Search USGS⌕ Search

Geology topics

D. G. Howell

Publications and source records attributed to D. G. Howell.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1987

Thermal maturity of tectonostratigraphic terranes within the Franciscan Complex, California

Indicators of organic metamorphism provide valuable tools for analyzing the thermal history of tectonostratigraphic terranes. Paleotemperature estimates derived from vitrinite reflectance, for example, are more precise than values based upon inorganic mineral assemblages in low‐grade rocks. Isothermal geometries must be interpreted within the context of structural and stratigraphic data, but, by doing so, direct comparisons of thermal history can be made between adjacent terranes. Data from the Franciscan Complex of California show that three basic types of thermal anomalies are related to terrane amalgamation: (1) maturity inversion across terrane boundaries, (2) shear heating along terrane boundaries, and (3) resetting of maturity gradients via thrust loading. In addition, thermal overprints result if there is a substantial rise in local or regional geothermal gradient following terrane amalgamation; under these circumstances, homogenization of thermal maturity may be evident across terrane boundaries. If associated magmatic rocks or hydrothermal veins can be dated, an upper limit is established on the suturing event. Thermal data are also useful for resolving structural ambiguities on a local scale; clear distinctions can be made, for example, between faulted contacts, diapirs, and mildly tectonized depositional contacts or unconformities. Citing Literatu

California↗
USGS1986

A budget for continental growth and denudation

Oceanic crustal material on a global scale is re-created every 110 million years. From the data presented it is inferred that potential sialic material is formed at a rate of about 1.35 cubic kilometers per year, including hemipelagic volcanic sediments that accumulate at a rate of about 0.05 cubic kilometer per year. It is estimated that the influx of 1.65 cubic kilometers per year of terrigenous and biogenic sediment is deposited on the deep ocean, and this represents continental denudation. Because all this material is brought into a subduction zone, continental accretion rates, which could include all this material, may be as high as 3.0 cubic kilometers per year with a potential net growth for continents of 1.35 cubic kilometers per year.

Science↗
USGS1984

Sedimentary, tectonic, and sea-level controls on submarine fan and slope-apron turbidite systems

To help understand factors that influence submarine fan deposition, we outline some of the principal sedimentary, tectonic, and sea-level controls involved in deep-water sedimentation, give some data on the rates at which they operate, and evaluate their probable effects. Three depositional end-member systems, two submarine fan types (elongate and radial), and a third nonfan, slope-apron system result primarily from variations in sediment type and supply. Tectonic setting and local and global sea-level changes further modify the nature of fan growth, the distribution of facies, and the resulting vertical stratigraphic sequences. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1984

Miocene Blanca Fan, Northern Channel Islands, California: Small fans reflecting tectonism and volcanism

Blanca fan is a submarine fan composed of Miocene volcaniclastic strata. Parts of the fan system are exposed on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, and possibly correlative strata crop out on San Miguel and Santa Catalina Islands. The Blanca fan and underlying breccia reflect regional transcurrent faulting in the California Continental Borderland and development of a system of rapidly subsiding basins and uplifted linear ridges during early and middle Miocene time. Erosion of uplifted crystalline basement rocks followed by the onset of silicic volcanism created linear sediment sources for the alluvial and submarine fans, respectively. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1984

Ferrelo fan, California: Depositional system influenced by Eustatic sea level changes

Remnants of an Eocene fan system are preserved onshore at San Diego and in the central part of the southern California borderland. Even though faults and erosion have truncated its margins, geophysical data and exploratory wells indicate that remaining parts of the fan extend beneath an offshore area nearly 400-km long and 40- to 100-km wide. Environments representing fluvial, fan-delta, shelf-channel, overlapping inner- to outer-fan, and basin-plain facies are recognized or inferred. Three progradational cycles onshore and two distinct pulses of sand accumulation offshore are attributable to eustatic low sea-level stands rather than to tectonic uplift or shifts in depositional patterns. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1984

Turbidite facies in an ancient subduction complex: Torlesse terrane, New Zealand

The Torlesse terrane of New Zealand is an ancient subduction complex consisting of deformed turbidite-facies rocks. These are mainly thick-bedded sandstone (facies B and C) with subordinate mudstone (facies D and E), comparable to inner- and middle-fan deposits of a submarine fan. Strata were deposited in trench-floor and trench-slope settings that received sandy sediment from slope-cutting submarine canyons. The dominance of sandstone suggests that some mudstone may have been selectively subducted. Construction of a detailed sediment dispersal model is not possible because tectonic deformation has largely destroyed original facies relationships and paleocurrent patterns. ?? 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Geo-Marine Letters↗
USGS1982

Exotic terranes of western California

Numerous distinct geological terranes compose the North American Cordillera1; there may be as many as 50 terranes in California alone2. Critical to deciphering the history of Cordilleran tectonic assembly is an understanding of the displacement history of individual terranes. It is therefore important to know: (1) whether a terrane has undergone significant motion with respect to the stable craton (that is, whether it is allochthonous or exotic); (2) if so, when relative motion started and stopped; (3) from where an individual terrane originated; and (4) the nature of interterrane movements. We consider here the problem of determining whether the now-juxtaposed Salinian and Stanley Mountain terranes of California became amalgamated at or near their present position with respect to cratonic North America, or if they collided at a considerable distance from their present positions and were later accreted to North America as a composite package. The palaeomagnetic data that we present indicate that the latter was the case. ?? 1982 Nature Publishing Group.

Nature↗