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Research about Barstow, California

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Barstow, California.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2019

Distributed fault slip in the eastern California shear zone: Adding pieces to the puzzle near Barstow, California

We investigate the dextral Lockhart and Mt. General faults, which are among four active structures in the northwestern portion of the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). Early mapping depicts the Lockhart and Mt. General faults as discontinuous fault traces that continue northwest of the Lenwood Fault. Recent work indicates that the Lenwood Fault slips at ~0.2-1.0 mm/yr over the past ~8 ka and 0.8 ± 0.2 mm/yr since ~37 ± 7 ka. We reconstruct the record of fault slip for the Lockhart and Mt. General faults using high-resolution Structure-from-Motion built topography, field observations, geochronology, and gravity data. Geomorphic offsets along a Holocene-active trace of the Lockhart Fault indicate dextral displacement between ~4 and 6 m. A feldspar infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) age implies surface abandonment and at least one earthquake after 3540 ± 880 ka (2σ). The implied Holocene fault slip rate on the Lockhart Fault is between ~0.9 and 2.3 mm/yr. Holocene-active traces of the 19-km-long Mt. General Fault are marked by southwest-facing scarps and dextral offsets of ~4–5 m on alluvial fans, with down-to-the-southwest vertical offset of ~0.3 m. Summing dextral displacements across subparallel fault strands yields a maximum of ~7–8 m. A feldspar IRSL age indicates deposition of the alluvial fans since 11,380 ± 1700 ka (2σ). This results in a Holocene slip ~0.3–0.6 mm/yr, possibly ranging up to 1.0 mm/yr. Taken together, these observations imply a net Holocene dextral slip rate for active faults in Hinkley Valley at 1.2–3.3 mm/yr―higher than expected given published fault slip rates along-strike to the southeast.

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USGS2013

Principal facts and an approach to collecting gravity data using near-real-time observations in the vicinity of Barstow, California

A gravity survey was done in the vicinity of Barstow, California, in which data were processed and analyzed in the field. The purpose of the data collection was to investigate possible changes in gravity across mapped Quaternary faults and to improve regional gravity coverage, adding to the existing national gravity database. Data were collected, processed, analyzed, and interpreted in the field in order to make decisions about where to collect data for the remainder of the survey. Geological targets in the Barstow area included the Cady Fault, the Manix Fault, and the Yermo Hills. Upon interpreting initial results, additional data were collected to more completely define the fault targets, rather than collecting data to improve the regional gravity coverage in an adjacent area. Both the Manix and Cady Faults showed gravitational expression of the subsurface in the form of steep gravitational gradients that we interpret to represent down-dropped blocks. The gravitational expression of the Cady Fault is on trend with the linear projection of the mapped fault, and the gravitational expression of the Manix Fault is north of the current northernmost mapped strand of the fault. The relative gravitational low over the Yermo Hills was confirmed and better constrained, indicating a significant thickness of sediments at the junction of the Calico, Manix, and Tin Can Alley Faults.

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USGS2006

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), an index of organic contamination in ground water near Barstow, California

The alluvial aquifer underlying and adjacent to the Mojave River near Barstow, California, has been subjected to degradation from percolation of industrial and municipal wastes for more than 60 years. Effluents discharged to the aquifer have contained high concentrations of both organic (detergents, oil and grease, phenols, humic compounds, and others) and inorganic (chromium, chloride, phosphates, and others) substances. The concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), as determined by a wet combustion technique, has been shown to be a definitive parameter in identifying ground water affected by waste disposal. DOC concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 0.8 milligram per liter in the nondegraded ground water and exceeded 6 milligrams per liter in the ground water affected by the waste discharge. The general distribution of DOC in the degraded ground water has been defined both areally and vertically. The vertical distribution of DOC and other constituents indicates that two plumes of degraded water occur at different depths. A comparison of the areal distribution of DOC and detergents (as MBAS) suggests that some organic compounds may have been adsorbed by the aquifer sediments.

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USGS1977

Application of digital profile modeling techniques to ground-water solute transport at Barstow, California

This study investigated the use of a two-dimensional profile-oriented water-quality model for the simulation of head and water-quality changes through the saturated thickness of an aquifer. The profile model is able to simulate confined or unconfined aquifers with nonhomogeneous anisotropic hydraulic conductivity, nonhomogeneous specific storage and porosity, and nonuniform saturated thickness. An aquifer may be simulated under either steady or nonsteady flow conditions provided that the ground-water flow path along which the longitudinal axis of the model is oriented does not move in the aquifer during the simulation time period. The profile model parameters are more difficult to quantify than are the corresponding parameters for an areal-oriented water-quality model. However, the sensitivity of the profile model to the parameters may be such that the normal error of parameter estimation will not preclude obtaining acceptable model results. Although the profile model has the advantage of being able to simulate vertical flow and water-quality changes in a single- or multiple-aquifer system, the types of problems to which it can be applied is limited by the requirements that (1) the ground-water flow path remain oriented along the longitudinal axis of the model and (2) any subsequent hydrologic factors to be evaluated using the model must be located along the land-surface trace of the model. Simulation of hypothetical ground-water management practices indicates that the profile model is applicable to problem-oriented studies and can provide quantitative results applicable to a variety of management practices. In particular, simulations of the movement and dissolved-solids concentration of a zone of degraded ground-water quality near Barstow, Calif., indicate that halting subsurface disposal of treated sewage effluent in conjunction with pumping a line of fully penetrating wells would be an effective means of controlling the movement of degraded ground water.

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