Source: http://www.fop.cascadiageo.org/?page_id=452
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 14:49:23+00:00

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Here is the basic information. We will update this page as more information come in.
The 2016 Friends of the Pleistocene Pacific Cell field trip will take place at Panamint Valley and vicinity, from October 7th-9th, 2016.
We are pleased to announce that the 2016 Annual Pacific Cell FOP field trip will be held in Panamint Valley, CA, Friday through Sunday, October 7-9.
Registration, travel and camping information can be found on at the FOP web site, below. Registration fees ($30 professionals, $20 students) go toward portable toilets, refreshments, and t-shirts for all. Although you may opt to register upon arrival, please do so in advance if at all possible, as it helps with planning (and guarantees that we have a t-shirt in your size).
Here is a .kmz file with our FINAL planned itinerary and the location of the campsite. Because many of you may be arriving late, I’ve outlined the approximate location of camping both south and north of the Surprise Canyon road (red polygons). On the north side, the camping area is bound by a wilderness region; tents are allowed beyond, but vehicles need to remain near the road. To the south and west, the BLM restricts both camping and vehicles to restore portions of the wash. Both boundaries are reasonably well-marked by BLM signs, but they may be easily missed in the dark.
Panamint Valley is a tectonically active, pull-apart basin located within the Eastern California – Walker Lane shear zone (Burchfiel and Stewart, 1966). Despite spectacular exposures of alluvial and lacustrine stratigraphy that record a complex interplay between fault slip and basin subsidence, hydrologic fluctuations, and variations in sediment supply, the basin has received relatively limited study. Underscoring this, the last FOP in the valley was organized in 1978 by R.S.U. Smith (Smith, 1978). A brief reference list of relevant work since that time is included on the last page.
What is the nature of slip along the range-bounding fault system? Opening of the modern Panamint Valley fault system is argued to have occurred along a low-angle (<15°), oblique-slip normal fault (Burchfiel et al. 1987; MIT and Biehler, 1987; Wesnousky and Jones, 1994) that is linked to the dextral Hunter Mountain fault (Oswald and Wesnousky, 2002; Lee et al., 2009). In contrast, Pleistocene slip along the active strands of the southern Panamint Valley fault system appears to be primarily right-lateral (Smith, 1979; Zhang et al., 1990). Low-angle detachments involving Plio-Quaternary deposits are present within the Panamint Range (Cichanski, 2000; Walker et al., 2005; Numelin et al., 2007; Andrew and Walker, 2009), but whether these participate in the active deformation field remains debated. We will present arguments from field observations that suggest to us that low-angle normal faults are not only active along much of the range front, but that these ruptured in prehistoric paleoseismic events.
What was the timing, duration, and extent of lakes in Panamint Valley during the late Pleistocene? The timing of lacustrine occupation of Panamint Valley has been a long-standing question in the hydrologic history of the eastern Sierra (Gale, 1914; Smith, 1976; Fitzpatrick and Bischoff, 1993; Fitzpatrick et al., 1993; Jayko et al., 2008). High shorelines attest to an extensive lake that filled most of the valley to a depth of several hundred meters (Smith, 1976), but the age of this system has been difficult to determine, with estimates ranging from ~70 ka to ~150 ka. We will present new age data (10Be & 36Cl depth profiles, luminescence, soil stratigraphy) on beach ridges that argue for the younger side of this range (MIS 4). We will also address a second debate, over the extent of the most recent (MIS 2) lake in Panamint Valley (Jayko et al., 2008). Dating and mapping of deposits and landforms associated with this period along the eastern foot of the Panamint Range suggest a relatively small and short-lived lake ~20-30 m depth.
What are the primary rates and processes of soil development in the valley? Much of our work has relied on soil development as a means to associate alluvial and lacustrine deposits of different age, landscape position, and source lithology. We have developed a relatively extensive data set of well characterized soils (many associated with well-dated deposits). We will discuss the utility of using this chronosequence as a tool to help understand both the timing of episodes of alluvial fan development and the history of fault displacement. Examples will focus soil-stratigraphy associated with a widespread pulse of fan aggradation subsequent to lake occupation at 60-80 ka, lacustrine deposits, and Holocene ruptures along both the range front fault and the Ash Hill fault (e.g., Densmore and Anderson, 1997).
Andrew, J.E., and Walker, J.D., 2009, Reconstructing late Cenozoic deformation in central Panamint Valley, California: Evolution of slip partitioning in the Walker Lane: Geosphere, v. 5, no. 3, p. 172–198.
Burchfiel, B.C., Hodges, K.V., and Royden, L.H., 1987, Geology of Panamint Valley – Saline Valley Pull-Apart System, California: Palinspastic evidence for low-angle geometry of a Neogene Range-Bounding Fault: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, v. 92, p. 10422–10426.
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, no. 4, p. 439–442.
Cichanski, M., 2000, Low-angle, range-flank faults in the Panamint, Inyo, and Slate ranges, California; implications for recent tectonics of the Death Valley region, Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 112, p. 871-883.
Densmore, A. L., and Anderson, R.S., 1997, Tectonic geomorphology of the Ash Hill Fault, Panamint Valley, California, Basin Research, v. 9, p. 53-63.
Fitzpatrick, J.A., and Bischoff, J.L., 1993, Uranium-Series Dates on Sediments of the High Shoreline of Panamint Valley, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-0232, 15 p.
Fitzpatrick, J.A., Bischoff, J.L., and Smith, G.I., 1993, Uranium-Series Analyses of Evaporites from the 1000-Foot PAN-3 Core, Panamint Valley, California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-558, 22 p.
Gale, H.S., 1914, Salines in the Owens, Searles, and Panamint basins, southeastern California, US Geological Survey Bulletin, v. 580, p. 281-323.
Jayko, A.S., Forester, R.M., Kaufman, D.S., Phillips, F.M., Yount, J.C., McGeehin, J., and Mahan, S.A., 2008, Late Pleistocene lakes and wetlands, Panamint Valley, Inyo County, California, in Reheis, M.C., Hershler, R., and Miller, D.M., eds., Late Cenozoic Drainage History of the Southwestern Great Basin and Lower Colorado River Region: Geologic and Biotic Perspectives: Geological Society of America Special Paper 439, p. 151–184, doi: 10.1130/2008.2439(07).
Lee, J., Stockli, D.F., Owen, L.A., Finkel, R.C., and Kislitsyn, R., 2009, Exhumation of the Inyo Mountains, California: Implications for the timing of extension along the western boundary of the Basin and Range Province and distribution of dextral fault slip rates across the eastern California shear zone: Tectonics, v. 28, no. 1, doi: 10.1029/2008TC002295.
MIT, F.C.G., and Biehler, S., 1987, A geophysical investigation of the Northern Panamint Valley, Inyo County, California: Evidence for possible low-angle normal faulting at shallow depth in the crust: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, v. 92, p. 10427–10441, doi: 10.1029/JB092iB10p10427.
Numelin, T., Marone, C., and Kirby, E., 2007, Frictional properties of natural fault gouge from a low-angle normal fault, Panamint Valley, California: Tectonics, v. 26, doi: 10.1029/2005TC001916.
Oswald, J.A., and Wesnousky, S.G., 2002, Neotectonics and Quaternary geology of the Hunter Mountain fault zone and Saline Valley region, southeastern California: Geomorphology, v. 42, p. 255–278.
Smith, R. S. U., 1976, Late Quaternary pluvial and tectonic history of Panamint Valley, Inyo and San Bernardino counties, California, PhD thesis, 295 pp, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
Smith, R.S.U., 1978, Pluvial History of Panamint Valley, California: Pacific Cell, Friends of the Pleistocene, Guidebook, 36 p.
Smith, R.S.U., 1979, Holocene offset and seismicity along the Panamint Valley fault zone, western Basin-and-Range Province, California: Tectonophysics, v. 52, p. 411–415.
Walker, J.D., Kirby, E., and Andrew, J.E., 2005, Strain transfer and partitioning between the Panamint Valley, Searles Valley, and Ash Hill fault zones, California: Geosphere, v. 1, no. 3, p. 111–118, doi: 10.1130/GES00014.1.
Wesnousky, S.G., and Jones, C.H., 1994, Oblique slip, slip partitioning, spatial and temporal changes in the regional stress field, and the relative strength of active faults in the Basin and Range, western United States: Geology, v. 22, p. 1031-1034.
Zhang, P., Ellis, M., Slemmons, D.B., and Mao, F., 1990, Right-lateral displacements and the Holocene slip rate associated with prehistoric earthquakes along the Southern Panamint Valley Fault Zone: Implications for southern Basin and Range tectonics and Coastal California deformation: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, v. 95, p. 4857–4872.
In ghost town of Ballarat (~6 km), turn North on Indian Ranch Rd.
At ~3 km from Ballarat, turn East on Surprise Canyon Rd.
Depart Trona, enter Panamint Valley via Slate Range Crossing along Trona-Wildrose Rd.
Here is a kmz file with the location of the BLM group campsite, and a brief set of directions to the site.
We encourage folks to register in advance, using the “Buy Now” button below, if at all possible. This will help us with planning, and will ensure that we have enough t-shirts for everyone. If you plan to attend, but do not wish to pay in advance, we will accept on-site registration. In this case, we ask you to go to a Google spreadsheet, using the link below, open the spreadsheet, and enter your name, institution, t-shirt size, etc.
Payment is closed now since the trip is over… see you next time!
And, of course, supporting your local Friends of the Pleistocene, not only enables this epic, annual meeting of Quaternary geologists, but gets you that rare prize of a t-shirt (and, use of at least one porta potty during the trip).
Simply donate below using your PayPal account, or a credit card.

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