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A.M. Sarna-Wojcicki

Publications and source records attributed to A.M. Sarna-Wojcicki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2017

A late Pleistocene tephra layer in the southern Great Basin and Colorado Plateau derived from Mono Craters, California

A newly identified tephra in stratified deposits in southwestern Utah, dated ???14,000 14C yr B.P., may aid in correlating late Pleistocene deposits across parts of the southern Great Basin and west-central Colorado Plateau. Geochemical analyses of the ash suggest the tephra originated from Mono Craters, California, and most probably correlates with Wilson Creek ash #3. Because the ash is 2 mm thick ???550 km from its source, the event may have been larger than others correlated to Mono Craters eruptions. ?? 2002 University of Washington.

Quaternary Research↗
USGS2017

Fission-track age (400,000 yr) of the Rockland tephra, based on inclusion of zirco grains lacking fossil fission tracks

A zircon fission-track age of about 400,000 yr B.P. has been determined for the Rockland tephra, a widespread pyroclastic layer in northern California and western Nevada. New ages of zircon separates from both proximal and distal exposures of this layer range from 370,000 to 460,000 yr; ages of the best material provide a narrower range, from 370,000 yr for unwelded ash-flow tuff to 420,000 yr for distal air-fall ash that appears to be uncontaminated by clastic detritus or xenocrysts. Detrital or xenocrystic grains in the ash-flow tuff may have been annealed during emplacement and cooling of the tuff. Detrital and xenocrystic zircons are identified on the basis of their physical characteristics and distinctly older ages. Independent stratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data constrain the age of the Rockland tephra between 300,000 and 600,000 yr, a range that is compatible with the fission-track age. Zircon grains containing no spontaneous (fossil) tracks are regarded as part of the normal population of comagmatic grains because maximum ages calculated for these grains form a population that mimics the distribution of ages of individual zircon grains that contain fossil tracks; modal ages of both groups fall between 250,000 and 500,000 yr. Induced fission tracks from grains that lack fossil tracks are included in the age calculations, resulting in significantly younger and more coherent dates than would result if these tracks had been omitted, especially those of the finer-grained distal samples. ?? 1991.

Quaternary Research↗
USGS2017

Age and extent of the Ilopango TBJ Tephra inferred from a Holocene chronostratigraphic reference section, Lago De Yojoa, Honduras

Eruption of central El Salvador's Ilopango Volcano early in the first millennium A.D. caused death, cultural devastation, and exodus of southern Mesoamericans. It also left a time-stratigraphic marker in western El Salvador and adjacent Guatemala - the Ilopango Tierra Blanca Joven, or TBJ tephra. Mineral suites and major element abundances identify a silicic volcanic ash in cores from Lago de Yojoa, Honduras, as Ilopango TBJ. This extends its reported range more than 150 km to the northeast. Analyses of glass from the TBJ tephra from the Chalchuapa archaeological site, El Salvador, and from Lago de Yojoa, Honduras, establish the first major element reference fingerprint for the TBJ tephra. The Lago de Yojoa cores also hold two previously undated trachyandesitic tephra layers originating from the nearby Lake Yojoa Volcanic Field. One fell shortly before 11,000 14C yr B.P. and the other about 8600 14C yr B.P. ?? 2004 University of Washington. All rights reserved.

Quaternary Research↗
USGS2008

Geologic and Geophysical Framework of the Santa Rosa 7.5' Quadrangle, Sonoma County, California

The geologic and geophysical maps of Santa Rosa 7.5? quadrangle and accompanying structure sections portray the sedimentary and volcanic stratigraphy and crustal structure of the Santa Rosa 7.5? quadrangle and provide a context for interpreting the evolution of volcanism and active faulting in this region. The quadrangle is located in the California Coast Ranges north of San Francisco Bay and is traversed by the active Rodgers Creek, Healdsburg and Maacama Fault Zones. The geologic and geophysical data presented in this report, are substantial improvements over previous geologic and geophysical maps of the Santa Rosa area, allowing us to address important geologic issues. First, the geologic mapping is integrated with gravity and magnetic data, allowing us to depict the thicknesses of Cenozoic deposits, the depth and configuration of the Mesozoic basement surface, and the geometry of fault structures beneath this region to depths of several kilometers. This information has important implications for constraining the geometries of major active faults and for understanding and predicting the distribution and intensity of damage from ground shaking during earthquakes. Secondly, the geologic map and the accompanying description of the area describe in detail the distribution, geometry and complexity of faulting associated with the Rodgers Creek, Healdsburg and Bennett Valley Fault Zones and associated faults in the Santa Rosa quadrangle. The timing of fault movements is constrained by new 40Ar/39Ar ages and tephrochronologic correlations. These new data provide a better understanding of the stratigraphy of the extensive sedimentary and volcanic cover in the area and, in particular, clarify the formational affinities of Pliocene and Pleistocene nonmarine sedimentary units in the map area. Thirdly, the geophysics, particularly gravity data, indicate the locations of thick sections of sedimentary and volcanic fill within ground water basins of the Santa Rosa plain and Rincon, Bennett, and northwestern Sonoma Valleys, providing geohydrologists a more realistic framework for groundwater flow models.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

Geology, tephrochronology, radiometric ages, and cross sections of the Mark West Springs 7.5' quadrangle, Sonoma and Napa counties, California

The purpose of this geologic map is to provide a context within which to interpret the Neogene evolution of the active strike-slip fault system traversing the Mark West Springs 7.5' quadrangle and adjacent areas. Based on this geologic framework, the timing and total amounts of displacement and the Neogene rates of slip for faults of the right-stepover area between the Healdsburg and Maacama Faults are addressed. The Mark West Springs quadrangle is located in the northern California Coast Ranges north of San Francisco Bay. It is underlain by Mesozoic rocks of the Franciscan Complex, the Coast Range ophiolite, and the Great Valley sequence, considered here to be the pre-Tertiary basement of the northern Coast Ranges. These rocks are overlain by a complexly interstratified and mildly to moderately deformed sequence of Pleistocene to late Miocene marine and nonmarine sedimentary and largely subaerial volcanic rocks. These rocks and unconformably overlying, less-deformed Holocene and Pleistocene strata are cut by the active right-lateral Healdsburg and Maacama Fault Zones. Mapping of the Mark West Springs quadrangle began in 1996 and was completed in October 2002. Most of the mapping presented here is original, although a few other sources of existing geologic mapping were also utilized. Funding for the project was provided by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping and Earthquake Hazards Reduction programs of the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with geologic hazards mapping investigations of the California Geological Survey.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2003

Quaternary low-angle slip on detachment faults in Death Valley, California

Detachment faults on the west flank of the Black Mountains (Nevada and California) dip 29??-36?? and cut subhorizontal layers of the 0.77 Ma Bishop ash. Steeply dipping normal faults confined to the hanging walls of the detachments offset layers of the 0.64 Ma Lava Creek B tephra and the base of 0.12-0.18 Ma Lake Manly gravel. These faults sole into and do not cut the low-angle detachments. Therefore the detachments accrued any measurable slip across the kinematically linked hanging-wall faults. An analysis of the orientations of hundreds of the hanging-wall faults shows that extension occurred at modest slip rates (<1 mm/yr) under a steep to vertically oriented maximum principal stress. The Black Mountain detachments are appropriately described as the basal detachments of near-critical Coulomb wedges. We infer that the formation of late Pleistocene and Holocene range-front fault scarps accompanied seismogenic slip on the detachments.

Geology↗
USGS2002

Drainage reversals in Mono Basin during the late pliocene and Pleistocene

Mono Basin, on the eastern flank of the central Sierra Nevada, is the highest of the large hydrographically closed basins in the Basin and Range province. We use geomorphic features, shoreline deposits, and basalt-filled paleochannels to reconstruct an early to middle Pleistocene record of shorelines and changing spillways of Lake Russell in Mono Basin. During this period of time, Lake Russell repeatedly attained altitudes between 2205 and 2280 m-levels far above the present surface of Mono Lake (~1950 m) and above its last overflow level (2188 m). The spill point of Lake Russell shifted through time owing to late Tertiary and Quaternary faulting and volcanism. During the early Pleistocene, the lake periodically discharged through the Mount Hicks spillway on the northeastern rim of Mono Basin and flowed northward into the Walker Lake drainage basin via the East Walker River. Paleochannels recording such discharge were incised prior to 1.6 Ma, possibly between 1.6 and 1.3 Ma, and again after 1.3 Ma (ages of basaltic flows that plugged the paleochannels). Faulting in the Adobe Hills on the southeastern margin of the basin eventually lowered the rim in this area to below the altitude of the Mount Hicks spillway. Twice after 0.76 Ma, and possibly as late as after 0.1 Ma, Lake Russell discharged southward through the Adobe Hills spillway into the Owens-Death Valley system of lakes. This study supports a pre-Pleistocene aquatic connection through Mono Basin between the hydrologically distinct Lahontan and Owens-Death Valley systems, as long postulated by biologists, and also confirms a probable link during the Pleistocene for species adapted to travel upstream in fast-flowing water.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS2002

Controls on timing and amount of right-lateral offset on the East Bay fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California

The distribution of offset, correlated rock units, relative position of northward- younging volcanic rocks, and distribution of units not offset together reveal the history of strike-slip deformation along the East Bay fault system. The system accumulated 175 km of right-lateral offset since 12 Ma, but of this amount, only ???25 km was accumulated between 12 and 10 Ma and only ???75 km between 12 and 6 Ma. The westernmost Hayward fault zone is responsible for more than half (100 km) of the total, and it, too, has undergone more offset (60 km) after 6 Ma than before. The activity on any single fault zone in the system has been sporadic, and alternating periods of activity and inactivity have been recorded on at least some of the fault zones.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS2000

Environmental history and tephrostratigraphy at Carp Lake, southwestern Columbia Basin, Washington, USA

Sediment cores from Carp Lake provide a pollen record of the last ca. 125,000 years that helps disclose vegetational and climatic conditions from the present day to the previous interglaciation (120-133 ka). The core also contained 15 tephra layers, which were characterised by electron-microprobe analysis of volcanic glass shards. Identified tephra include Mount St. Helens Ye, 3.69 ka; Mazama ash bed, 7.54 ka; Mount St. Helens layer C, 35-50 ka; an unnamed Mount St. Helens tephra, 75-150 ka; the tephra equivalent of layer E at Pringle Falls, Oregon, <218 ka; and an andesitic tephra layer similar to that at Tulelake, California, 174 ka. Ten calibrated radiocarbon ages and the ages of Mount St. Helens Ye, Mazama ash, and the unnamed Mount St. Helens tephra were used to develop an age-depth model. This model was refined by also incorporating the age of marine oxygen isotope stage (IS) boundary 4/5 (73.9 ka) and the age of IS-5e (125 ka). The justification for this age-model is based on an analysis of the pollen record and lithologic data. The pollen record is divided into 11 assemblage zones that describe alternations between periods of montane conifer forest, pine forest, and steppe. The previous interglacial period (IS-5e) supported temperate xerothermic forests of pine and oak and a northward and westward expansion of steppe and juniper woodland, compared to their present occurrence. The period from 83 to 117 ka contains intervals of pine forest and parkland alternating with pine-spruce forest, suggesting shifts from cold humid to cool temperate conditions. Between 73 and 83 ka, a forest of oak, hemlock, Douglas-fir, and fir was present that has no modem analogue. It suggests warm wet summers and cool wet winters. Cool humid conditions during the mid-Wisconsin interval supported mixed conifer forest with Douglas-fir and spruce. The glacial interval featured cold dry steppe, with an expansion of spruce in the late-glacial. Xerothermic communities prevailed in the early Holocene, when temperate steppe was widespread and the lake dried intermittently. The middle Holocene was characterised by ponderosa pine forest, and the modem vegetation was established in the last 3900 yr, when ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, fir, and oak were part of the local vegetation.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1999

Surface faulting and paleoseismic history of the 1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake area, west-central Nevada, and implications for modern tectonics of the Walker Lane

The 1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake (Ms 7.2) was one of the largest historical events in the Walker Lane region of western Nevada, and it produced a complicated strike-slip rupture pattern on multiple Quaternary faults distributed through three valleys. Primary, right-lateral surface ruptures occurred on north-striking faults in Monte Cristo Valley; small-scale lateral and normal offsets occurred in Stewart Valley; and secondary, normal faulting occurred on north-northeast-striking faults in the Gabbs Valley epicentral region. A reexamination of the surface ruptures provides new displacement and fault-zone data: maximum cumulative offset is estimated to be 2.7 m, and newly recognized faults extend the maximum width and end-to-end length of the rupture zone to 17 and 75 km, respectively. A detailed Quaternary allostratigraphic chronology based on regional alluvialgeomorphic relationships, tephrochronology, and radiocarbon dating provides a framework for interpreting the paleoseismic history of the fault zone. A late Wisconsinan alluvial-fan and piedmont unit containing a 32-36 ka tephra layer is a key stratigraphic datum for paleoseismic measurements. Exploratory trenching and radiocarbon dating of tectonic stratigraphy provide the first estimates for timing of late Quaternary faulting along the Cedar Mountain fault zone. Three trenches display evidence for six faulting events, including that in 1932, during the past 32-36 ka. Radiocarbon dating of organic soils interstratified with tectonically ponded silts establishes best-fit ages of the pre-1932 events at 4, 5,12,15, and 18 ka, each with ??2 ka uncertainties. On the basis of an estimated cumulative net slip of 6-12 m for the six faulting events, minimum and maximum late Quaternary slip rates are 0.2 and 0.7 mm/yr, respectively, and the preferred rate is 0.4-0.5 mm/yr. The average recurrence (interseismic) interval is 3600 yr. The relatively uniform thickness of the ponded deposits suggests that similar-size, characteristic rupture events may characterize late Quaternary slip on the zone. A comparison of event timing with the average late Quaternary recurrence interval indicates that slip has been largely regular (periodic) rather than temporally clustered. To account for the spatial separation of the primary surface faulting in Monte Cristo Valley from the epicenter and for a factor-of-two-to-three disparity between the instrumentally and geologically determined seismic moments associated with the earthquake, we hypothesize two alternative tectonic models containing undetected subevents. Either model would adequately account for the observed faulting on the basis of wrench-fault kinematics that may be associated with the Walker Lane. The 1932 Cedar Mountain earthquake is considered an important modern analogue for seismotectonic modeling and estimating seismic hazard in the Walker Lane region. In contrast to most other historical events in the Basin and Range province, the 1932 event did not occur along a major range-bounding fault, and no single, throughgoing basement structure can account for the observed rupture pattern. The 1932 faulting supports the concept that major earthquakes in the Basin and Range province can exhibit complicated distributive rupture patterns and that slip rate may not be a reliable criterion for modeling seismic hazard.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS1996

Large-scale right-slip displacement on the East San Francisco Bay region fault system, California: Implications for location of late Miocene to Pliocene Pacific plate boundary

A belt of northwardly younging Neogene and Quaternary volcanic rocks and hydrothermal vein systems, together with a distinctive Cretaceous terrane of the Franciscan Complex (the Permanente terrane), exhibits about 160 to 170 km of cumulative dextral offset across faults of the East San Francisco Bay Region (ESFBR) fault system. The offset hydrothermal veins and volcanic rocks range in age from .01 Ma at the northwest end to about 17.6 Ma at the southeast end. In the fault block between the San Andreas and ESFBR fault systems, where volcanic rocks are scarce, hydrothermal vein system ages clearly indicate that the northward younging thermal overprint affected these rocks beginning about 18 Ma. The age progression of these volcanic rocks and hydrothermal vein systems is consistent with previously proposed models that relate northward propagation of the San Andreas transform to the opening of an asthenospheric window beneath the North American plate margin in the wake of subducting lithosphere. The similarity in the amount of offset of the Permanente terrane across the ESFBR fault system to that derived by restoring continuity in the northward younging age progression of volcanic rocks and hydrothermal veins suggests a model in which 80–110 km of offset are taken up 8 to 6 Ma on a fault aligned with the Bloomfield-Tolay-Franklin-Concord-Sunol-Calaveras faults. An additional 50–70 km of cumulative slip are taken up ≤ 6 Ma by the Rogers Creek-Hayward and Concord-Franklin-Sunol-Calaveras faults. An alternative model in which the Permanente terrane is offset about 80 km by pre-Miocene faults does not adequately restore the distribution of 8–12 Ma volcanic rocks and hydrothermal veins to a single northwardly younging age trend. If 80–110 km of slip was taken up by the ESFBR fault system between 8 and 6 Ma, dextral slip rates were 40–55 mm/yr. Such high rates might occur if the ESFBR fault system rather than the San Andreas fault acted as the transform margin at this time. Major transpression across the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates at about 3 to 5 Ma would have resulted in the transfer of significant slip back to the San Francisco Peninsula segment of the San Andreas fault. Since that time, the ESFBR fault system has continued to slip at rates of 11–14 mm/yr. If this interpretation is valid, the ESFBR fault system was the Pacific-North American plate boundary between 8 and 6 Ma, and this boundary has migrated both eastward and westward with time, in response to changing plate margin geometry and plate motions.

California↗