Late Quaternary Faulting 'Along the 

Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, 

California and Nevada 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1991 

Prepared in cooperation with the 

U.S. Department of Energy 
Late Quaternary Faulting Along the 

Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, 

California and Nevada 

By GEORGE E. BROGAN, KARLS. KELLOGG, 

D. BURTON SLEMMONS, and CHRISTINA L. TERHUNE 

Prepared in cooperation with the 

U.S. Department of Energy 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1991 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1991 

For sale by the 

Books and Open-File Reports Section 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Federal Center 

Box 25425 

Denver, CO 80225 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

Brogan, George E. 

Late Quaternary faulting along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, 

California and Nevada I by George E. Brogan, Karl S. Kellogg, D. Burton 

Slemmons, and Christina L. Terhune. 

p. em. - (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1991) 

Includes bibliographical references. 

1. Neotectonics-California. 2. Neotectonics-Nevada. 3. Geology, 

Stratigraphic-Holocene. I. Kellogg, Karl S. II. Terhune, Christina L. 

Ill. Title. IV. Series. -

QE75.B9 no. 1991 

[QE511.42] 

557.3 s-dc20 91-782 

[551.8'7'09794] CIP 
CONTENTS 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 1 

Acknowledgments 3 

Methods 3 

Furnace Creek fault zone 5 

Chiatovich Creek section 5 

Dyer section 7 

Oasis section 8 

Horse Thief Canyon section 10 

Cucomungo Canyon section 11 

Sand Spring section 11 

Grapevine Canyon section • 11 

Redwall fan section 12 

Titus fan section 12 • 

Mesquite Flat section 12 

Death Valley Buttes section 13 

Beatty Junction section 13 

Death Valley fault zone 13 

Salt Springs section 13 

Mustard Canyon section 14 

Golden Canyon section 15 

Artists Drive section 15 

Badwater turtleback section 15 

Black Mountains section 16 

Copper Canyon turtleback section 16 

Willow Creek section 17 

Gregory Peak section 17 

North Ashford Mill section 17 

South Ashford Mill section 18 

Chronology of late Quaternary faulting 18 

Faulting inferred to be late Pleistocene to middle Holocene (Q2 and Q1c age; 

older than 2,000 years) 18 

Late Holocene faulting (Q18 and Q1A age; younger than 2,000 years) 19 

Conclusions 19 

References 19 

PLATES 

[Plates are in pocket] 

1. Map of linear features of the Furnace Creek fault zone between the Chiatovich and 

Mesquite Flat sections 

2. Map of linear features of the Furnace Creek fau,t zone between the Death Valley 

Buttes and Beatty Junction sections 

3. Map of linear features of the Death Valley fault zone between the Mustard 

Canyon and Black Mountains sections 

4. Map of linear features of the Death Valley fault zone between the Copper Canyon 

turtleback and south Ashford Mill sections 

Contents Ill 
FIGURES 

1. Map of the region surrounding the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 

system 2 

2. Reference map of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system 4 

3. Diagram of profiles of successively older fault-scarp morphology 7 

4. Diagram of slope angle versus age for fault scarps in bedrock and 

fanglomerate 7 

5-7. Sketch maps of scarp pattern and Quaternary units in part of the: 

5. Dyer section 9 

6. Oasis section 10 

7. Salt Springs section 14 

TABLES 

1. Geomorphic features associated with active faults, ranked approximately by 

frequency of occurrence 6 

2. General characteristics of geomorphic surfaces 8 • 

3. Summary of Quaternary faulting along the Furnace Creek fault zone 20 

4. Summary of Quaternary faulting along the Death Valley fault zone 21 

• 

IV Contents 
Late Quaternary Faulting Along the 

Death Valley_.:_Furnace Creek Fault System, 

California and Nevada 

By George E. Brogan 1

, Karl S. Kellogg, D. Burton Slemmons2 , and Christina L. Terhune 

Abstract 

The Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, in 

California and Nevada, has a variety of impressive late Quaternary neotectonic features that record a long history of recurrent 

earthquake-induced faulting. Although no neotectonic features 

of unequivocal historical age are known, paleoseismic features 

from multiple late Quaternary events of surface faulting are 

well developed throughout the length of the system. Comparison of scarp heights to amount of horizontal offset of 

stream channels and the relationships of both scarps and 

channels to the ages of different geomorphic surfaces 

demonstrate that Quaternary faulting along the northwesttrending Furnace Creek fault zone is predominantly right 

lateral, whereas that along the north-trending Death Valley 

fault zone is predominantly normal. These observations are 

compatible with tectonic models of Death Valley as a 

northwest-trending pull-apart basin. 

The largest late Quaternary scarps along the Furnace 

Creek fault zone, with vertical separation of late Pleistocene 

surfaces of as much as 64 m (meters), are in Fish Lake Valley. 

Despite the predominance of normal faulting along the Death 

Valley fault zone, vertical offset of late Pleistocene surfaces 

along the Death Valley fault zone apparently does not exceed 

about 15 m. 

Evidence for four to six separate late Holocene faulting 

events along the Furnace Creek fault zone and three or more 

late Holocene events along the Death Valley fault zone are 

indicated by rupturing of Q 1 B (about 200-2,000 years old) 

geomorphic surfaces. Probably the youngest neotectonic 

feature observed along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 

system, possibly historic in age, is vegetation lineaments in 

southernmost Fish Lake Valley. Near-historic faulting in Death 

Valley, within several kilometers south of Furnace Creek 

Manuscript approved for publication April 15, 1991. 

1

Presently with Geomatrix Consultants, Santa Ana Heights, CA 

92707. 

2

Center for Neotectonic Studies, Mackay School of Mines, 

University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89559. 

Ranch, is represented by (1) a 2,000-year-old lake shore I ine 

that is cut by sinuous scarps, and (2) a system of young scarps 

with free-faceted faces (representing several faulting events) 

that cuts Q 1 s surfaces. 

INTRODUCTION 

The Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system of 

eastern California and western Nevada (fig. 1) is an active 

tectonic structure of regional significance that has had a 

profound influence on the geologic and geomorphic 

development of the western Great Basin. This fault system, 

more than 300 km (kilometers) in length, is the second 

longest fault system in California, surpassed in length only 

by the San Andreas fault system, and shows abundant 

geologic and geomorphic evidence of. youthful surface 

rupture. However, no large historic earthquakes are known 

to be associated with faults in the system (Real and others, 

1978; Ryall and others, 1966). All fault-related features, 

with one possible exception, are interpreted as prehistoric, 

although presently ongoing aseismic creep may be 

occurring in places (Burford and Harsh, 1980; Sylvester and 

Bies, 1986). For this reason, a scarp- or lineamentproducing faulting event may be due to either an earthquake 

or a period of aseismic fault creep. 

Movement along other faults in nearby areas has 

produced large earthquakes during historic time (Jennings 

and others, 1975; Ryall and others, 1966), and many of 

those faults have youthful fault-related features that are 

similar to features along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek 

fault system (Slemmons, 1967; Jennings and others, 1975). 

Examples include the 1872 Owens Valley earthquake, 

focused about 95 km west of Death Valley, and the 1932 

Cedar Mountain earthquake, about 50 km north of Fish 

Lake Valley. As recently as 1986 in Chalfant Valley along 

the White Mountains, almost 25 km west of Fish Lake 

Introduction 
1W 

Mtn 

Mercury0 

50 100 KILOMETERS 

Figure 1. Map of the region surrounding the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, showing major geographic features and 

trace of major faulting along fault system. 

Valley, centimeter-scale scarps and cracks of tectonic origin 

formed during a moderate earthquake ( dePolo, 1989). 

Accordingly, the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system 

is considered active and is a potential source of large 

earthquakes. The chronology of geologically recent faulting 

discussed in this report is therefore a useful background for 

assessing contemporary seismicity patterns and recurrence 

periods for large earthquakes on the fault system. 

2 late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
The Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system may be 

viewed as part of a large, currently active, northwestdirected pull-apart zone, such that movement along the 

Furnace Creek fault zone is mostly strike slip and that along 

the north-trending Death Valley fault zone is mostly normal 

slip (Burchfiel and Stewart, 1966; Stewart, 1983). Estimates 

of right-lateral displacement along the Furnace Creek fault 

zone range between 40 and 100 km, but displacement is 

probably closer to 80 km (evidence summarized by Stewart, 

1983); right-lateral displacement along the Death Valley 

fault zone was originally reported to be less than 8 km 

(Wright and Troxel, 1967) but was mote recently estimated 

to be about 35 km (Butler and others, 1988). 

The large component of normal offset along the 

Death Valley fault zone is a recent manifestation of the 

same general extensional processes that produced the 

impressive turtleback structures (denuded detachment 

surfaces on mostly Precambrian rock) in the Black 

Mountains (for example, Drewes, 1959; Hamilton, 1988). 

Stewart (1983) suggested that the Panamint Range may 

have originally resided atop the Black Mountains and 

subsequently slid 80 km to the northwest to its present 

location along the detachment (or sev~ral detachments) 

during middle to late Tertiary time. The gap or void created 

by ongoing extension between the Panamint Range and the 

Black Mountains is the site of the present Death Valley. 

This report describes the Death Valley-Furnace Creek 

fault system between Wildhorse Flat (pl. 1A) at the north 

end of Fish Lake Valley, and Shoreline Butte (pl. 4) at the 

south end of Death Valley. Figure 1 shows the major ranges 

and valleys near the fault system. Faults along the main fault 

trace are mapped and described, and some of the faults 

subsidiary to the main fault system also are mapped. The 

mapped subsidiary faults include those in northern Fish 

Lake Valley between Indian and Marble Creeks (pl. 1A), in 

central Fish Lake Valley north of Oasis (pl. 1A), in the 

Oriental Wash area (pl. lB), Ubehebe Crater area (pl. 1 C), 

along the northwest side of Tucki Mountain (pl. 2), and 

along the west side of Death Valley (pls. 1C, 3, and 4). 

The northwest-trending Furnace Creek fault zone, 

shown on plates 1 and 2, is the northern part of the Death 

Valley-Furnace Creek fault system and is subdivided for 

purposes of discussion into 12 sections (fig. 2). A neotectonic map of the Furnace Creek fault zone within 

California, based largely on the unpublished mapping of 

G.E. Brogan (the same data used for this report), was 

recently compiled (Bryant, 1988). The north-trending Death 

Valley fault zone, the southern part of the fault system, is 

subdivided into 11 sections (southernmost part of pl. 2 and 

pis. 3 and 4). 

The term "section" rather than "segment" is used in 

this report because in the past decade the latter term has 

acquired a specific meaning in neotectonic studies (for 

example, Machette and others, 1991 ). A fault segment refers 

to a part of a fault zone or system that typically lies adjacent 

to a coherent or semicoherent block during a faulting event, 

so it commonly undergoes synchronous movement and has 

a map pattern that is distinct from that of adjacent fault 

segments. In this report, the subdivision of the fault system 

into sections is subjective and is based on chalJges in (1) 

trend of faults, (2) recency of faulting as expressed by the 

preservation of fault-related geomorphic features, (3) width 

of the fault zone, (4) consistency of fault patterns, and (5) 

proximity of the most recently active trace to adjacent range 

fronts and bedrock structures. Sections may, in fact, be 

segments, but tnat meaning is not necessarily implied in this 

report. 

Acknowledgments 

This report summarizes the principal findings of G.E. 

Brogan's study of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 

zone, begun in 1969. He performed all of the original field 

work, aided by special low-sun-angle aerial photographs 

taken for this work. On the basis of additional aerialphotograph interpretation and limited field work, Kellogg 

and Terhune verified, revised, and condensed text and map 

information from the original report. Numerous localities 

were checked in March 1989 by M.D. Carr, K.F. Fox, Jr., 

K.S. Kellogg, D.W. Rankin, M.C. Reheis, J.C. Tinsley, and 

J.C. Yount. Thorough reviews of the manuscript were made 

by K.F. Fox, Jr., R.A. Thompson, and V.M. Glanzman. This 

work is part of the Yucca Mountain Program in cooperation 

with the U.S. Department of Energy (Interagency 

Agreement DE-AI08-78ET44802). 

The original investigation by Brogan was suggested 

by Slemmons of the Mackay School of Mines, University of 

Nevada at Reno, and was conducted under his overall 

guidance. Support for the original investigation was 

provided by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the 

California Division of Mines and Geology, the National 

Science Foundation, Mackay School of Mines Foundation, 

Woodward-Clyde Consultants, and the U.S. Geological 

Survey. The people who contributed significant time and 

thought during the course of the original study include W.J. 

Carr, L.S. Cluff, B.W. Troxel, G.A. Carver, and C.E. Glass. 

METHODS 

Faults were mapped using stereoscopic pairs of lowsun-angle aerial photographs (approximate scale 1: 12,000) 

and concentrated on interpreting geomorphic features and 

surfaces. Maps were compiled at scale 1 :24,000, then 

recompiled for publication at a scale of 1 :62,500. The 

low-sun-angle aerial photographs are most useful for 

interpreting scarp morphology in alluvial terrain where 

surfaces are of low relief. Consequently, faults in high-relief 

bedrock areas were not studied extensively. Fault scarps and 

other fault-related features subsequently were identified and 

studied in the field. 

Methods 3 
Plate 1A 

N 

I 

Plate 1B 

DEATH VALLEY FAULT ZONE 

SECTIONS 

SA Salt Springs 

MC Mustard Canyon 

GO Golden Canyon 

AD Artists Drive 

BT Badwater turtleback 

BM Black Mountains 

CO Copper Canyon turtleback 

WC Willow Creek 

GP Gregory Peak 

NM North Ashford Mill 

SM South Ashford Mill 

FURNACE CREEK FAULT ZONE 

SECTIONS 

CK Chiatovich Creek 

DS Dyer 

OS Oasis 

HT Horse Thief Canyon 

CC Cucomungo Canyon 

SS Sand Spring 

GC Grapevine Canyon 

RF Redwall fan 

TF Titus fan 

MF Mesquite Flat 

DB Death Valley Buttes 

BJ Beatty Junction . 

50 KILOMETERS 

Plate 3 

Figure 2. Reference map of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, showing the 12 sections of the Furnace 

Creek fault zone and 11 sections of the Death Valley fault zone. 

4 late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
Fault scarps were studied for evidence of recurrent 

displacement by means of fault-scarp morphologic 

te~hniques. The methods utilized for this fault-scarp study 

were developed and described by many workers (for 

example, Slemmons, 1977; Wallace, 1977, 1978; Bucknam 

and Anderson, 1979; and Pease, 1979). The geomorphic and 

structural nomenclature used herein also follows these 

sources, as well as some previous studies of a similar nature 

in other regions (for example, Clark, 1973; Brown and 

Wolfe, 1972; Ross, 1969; Vedder and Wallace, 1970; and 

Brown, 1970). Faults and fault-related features were 

classified according to a scheme originally compiled by 

Slemmons (1977) (table 1). Clark (1973) also described 

some of the features useful in identifying recent faulting. 

Two methods were used to estimate the ages of 

faulting along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system. 

One method involves the interpretation of fault-scarp 

morphology using the techniques of Slemmons (1977) and 

refined by Wallace (1977), who showed that slopes along 

fault scarps in alluvium are controlled successively by 

gravity-, debris-, and wash-related processes. The original 

surface of the fault scarp is replaced by an erosion surface 

and a debris slope; the slope of the erosion surface and 

debris slope gradually decline through time (fig. 3). The rate 

of slope decline depends on the process that controls the 

steepest slope on the scarp. By estimating the duration that 

each process controls the maximum slope angle, Wallace 

(1978, fig. 12) estimated the age of faulting that produced 

scarps (fig. 4 ). The estimated age appears to depend on 

climate, character and consolidation of the faulted material, 

orientation of the fault, and the height and slope of the 

original fault scarp (Wallace, 1978; Pease, 1979; and Pierce 

and Coleman, 1987). Low scarps decline in slope more 

rapidly than high scarps; thus, the original type and amount 

of dip slip are also important (Bucknam and Anderson, 

1979). 

The second method used to estimate the age of 

faulting events in the Death Valley area is based on 

interpreting the relative ages of fault-related features and 

successive geomorphic features. For example, at some 

localities a fault cuts an older alluvial surface or surfaces, 

whereas a younger surface remains undisturbed across the 

fault trace. At many localities, scarps in progressively older 

stratigraphic units and· (or) geomorphic surfaces have 

progressively larger offsets, indicating that recurrent 

faulting occurred along the same trace. 

We employed a four-fold classification for geomorphic surfaces along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek 

fault system (table 2), incorporating sparse age control from 

the Death Valley area; this classification is derived from 

similar classifications developed by Denny (1965), Hunt 

and Mabey (1966), Hooke (1972), and W.B. Bull (written 

commun., 1974). We consider the general chronology 

shown on table 2 to be a reasonable geomorphic tool useful 

for estimating the relative ages of surfaces in a small area; 

however, correlations from one area to another may not be 

accurate, and correlations between distant areas may be 

misleading. The correlation problem is paramount between 

Fish Lake Valley and Death Valley where the climates of 

the valleys and adjacent mountains differ widely. 

Consequently, the estimated ages for geomorphic surfaces 

cited in table 2 should be viewed as approximations 

requiring much refinement. Some refinement has occurred 

in Fish Lake Valley (Reheis, 1988; Sawyer and Slemmons, 

1988). 

FURNACE CREEK FAULT ZONE 

This study evaluates the Furnace Creek fault zone 

from the north end of the zone near Chiatovich Creek in 

Fish Lake Valley (pl. 1A) to the mouth of Furnace Creek 

Wash, north of Texas Spring, in Death Valley (pl. 2). 

Geologic and geomorphic features express youthful faulting 

along much of this part of the fault zone, which is about 170 

km long. The north end of the fault zone curves toward the 

northeast, where youthful scarps apparently die out. Rightlateral strike slip along the Furnace Creek fault zone is 

accommodated by normal movement along the northeasttrending faults. Other northeast-trending fault zones west of 

the Silver Peak Range have youthful scarps (Reheis, 1988; 

M.C. Reheis, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 

1988), suggesting that the slip on the Furnace Creek fault is 

transferred to other northeast-trending faults in Fish Lake 

Valley. Southeastward, faults assigned to the Furnace Creek 

fault zone extend up Furnace Creek Wash (pl. 3) into the 

Amargosa Desert, where they appear to terminate (Wright 

and Troxel, 1967). A field reconnaissance of the fault zone 

in Furnace Creek Wash revealed little evidence of youthful 

faulting, although faults cutting Quaternary deposits were 

mapped by McAllister (1970); faults in Furnace Creek 

Wash are not shown on plate 3. An aerial reconnaissance of 

the Keane Wonder fault, which coincides with the 

southwestern base of the Funeral Mountains, revealed no 

geomorphic expression of youthful faulting, and that fault 

was not studied further. 

Chiatovich Creek Section 

The concave-eastward Chiatovich Creek section (CK; 

this symbol and those in subsequent discussions refer to 

fault sections shown on fig. 2 and on pis. 1--4) is the 

northernmost recently active part of the Furnace Creek fault 

zone. This section is further subdivided into a northern part, 

7.6 km in length having a mean trend of N. 34° E., and a 

southern part, 11.5 km long with a mean trend of N. 30° W. 

The northern part curves away from the White Mountains 

range front near the mouth of Indian Creek and is defined by 

a series of discontinuous scarps in the Quaternary alluvialFurnace Creek Fault Zone 5 
Table 1. Geomorphic features associated with active faults, ranked approximately by frequency of 

occurrence 

[From Slemmons, 1977, and oral commun., 1979] 

Rank 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Geomorphic feature 

Strike-slip faults 

Scarp, eroded scarp. 

Bench. 

Linear canyon, gully, gulch, swale, trench, trough, stream, 

or valley. 

Pond, depression, swampy depression, sag, playa, sag pond, 

swampy trench, rhomb depression. 

Lateral stream- or drainage-channel offset. 

Fault gap, notch, or saddle. 

Trench, wedge- or rhomb-shaped depression, elongate 

depression. 

Offset ridgeline or hill. 

Riedel shears, en echelon fissures. 

Deflected or diverted drainage channel, valley axis, or 

stream line. 

Linear or elongate ridge (pressure ridge), bulge or buckle, 

termination bulge. 

Trough. 

Ponded alluvium. 

Aligned notch. 

Shutterridge. 

Swale. 

Aligned vegetation or linear boundary. 

Spring, elongate spring, marsh, ground-water barrier. 

Lineament (lithologic, topographic, vegetation, mineralized, 

soil-contrast, and so forth). 

Fault valley or graben (rift). 

Fault trace. 

Fault path or pebbly path. 

Open crack or fissure. 

Faceted ridge or spur, triangular facets. 

Alignment of springs or very elongate springs. 

Normal-slip faults 

Scarps (simple, fissure, trench or graben, longitudinal or 

step, subsidence). 

Faceted spurs and ridges. 

Over-steepened base of mountain fronts. 

Rejuvenated valley floors with terraces upstream from fault 

scarp. 

Zig-zag faults on conjugate sets of orthogonal fractures. 

Arcuate scarps or sets of concentric scarps. 

Wineglass-shaped canyons (as viewed from valley opposite 

canyon). 

Reverse-slip faults 

Scarps. 

Over-steepened base of mountain fronts. 

Faceted spurs or ridges. 

Mole-track or bulldozed scarps or traces. 

Grabens or fissure swarms above main fault trace. 

6 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
Crest 

5" I 

""." ~ CONTROLLEP 

~ FAULT I 

S" Fault '7 60" - I 

------ ~1------- GRAVITY AJ 

/ DEBRIS "'I o / Free face (Slope CONTROLLEd~ 3 51 replacement 

1 Debns slope begms) 5o-1 Oo I ----------! Wash slope 

35° 

8°-25° 

DEBRIS 

CONTROLLED 

DEBRIS AND 

WASH d 

CONTROLLE I 

WASH I 

CONTROLLED 

Figure 3. Profiles of successively older fault-sca p 

morphology. From Wallace (1977). Erosional slopes alof"}g 

fault scarps in alluvium are controlled successively l:)y 

gravity-, debris-, and wash-related processes. Dashed lirle 

represents outline of previous profile. 

(/) 

w 

w 

a: 

(.!) 60 w 

0 

~ 

u1 

...J 

(.!) 

z 

<( 

w 

a.. 

0 

...J 

(/) 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Fractured bedrock 

1 03 1 04 105 106 1 07 

AGE, IN YEARS 

Gravit~r 

contmlr d 

control! Deb''f d 

Was 

control! d 

Figure 4. Slope angle versus age for fault scarps in bedrdck 

and fanglomerate determined from north-central Neva~a. 

Modified from Wallace (1978). I 

fan deposits of Fish Lake Valley. The southern plrt 

coincides with the eastern front of the White Mountains 

from Indian to Busher Creeks. A series of scarps ahd 

benches having a more northerly trend than the range-frf nt 

fault splits away from the main fault trace north of Busl er 

Creek. This splay of the Furnace Creek fault zone ends to 

the south in a prominent set of northward-trending scarps in 

alluvial-fan deposits east of the main fault trace between 

Marble and Indian Creeks. Earlier mapping that covers the 

Chiatovich Creek section was published by Albers and 

Stewart ( 1965), Krauskopf ( 1971 ), and Robinson and Crowder (1973). 

Late Quaternary and Holocene fault-related features 

in the Chiatovich Creek section include both eastward- and 

westward-facing fault scarps, grabens, offset streams, and 

shutterridges. Offset shutterridges and drainages indicate a 

predominant component of right-lateral strike slip along 

north- or northwest-trending parts of this section of the fault 

zone. 

Q18 surfaces are faulted in two places and probably 

by three separate events between Indian and Marble Creeks 

(M.C. Reheis, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 

1989). Just south of Indian Creek, a 24-m-high east-facing 

scarp in deposits underlying an inferred mid-Pleistocene 

(Q2) surface contains a slight but distinct bench. Along 

trend with the bench to the north is a small scarp with 3.3 m 

of relief on an inferred older Holocene (Q1c) surface near 

the mouth of Indian Creek. The beveled profile of the higher 

scarp and the superposition of two scarps are interpreted as 

evidence of recurrent faulting. 

The sinuous scarp that cuts the alluvial-fan deposits at 

the mouth of Leidy Creek shows greater relief where it cuts 

an inferred Pleistocene (Q2) surface than it does where it 

cuts younger surfaces. Scarps cutting the inferred Pleistocene surface range in height from several meters to as many 

as several tens of meters in the most dissected deposits. In 

a surface believed to be early Holocene (Q1c), evidence of 

faulting varies from faint lineaments to scarps as much as 

several meters high. No fault-related features were 

recognized in alluvial deposits of either Q1A or Q18 age near 

Leidy Creek. 

Dyer Section 

The Dyer section (OS, pl. lA), 10.4 km in length with 

a mean trend of N. 22° W., coincides with the White 

Mountains range front between Busher and Toler Creeks. 

Scarps in poorly consolidated alluvial deposits at the mouth 

of Perry Aiken Creek near the middle of the Dyer section 

have the greatest relief of any scarps along the Furnace 

Creek fault zone (fig. 5). The largest scarps face eastward, 

sloping uniformly at about 30° and having as much as 64 m 

of relief. The zone of surface rupture in the Dyer section 

ranges in width from that of a single carp to nearly 1 km. 

Earlier mapping of the Dyer section was published by 

Bryson (1937), Strand (1967), Krauskopf (1971), and 

Albers and Stewart ( 1965). 

The faulted fan deposits near Perry Aiken Creek (fig. 

5) are of inferred Pleistocene age (Q2). No fault-related 

features are recognized with certainty in units younger than 

Furnace Creek Fault Zone 7 
Table 2. General characteristics of geomorphic surfaces, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault system, California and Nevada 

[m, meter; >, more than; -, not applicable] 

Surface Desert varnish 

QIA None ........................ 

QIB None to light .... ........... 

QIC Medium to dark .... .... .. ,. 

Q2 Heavy .... ........ ........... 

Death Valley 

surface 

Active bars and channels 

Inactive bar and channel. 

Subdued bar and swales. 

Smooth, with pavement; 

eroded by Lake Manly 

shorelines. 

Fish Lake 

Valley 

surface 

Active channel.. .......... .. 

Abandoned channels and 

surfaces 

Subdued lobes and swales. 

Rounded steps .......... .... 

Approximate 

relief above 

Q1A surface 

0-Jm 

0-12 m 

0-60 m 

Estimated 

age1 

0-200 years; historic. 

200-2,000 years; late 

Holocene2

. 

2,000-10,000 years; 

Holocene. 

> 10,000 years; 

Pleistocene (predates 

Lake Manly). 

1 Ages estimated on the basis of the 2,000-year-old shoreline of Hunt (1960) and Hunt and Mabey (1966) and an inferred high stand 

of Lake Manly 10,000 years B.P. (Hooke, 1972). 2 14C dates on "Q16-type surfaces" from Fish Lake Valley range from about 650 to 2,170 years B.P. (Sawyer and Slemmons, 1988). 

Q2 in this area. Profiles across the scarps near Perry Aiken 

Creek do not show evidence of beveled crests. Possible 

evidence of younger faulting, expressed by discontinuous, 

subdued scarps(?) and linear, tonal contrasts on inferred 

younger Holocene surfaces (Q18), occurs at two localities 

within the Dyer section (pl. 1A). A broad break in slope on 

an inferred Q18 surface at the mouth of McAfee Creek may 

be a subtle fault scarp. Possible subdued scarps in undissected Q18(?)-age deposits also were recognized in several 

ravines about 0.6 km south of Busher Creek. 

Oasis Section 

The Oasis section (OS, pl. 1A), which has a fault 

length of 22.8 km and a mean trend of N. 42° W., contains 

three distinct zones of fault-related features. The western 

zone is a series of discontinuous scarps that follow the 

White Mountains range front. A central zone of scarps 

appears to be the modern trace of the Furnace Creek fault 

zone. The central and western zones merge and follow the 

range front near the north end of the Oasis section, but in the 

southern part of the Oasis section, the central zone is as • much as 1.6 km east of the range front. The eastern zone 

consists of discontinuous vegetation lineaments in the 

southern part of the Oasis section and extends southward 

into the Horse Thief Canyon section. A prominent set of 

vegetation lineaments also occurs south of the Lookout 

Mine on the east side of Fish Lake Valley adjacent to the 

Oasis section. Previous maps covering the Oasis section 

were published by Strand (1967), Ross (196 7), McKee and 

Nelson (1967), Reynolds (1969), Krauskopf (1971), and 

Stewart and others (197 4 ). 

Features indicative of recent faulting along the Oasis 

section include scarps with sinuous traces, en echelon 

scarps, conjugate scarps, vegetation lineaments, stream 

offsets, linear ridges, sags, ponded alluvium, and trenches. 

Between Toler and Wildhorse Creeks, the fault trace 

follows the curvilinear range front and is defined by a series 

ofprominent en echelon fault scarps; no continuous surface 

rupture is recognized along this reach of the fault zone. The 

scarps appear only to cut the Pleistocene (Q2-age) deposits. 

Younger alluvial deposits pond locally along the bases of 

westward-facing scarps. 

South of Wildhorse Creek, the main (central) zone of 

scarps trends away from the range front. A prominent set of 

fault scarps cuts an inferred Pleistocene (Q2) surface south 

of the mouth of Furnace Creek, defining sags and linear 

ridges. Nearly 20 m of relief was measured on an eastwardfacing scarp in Q2 deposits in this area, whereas a 

southwest-facing scarp in inferred older Holocene (Q1c) 

deposits has only about 1m of relief. Younger surfaces (Q18 

and Q1A) do not appear to have been faulted. 

Two prominent scarps that bound a sag along the 

main (central) fault trace just south of Furnace Creek offset 

three abandoned drainages. The southernmost drainage is 

offset about 62 m, the middle drainage is offset 69 m, and 

the northern drainage is offset successively across the two 

scarps in steps of 54 and 66 m for a total of 120 m of 

right-lateral displacement. Right-lateral strike slip 

8 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
N 

I >- UJ 

-J 

/ -J 

/ ~ 

/ 

EXPlANATION 

Modern alluvial surface 

Late Holocene surface 

Middle and early Holocene 

surface 

Pleistocene surface 

---- Contact 

----l-- Fault scarp-Bar and ball on 

downslope side 

---- Fault-related lineament 

· · · · · · · · •· · • Indistinct fault trace 

1000 2000 FEET 

Figure 5. Surficial geologic sketch map showing complex scarp pattern and Quaternary units in part of the Dyer section of 

the Furnace Creek fault zone. Bedrock is pre-Pleistocene in . Map drawn directly from aerial photograph. Location of sketch 

map is shown on plate 1 A. 

apparently exceeds northeast-side-down normal 

ment in this area. 

The vegetation lineament that ends on the north 

3.5 km northwest of Oasis marks the northern end of 

13.7-km-long zone of young features, possibly as young as 

Q1A in age, that extends into the Horse Thief Canyon 

section to the south. This zone may represent the youngest 

faulting along the Furnace Creek fault zone. Several days 

Furnace Creek Fault Zone 9 
after a severe summer storm in 1969 a 10.8-m-long fissure 

zone formed in modem playa deposits near the mouth of 

Furnace Creek. However, it was not possible to demonstrate 

if the fissure was tectonic in origin. · 

Geomorphic relationships several kilometers west of 

Oasis are shown on figure 6. The western scarps cut Q2 

surfaces, slope approximately 22°, and have about 1.5 m of 

vertical separation. The eastern scarps truncate Q2 surfaces, 

are several tens of meters high, and are as steep as 21 °. Both 

the eastern and western scarps within the area of figure 6 

appear older than Q1B surfaces. 

Horse ·Thief Canyon Section 

The Horse Thief Canyon section (HT, pis. 1A, 1B), 

with a fault length of 14.5 km and a mean trend of N. 40° 

W., extends from near the mouth of Cottonwood Creek to 

Willow Wash at the south end of Fish Lake Valley (pis. 1A, 

1B). Previous mapping of the Horse Thief Canyon section 

was published by Ross (1967), Strand (1967), and McKee 

and Nelson (1967). Other studies of the Horse Thief Canyon 

section were published by McKee (1968) and Reynolds 

(1969). 

Distinct vegetation lineaments continuous with the 

eastern zone of lineaments and small scarps in the southern 

part of the Oasis section are the principal indicators of 

youthful faulting along the northernmost 8 km of the Horse 

Thief Canyon section. These lineaments appear as 

vegetation lineaments in young alluvial deposits and may be 

of nearly historic (Q1A) age. Some of the vegetation 

lineaments may be cultural in origin, but those of northwest 

trend that coincide with boundaries of vegetation contrast 

are judged to be tectonic. 

EXPLANATION 

Modern alluvial surface 

Late Holocene alluvial surface 

Pleistocene alluvial surface-Queried 

where uncertain 

Contact 

Fault scarp-Bar and ball on downslope 

side 

Figure 6. Surficial geologic sketch map showing scarp pattern and Quaternary units in part of the Oasis section of the Furnace 

Creek fault system. Bedrock is pre-Pleistocene in age. Map drawn directly from aerial photograph. Location of map is shown on 

plate 1 A 

1 0 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
The most prominent fault-related feature in the 

southern part of the Horse Thief Canyon section is a 

discontinuous, southwest-facing linear scarp cutting an 

inferred Pleistocene (Q2) surface. The scarp is eroded 

extensively, and younger deposits in the cross-cutting 

drainage channels do not appear to be faulted. A few small, 

isolated, northeast-facing scarps occur along the range front 

in the southern part of the Horse Thief Canyon section, and 

several other small scarps cut alluvial deposits in the 

adjacent valley. Three drainages with right-lateral offset 

near the south end of the section (not shown on pl. 1B) show 

no evidence of a dip-slip component. 

Cucomungo Canyon Section 

The Cucomungo Canyon section (CC, pl. 1B), 16.2 

km in length with a mean trend of N. 55° W., is the only part 

of the Furnace Creek fault zone located almost entirely in 

bedrock within mountainous terrain. In Willow Wash, 

aligned valleys follow the same northwest trend as scarps in 

the Horse Thief Canyon section. The fault zone turns 

abruptly to a west-northwest trend in lower Cucomungo 

Canyon, then gently curves back to a northwest trend as it 

is traced southeast up the southwest side of Cucomungo 

Canyon and down the southwest side of Last Chance 

Canyon into Death Valley. Previous maps of the Cucomungo Canyon section were published by Strand (1967), Ross 

(1967), McKee and Nelson (1967), and McKee (1985). 

McKee (1968) estimated the long-term average rate of 

right-lateral movement for the Furnace Creek fault zone to 

be on the order of 0.25 mm (millimeter) per year on the 

basis of his correlation and interpretation of offset drainages 

and bedrock features across the Cucomungo Canyon 

section. This is an order of magnitude slower than the slip 

rate estimated by Bryant (1988) for late Quaternary faulting 

in the Red wall fan section, and about 13-25 percent of the 

lateral slip rate of 1.0 to 1.8 mm/yr, inferred in Fish Lake 

Valley by Sawyer ( 1988). 

The Furnace Creek fault zone is exposed in bedrock 

near the head of Last Chance Canyon, where it strikes N. 

60° W., and individual fault surfaces range in dip from 60° 

SW to vertical. As it is traced southward from Fish Lake 

Valley through the Cucomungo Canyon section into Death 

Valley, the Furnace Creek fault zone bends eastward and 

steps eastward. In concert with right-lateral strike slip along 

the fault system as a whole, this bend produces significant 

compression across the more westerly trending parts of the 

Cucomungo Canyon section; components of reverse dip slip 

have, in fact, been recognized along west-northwesttrending faults cutting bedrock within the Cucomungo 

Canyon section (M.C. Reheis, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 1989). 

Geomorphic features indicative of youthful faulting 

are abundant in the Cucomungo Canyon section and include 

small scarps, shutterridges, trenches, notches, benches, 

diverted drainages, linear va11eys, and various lineaments of 

unknown origin. Faults cut surfaces as young as Q1s in age. 

One kilometer west of Willow Spring, three drainages 

developed on Q1s surfaces show right-lateral offset of 4.6 to 

6.4 m. 

Sand Spring Section 

The Sand Spring section (SS, pl. 1B), 24.7 km in 

length with a mean trend of N. 36° W., extends from the 

mouth of Last Chance Canyon to about 1 km north of the 

northern boundary of Death Valley National Monument, 

along the base of the Grapevine Mountains. Northwest of 

Little Sand Spring the fault zone is marked by a series of en 

echelon, elongate ridges; these ridges trend approximately 

15° more west than the trend of the fault zone. The fault is 

further marked by aligned valleys and notches. South of 

Little Sand Spring, subdued, isolated scarps reflect recent 

faulting over a broad zone. Discontinuous scarps are 

mapped as far as 7 km northeast of the main fault near 

Oriental Wash. Previous maps of the Sand Spring section 

were published by Strand (1967), Reynolds (1969), McKee 

(1985), and Moring (1986). 

Small scarps on the Oriental Wash fan cut inferred 

Pleistocene deposits but are extensively eroded and cut by 

channels. All of these scarps slope less than 15°. Most 

faulting in the Sand Spring section appears to be older than 

that along adjacent sections of the fault zone, although 

Holocene deposits are offset near the southern end of the 

Sand Spring section (M.C. Reheis, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 1989). 

Grapevine Canyon Section 

The Grapevine Canyon section (GC, pl. 1C), 25.8 km 

in length with a mean trend of N. 38° W., comprises two 

distinct zones of fault-related features extending from near 

the northern boundary of Death Valley National Monument 

to Bighorn Gorge in the Cottonwood Mountains. Prominent 

scarps mark the main trace of the fault along the range front 

of the Grapevine Mountains. Strands of the main fault zone 

are exposed in bedrock along parts of the Grapevine 

Mountains. A second zone of fault-related features, starting 

about 1 km southwest of the main fault trace in the northern 

part of the Grapevine Canyon section, extends from 2 km 

south of the northern section boundary at least to the road to 

Ubehebe Crater. In the southern 2 km of the Grapevine 

Canyon section, a cluster of scarps on the west side of Death 

Valley continues southward into the Redwall fan and Titus 

fan sections. Fault scarps are sparse in this southwestern 

strand of the fault zone; a gap in the surface expression of 

the fault extends from the area of Ubehebe Crater to 

Furnace Creek Fault Zone 11 
Bighorn Gorge, a fault length of about 15 km. Previous 

· maps of the Grapevine Canyon section area were published 

by Strand (1967), Reynolds (1969), Streitz and Stinson 

(1977), and Moring (1986). 

The Grapevine Canyon section has abundant, welldeveloped features indicative of youthful faulting, including 

linear ridges and valleys, diverted and displaced channels, 

ponded alluvium, trenches, benches, notches, shutterridges, 

sags, springs, vegetation lineaments, en echelon scarps and 

benches, and beheaded channels. Immediately south of the 

site of the old Grapevine Ranger Station, displaced 

drainages indicate right-lateral slip of 12 to 21 m, with no 

obvious dip-slip component; a large shutterridge is also 

here. 

In the northern part of the Grapevine Canyon section, 

prominent scarps cut Pleistocene (Q2) deposits, and smaller 

scarps cut deposits inferred to be as young as early 

Holocene (Q1c). Youthful (Holocene?) scarps about 2 km 

south of Ubehebe Crater are mantled by unfaulted ash 

deposits. Scarps in Q2 surfaces typically have separations of 

about 15m, whereas the separation on corresponding scarps 

in inferred Q1c units generally is less than 1.5 m. Surfaces 

younger than Q1c do not appear to be faulted. Disruption of 

deposits assigned a Q1c age was identified for about 23.8 

km along this section of the Furnace Creek fault zone. 

Redwall Fan Section 

The Redwall fan section (RF, pl. 1C), 13 km long 

with a mean trend of N. 33° W., encompasses a single 

well-developed scarp, separated into four colinear parts by 

erosion and (or) buried by younger alluvial deposits. 

Previous maps covering the Redwall fan section were 

published by Reynolds (1969) and Streitz and Stinson 

(1977). 

The northernmost part of the Redwall fan section 

consists of a 1.9-km-long, northeast-facing scarp cutting a 

Q2 surface with relief as great as 23 m and a slope as steep 

as 33°. En echelon furrows (Reidel shears) trend northnorthwest across the crest of the scarp. The next set of 

scarps to the south displaces distributary channels in an 

inferred Q1c surface. The right-slip component ranges from 

0.2 to 2. 7 m, and relief on the scarps is 0.2 to 2 m. Scarps 

in a Q2 surface are 2.4 to 5 m high, suggesting recurrent 

faulting. The next series of scarps toward the south is mostly 

in dissected alluvium of suspected Q2 age; a distinct furrow 

and bench appear to represent the most recent surface 

rupture in this area. Farther south, the fault zone diverges 

from the range front of the Grapevine Mountains. The 

southern end of the Redwall fan section is marked by 

several northeast-facing scarps. These are separated from 

the next set of scarps to the north by more than 3 km. Q1c 

surfaces are the youngest geomorphic units believed to be 

faulted in the Redwall fan section. 

Within the Redwall fan section, an approximate late 

Quaternary right-lateral slip rate of 2.3 mm/yr (millimeters 

per year) for the Furnace Creek fault zone was calculated by 

Bryant (1988). The calculation assumed that an alluvial fan 

surface, older than Q1c and whose edge is offset right 

laterally by 46 m, is about 20 ka. 

Titus Fan Section 

The Titus fan section (TF, pl. 1 C), along the foot of 

the alluvial fan issuing from Titus Canyon, is 4.9 km long 

and has a mean trend of N. 31 o W. This section is 

characterized by multiple northeast-facing scarplets. 

Previous maps of the Titus fan section were published by 

Reynolds ( 1969) and Streitz and Stinson ( 1977). 

Surfaces assigned to unit Q1c clearly are faulted 

along the Titus fan section, and Q18 surfaces are disrupted. 

Scarps in inferred Q18 surfaces are small, typically less than 

0.5 m high, and locally appear as linear traces of surface 

disruption (mole tracks) rather than as distinct surface 

scarps. Immediately south of the Titus Canyon road, several 

faults, with as much as about 0.5 m down-to-the-east dip 

separation, are exposed in a barrow pit. Faults in this section 

are not known to disrupt modem (Q1A-age) alluvial 

deposits. Scarps cutting Q18 surfaces extend almost 

continuously for about 13 km southwest of the Titus 

Canyon section (to the middle of the Death Valley Buttes 

section). 

Mesquite Flat Section 

The Mesquite Flat section (MF, pl. 1C), 8.1 km long 

with a mean trend of N. 36° W., extends from the southern 

part of the Titus Canyon fan to Triangle Spring. Previous 

maps covering the Mesquite Flat section were published by 

Hunt and Mabey (1966), Reynolds (1969), and Streitz and 

Stinson ( 1977). 

Like the Titus fan section to the north, the Mesquite 

Flat section is not along a mountain front but is on an 

alluvial plain several kilometers west of the front. The fault 

zone is expressed mainly as vegetation lineaments and 

eroded scarplets. Northeast-facing scarplets as high as 1.8 m 

cut inferred Q18-age alluvial deposits in the southern part of 

the Titus Canyon fan. The local drainage has modified 

virtually all of these scarps. In Mesquite Flat, the fault zone 

is defined by sharp vegetation contrasts, aligned dunes, and 

tonal lineaments in playa deposits, but it is not known 

whether the playa deposits are actually faulted. The dunes 

are colinear with many of the vegetation lineaments and 

may have been localized by the stabilizing action of plants 

growing along the fault trace. 

12 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
Death Valley Buttes Section 

The Death Valley Buttes section (DB, pls. 1C, 2), 9.1 

km long with a mean trend of N. 46° W., extends from 

Triangle Spring to 2.0 km northwest of Mud Canyon. 

Previous maps covering the Death Valley Buttes section 

were published by Hunt and Mabey ( 1966), Reynolds 

( 1969), and Streitz and Stinson ( 1977). 

The northernmost 5.0 km of the Death Valley Buttes 

section has a nearly continuous, southwest-facing scarp cut 

along the base of a slope developed on Tertiary strata. The 

fault scarp generally is less than 1 m high. In addition, a 

series of north- to northwest-trending en echelon graben 

structures are northeast of the main fault, and cut geomorphic surfaces Q2 and QIB· Tertiary strata are strongly 

folded along this part of the fault zone. Instead of 

continuous scarp in the southern part of the Death Valley 

Buttes section, the fault zone has a series of westwardfacing scarplets that appear to form a north-trending set of 

en echelon tension gashes. 

The youngest faulting appears to involve unit Q18 

along the northern 5 km of the Death Valley Buttes section. 

Farther south, unit Q1c is the youngest unit thought to be 

faulted. 

Beatty junction Section 

The Beatty Junction section (BJ, pl. 2), 19.5 km long 

wirh a mean trend ofN. 50° W. stretches from the Stovepipe 

Wells area to the sharp southward bend in the trace of the 

active fault system north of Salt Springs. It is the 

southernmost section of known active faulting along the 

Furaace Creek fault; no evidence of late Pleistocene or 

Holocene faulting was discovered along the southeastward 

projection of the Furnace Creek fault in Furnace Creek 

Wash. Previous maps showing the Beatty Junction section 

were published by Noble and Wright (1954) and Hunt and 

Mabey ( 1966). 

The northern part of the Beatty Junction section is 

marked by both northeast- and southwest-facing scarps. In 

this area, the youngest faulted deposits are assigned to unit 

QlB. Locally, there is progressively greater offset of older. 

(Q1c? and Q2) units that suggest recurrent Quaternary 

displacements. 

Farther south toward Beatty Junction, scarps are 

discontinuous, generally facing southwestward with less 

th.1n 1.0 m of relief. More than 50 percent of the fault trace 

in tL ·~s area is covered by undisturbed alluvial deposits. Only 

one low (less than 1 m), discontinuous scarp was recognized 

frou'l Beatty Junction to the southeast end of the Beatty 

Junction section; vegetation lineaments are the principal 

indicator of young faulting in this part of the fault zone. 

DEATH VALLEY FAULT ZONE 

The Death Valley fault zone is structurally distinct 

from the Furnace Creek fault zone; the former strikes 

generally north and is characterized by a large, probably 

predominant component of normal slip. The fault zone was 

studied between the mouth of Furnace Creek, north of Texas 

Spring in central Death Valley, and Shoreline Butte at the 

south end of Death Valley (southernmost part of pl. 2 and 

pls. 3 and 4 ). Evidence of youthful faulting persists 

throughout nearly all of this zone. The main fault zone 

extends along the east side of Death Valley, but geomorphic 

evidence of youthful faulting also can be seen along the 

west side of the valley. Only the main fault zone is 

described in this report. 

South of Shoreline Butte, the Death Valley fault zone 

changes from a sinuous, north-trending fault to a linear, 

northwest-trending fault. This southern extension of the 

Death Valley fault zone was referred to as the Confidence 

Hills fault zone by Hunt and Mabey (1966). The late 

Cenozoic history of the southern Death Valley fault zone 

recently has been described by Butler and others (1988). 

Salt Springs Section 

The Salt Springs section (SA, pl. 2), 4.4 km in length, 

extends from about 1 km north of Salt Springs to the mouth 

of Cow Creek. Excepting the sinuous northern 1.5 km of the 

section, the average trend is about N. 10° W. The section is 

marRed by discontinuous, sinuous small scarps cutting 

alluvial fans of sediments shed from the Funeral Mountains. 

Previous maps covering the Salt Springs section were 

published by Hunt and Mabey (1966) and Streitz and 

Stinson ( 1977). 

The Salt Springs section consists of a northern 

sinuous but generally northeast-trending breached scarp and 

a southern set of north to northwest-trending discontinuous 

scarps. The northern sinuous scarp cuts through Salt Springs 

and is west facing for a mapped length of 2.3 km; this fault 

may extend further south-southwest into the valley, but was 

mapped only for the length covered by low-sun-angle aerial 

photographs. Relief along this scarp is as great as 3.0 m 

between Salt Springs and State Highway 190 but diminishes 

in either direction from that point; maximum slope angle of 

the scarp is 31 °. This fault displaces a lake shoreline (fig. 7) 

that existed briefly in Death Valley about 2,000 years ago 

(Hunt, 1960; Hunt and Mabey, 1966). The southern set of 

scarps is discontinuous, with trends ranging from N. 8° W. 

to N. 25° W., and relief of generally less than 0.5 m. These 

scarps are not aligned with one another and locally tend to 

produce tr~nches. 

Death Valley Fault Zone 13 
/ 

EXPLANATION 

Modern alluvial surface 

Late Holocene alluvial surface 

Lake deposits about 2,000 years old 

Middle and early Holocene alluvial surface 

Pleistocene alluvial surface 

Contact-Dashed where inferred 

Fault scarp-Bar and ball on downslope side; 

dotted where concealed 

1000 2000 FEET 

Figure 7. Surficial geologic sketch map showing scarp pattern and Quaternary units in part of the Salt Springs section of the 

Death Valley fault zone. Map drawn directly from aerial photograph. The 2,000-year-old Lake Manly shoreline of Hunt (1960) has 

been downdropped about 0.5 m or less on the northwest side of the fault zone. Bedrock is pre-Pleistocene in age. Location of 

sketch map is shown on plate 2. 

Mustard Canyon Section 

The Mustard Canyon section (MC, pl. 3) is 3.1 km 

long and is between the mouth of Cow Creek and BM -221 

on State Highway 190. Earlier mapping of the Mustard 

Canyon section was published by Noble and Wright (1954), 

Hunt and Mabey (1966), and McAllister (1970). 

The Mustard Canyon section is distinctive for three 

reasons: (1) it is not along a range front, (2) no geomorphic 

evidence of recent fault actlvtty was observed on lowsun-angle aerial photographs, and (3) the most prominent 

topographic trends are approximately N. 55° W. rather than 

north. The prominent northwestern topographic trends of 

this section, such as the southwest-facing slope along the 

southern flank of the hills surrounding Mustard Canyon, are 

probably fault controlled, as they are about parallel to 

northwest-trending faults cutting nearby bedrock mapped 

by Hunt and Mabey ( 1966). The main trend of the Death 

14 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
Valley fault zone is not offset across the Mustard Canyon 

section, so the relationship of the northwest-trending faults 

to the Death Valley fault zone is obscure. 

Golden Canyon Section 

The Golden Canyon section (GO, pl. 3) is 8.7 km long 

and has a mean trend of N. 22° W. Most of the section is 

expressed as a west-facing scarp along the western side of 

the northern Black Mountains. In addition, a 2-km-wide 

zone of east- and west-facing scarps cuts the alluvial fans of 

Tucki and Blackwater washes on the west side of Death 

Valley. Earlier mapping of the Golden Canyon section was 

published by Noble and Wright (1954), Hunt and Mabey 

( 1966), and McAllister ( 1970). 

The main trace of the Golden Canyon section, along 

the east side of Death Valley, consists of three parts. The 

northern 2.1-km-long part trends N. 32° W., and is 

characterized by several north-trending trenches developed 

within 0.8 km west of the frontal fault, which is 

discontinuously exposed. These trenches are mainly in an 

older surface developed on the Pliocene and Pleistocene(?) 

Funeral Formation; they are of variable but significant 

relief, with side slopes inclined generally less than 20°. The 

southern two parts of the section contain Holocene or late 

Pleistocene scarps associated with the frontal fault, exposed 

more or less continuously as a single west-facing fault 

scarp, which continues into the Artists Drive section to the 

south at the base of the Black Mountain range front. 

The central 3.8-km-long reach of this section, 

extending southward from just north of Furnace Creek 

Ranch, trends about N. 11 o W. and consists mostly of a 

west-facing scarp ranging from 0.2 m to 2.3 m high with 

free-face slopes as steep as 57°, although undercutting by 

modern alluvial erosion may have oversteepened some 

slopes. Slopes of scarps in this part of the fault range from 

23° to 30°, and from 46° to 57°. These two ranges in slope 

may represent two faulting events, separated by enough 

time for the slopes to decline on the older set before the 

younger set formed. 

Careful geodetic leveling across two scarps in this 

central part of the section, 1.5 km south of Furnace Creek 

Wash, showed significant vertical creep across the scarps 

(Sylvester and Bies, 1986); between 1970 and 1985, scarp 

height on the eastern scarp increased by 7 mm and that on 

the western scarp by 2 mm. 

The southern part of the Golden Canyon section 

trends linearly N. 30° W. in unconsolidated deposits for 3.2 

km. Relief on west-facing scarps is as great as 2.1 m. A few 

scarps west of the main fault trace define small grabens. 

The youngest faulting in the Golden Canyon section, 

possibly the youngest clearly fault related feature of the 

Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, displaces 

alluvium that is interpreted to be oflate Holocene (Q18) age. 

The youngest faulted alluvium is not varnished, contains 

scarps with free faces, and grades into recent unfaulted 

alluvium. According to Wallace (1977, 1978), scarps with 

free faces persist only a few hundred to a few thousand 

years in central Nevada. 

Artists Drive Section 

The Artists Drive section (AD, pl. 3) is 13.1 km long 

with a mean trend of N. 26° W. This section extends from 

0. 7 km east of the mouth of Desolation Canyon on the north 

to 0.7 km northwest of Natural Bridge on the south. Earlier 

mapping of the Artists Drive section was published by 

Noble and Wright (1954), Hunt and Mabey (1966), and 

Streitz and Stinson (1977). 

This section defines the eastern margin of the Artists 

Drive fault block of Hunt and Mabey (1966), who mapped 

the Artists Drive section as continuous with the Golden 

Canyon section to the north and the Badwater turtleback 

section to the south. The Artists Drive section is the only 

section of the Death Valley fault zone that has mainly 

exposed bedrock west of the most recently active fault trace. 

Consequently, geomorphic features produced by recent 

fault activity are not well preserved; scarps within this 

section offset upper Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Artists 

Drive Formation of Hunt and Mabey (1966), which are 

mantled by Tertiary and Quaternary gravels and typically do 

not have a free face exposed. The north end of the section 

consists of east-facing scarps in alluvium and bedrock, and 

at the mouth of Desolation Canyon a short, west-facing 

scarp has relief of 0.8 m. 

The central part of this section consists of a westfacing scarp in unconsolidated gravels with relief of 0.8 m 

to 3.4 m. A complex trench or graben as wide as 800 m is 

west of the main scarp, indicating extension normal to the 

main fault trace. In the southern part of the section, the fault 

cuts exposed bedrock, and traces indicating recent fault 

actiyity are not preserved, even in colluvial gravel deposits 

along the western margin of the fault. Along the west side 

of Death Valley, about 12 km west of the faults cutting the 

west side of the Black Mountains, a series of scarps trending 

about N. 13° E. defines a complex trench. 

The most recent . faulting event in the Artists Drive 

section appears to displace alluvium believed to be of Q 1 B 

age with a scarp 0.8-1.2 m high; older alluvium inferred to 

be of Q1c age has a scarp as high as-5 m. Scarps on an older, 

Q2 , surface are large (as much as 4.8 m of relief) and 

rounded. These three distinct sets of scarps appear to depict 

at least three faulting events along the Artists Drive section. 

Badwater Turtleback Section 

The Badwater turtleback section (BT, pl. 3) is 6.5 km 

long, has a mean trend of N. 6° W., and extends from 0. 7 km 

Death Valley fault Zone 15 
northwest of Natural Bridge on the north to 0.4 km 

east-northeast of Badwater. Earlier mapping of the Badwater turtleback section has been published by Curry (1954 ), 

Drewes (1963), and Hunt and Mabey (1966). 

Scarps in unconsolidated deposits face mainly 

westward; many branch scarps or secondary scarps occur in 

the down thrown block west of the main scarp at the base of 

the mountain front. The trends of scarps are generally north, 

but one prominent trench 1 km north of Badwater trends N. 

52° W. The predominant type of displacement appears to be 

down-to-the-west normal faulting. The slopes of scarps 

within this section are as steep as about 35°, although-below 

an elevation of -260 ft they appear to be modified and 

oversteepened, probably by lakeshore erosion when ancient 

Lake Manly reached this elevation about 2,000 years ago 

(Hunt, 1960). Scarps mapped with slopes of 34°-36° above 

-260 ft but below sea level are topographically below lake 

deposits that may correlate with a 10,000 to 11,000-year-old 

stand of Lake Manly identified by Hooke (1972). These 

relationships suggest that most scarps within the Badwater 

turtleback section are between 10,000-11,000 years and 

2,000 years old (Q1c age). 

Some faults cut deposits inferred to be as young as 

Q18• A discontinuous east-facing scarp about 30m west of 

the 2.0-m-high east-facing scarp, about 1 km south of the 

section's northern boundary, cuts surfaces of two ages: (1) 

a surface on a narrow bar of well-varnished gravel (inferred 

unit Q1c), south of the road to Natural Bridge, containing 

two scarps, each with about 0.5 m of relief, and (2) a raised 

surface to the north covered by unvarnished gravel (inferred 

unit Q18) containing a scarp with 0.15 m of relief. 

Two faulting events were also identified west of the 

main fault trace about 1 km north of the section's southern 

boundary. Here, an older faulted surface shows little varnish 

and probably represents unit Q2 that was covered by Lake 

Manly. The maximum slope of a scarp cutting this surface 

is 12° with relief of 0. 7 m. A younger surface at this locality 

(probably unit Q18) on premodern alluvium with no varnish 

is partly obscured by modem Q1A -age alluvium. A scarp 

cutting the inferred Q18 surface has relief of about 0.2 m. 

Black Mountains Section 

The Black Mountains section (BM, pl. 3) is 11.2 km 

long, has a mean trend of N. 4 ° W., and extends southward 

from near Bad water to the mouth of Copper Canyon. Earlier 

mapping of the Black Mountains section was published by 

Curry (1954), Drewes (1963), Noble and Wright (1954), 

and Hunt and Mabey (1966). 

Faults cutting inferred Q18 surfaces are the youngest 

along this section, similar to the youngest faults observed in 

the three sections to the north. A spectacular example of 

youthful faulting is near the mouth of a wineglass canyon in 

the center of the Black Mountains section, where inferred 

Q18-age alluvium contains east-facing scarps with about 0.2 

m of relief. The same ruptures cut an older alluvial unit 

thought to be of Q1c age, where the relief on the scarps is 

0.5 to 1.5 m. These relationships suggest at least two events, 

one older and one younger than 2,000 years. 

A main west-facing frontal scarp is mapped 

discontinuously at the base of the Black Mountains, and a 

few east- and west-facing scarps occur in the alluvium west 

of the frontal scarp. Fissures of unknown origin are along 

the margins of all of the fans of this section, as well as along 

the southern margin of the Copper Canyon fan just south of 

this section. The most recent scarps along the Black 

Mountains section are commonly west of the frontal scarp, 

and they may be as steep as 34 o to 61 o with as much as 

several meters of vertical offset. Many of the scarps cutting 

surfaces inferred to be older than Q18 (2,000 years) have 

free-face slopes steeper than 34°, and slopes of 50° or more 

are common. 

Several grabens are oriented adjacent and roughly 

parallel to the west side of the main frontal scarp. Additional 

geomorphic trenches are west of the main scarp near the 

base of several alluvial fans and define arcuate patterns 

concentric to the fans. These unusual patterns suggest that 

fan morphology governs trench geometry and that the 

trenches are probably caused by compaction of fine-grained 

deposits at the toe of the fans due to alluvial loading. 

Copper Canyon Turtleback Section 

The Copper Canyon turtleback section (CO, pl. 4) is 

5.8 km long and has a mean trend of N. 28° W. The northern 

3.3 km has a mean trend of N. 38° W., and the southern 2.5 

km has a mean trend of N. 17° W. The section is between 

the mouths of Copper Canyon on the north and Sheep 

Canyon on the south. Earlier mapping of the Copper 

Canyon turtleback section was published by Curry ( 1954 ), 

Noble and Wright (1954), Wright and Troxel (1954), 

Drewes ( 1959), and Hunt and Mabey ( 1966). 

Scarps in unconsolidated deposits in the Copper 

Canyon turtleback section are predominantly west facing; a 

few branch faults with east-facing scarps define trenches 

with the predominant west-facing scarps. The southwest 

side of the turtleback, a domed and erosionally exposed 

fault surface separating Tertiary rocks above the surface 

from Precambrian rocks below (Hunt and Mabey, 1966), 

trends approximately N. 38° W., and is marked by a 

discontinuously exposed frontal fault scarp separating Precambrian rock to the northeast from alluvium to the 

southwest. Many of the scarps have relief in excess of 4 m, 

and virtually all of the scarps have free-face slopes in excess 

of 40°. The steepness of the slopes may be related to the 

bouldery talus present along the base of the range. 

16 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
Four trenches are identified along this section; three 

trend north and are on the downthrown block immediately 

west of the main west-facing scarp. The fourth trench is 490 

m wide and trends N. 49° E. 

At least three faulting events, the oldest thought to be 

older than 10,000 years, are preserved at several localities 

along this section. At a locality 1.6 km north of the mouth 

of Sheep Creek, a large west-facing scarp with a free face 

offsets a probable Q2 surface. A smaller scarp, also with a 

free face, generally follows the trace of the older, larger 

scarp and displaces a bouldery deposit that shows a welldeveloped varnish (Q1c age?); the scarp also displaces a 

Q 1 8 surface by a lesser amount. West of the smaller scarp at 

this locality is another young scarp that displaces a coarse 

debris flow interpreted to be Q18 in age. Near the head of 

the Copper Canyon fan, Q1c-age alluvium is cut by a 

prominent west-facing scarp, although about 80 m 

southwest of this scarp, another scarp cuts alluvium of 

probable Q18 age. 

Willow Creek Section 

The Willow Creek section (WC, pl. 4) is 5.5 km long 

with a mean trend of N. 53° E. The section extends from 

Sheep Canyon southwestward to Mormon Point. Earlier 

mapping of the Willow Creek section was published by 

Curry (1954 ), Drewes (1959), Hill and Troxel (1966), and 

Hunt and Mabey ( 1966). 

This section is characterized by Quaternary faults that 

trend northeast, about 60° to the general trend of the Death 

Valley fault zone. The youngest scarps within the section 

displace Q18-age alluvial deposits. All scarps are higher in 

elevation than the 2,000-year-old Lake Manly shoreline of 

Hunt and Mabey (1966), so the relative age of faulting to 

that shoreline is unknown. Most scarps face northwest, 

although a few face southeast, so that faulting along this 

section is predominantly down to the northwest, with no 

evidence observed of a lateral component of slip. Relief on 

scarps is as much as 9.4 m, with maximum slopes ranging 

from 21 o to overhanging, suggesting local reverse faulting. 

All scarps are dissected by stream channels filled with 

unfaulted alluvium. Beveled scarps at two localities within 

the section are weak evidence for more than one faulting 

event; at one locality the upper and lower beveled surfaces 

slope 22° and 70°, whereas at the other locality they slope 

40° and 70°. The great heights (as much as 9.4 m) of some 

scarps of the section also suggest that more than one 

faulting event occurred along the section; extreme 

northwest-southeast extension in the Death Valley region 

(Burchfiel and Stewart, 1966) would logically produce large 

normal faults along this northeast-oriented section. 

Gregory Peak Section 

The Gregory Peak section (GP, pl. 4) is along the 

western base of Smith Mountain from Mormon Point to a 

location 8.9 km to the south. The mean trend of the section 

is about N. 28° W. Earlier mapping within the section was 

published by Hunt and Mabey (1966) and Noble and Wright 

(1954). 

Scarps within the section generally face westward, 

with secondary and branch scarps facing both eastward and 

westward. Relief on scarps interpreted as the main rangefront fault is as high as 8.8 m. Measured maximum slopes 

on all scarps vary from 25° to 52°; this wide range in slope 

angles suggests more than one period of faulting. 

No distinct evidence for lateral slip was found along 

the Gregory Peak section, although at the southern end of 

the section incised streambeds are faulted with scarp 

geometry that could be ascribed to normal slip combined 

with right slip. Also, en echelon northeast fault trends in the 

sou!hem part of the section may be Reidel fractures 

associated with a component of right slip. 

Four prominent trenches and two prominent branch 

scarps occur in the downthrown block of the Gregory Peak 

section west of the main, west-facing range-front fault. The 

trenches trend north-south to N. 30° W., and the two 

prominent branch scarps trend north-south to N. 20° E. 

Scarps cut alluvium younger than 2,000-year-old lake 

deposits; the youngest surface faulted appears. to be unit 

Q18• A well-developed west-facing scarp near the southern 

border of the section cuts an inferred Q1c surface. A 

northward extension of the scarp, 0. 7 km north of the 

southern end of the section, has distinctly lower relief where 

it cuts a Q18(?) surface and is in part buried by modem 

(Q1A-age) alluvium. 

North Ashford Mill Section 

The north Ashford Mill section (NM, pl. 4) is 5.8 km 

long and has a mean trend of N. 13° W. The northern end 

of the section is at the northern limit of outcrop of a wedge 

of Pliocene and Pleistocene(?) Funeral Formation where it 

is in fault contact with Precambrian rocks on the west side 

of the Mormon Point turtleback (Nobel and Wright, 1954). 

At the south end of the section, a 2.2-km-wide zone of 

outcrop of Funeral Formation separates the Death Valley 

fault zone and the exposed turtleback surface. Earlier 

mapping of this section was published by Noble and Wright 

(1954) and Noble (1941). 

This section follows a dissected west-facing fault 

scarp along the mountain front that has as much as 200 m of 

relief; the fault displaces interbedded volcanics and 

fanglomerate of the Funeral Formation (Noble, 1941 ). 

Younger east- and west-facing scarps in alluvium along the 

Death Valley Fault Zone 17 
base of the scarp generally face westward and have as much 

as 6.6 m of relief; most scarp faces slope between 35° and 

40°. 

The most recent faults in this section cut Q18 surfaces 

and are similar in age to the most recent faulting in the 

Gregory Peak section. No lateral component of movement 

was noted in the section. 

South Ashford Mill Section 

The south Ashford Mill section (SM, pl. 4-), 2.7 km 

long, marks the southern extent that was studied along the 

Death Valley fault zone. The south Ashford Mill section is 

characterized by a sinuous fault pattern that trends between 

N. 10° W. and N. 40° W., and extends southward to the 

southern limit of mapp!ng, about I km northwest of Ashford 

Mill. The fault zone probably extends southward beneath 

the modem alluvium of the Amargosa ,River. Earlier 

mapping of the south Ashford Mill section was published by 

Noble (1941 ). 

The section crosses the base of an alluvial fan at the 

mquth of Ashford Canyon and mostly consists of isolated, 

subdued, rounded scarps in alluvium. In the northern 0.8 km 

of the section, older scarps with about 80 m of relief 

displace interlayered basalt, breccia, and fanglomerate of 

Pliocene(?) age (Noble, 1941 ). A scarp in Quaternary 

deposits with 0.3 m of relief is 18 m west of the larger, older 

scarps. Another discontinuously expressed fault trace trends 

about N. 10° W. for 2.7 km near the Amargosa River. 

Scarps along this trace face westward, have relief varying 

from less than 0.3 m to as much as 0.6 m, and are breached 

by streams containing unfaulted alluvium. Scarps of this 

trace also are oriented in a series of en echelon, left -stepping 

sections, suggesting a component of right slip. 

CHRONOLOGY OF LATE 

QUATERNARY FAULTING 

The Death V ~Hey-Furnace Creek fault system shows 

evidence of multiple late Quaternary faulting events. The 

oldest faulting considered in this study is interpreted to be 

late Pleistocene in age. Holocene faulting events also are 

well documented, although possible historic faulting has 

been tentatively identified at only one locality. 

Faulting thought to be late Pleistocene (Q2 age) 

occurs along the entire Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 

system, and evidence for faulting believed to be Holocene 

was recognized in all sections of the fault system except the 

Salt Spring and Mustard Canyon sections of the Deatli 

Valley fault zone. Furthermore, along the Furnace Creek 

fault zone, right-lateral separation of geomorphological 

features thought to be late Pleistocene or younger is, in most 

places, greater than dip separation and was identified in all 

but the Sand Spring and Mesquite Flat sections. In contrast, 

along the Death Valley fault zone, small right-lateral 

separations were identified only on the Badwater turtleback 

and Copper Canyon sections. 

/ 

Faulting Inferred to be late Pleistocene to 

middle Holocene (Q2 and Q1 c age; older 

than 2,000 years) 

Large, apparently continuous scarps, believed to be 

mostly Pleistocene in age, persist along the eastern base of 

the White Mountains from Indian Creek southward to Oasis 

(pl. lA). North of Indian Creek, the most recently active 

fault traces diverge eastward from the range front into the 

basin of Fish Lake Valley. The range front north of Indian 

Creek is linear and may have been the locus of surface 

faulting during Pleistocene time, although large scarps in 

Holocene material have not been mapped in this area. 

The largest scarps in inferred Pleistocene materials 

along the Furnace Creek fault zone are within the Dyer 

section (pl. IA). These large scarps probably developed 

during several faulting events during late Pleistocene time, 

although direct evidence of multiple faulting has not been 

identified. 

From Oasis southward to Sand Spring, the fault trace 

is well defined in the valley between the Last Chance Range 

and the Sylvania Mountains (pl. IB); mountain fronts 

bordering the fault are interpreted to represent fault scarps 

that are probably as old as Tertiary., 

In northern Death Valley, surface faulting along the 

main trend of the Furnace Creek fault zone is poorly defined 

in the Sand Spring section, although faults to the east of the 

trend of the main fault zone appear to displace late Pleistocene (Q2) surfaces. Holocene faulting may not have 

occurred within the northern Sand Spring section. 

The Furnace Creek fault zone adjacent to and west of 

the Grapevine and Funeral Mountains (pls. I C, 2) appears to 

have been faulted extensively during late Pleistocene time; 

fault-related features of inferred Holocene age are also 

common. 

The Death Valley fault zone also appears to have 

been active during late Pleistocene time. High fault scarps 

modified by Lake Manly shorelines, which reached their 

high point about I 0,000 years ago, attest to late Pleistocene 

fault activity in Death Valley. Faulting of inferred Holocene 

age appears to have continued along most of the Pleistocene 

fault scarps, except possibly in the Mustard Canyon section 

and along the western range front of the Black Mountains in 

the Artists Drive section (pl. 3) where scarps may be 

entirely of Pleistocene age. 

At the south end of Death Valley (pl. 4 ), inferred 

Pleistocene faulting occurred as- far south as the south 

Ashford Mill section of the study area and continued south 

18 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
along the Confidence Hills south of Shoreline Butte, beyond 

the area studied for this investigation. 

Late Holocene Faulting (Q18 and Q1A age; 

younger than 2,000 years) 

Several discrete faulting: events inferred to be of late 

Holocene age are identified along the Death Valley-Furnace 

Creek fault system, although evidence for historic faulting 

remains equivocal. Evidence for four to six separate late 

Holocene faulting events along the Furnace Creek fault 

zone and three or more late Holocene events along the 

Death Valley fault zone are indicated by rupturing of Q18 

surfaces. Most of these events cannot be correlated from one 

section to another, but events in the Horse Thief Canyon 

section of the Furnace Creek fault zone and the Golden 

Canyon section of the Death Valley fault zone appear to be 

younger than those in other sections. 

Along the Furnace Creek fault zone, late Holocene 

faulting is believed to have occurred in all but the Chiatovich Creek, Sand Spring, Grapevine Canyon, and Redwall 

fan sections, and possibly the Oasis section. Geomorphically fresh features in the Horse Thief Canyon section are 

thought to be the youngest unequivocally fault induced 

features in the Furnace Creek fault zone. Small fissures 

found in 1969 in a manmade playa in the Oasis section may 

be related to faulting, although they did not form in 

association with a known seismic event. 

Late Holocene faulting has certainly occurred along 

the Death Valley fault zone. In the Salt SP.rings area (pl. 3), 

a scarp displaces a lake shoreline that is approximately 

2,000 years old. The full length of the faulting is unknown; 

only 2.3 km of the young scarp has been mapped, although 

it may extend for a length of 10 km into the salt pan west of 

Furnace Creek Ranch. The sinuous nature at the north end 

of the scarp suggests predominantly dip-slip movement. 

In the Golden Canyon section (pl. 3) of the Death 

Valley fault zone, low scarps have free faces, probably 

representing at least two faulting events, in unvarnished 

alluvial materials interpreted as unit Q18. These scarps are 

probably the youngest clearly fault related features of the 

Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system and may be nearly 

historic. The system of young scarps has been mapped 

northward as far as Furnace Creek Ranch. 

South of the Golden Canyon section along the 

western front of the Black Mountains, faulting of Q1B-age 

alluvium extends about 60 km to the south border of the 

study area. Scarps in inferred Q18 surfaces range in relief 

from less than 0.3 m to 1.5 m. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Although no major seismic activity has been recorded 

during historic time along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek 

fault system, many youthful geomorphic features related to 

active faulting are present along this zone. Recent leveling 

experiments (Sylvester and Bies, 1986) suggest that aseismic creep may be as important as earthquakes in scarp 

development. 

Late Pleistocene and Holocene faulting along the 

Furnace Creek fault zone is predominantly strike slip with a 

local, subordinate dip-slip component (table 3), which is 

possibly due to local changes in strike of the fault zone. The 

geomorphically sharpest fault-related features are in the 

Horse Thief Canyon area~ although small fissures in a 

manmade playa near Oasis may represent historic 

displacement. Many sections of the Furnace Creek fault 

zone show evidence of multiple periods of faulting, 

although the number of inferred Holocene events appears to 

increase (to as many as four) southward along the zone. 

Fault displacement along the Death Valley fault zone 

is predominantly dip slip (table 4), with only a minor 

component of right slip observed locally. The contrasting 

styles of faulting between the Furnace Creek and Death 

Valley fault zones (predominantly strike slip along the 

former and dip slip along the latter) well supports the rift 

model for the formation of Death Valley first suggested by 

Burchfiel and Stewart (1966). In this model, right-lateral 

motion along the Furnace Creek fault zone and along a 

northwest-trending southern extension of the Death Valley 

fault zone created an intervening zone of tension in which 

the north-trending graben of Death Valley formed. 

The youngest discrete faulting event along the Death 

Valley fault zone, possibly near historic in age, occurred in 

the Golden Canyon area, although evidence for multiple 

Holocene faulting events is better exposed along the 

southern part of the Death Valley fault zone. 

REFERENCES 

Albers, J.P., and Stewart, J.H., 1965, Preliminary geologic map of 

Esmeralda County, Nevada: U.S. Geological ·Survey 

Mineral Investigations Field Studies Map MF-298, scale 

1:200,000. 

Brown, R.D., Jr., 1970, Map showing recently active breaks along 

the San Andreas and related faults between the northern 

Gabilan Range and Cholame Valley, California: U.S. 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations 

Map I-575, scale 1:62,500. 

Brown, R.D., Jr., and Wolfe, E.W., 1972, Map showing recently 

active breaks along the San Andreas fault between Point 

Delgada and Boling Bay, California: U.S. Geological 

Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-692, 

scale 1 :24,000. 

Bryant, W.A., 1988, Northern Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 

zone, southern Mono and eastern Inyo Counties, California: 

California Division of Mines and Geology Fault Evaluation 

Report FER-193, 20 p., 10 maps, scale 1:62,500. 

References 19 
Table 3. Summary of Quaternary faulting along the Furnace Creek fault zone, California and Nevada 

[Inferred geomorphic surfaces are described in table 2. n.o., none observed; -, value is unknown; >, more than; <, less than] 

Faultsection 

abbreviation 

(fig. 2) 

CK 

DS 

OS 

(eastern 

zone) 

OS 

(central 

zone) 

OS 

(western 

zone) 

HT 

cc 

ss 

GC 

RF 

TF 

MF 

DB 

BJ 

Oldest 

unfaulted 

surface 

QIA 

None? 

None? 

Surface 

faulted 

Maximum 

slope 

angle 

go 

Scarp 

Maximum 

vertical 

separation -

(m) 

l.g 

21.5 

64 

1.4 

0.9 

30 

1.5 

21 

n.o. 

1.5 

4.g 

3.0 

1.5 

20 

2.0 

23 

.5 

.9 

l.g 

1.5 

.3 

.3 

2.4 

Maximum 

rightlateral 

separation 

(m) 

15 

132 

n.o. 

n.o. 

n.o. 

n.o. 

120 

n.o. 

n.o. 

n.o. 

n.o. 

6.4 

46 

n.o. 

g.5 

21 

2.7 

n.o. 

n.o. 

1.2 

n.o. 

<.6 

n.o. 

}.g 

1.5 

7.3 

Length of 

continuous 

surface 

breakage 

in section 

(km) 

19.1 

19.1 

10.4 

>6 

g.7 

1J.g 

5.5 

7.0 

7.7 

>6.0? 

<10 

>10? 

24.7 

23.g 

>23.g 

>13.0 

>13.0 

4.9? 

>4.9 

g,l 

>5.0 

4.1 

>7.g 

>11.7 

>19.5 

20 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 

Remarks 

Q1s faulted at two localities and by three 

separate events (M.C. Reheis, written 

commun., J9g9). 

Scarps define broad zone of faulting curving 

in trend from N. 30° W. on south toN. 34° 

E. 

Slopes of about 17° and go above face of 

scarp suggest multiple faulting events. 

Minor fault scarps at the mouth of McAfee 

Creek and near the mouth of Busher 

Creek; may represent different faulting 

events. 

Section contains scarps with largest vertical 

separation along Furnace Creek fault zone. 

Continuous with youngest faults in the Horse 

Thief Canyon section. 

Main fault trace. Scarps in Q2 extend 

northward into the Chiatovich Creek 

section. Historic fissures may be fault 

related. 

Q1s is not present at fault scarps, but 

prominence of scarps suggests faulting 

occurred after Q1s was deposited. 

Vegetation lineaments continue an additional 

6 km north into Oasis section. 

West-facing breached small scarps; appears 

to continue into the Cucomungo Canyon 

section. 

Fault surface exposed in bedrock dips 60-90° 

sw. 

Faulting appears to be distributed over a 

broad zone: many small scarps are east of 

main trace. cutting Q2 surface on Oriental 

Wash fan. Holocene (Q1c?) surface offset 

at south end of section (M.C. Reheis, 

written commun., 19g9). 

Dip slip is about 10 percent of right slip. 

Dip slip is about one-third of right slip. 

Mole tracks. 

Multiple parallel scarps. 

Mainly vegetatio~ lineaments. 

Continuous north into MF section. 

Continuous to south in BJ section. Unit Q2 

has larger scarps than unit Q1c. 

May extend into DB section. 

At least three events; may extend into SA 

section to south. 

Two events noted. 
Table 4. Summary of Quaternary faulting al~ng the Death Valley fault zone, California 

[Inferred geomorphic surfaces are described in table 2. n.o., none observed; -, value is unknown; >, more than; <, less than; , about] 

Scarp 

fault- Oldest section Surface Maximum 

unfaulted Maximum 

abbreviation surface faulted slope vertical 

(fig. 2) separation angle (m) 

SA QlA QlB 31° 3.0 

MC Q,c n.o. n.o. n.o. 

GO QlA QlB 57° 2.3 

AD QlA QlB 22° 1.2 

QlA Q,c 48° 5.0 

QlA Q2 4.8 

BT QlA QlB . 15 

QIA Q,c 32° 2.7 

QIA Q2 9.0 

QIA QIB .2 

'QIA Q,c .5 

QIA Qz 120 .7 

BM QIA QlB 32° .2 

QIA Q,c -50° 1.5 

QIA Q2 90° 10.4 

QlA QIB 64° 

QIA Qz - 1.2 

co QIA QIB 0.6 

Q IA Q,c 4.5 

QIA Q2 90° 15 

QIB Q,c 1.5 

we QIA QIB <.9 

QIA Q,c 70° 2.4 

QIA Qz >90° >9.0 

GP QIA QIB 52° 1.5 

QIA Q,c 37° 4.5 

QIA Qz 34° 8.8 

NM QIA QIB 38° 1.5 

QIA Q2 40° 6.6 

SM QIA QIB 220 .6 

QIA Q,c 270 2.7 

Bryson, R.P., 1937, Faulted fanglomerates at the mouth of Perry 

Aiken Creek, Northern lnyo Range, California-Nevada: 

Pasadena, Calif., California Institute of Technology M.S. 

thesis, 50 p. 

Bucknam, R.C., and Anderson, R.E., 1979, Estimation of faultscarp ages from a scarp-height-slope-angle relationship: 

Geology, v. 7, p. 11-14. 

Burchfiel, B.C., and Stewart, J.H., 1966, "Pull-apart" origin of the 

central segment of Death Valley, California: Geological 

Society of America Bulletin, v. 77, p; 439--442. 

Burford, R.O., and Harsh, P.W., 1980, Slip on the San Andreas 

fault in central California from alignment array surveys: 

Seismological Society of America Bulletin, v. 70, 

p. 1233-1262. 

Butler, P.R., Troxel, B.W., and Verosub, K.L., 1988, Late Cenozoic history and styles of deformation along the southern 

• 

Maximum Length of 

right- continuous 

surface lateral Remarks breakage separation in section (m) (km) 

n.o. 2.3 Displaces 2,000-year-old shoreline. 

n.o. n.o. No distinct faulting in section. 

n.o. 8.7 Possibly two faulting events in QJB. 

n.o. 13.1 Appears older than faulting in GO section. 

n.o. 13.1 

n.o. Large, rounded scarps. 

n.o. On main fault trace . 

.0. 6.5 On main fault trace. 

n.o. 6.5 On main fault trace. 

n.o. On branch fault. 

.2 6.5? On branch fault. 

n.o. 6.5? On branch fault. 

n.o. 11.2? On main fault. 

n.o. On main fault. 

n.o . 11.2 On main fault. 

n.o. On branch faults at base of alluvial fans. 

n.o. 1.2 On branch fault. 

n.o. 5.8? On main fault trace. 

n.o. 5.8 On main fault trace. 

n.o. 5.8 On main fault trace. 

3.6 On branch fault. 

n.o. On secondary fault. 

n.o. 5.5? On main fault trace. 

n.o. 5.5 On main fault t ace. 

n.o. 8.9? On main fault trace. 

n.o. 8.9 On main fault trace. 

n.o. 8.9 On main fault trace. 

n.o. 

n.o. 5.8 On main fault trace. 

n.o. 

n.o. 2.7 

Death Valley fault zone, California: Geological Society of 

America B ullctin, v. 1 00, p. 402-410. 

Clark, M.M., 1973, Map showing recently active breaks along the 

Garlock and associated faults, California: U.S. Geological 

Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map 1-741, 

scale 1 :24,000. 

Curry, H.D., 1954, Turtlebacks in the central Black Mountains, 

Death Valley, California, in Jahns, R.H., ed., Geology of 

southern California: California Division of Mines Bulletin 

170, p. 53-59. 

Denny, C.S., 1965, Alluvial fans in the Death Valley region, 

California and Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 466, 62 p. 

dePolo, C.M., 1989, Seismotectonics of the White Mountains fault 

system, east-central California· and west-central Nevada: 

Reno, Nev., University of Nevada M.S. thesis, 308 p. 

References 21 
Drewes, Harald, 1959, Turtleback faults of Death Valley, California-a reinterpretation: Geological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 70, p. 1497-1508. 

__ 1963, Geology of the Funeral Peak quadrangle, California, 

on the east flank of Death Valley: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 413, 78 p. 

Hamilton, W.B., 1988, Detachment faulting in the Death Valley 

region, California and Nevada, in Carr, M.D., and Yount, 

J.C., eds., Geologic and hydrologic investigations of a 

potential nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, 

southern Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1790, 

p. 51-85. 

Hill, M.L., and Troxel, B.W., 1966, Tectonics of the Death Valley 

region, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, 

v. 77, p. 435-438. 

Hooke, R.L., 1972, Geomorphic evidence for Late-Wisconsin and 

Holocene tectonic deformation, Death Valley, California: 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 83, 

p. 2073-2098. 

Hunt, Alice, 1960, Archeology of the Death Valley salt pan, 

California: University of Utah Anthropology Papers, v. 47, 

313 p. 

Hunt, C.B., and Mabey, D.R., 1966, Stratigraphy and structure, 

• Death Valley, California: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 494-A, 162 p. 

Jennings, C.W., Strand, R.G., Rogers, T.H., Stinson, M.C., Burnett, J.L., Kahle, J.E., Streitz, R., and Stinson, R.A., 1975, 

Fault map of California with locations of volcanoes, thermal 

springs and thermal wells: California Division of Mines and 

Geology, California Geologic Map Series, scale 1:750,000. 

Krauskopf, K.B., 1971, Geologic map of the Mt. Barcroft 

quadrangle, California-Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-960, scale 1 :62,500. 

Machette, M.N., Personius, S.F., Nelson, A.R., Schwartz, D.P., 

and Luud, W.R., 1991, The Wasatch fault zone-Segmentation and history of Holocene earthquakes: Journal of 

Structural Geology, v. 2, p. 137-149. 

McAllister, J.F., 1970, Geology of the Furnace Creek borate area, 

Death Valley, lnyo County, California: California Division 

of Mines and Geology, Map Sheet 14, scale 1 :24,000. 

McKee, E.H., 1968, Age and rate of movement of the northern pari. 

of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault zone, California: 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 79, p. 509-512. 

McKee, E.H., 1985, Geologic map of the Magruder Mountain 

quadrangle, Esmeralda County and Inyo County, California: 

U.S. Geological Survey Quadrangle Map GQ-1587, scale 

1:62,500. 

McKee, E.H., and Nelson, C.A., 1967, Geologic map of the 

Soldier Pass quadrangle, California and Nevada: U.S. 

Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-654, 

scale 1 :62,500. 

Moring, Barry, 1986, Reconnaissance surficial geologic map of 

northern Death Valley, California and Nevada: U.S. 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF1770, scale 1 :62,500. 

Noble, L.F., 1941, Structu.ral features of the Virgin Spring area, 

Death Valley, California: Geological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 52, p. 941-1000. 

Noble, L.F., and Wright, L.A., 1954, Geology of the central and 

southern Death Valley region, California, in Jahns, R.H., 

ed., Geology of southern California: California Division of 

Mines Bulletin 170, p. 143-160. 

Pease, R.C., 1979, Scarp degradation and fault history south of 

Carson City, Nevada: Reno, Nev., University of Nevada 

M.S. thesis, 90 p. 

Pierce, K.L., and Coleman, S.M., 1987, Effects of height and 

orientation (microclimate) on degradation rates of Idaho 

terrace scarps, in Crone, A.J., and Omdahl, E.M., eds., 

Directions in paleoseismology, Proceedings of Conference 

XXXIX: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87-673, 

p. 317-324. 

Real, C.R., Toppozada, T.R., and Parke, D.L., 1978, Earthquake 

epicenter map of California showing events from 1900 

through 1974 equal to or greater than magnitude 4.0 or 

intensity V: California Division of Mines and Geology, Map 

Sheet 39, scale 1:1,000,000. 

Reheis, M.C., 1988, Quaternary activity on the Emigrant Peak 

fault zone, Fish Lake Valley, west-central Nevada: 

Geological Society of America Abstracts with l'rograms, v. 

20, no. 3, p. 223. 

Reynolds, M.W., 1969, Stratigraphy and structural geology of the 

Titus and Titanothere Canyons area, Death Valley, 

California: Berkeley, University of California Ph.D. 

dissertation, 310 p. 

Robinson, P.T., and Crowder, D.F., 1973, Geology of the Davis 

Mountain quadrangle, Esmeralda and Mineral Counties, 

Nevada, and Mono County, California: U.S. Geological 

Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ-1078, scale 

1:62,500. 

Ross, D.C., 1967, Generalized geologic map of the In yo 

Mountains region, California: U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Quadrangle Map I-506, scale 1:125,000. 

__ 1969, Map showing recently active breaks along the San 

Andreas fault between Tejon Pass and Cajon Pass, southern 

California: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic 

Investigations Map 1-553, scale 1 :24,000. 

Ryall, Alan, Slemmons, D.B., and Gedney, L.D., 1966, Seismicity, 

tectonism and surface faulting in the western United States 

during historic· time: Seismological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 56, p. 1105-1135. 

Sawyer, T.L., 1988, Paleoseismicity of the Fish Lake Valley fault 

zone-A component of The Death Valley fault system, Fish 

Lake Valley, Nevada, in Gregory, J.L., and Baldwin, E.J., 

eds., Geology of the Death Valley region: South Coast 

Geological Society, annual field-trip guidebook 16, 

p. 260-275. 

Sawyer, T.L., and Slemmons, D.B., 1988, Geochronology of late 

Holocene paleoseismicity of the northern Death ValleyFurnace Creek fault zone, Fish Lake Valley, CaliforniaNevada: Geological Society of America Abstracts with 

Programs, v. 20, no. 3, p. 228. 

Slemmons, D.B., 1967, Pliocene and Quaternary crustal 

movements of the Basin and Range Province, U.S.A.: 

Osaka City University Journal of Geoscience, v. 10, 

p. 91-103. 

22 Late Quaternary Faulting, Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault System, California-Nevada 
__ 1977, State-of-the-art for assessing earthquake hazards in 

the United States, Report 6, Faults and earthquake 

magnitude: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Miscellaneous 

Paper 5-73-1, 129 p. 

Stewart, J.H., 1983, Extensional tectonics in the Death Valley area, 

California-Transport of the Panamint Range structural 

block 80 km northwestward: Geology, v. 11, p. 153-157. 

Stewart, J.H., Robinson, P.T., Albers, J.P., and Crowder, D.F., 

1974, Geologic map of the Piper Peak quadrangle, NevadaCalifornia: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle 

Map GQ-1186, scale 1 :62,500. 

Strand, R.G., compiler, 1967, Geologic map of California, 

Mariposa sheet: Sacramento, California Division of Mines 

and Geology, scale 1:250,000. 

Streitz, Robert, and Stinson, M.C., compilers, 1977, Geologic map 

of California, Death Valley sheet: Sacramento, California 

Division of Mines and Geology, scale 1:250,000. 

Sylvester, A.G., and Bies, S.W., 1986, Geodetic monitoring of 

fault movements in Death Valley 1970-1985, in Troxel, 

B.W., ed., Quaternary tectonics of southern Death Valley, 

-tl U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1991~73-049 46,017 REGION NO.8 

California-field trip guide: Friends of the Pleistocene, 

Pacific Cell, Shoshone, Calif., privately published by B.W. 

Troxel, p. 41-44. • 

Vedder, J.G., and Wallace, R.E., 1970, Map showing recently 

active breaks along the San Andreas and related faults 

between Cholame Valley and Tejon Pass, California: U.S. 

Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geological Investigations 

Map 1-574, scale 1 :24,000, 2 sheets. 

Wallace, R.E., 1977, Profiles and ages of young fault scarps, 

north-central Nevada: Geological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 88, p. 1267-1281. 

__ 1978, Geometry and rates of change of fault-generated range 

fronts, north-central Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey 

Journal of Research, v. 6, p. 634-650. 

Wright, L.A., and Troxel, B.W., 1954, Geologic Guide No. 1, 

Western Mojave Desert and Death Valley region, in Jahns, 

R.H., ed., Geology of southern California: California 

Division of Mines Bulletin 170, p. 1-50. 

__ 1967, Limitations on right-lateral, strike-slip displacement, 

Death Valley and Furnace Creek fault zones, California: 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 78, p. 933-950. 

References 23