Tectonic and geometric constraints for the Wind Canyon fault block on the western Garlock fault: an apatite fission track analysis
Iris SmithPublished August 14, 2018, SCEC Contribution #8427, 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #236
New apatite fission track analyses from the southeastern side of the Garlock fault near Mojave, CA were obtained in order to better understand the fault evolution and tectonics of the region. Apatite fission track analyses are commonly used to date the timing of exhumation of fault blocks, and in this case, can help us constrain fault geometries. The study area appears to include a fault block, referred to here as the Wind Canyon fault block. The fault block is ~13 km in length parallel and ~5 km in width perpendicular to the Garlock fault. The convex shape of the southeastern margin of the Wind Canyon block suggests that it is bounded on that side by either a southeast-vergent thrust fault or normal fault. Our initial apatite fission track ages from granitoids within the fault block are 51 to 31 Ma. These ages are intermediate between the youngest and oldest apatite fission track ages from the Tehachapi mountains (Blythe and Longetti, 2013) immediately to the north of the Wind Canyon fault block. Our initial interpretation is that Wind Canyon fission track ages are consistent with partial resetting by exhumation along the Wind Canyon fault during Miocene time. Different tectonic scenarios will be further evaluated with these new data.
Key Words
apatite fission track, Garlock fault, Tehachapis
Citation
Smith, I. (2018, 08). Tectonic and geometric constraints for the Wind Canyon fault block on the western Garlock fault: an apatite fission track analysis. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting.
Related Projects & Working Groups
Earthquake Geology
