosemite Valley does not resemble whatg\acial troughs are supposed to look like.

but does resemble the landform producedby faulting, a fault-block basin. We canimagine Whitney reasoning...yes. there is

evidence that glacial k e once flowedthrough Yosemite Valley. but that does

not mean that glacial ice formed the val·ley. There are squirrels in the valley also.but no one suggests that squirrels exca

vated it. from its form it seems evidentthat faulting created the cliffs and the fiatvalley floor. and other geologic processes.

perhaps including glaciers. modified thebasic form in minor detail to produce the

scenic features of loclay. Reasoning in this

way he wrote...

••..It appears to us probable that thismighty chasm has been roughly hewn IntoIts present form by the same kll'ld of forceswhich hal/e raIsed the crest 01 the Sierra ...

"The Hall Dome seems. beyond adoubt. to hal/e been split asunder In themiddle, the lost hall hawlQ gone down In

what may truly be said to hal/e been ·thewreck of matter and the crush 01 the

""""':

Figure 4. A glaCIererodes a V·shaped valley1010 a U-shaped valley.MOOr/ied from Huber. 1987.courTesy ofU.S. GeologICal Survey.

260CALIfORNIAGEOlOGY DECEMBER 1991



Photo 4. Big Arroyo. a broad U-shaped glacial trough in Sequoia Na1ionaJ Park, California.Photo by author.

WHITNEY'S FLAW

In commenting on the idea that

Yosemite Valley may have been exca

vated by glaciers Whitney wrote...

'A more absurd theory was neveradvanced than that by which it was sought

to ascribe to glaciers the sawing out ofthese vertical walls and the rounding of thedomes. Nothing more unlike the real wor1l

of ice. as e ~ h i b i l e d in the Alps, could be

found. Besides. there is no reason to suppose. or at least no proof, that glaciershave ever occupied the Valley: (Colby.1950. p. xviii)

Here is Whitney in a tortured state.

The vertical walls together with the fiat

valley floor are indeed unlike the work of

glaciers: likewise the domes. But in deny

ing that a glacier ever occupied the valley

he contradicted his own previous p u b l i c a ~tion. Colby offers an explanation:

and most visitors do nof notice them.

There is glacial pol ish on the cli ffs and

some moraines on the valley floor. The

best glacial features to be found in the

area occur above Yosemite Valley in

Tenaya Canyon and UttJe Yosemite

Valley. It is to John Muir's credit that he

recognized the importance of glaciation in

the history of Yosemite from such scanty

evidence in the Valley proper. Josiah

Whitney did not miss the obvious because

there is l it tle in Yosemite Val ley that is

obviously glacial in origin, while there is

much that suggests faulting has occurred.

"The only rational e ~ p l a n a t i o n forthis complete about face was Whitney'sintense pique that a geologist with hisreputation should have been proved wrongon so important a mailer as the valley'sorigin. Whitney's theory, when announced,

had been quite generally accepted as

providing a plausible and satisfactoryexplanation. To have it undermined must

Photo 5. Pothole Dome, a roche moutonnee on the west side 01 Tuolumne Meadows. Yosemite National Park. Roches moutonneesform when glaciers move over bedrock projections, plucking blocks ot rock from the downstream side. Photo by King Huber.

CALlFQANIAGEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991

'"



Photo 6. Yosemite Valleyfrom Inspiration POint.Bridalveil Fall spills overthe lip of a hanging valley.The glacier that occupiedYosemite Valley cutdeeper through the rockthan did the tributary gla-Cier, leaving the tributaryvalley "hanging: Photo byJohn Burnen.

POSTSCRIPT

Josiah Whltnev contributed to ou r knowledge of Co/lfornio in other respects. HecOrTectlv Interpreted euidence from desert lakes In eastern Collfornia as Indimtions of low

eleuotion climallc change during the lee Age. He studied the great Lone Pine earthquakeof 1872and nwde monli losl/ng ob5eruotions regarding foulling and e/fecls of lhe shako

ing. The Colifomio Geologlcol SUrt.'Cli was abolished In J874 ofler years of conflfctbelweE/! Whflnev and Impatient and unrealistic politicians. John Muir becamefamous

os 0 wflter. founded tile Sierra Club. and is 0 slrong condld(l/c for Ihe tille of America's

greatest naturalJstconseruollanrst His nome remains on Ihe land os the John Muir Trail,Mount MUIr. Muir Woods. Muir Pass. and the John Muir WIlderness.

1/1 1913 Fnlncois Matthes of the Unrted States Geological Survey was given the oner'OUS assignment of sludying Yosemite Valley ond answering the sli/l unresolt!ed question

of ilS origin His publication. "Geologic Hi$/oryof the Yosemite Valley. " Is cleer and com·

plete. I Ie shows that the fault hJIPQthesls of WhItney is incorrect ond thol Muir overesll·maled theerosion done bli glaciers. Matthes shows thot Yosemite Vo/ley Ol.VCS its formond appeoronce 10 the combined effects of river erosion. glaciol erosion. and joinllng. Ice

was more Important than Whirney recognized and less importont thon Muir be/let!ed

In 1934 and 1935 seismic work was done In Yosemite Valley to determme Ihe thick

ness of the gloc/al and lake sedimenlS thot fill the uollev· To etleryone's surprise the sed;men/S were found to be as much as 2.000 feel (600 m) thIck. No wonder the ·U · shapeof Yosemite ValleV was hidden. Had this fill beEn thinner or absent. Whl/nev u.'Ould prob-ably have recognil;ed the glaciated nawreof Yosemite. there would not haue been a con·troversy, Muir might not have become famous. Motthes might nol have been osslgned tostudy the oolJev. and we would all be poorer os a result

nave been gall and wormwood to hiS

proud nature. unduly sensitive to Criticismas he was: (Colby. 1950. p. xviii)

Whitney had not yet been ~ p r o v e c lVJl"ong" about anything. bul instead of

considering Muir's ideas about glaciation

dispassionately, Whitney reacted as if he

were under personal attack. Repudiatinghis own publication and referring to Muir

on other occasions with contempt as a

" s h e p h e r d ~ and an " i g n o r a m u s ~ without

giving his evidence a fair hearing are

actions hard to defend and no defense

win be given here.

CONCLUSION

Josiah Whitney and the other men of

the California Geological Survey explored

the Sierra. recognized both the fonner

existence of great glaciers and a possible

remnant of the great glaciers. and worked

to protect and preserve Yosemite before

John Muir came to California. Theseaccomplishments are unfortunately Db-

~ r e d i n t h e c ~ ~ ~ ~ o f m a n ypeople by the conflict between Josiah

Whitney and John Muir regarding the

origin of Yosemite Valley. It is argued

here thaI although Whitney has been

proved wrong. there were substantial

reasons why he thought as he did.

Yosemite Valley has a gross folTtllhat

more closely resembles a fault structure

than a glacial valley. and this fooled

Josiah Whitney during his brief study of

the valley. Preoccupied with administra-

tive duties and political battles, and bur-

dened with too much pride. he reacted

p:lOrly when his theory was questioned.

His personal attacks on John Muir were

the unfortunate actions of a threatened

man. Josiah Whitney contributed too

much to California and to the Sierra

Nevada to let this one awkward episo::le

be our most prevalent memory of him.

282 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991



REFERENCES

Brewer, W.H.. 1864. Up and down Californiain 1860-1854: University of CaliforniaPress. Berkeley and Los Angeles. thirdedition, 1966,583 p.

Colby, W.E .• 1950. John Muir's studies in theSierra: Sierra Club. San Francisco, p. xvxxiv,103 p.

Hill, Mary, 1975. Uving glaciers of California:CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY. v. 28.p.171-177.

Huber. N.K.• 1987. The geologic story 01

Yosemite National Park: U.S. GeologicalSurvey Bulletin 1595, 66 p.

King. Clarence. 1871. Active glaciers withinthe United States: The Atlantic Monthly.v. 27, p. 371-377.

King, ClareflCe. 1872. Mountaineering in theSierra Nevada:W. W. Nonon and Co..New York. 1935 (reprint), 317 p.

Mallhes. F.E .. 1930, Geologic history 01 theYosemite Valley: U.S. Geological SurveyProfessional Paper 160. 137 p.

Muir. John. 1871, et seq. Various lellersand newspaper and magazine articles

over many years: see Colby. 1950.Introduction.

Oakesholl, G.B.. 1971, The California StateGeological Surveys: CALIFORNIAGEOLOGY. v. 14, p. 23-25.

Raub. w.o. and others. 1980, Perennial icemasses in the Sierra Nevada, California:Proceedings of the International Associa·tion 01 Hydrological ScieflCe. no. 126.p.33-34.

Whitney. J.D., 1865, Geology. Volume I.Report of progress and synopsis 01 thefield work from 1860 to 1854: GeologicalSurvey of Calilornla, 498 p.

Whitney. J.D .• 1868. The Yosemite book:Geological Survey of Calilornia, 116 p.

Whitney. J.D. 1869. The Yosemite guidebook: Geological Survey of California.155pY

Bill Guyton is a professor

of Geology in the Depart

ment of Geosciences, Cali'

fornia state University,

Chico. He is writing a bookentitled GLACIERS OFCAUFORNIA.

A fauorite activity is hik·

Ing in the High Sierra.

O3 yrs. $23.00(18 issues)

2 yrs. $15.50(12 issues)o

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Book Reviews

Mining History

A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER MUST ACCOMPANY THIS OROER. All non-US orders must be paidWith an international money order or draft payable inUS . dollars and made OUll0 DIVtSIONOF MINESAND GEOLOGY. Send order 10: DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, P 0 eo . 2980. Sacramento,Califorma 95812·2980.

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This same highgracling artist fell uponanother method for secrelly removing

With the shortage of manpower andthe rise in miners' wages during World

War l. it became impractical for mento pull the ore cars. Half-grown muleswere lowered info the shafts and kepf in

mined-out areas until they matured. Afterthe mules were broken to harness. theyworked in the dark tunnels until theydied. Jim, an enterprising mule driver.or kmule s k i n n e r , ~ began mixing some

of the high-grade ore with the amplemanure fhat piled up along the ore cartracks. This fertilizer-to-be was hauledout pericxlically and piled somedistancefrom the mine. An accomplice arrived onappointed days to haul fhe fertilizer away.ostensibly to be used in his pear orchard,

Instead of putting it around his pear frees.fhe rancher wet the manure and left it todecay for a couple of months. Eventually.Jim put the well-roUed straw through asmall sluice box. thereby recovering theill-gotten gold. The mule skinner latercame to be known as "Mule DroppingsJim." At least that was the leon used in

the presence of ladies.

was at Captain John Sutter's mill. Sunerpurchased several thousand acres oftimbered land along the American River.The lumber was needed for building

projects in and around his fort at theconfluence of the American and S a c r a ~mento rivers in Sacramento. He hadhired some 20 Monnon men to furnish

the skilled labor to build his lumber mill.

When the young men saw foremanJames Marshall picking up gokl flakesfrom the millrace, they did the same.Upon complefion of the mill, the Mor

mons traveled to the Great Salt Lake

where Brigham Young planned his settle·ment. When they arrived in Utah. theMonnons paid the tithes on the gold theyhad gathered. It never occurred to themthat the gold they collecfed belonged toSutter. In fact. in the years following thediscovery, millions of dollars in gold dust

and nuggets were stolen from Sutter'sland.

$6.00

$12,00

. $7.00

.. .. $5.00

. Free

Between 1848 and 1957 more than2 billion dollars VJOrth of gold was pro

duced in Nevada County. With so much

high-grade ore at hand. it is no surprise

that the usually wage-poor miners sometimes smuggled gold out of the minesand sold it illegally. Taking gold from

another's property without pennissionor payment is called "highgrading.··

According to the author. the first

known case of highgrading in Califomia

AMOUNT ENCLOSED (Pricesinclude postage and sales tax) $, _

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OTHER

CAUFORNIA GOLD AND TIiEHIGHGRADERS. By FD. Calhoon.1988. Cal-Con Press. 3501 BradshawRd. 1f98. Sacramento, CA 95827.

376 p .. $10.00. soft cover.

GEOLOGIC MAPSOF CALIFORNIA__GAM 5 GeotogK: map 01 Cahforma: Fresno, (scale: 1;25O,OOO) 1965 (reprinted 1991) .....$5,00_ G AM 9 GeologK: map of California: Marrposa. (scale 1:250,000) 1967 (repnnted 199t) $5.00

MAP SHEETS

MSt Economi<: geology of the Long Valtey dial0maceous earth depoSIts.MonoCounty, Callforma. (scale: 1: 31.250) 1961 . ............ ,......

MS22 Geology 01 tile Matterhorn Peak {15') quadrangle. Mono and Tuolumne

counties. California. (scale 1 48,000) 1975 ..

Numbe. 01 coPIes,

SPECIAL REPORTS

SR58 Geology of l imesl0ne and dolomne depoSIts In the south half 01 StandaJd17.5'1 quadrangle. Tuolumne COUnly, California (scale: 1:24,OOO), 1959 $5.00

SR91 Short conlribullons to CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY Petrography 011he SIX graMlc

Inlruslve uMs in the Yoseml1e Valley area, The p1Ul0n1C and metamorphic rocksof the Ben LoTllOfKl Mountain area, santa Cruz County. Theougln of Tuscan

Buttes and the volume of the Tuscan Formalion In norlhern California

Chittenden earlhquake of September 14, t963, Notes of the types of Cahfornlaspecies of the fOtamlnlleral genus Orr/l(}!o;iJrSrem3 diBrnch t935 $5.00

SR13t Recency and charaCler of f a u ~ l n g along the Elsmore fault zone ,1'1 southern

Riverside County. t977. (REPRIND.. . ' , "'. ' $5.00SR157 M,neral resource potential of the Rockhouse Wilderness Study Area

lKern and Tulare countlesl. Cahfornla. 1986 .. $11.00SRl58 Mineral land dassihcall0n: aggregate matenals In the Fresno

productlon·consumptlOn regl()(1 lFresno and Madera counllesj,CalifornIa. t988 $10.00

COUNTY REPORTS

CR2 Cataveras County, Cal ifornia. mmes and mmeral resources of 1962

CR5 MontereyCounty. Cal ifom,a. mmes and moneral resources of, 1966

This book is a colorful collection ofstories about the mines and miners whodug lor gokl in and near Nevada County.California. One-half of the gold producedin California came from an area with

a radius of no more than 35 miles.

IIIII

IIIIII

NAME___ ISTREET ICln ~ I- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~'"

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER 199t



more bookreview's...

gold from the mine. When he discoveredone of the l'TIJIes had died. he insertedabout a hundred JXlUOc\s of crushedhighgrade mID the mule'5 stomach andthen had the corpse hauled 10 the sur-face. The mule was put to rest in thenearby -mule cemetery.w Jim planned 10

dig up the mule. slit the stomach. andrecover the treasure. However. unbe~ to Jim. two ()(her highgraders hadthe same plan for another mule. They

arrived about the nme Jim \\.'a$ makingthe incision on his mule. Thinking they

had discovered a thief stealing "their

gold." they jumped lnlo the open graveand pummeled Jim unmercifully beforehe could convince them that he was digging up his own mule.

This book Is both amusing and infor

mative and is recommended 10 those whoenjoy tales and history of gold mining in

California Review by Max Flanery.

Igneous Petrology

TH E NATURE AN D ORIGIN OF

CORDILLERAN MAGMATISM. Memoir

174. EdiledbyJ. L. Anderson. 1990.Geological Society of America. P,O, Box9140. Boulder. CO 8030 1.414 p,

$65.00. hard cover.

This collection of 23 papers focuseson the magmatic origin of the remarkable

compositional span of igneous rock thatcharacterizes the North American Cordil

lera. The volume presents data and inlerpretations of Mesozoic and Tertiary igne

ous suites from Baja California to Alaska.

Much of the emphasis is on magma gen

esis. including the role of multiple sourcecontrol and changes of magmatic trendscaused by fractional crystallization. assimilative fractional crystallization. and mixing.

Californian research areas presentedin this book include the Peninsular Ranges.San Gabriel Mountains. Whipple Moun-

tainS. Olemehuevi MOlmtains. OldWoman-Piute Range. Moja...e Desert.Mopah Range. Klamath Mountains.SaJinian bkx:k. and various locatiOns in the

S<erra Nevado

Park Philosophy

YOSEMITE: Th e Embauled Wilder-ness. By Alfred RUnle. 1990. Universityof Nebraska Press. 327 Nebraska Hall.90 I N. 17th Street. Uncoln. NE 68588·

0520.271 p. $2495. hard cover.

Each generation concerned about thefurure of our national parks is confrontedu , ~ t h reevaluating park management philosophies. This book. published duringthe centennial of the establishment ofYosemite National Park. is an account ofthe intense and enduring debate on our

national parks' presetVatlOn Ye1SI.b theiruse. FOCUSing on Yosetnlte. It recountsthe struggle to reconcile the protectk>n of

nature v.iith the demands of viSitors. This

The Southern California Section

of the Association of EngineeringGeologists is offering books andmaps for sale

Books are available from: Joe Cota.Publications Chairman. AEG Sc. Sec·tion. c/o GeoSoiIs. Inc.. 6634 ValjeanAvenue. Van Nuys. CA 91406.(818) 785-2158

Make checks payable to AEG Southern California Section. Please add8.25% sales tax. and postagelhandlingcharges of $2.50 for the first book and$0.50 for each additional book.

Blake. T. and Larson. R. A.. editors.1991. Engineering Geology along theSimi-Santa Rosa fault system and adjacent areas. Simi Valley to Camarillo.Ventura County. California: guidebookfor the Southern California Section ofthe Association of Engineering Geologists Annual Field Trip. August 24.1991. v. 1 and 2. 383 p.. 4 map sheets.$40.00.

Buckley. C. J. and Larson. R A..editors.. 1990. Geology and EngineeringGeology of the western Soledad Basin.Los Angeles County. California: guidebook for the Southern California Section

of the Association of Engineering Ge0lo-gists Annual Held Trip. November 3.1990.185 p.. 2 map sheets. $25.00.

Buesch. D. editor. 1979. Geomor·pttic Applications in Engineering GeoI·ogy: A State-of-lhe-An Short Course:shon course held at California StateUniversity al Los Angeles. November10-11. 1979. reprinted by the SouthernCalifornia Section of the Association ofEngineering Geologists. 145 p. $11.00.

CAUFORNIAGEOlOOY DECEMBER '99'

is a study of Yosemite's natural environment and resources. and an examinationof the issues that ha...e provoked redirections in management.

klealists insist that a national parkshould exist for the protection of its natu-

ral heritage. This philosophy imposestoo much demand on people who viewparks as resorts v.iith entertainment asthe majOr resource. Th e argument for

devek>pment am expansion is that noone should be denied the right to visit

Yosemite. Is simply seeing Yosemiterecreation enough? Should peopleaccommodate the resource or viceversa? Are IA!e committed 10 the welfareof the environment or do u,oe compro-

mise It for the sake of amusement?'

Byer. J. W.. editor. 1975. Sycamore

Canyon Fault. Verdugo Fault. NewBouIe\Iard Fault. Fauh. andSiena Madre Faull Zone: guidebook forthe Southern California Section of theAssociation of Engineering GeologistsAnnual Field Trip. September 27.1975.68 p. $8.00.

Cann. L. and Steiner. E.. editors..1989. Engineering Geology alongcoastal Orange County: guidebook forthe Southern California Section of theAssociation of Engineering GeologistsAnnual Field Trip. September 23.1989. 207 p. $20.00.

City of Los Angeles. 1982. GeologicMaps of the Santa Monica Mountains.Los Angeles. California: 333 mapsheets at I" - 400'. compiled by theBureau of Engineering. Depanment ofPublic Works. City of Los Angeles.reprinted by the Southern CaliforniaSection of the Association of Engineering Geologists. $26.00.

Lamar. D. L.. editor. 1978. Ge0logic Glide and Engineering GeologyCase Histories. Los Angeles. Los Angeles Metropolitan Area: guidebook forthe Southern California Section of the

Associalion of Engineering Geologists.Firsl Annual California Section Conference. May 12 -14. 1978. 174 p.$16.00.

Stout. M L.. editor. 1976. GeologicGuide to the San Bernardino Moun-tains. Southern California: guidebookfor the Southern California Section ofthe Association of Engineering Ge0logists Annual Held Trip. May 22. 1976.114p, $11.00. -

285



( _ _ D _ M _ G _ O _ p _ e _ n _ - _ F _ i 1 _ e _ R _ e _ p _ o _ r t _ R _ e _ l _ e _ a ~ ~ e ~ .~ ~ DMG OFR 9O-17LAND5UDE HAZ

ARDS IN THE SIMI VALLEY AREALOS ANGElES AND VENTURA

COUNTIES, CAUFORN1A. Scale1:24.000. By Pamela J. Irvine. 1990.

4 plates. $9.00.

This set of four maps constitutes

landslide Hazard Identification Map

#22. The maps. prepared under the

Landslide Hazard Identification Program.provide information about slope stability

for use by local officials in land-use plan

ning and evaluation of building-permitapplications. The maps (at a scale of

1:24.000 or 1 inch equals 2.000 feet)consist of: Plate 22A-Relative Landslide

Susceptibility: Plate 22B--Landslides and

Related Features: Plate 22C-GeologicMap: and Plate 22D-Relative DebrisRow Susceptibility.

The study area is 32 miles (51 km)

northwest of downtown Los Angelesand 30 miles (48 km) east of Ventura

in southeastern Ventura County. II lieswithin the central Ventura Basin in the

Transverse Range geomorphic provinceand encompasses about 100 square

miles (260 km2) of the south half of the

Simi and Santa Susana quadrangles and

the north half of the Thousand Oaksquadrangle, Simi Valley is a broad. recti

linear lowland bordered by the Simi Hills

to the south and Big Mountain and theSanta Susana Mountains to the north.

Terrain surrounding Simi Valley rangesIrom gently to moderately sloping hills

and terraces to steep mountains dissected by numerous canyons. Access

is provided by a network of roads that

traverse the area from Interstate 101 andSlate Highways 118 and 23. Land use

includes sheep and canle grazing. oil well

drilling and production. active sanitary

landfill. parkland. residential and commercial/lndustrial developments. and scat

tered rural dwellings. Residential and commercial development is rapidly expanding

from the lowland areas into the surround

ing hills.

This study evaluates the slope stability

of the area. A four·value scale. rangingfrom least to most susceptible to

landsliding. is used on the Relative Land·

slide Susceptibility Map. In addition. an

evaluation was made of the relative susceptibility to debris-flow (mudslide) or

debris-avalanche activity and included on

a separate map because these particularlydangerous fonns of rapid slope failure

differ from the slower. more massive

property-damaging landslides.

The background data. shown on theLandslides and Related Features Map.were developed by field mapping and

analysis o! aerial photos. The GeologicMap was compiled and. locally, modified

from earlier work by others. It portrays

the distribution of the Mesozoic marineand Tertiary and Quaternary marine and

nonmarine sedimentary rocks. older and

younger alluvial units. landslide deposits.and folds and faults. TIle explanation

emphasizes the physical properties of theunits that are relevant to slope stability.

Large landslides are most abundant ondip slopes developed in the interbedded

sandstones and claystones of the Santa

Susana. L1ajas. and Sespe !onnations inthe northern Simi Valley area where bed

rock slopes have been undercut by stream

erosion and. locally. have been extensively fractured by faulting and folding.Landslides also occur in the day shales of

the Modelo Fonnalion and on thesteeper slopes within sandstone andmudstone units of the Topanga Groupand Chatsworth Fonnation in the southern portion of the area, Rockfalls inthe Simi Valley area most commonlyoccur along anti-dip slopes fonned byjoined. well-indurated sandstone of the

Chatsworth Fonnation. but also occuralong drainage channels and roadcuts injointed sandstones and fractured mudstones of the Santa Susana. Uajas. andSespe fonnations. and volcanic and sedi

mentary units of the Topanga Group.

Debris flows have been common on

steep slopes eroded into all the well·indurated bedrock units. These suddenrapid flows of soil and rock have typicallyoccurred in the wet season dUring intenserainstonns and will recur in the same

general areas. Therefore. the Debris

Row Susceptibility Map shoVJS areas thatare threatened by this phenomenon.

The report is available !rom ouroffices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

A reference copy is available in ourSacramento. San Francisco. and LosAngeles offices.

Geologic Informalion and Publications660 Bercut drive

Sacramento. CA 95814·0131(916) 445·5716

San Francisco Bay regional Office1145 Market Street, 3rd FloorSan Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 557·1500

Southern California Regional Office107 South Broadway. Room 1065Los Angeles. CA 90012-4402

(213) 620·3560·"

286 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEMBER \991



[ An__n_o_u_n_c_e_m_e_n_t_s ~ Groundwater Resources Association (GRA)

of California Founded

Scientists. engineers. and other California professionals have

developed GRA. a statewide organization focusing on the tech·nical aspects 01 the Slate's groundwater resources assessment.

development. quality. education. and management.

Recognizing thai groundwater protection includes the identi-

fication, assessment. and remediation of contaminated proper-ties. GRA also addresses the technical and legal aspects of

property site assessments. and remediation of contaminated soiland groundwater. GRAs objectives are to:

• Promole professional development of scientists. engineers.

and others involV€d in the investigation and management

of groundwater resources:

• Help formulate statewide policy on the development andmanagement of the Slale's groundwater resources. the

protection of groundwater quality. the remediation of

contaminated soil and groundwater. and the perfonnance

of environmental site assessments:

• Disseminate scientific and technical infonnation among

GRA members and provide information to planners.

legislators. managers. regulators. contractors. and otherswho influence the development and application of policies

and regulations concerning groundwater resources devel

opment. evaluation. management. and protection:

• Develop educational programs devoted to the understand

ing and implementation of groundwater management and

protection:

• Develop standards. research. and techniques to advance

groundwater resources investigation and management

to enhance protection of California's groundwater

resources;

• Encourage cooperation among local. State. and national

groundwater professionals. regulators. administrators.contractors. and suppliers,

Those interested in the future of Califomia's groundwater

resources can benefit from membership in the Groundwater

Resources Association of California. For membership infonna

tion contact:

Vicki KretsingerCoordinator. Organizing Committee

Groundwater Resources Association of CaliforniaP.O, Box 355 Davis. CA 95617·0355

{916) 661-0109 • FAX (916) 661-6806 '.'

Physiographic Image of

The Sea Roor Available

A new 3-dimensional (physiographic) image of the

continental margin of f central California is available.

It is a computer-generated image derived from recent

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) multibeam echo sounding survey within the

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEl). The sUTVey has

almost total sounding coverage of the sea floor and

makes bathymetric maps and physiographic images

with remarkable detail.

The central California image (PI-I) provides a "bird's

eye" view of how the landscape would appear with the

water removed. Undersea features such as the Monterey

Canyon. which is comparable in size to the Grand

Canyon. can be followed from Monterey Bay to the

foot of the continental slope. The image shows where

sediments have been carried through the canyons and

deposited in large fans at the foot of the slope.

The image and map are printed in color on a sheet

measuring 5T wide by 39 " high and may be ordered

for $10.00 from:

Distribution Branch.NICG33 National OCean ServiceNOAA 6501 Lafayette Avenue

Riverdale. MD 20737(301) 436·6990 It

Bio-Leaching Minerals

Symposium

The Nevada Institute of Technology wil l host a sym-posium on bio-leaching minerals and a workshop on

mineral land reclamation on October 19-21. 1992 at the

Hotel EI Rancho. Sacramento. California. Formore

infonnation contact:

Or, Yung sam Kim. Conference Director

Nevada Institute of TechnologyP.O. Box 8894 Campus Station

Reno. NV 89507(702) 673·4466

0 'Or. Philip M. Bennell, Program Director

Department of Engineering Protessfonal DevelopmentUniversity of Wisconsin·Madison

Madison. WI 53706(608) 263,4705 yo

CALIFORNIAGEOLOGY DECEMBER 1991 287



UPDATE ON

THE

SURFACEMINING

AND

REClAMATION

ACT OF

1975

Gail Newton. Plant EcologistDivision of Mines and Geology

In California. reclamation of surface

mining operations is governed by the

Surface Mining and Reclamation Act(SMARA) of 1975. The Stale Mining

and Geology Board (5MGB) adopts reg

ulations for. and directs and OV€TS€es

the implementation of 5MARA. It also

sets policies. develops guidelines. andacts as an appeals board for reclamationin Califomia.

The reclamation aspect of SMARA is

implemented through the requirement of

the approval of a reclamation plan priorto initiating mining operations within the

State. Redamation plans are approvedby the lead agency (usually the county orciry). but there are provisions for State

review and appeal.

SMARA reclamation requirements

apply to all lands in the State. includingfederally managed lands. The State ofCalifomia (Resources Agency) and twofederal agencies, the U.S. Departmentof Interior (Bureau of Land Management[BLMJ) and the U.S. Department of Agri

culture (Forest Service). have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in

1979 acknowledging the applicability ofSMARA to federal lands in Califomia.An updated MOU with the BLM wassigned in 1990.

Every mining operation in Califomiaon private. State. or federal lands thatremoves more than 1,000 cubic yards(765 m:l) of material or disturbs morethan one acre (4.047 m2), must have anapproved reclamation plan in accordancewith SMARA. The requirements for this

plan. and the lead agency's responsibilitieswith respect to the plan. have recentlychanged.

RECENT AMENDMENTS

Effective January 1. 1991, AssemblyBill (AB) 3551. as amended by the com

panion legislation AB 3909. significantlychanged SMARA, adding more "teeth."Most significantly, these reclamationamendments require that: 1) mine operators submit annual reports and pay annualfees to the State: 2) lead agencies conduct

annual mine inspections and report thestatus of reclamation compliance: 3) op

erators secure financial assurances forreclamation: 4) reclamation plans include

sHe-specific criteria for evaluating reclamation compliance: 5) the SMGB adoptminimum verifiable statewide reclamationstandards: 6) lead agencies prepare anEnvironmental Impact Report (ElR) forany open-pit mining operation using cyanide heap leaching: 7) significant penaltiesbe assessed on operators violating the law:and 8) the State provide an enforcement"backstop" if local agencies fail to act.

This new legislation expands Stateoversight and enforcement responsibilities. It authorizes the SMGB toassume a lead agency role when thaIagency is deficient in carrying out its

SMARA responsibilities.

MINE REPORTING AND FEES

In the past the State was not able tomaintain accurate records on miningactivity because SMARA was a locally

implemented law. The legislature recognized a need for additional inlonnation at

the State level to ensure effective imple

mentation of SMARA. The 1990 legisla

tion requires that the person in charge ofa mine (owner. operator. lessor. lessee.agent. etc.) forward an annual report andfee to the Department of Conservation.The completed annual report fonn in

cludes infonnation such as the amount ofland disturbed for mining and the amountof land reclaimed. The report and theaccompanying fee were to be mailed tothe Department no later than July 1.

1991, and every year thereafter not laterthan an anniversary date established bythe Department. The annual fee for theoperation is between $50 and $2,000and is based on criteria established by theSMGB. The criterion used for the firstreporting period was the amount of acreage stated in the reclamation plan.

James Pompy. Mmed-Land Reclamation

Project Manager. in aCaVMat pit that wasreclaimed to a straw-berry field.Photo by I. Eisel.

288 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DECEM8ER 1991



Grefco's Palos Verdes operationwas reclaimed With sanitary landfill. Currently the area is abotanical garden With a methane gas recovery syslem. Photo courtesy of Gretco.

LEAD AGENCY ANNUALINSPECTION REQUIREMENT

The new legislation requires lead agen

cies to conduct an annual inspection ofeach mining operation in their jurisdic

tion within 6 months following submittal

of the operator's annual mine report,The lead agency must notify the Depart

ment of inspection completion and sub

mit a statement regarding reclamationplan compliance. Lead agencies can

charge operators the cost of conducting

the annual inspection.

FINANCIALASSURANCE,

APPEALSPROVISIONS

SMARA previously allowed lead

agencies to require

financial assurances

for reclamation

plans: however,

this was not man

datory. The new

law requires that all

existing operations

have. by January I,

1992, apprO'v'ed

financial assurances

for their reclama

tion plans. These

assurances (bonds,

letters of credit, or

trust funds) must be

payable to the

lead agency and

the State Geolo-

gist. must remain

in effect for the life

of the mine, and

must be adjusted

annually to account

for new lands dis-

turbed and/or reclaimed, Existing mine

operations without financial assurances

approved by January I. 1992 are subject

to closure unless an appeal has been filed

with the SMGB in accordance with

SMARA Section 2770. Also, as of Janu

ary L 1992. all new operations are re

~ r e d to have approved financial assur

ances prior to the lead agency granting a

pennit to mine,

SITE-SPECIFIC CRITERIA

FOR COMPLIANCE

Prior to this new legislation. SMARAdid not require that the reclamation planinclude specific criteria for evaluating

successful reclamation. The Jack of mutu

ally agreed upon reclamation standardshas caused confusion in evaluating com

pliance and completion. This new section

of SMARA requires reclamation plans toinclude site-specific criteria for evaluating

compliance with the approved reclama

tion plan, including reclamation elements

such as topography. reYegetation. and

sediment and erosion control. These site

specific criteria will help protect both leadagencies and operators. and will most

likely be used by the lead agencies in therelease of financial assurance.

RECLAMATION STANDARDS

The new legislation requires that the

SMGB adopt regulations specifying mini-

CALIFORNIAGEOLOOY DECEMBER 1991

mum, verifiable statewide reclamation

standards by January 1992. Legislationstates that these standards will apply to~ e a c h mining operation, but only to the

extent that they are consistent with theplanned or actual subsequent use or usesof the mining site. These standards in

dlXie regulations addressing wildlife habitat: backfilling: regrading: slope stability:

recontouring: revegetation: drainage:diversion structures: waterways. erosioncontrol: prime and other agricultural landreclamation: building structure and equipment removal: stream protection: topsoil

salvage, mainte

nance. and redis

tribution: andtailing and mine

w a s t e m a ~men!.

NOTIFICATIONOFSTATE

The Mined

Land Reclamation

Project of theDivision of Mines

and Geology re

views the technicaladequacy of recla

mation plans submitted by theState's 112 lead

agencies. Leadagencies are now

required to submit

reclamation plans

and financial as

surances to the

Department for

review. If the

Department

chooses to com

ment on the plans

and assurances.

it has 45 days to

write comments to the lead agency. The

lead agency is then required to prepare a

written response describing the disposi

tion of the issues raised by the Depart

ment. When the lead agency is at vari·

ance with the recommendations or objec-

tions of the Depanment. its response

must stipulate the reasons for

nonacceptance.

289









January, 1:1·24

February, 2:25·48

March,3:49-72

April,4:73'96

May, 5:97-120

June.6:121·144

Index to Volume 44

1991

Compiled by Lena Tabilio

July, 7:145-168

August. 8:169·192

Seplember, 9:193-216

OctOber, 10:217·240

November, 11:241·264

December, 12:265·296

A

AclJve f a u ~ s north of Lassen Volcanic National

Park, northern CalIfornia, 3:51

Aune, OUlnlln Albert· a memorial, 3:70

B

Banles, DenISe A .. 2:33

Be<!rOSSlan, Tnrxla L, 1:3: 11 :250

Bender·Lamb, Sylvia, 4:85

Bmgham Canyon Mine. 1:10

Borchardl, Glenn, 9:195

Brady, Roland H. III. 10:222

Brooks, Elwood R 6130

Bryant. WillIam, 2:27

Bumel1, John L, 4:75

cCall for phofOS. 1:24

Chanf'lE!llslands NatIOnal Park, 7:152

Chapman. RodgerH. - retl<emenl. 10:232

Chase. GordonW. - retlremem. 10:233

Chesterman, CharlesW, 8:171

Cheslerman. Charles W - a memorial, 4:83

Children's SCIence museums In northern Callfornla.

'"Countres:EI Dorado: Marrposlte. lhe rock that maoe

Cahfornla famous 8,183

Mann: Geology and mlf'lE!ralogy of RingMountaIn. 5:99

Modoc: Actrve faults north of lassen Volcanic

Natronal Parll. northern California, 3:51

Mono: Magma energy exploratory well Long

Valley caldera, 4:85: Mono lalle earthquake ofOctober 23,1990.2:27; Travertine HOI Spnngs.

8:171

lassen: Active f a u ~ s north of Lassen VolcaniCNaftonal Par1l, northern California. 3:51

Plumas: Tamarackluff, 6:130

San Diego: Earthquake planning scenano forlhe San Diego-Tijuanaarea, 9:204

San BernardIno: DIsplacement along the Manixf a u ~ , 2:33; Mines and geology of Fort IrWlrl,

6:123

Santa Barbara' A vrsillo Sama Barbara Island,7:147

Santa Cruz Earthquakedamage In Soquel

Demonslrabon Stale Foresl, 1:3

Shasla Aetlve faulls north of Lassen VolcanIC

National Par1l, J'lOrthern Cahfornla, 3:51

Sierra Tamarack luff, 6:130

SiskiYOU: Acftve laullS north of lassen VolcanIC

NallCJ'lal Par1l, northern Cahlornla, 3:51

Tnrllly: 11mber harvesllng In grarllllC terraioGrass Valley Creek, 11 :250

oDecomposed grartlle. 11 :243

Dlal0ms-The forage of the sea, 47 5

DrSf)lacemenl along the Manlx lault, 2:33

DIVISion of Mmes and Geology Bay area reg,ooal

OfffOO returns 10 San Fraf\CiSlXl, 8:187

DMG earthquake planning scenarios. 9:202

DMG releases: See geologic dala map: Open-file

reports: Special publicatiOns: Spec;al repol1

Dorn, Ronald I . 5107

Duck. cover, al'lCl hold dnll. 12:291

Dupras, Don, 3:64

E

Earthquake blbhography, 9:212

Earthquake damage In Soquel D e m o o s l l a ~ o nStale ForeSf, 1:3

Earthquake planrllog sceoalio tor the Sao DIego·Tijuana area. 9:204

Earthquakes:

Active !aulls north of Lasseo VOlcafllC NatoooalPar1l. northern California. 3:51

DIsplacement along the Mani" faull. 2:33

DMG eilJ1hquake planning scenarios. 9:202

DMGOFR 90·9, Index to f a u ~ evaluatloo

reports prepared1976·1989 under lhe AlqUist·Priolo Special Studies Zones Act. 1:19

DMG OFRs 90·10 lhrough go'14, MicrofIChecop<es oilaull evaluation rEtports for northern

Caillornla, 1:20

DMGOFR 90·15, Directory o! l a u ~ Invesllgallon

reports for developmeof Sites in Cah!offlla. 1:20

Duck. cover. and hold drill, 12:291

Earthquake blbhography. 9212

Earthquake damage 10 Soquel Demoostratooo

State Forest, 1:3

Earthquake p1anfllog scenariO lor the San

Dlego·Tiluana area. 9:204

Mod,hed Mercalh IfllenSlty scale. 9:203

Mono Lake earthquake Of October 23, 1990,

2:27

Official maps of new or reVised AlqU'SI·Priolo

Spec;al Studies Zones. 10:234

Prehmloary review maps 01 proposed AlqUist·

Priolo Speclal Sludles ZOf'lE!S, 3:63

Preparat<on and use Of earthquake p l a n n , , ~sce03nos. 9:195

Products 01 the Alqulst,Prlolo faull evaluaflon

afld ZOfllng prOfect, 3:59

SP42. Fault·rupture hazard zones In Cahtornla

Alquosl·Pnolo SpecIal SlUdies Zones Act 01

1972.1.19

SP60, Earthquake plannlog sceoano lor a

magnitude 8,3 earthquake on fhe Sao And'litilSlaultlrl soulhern California, 9;202

SP61, Earthquake p1annmg scenano tor a

magflltude 8.3 earthquake on the Sao

Andreas fau" In the Sao FranciSlXl Bay area,

9:202

SP78. Earthquake planfllng sceoarlo lor a

magnnude 7.5 earthquake on lhe Hayward

faull zone In lhe San Francisco Bay area.

9:202

SP99. Plaonlllll scenano for a majOr

earthquakEt 011 the Newport·lnglewood f a u ~zone. 9:202

SP100. Prannm9 scel1arlO fo, a malorearthquake. San Dlego·Tljuana metropohlanarea, 7:160: 9:202

SP104. The Lorna Pneta (Sanla CJ\lZ

Mouolains) California Earthquake 0117

October 1989, 2:42SP108 SeIsmic hazard InformatlCJ'l needs of

the Insuraoce Ifldustry, local government. and

property owl1ers III Cahfornla. 7:167

When the Bay area quakes, 48 4

F

Field lUP gUidebooks, 7:162

Field lnps·

Geology al the Irltersectlon of theGarlock and

Dealh Valley fau" zones. northern Avawatz

Mouolalns. 10:222

SP109, GeologiC excursions 10 oonhern

Cahlorflla: Sao Fraoc,sco 10 the SierraNevada,5119

G

GeologIC data map 00 7, IsoSlaHC r9Slduaigravity map of California and offshore southern

California. 5:120

GeologIC terms Of Spantsh ongm. 11:260

Geology ar'ld mineralogy of Rtng Mounlain. 5:99

Geology al the ontersectlOo 01 the Garlock andDeath Valley lault zones. oorthern AvawatzMounlains, 10:222

Geolhermal energy, 5:116

Greal seal 01 Cahto,nla, 7:159

GUylOIl. BliI, 12:275

H

f-Ianna, G Dallas-a memorial. 481

Help your studenls get eXClled about earth

SClence, 6:138J

Jeffers, Thomas H" 7:154

K

Klemhampl. Frank J , 8t71

Knnsley, David H. 5.107

L

Lahren, Mary M., 12:267

legler. June L., 6130




( Index Continued... )

Lui .10M S 6130

"eneroY ellploratory well. Longv*,

c.Ider.... 85

MaI'lpOlll..-the rockmat rnacle ea-torTNIlall'lOUS.

• "3Mil"*," EIIse-JoIOs CAUFOANIA GEOlOGYSIal1.8 182

McNutt Slro'e, 2"2.7

MMk. Norman. 2:33

M........a1lfldu5try 01 Califotroa In 1990, 10:219

MII'l8f8Is,3:71

Monerals

OMG OFR 90'16, tollneral classdicahOn at tileHannah Ra/lch SIte. TUlar. County, CablOlflla,klr portland c:erntll1t concrete aggregtl1e, 5 , , 9

Mlfl8fal c:ommodity leport-<!,atom"8, 10236

MlIl8l'a111ldustry of Cab!om&a ..,1990. 1021i

M.nerals. 37 1

Mltwals and nutntlOl'I. 3:68S P \ 0 5 . l n d u 5 t n a l m n e r M " ~ . $PIOl. M o n e r a l c o m t l ~ , r e p o r t ~ ..-.d "",-" e¥1h. 6:139

SRl62. ~ . . . - . c l dasslabOn POI'llWCl

wmenc c:onc:rett and -=trYe 01all 0Itw I'l'lIl'IIIOl UA'I,lOdltlK lI'Ilhe s.n u .~ S a n l a B a ' b a r a ~"9Oft. i2'.

.-.d rw.JtntJOn. 3 68

loW'IIII and of Fan Irwwl. 15 123

.....BongIl8l'llCal'lyon 1l'W'Ie. 1,10

....,... and gctOlDgy CIt Fort 11Wll'l. 6 123

Mol'lII'lQ CtOMWOtd puzZle. 10235

Sig",hcarooe os Cabtorl"llli m.rung WldusIIY. 36 4

SP103. MIOHand lTIU'I&ral ptoduo9r1; 8ClIVlt IIICar,IOrlll' (' 989-1990), 240

Update on the Surlace ""mOll and AlICIamabol'lAcr 011975, 12:288

U...ng mocroorganlsms to recover metal• . 7 154

M"'i"'i! ctOIlword puzzle, 10235

ModIliecl Mefcallj imlln5ny scale, 9:203

Mono Lak4I ~ a k e 01 OQober 23.1990,227

M.... WIWley. lodthe ong.nol Yosemle Valley.

12275

N

NewdWedOr Oepartmerll 01 ConseMltoon. • "96

New eyes on NS l8m CallIoflU; rock vamo$h.

5 t07Newlon. GallI 12288

~ _ R o b e n M 7,147

a0I6aaI 01 Mw or rfMS«l AIqulsl·PnoIoSpecIoIl SlUdMlsZooes. 10:234

Oper>·file RIports

OMG OfA 90-9. k1deJl1O fauIlllYaluabOnreports prepared197&-1989 under !he AIquo$lPnoIo SpeoaI Studies Zones AcI, 1:19

DMG OfA 90-10 ttvough 110-1' Mcro6ctleoopIIK of td reports !of norm.m~ ' 2 0OMG OfA 90-15, [)oI'IdOIy of t-..repons b ~ t l O p l . ~ . . . . . W'l!twl SflIOIiISlulieI zc.- on c.Moma I 20

OMG Of A 9O-1e, 1Wld ~ I l c : a b o n 01

lhe Ham¥1 Tvl¥. CouotyCaldornIa. lo r portancl 0I lNtI t conereteaggregate, 5 119

OMG OfA90-17. Lal'ldllodl h&zards , " !he 5mIValley area, lo t AngeIet and Vetllura ODUfIbeS.

CaIiIomla.12:286

OMG OFR 91 ·02, Landllldlll 'lazards In ItIe1.Jv9rmofli V a l l e ~ and V 1 Q M ~ , Alameda andContra Costa oounues. California. 11258

DMG OFR 91·07. Principal fllClS and &OUrooslo r 1528 land g l a " , , ' ~ Slallons 01 lhe SanFmnctSCO I by 2 quadrangle, Cahlornill. 6:140

p

Paoe lOf 19achets (Teadler Featur.):

Choldflln • ICIllf lOI f T ' I I - . . ~ '" /lOI1tlem

eawom..,118

Duck. 00't9I' and tlOId dol. 12291

EiIf1hqI,IalIe ~ I I P h Y , 9212

GeologIe..,,,. ot 0f100" 11260

Geoltlermal-oY 5 11&

Gr.- . . . . of CaioIomoI 7 159

'f04J( g e l . ~ -.oul-msoente.6.138

. . . . . . . . . . 371

loA roonga-a f)\aZIe 10235

RIqdIi '9 • ...-yone. chaIlllnOlI. 2.:39

~ > l I d geoIogoc fIllIP ot c.loma.. 8180

wtl8I'I the Bay ar.. qJal<8s. • 84

P.abody, George W 8 183

PQland. Jo5eph F --a. memonaI. 6,1"

Prelornnary r.....ew maps 01 proposed AIquls1-PnoloSpeoal Sludles Zones. 3113

PreparatlOfl and use oI.ar1l'lClulke planningSC8n1flOS,9:195

Products of !he A1quI$I' Pnolo laub evalualJOn andzoncng prq9Cl. 3 59

R

Rapp.JotvlS,,110.6123

RecydIng, e v e r y o n e ' s ~ . 2 39

Reochle. MC1a9l. 9.21)1

Rooe. Salem 5:99

Ron; Mountaon WIIdltlepr_. 5 106

S

Shepherd, HoIand, I 10

S o g n I f ~ of c.DfottN • "'"'"" ~ 3 SofllllU>«l geologie map of Callomla, 8 180

snow l.ak8 perdarll Youmte Em.gramW'lOImes.s.12267

Sowma, Ju" A I 3

SpeoaI P!lbIIcaloOl'lS

SP42. Fault·rupture h&zartl z In CabtOfnlll

AlqutsI'PnolO Spec:I;lI Srud. . . Zones AcI ot1972.1 19

SP60 pianIwlg sc.enano lor aInIgMuCle 8 3 on lhCtS- " " " " , . , . on ...-.emCMbna. 7,161: 9202$P61, pIiJrnng Iof a/ft1gn1tUd18 3 - . r quake on th e SaI'I Atw:hata.A on Ille s.r. FI'WlCISCO area. 7:161.

9=SP78 Eanhquake plIrnng ! iC8af IO lo r arnagrwtude 7 5 on Ille Ha)'WiWcIIauII zone on tt . San F'3nClSCO area7161 9:202

SP99. PIannmg SOIIfIiIf)O lo r amapeatthquake on ItIe N e w p o r l · t ~ l a u ~zone. 7 161.9202

$Pl00. Plannll'lg 5Ollt\IrIO lor a fl13lOfeanhquake. San DIego-Tijuana metropollulnarea, 7.160: 9202

SP103. M,1IeS and fI1JflIlral produeefs lIiC\I.... lnC a ~ l o r n i a (1989·1990). 2:40

Sf'104 The loma Pnela (Santa Cf\lZMounlalnS)Caldorflla. earthquake of 17October 1989. 2 '2

SPl05. Induslnal 1TlIl'lerals lrl CaI!lomla.''94

SPl06. ContrlbubOftS and publlcaloOl'lS 01 the

AppIoed Geophysocs PftlIElCl. 10:236

$P107. M<IWlf1II OOfT1fI1O(flly t8pDI1-tJeoloMeand lUllef's 8IIflh, 6139

SPl08, s - m . c h a z a r d " ' ~ b O n neeosofthe lf lSUfllflCe ondustry. local governrT*lI endJlfOJ*tY 0Wfl8fS 1fI CaIdomIa. 7 167

SP 109, GeoIogoc en:ursoons on north8m

S¥ l Friif1OlClO 10 t t . s.em. Nevada5119

SP I l l . M....II t:OffWfIlXlIty ~ 1 Q f ' f I I 1 8'0236

--SRI62. loAotl8tllland dassrIica'.JOrI Pottland0Il'TlIf1l concr1lIe aggregate and lIiC\I.... fflI,..01 a' olher moneral oommodl1ln

111the San Le.-sObIspo-SanIa Barbara produclJ()noeonstJmpllOfl

regtOfl. 9 2"',

SIal. todI of CabtOll'l1ll 5ef'penllne Of

5eql81lllrute? 7 16<'

T

Tamarack lull-A DevonIan pyroclasbe IIowd8poso!lI1 the northern Soena Nevitda. 6 130

TIn'Ibef llai'Y8$lll'lll on graMIC lerra,n Grass v.1lIyer...... 11250T HoI Spnngs. 8'171

U

UpGa18 on t t. Sur l_ loAoIWIg endAcI of 1975. 12:288

UIong t n l C I ' o o r g a ~ 10 rvc:oYef ~ 7 \ 5C

VVfS/t1O Santa 8albara Island 7'1'7v laITY'" 6 123

W

Wag..... DIllVl(l, 5'99 716<1.11:2.3

Wher'1 the B a 81e;1 quakes. 4:84

W,115,CJ.351.359

Wilson. RICk, 2:27

CALIFORNIA GEOlOGY DECEMBER 1991



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Documents

California Geology Magazine December 1991