Recent Deformation in the Saline Valley region, Inyo County, California

Abstract

Saline Valley is a deep rhomb-shaped depression bordered by normal and oblique-slip fault zones. The faults that offset unconsolidated alluvial sediments and are characteristic of the present tectonic regime can be divided into five fault zones, based on their location and tectonic style. These are: 1) the Grapevine Canyon, 2) the Western Frontal, 3) the Central valley, 4) the East Side, and 5) the Lee Flat fault zones. A rhombochasm origin for Saline Valley is indicated by the style and orientation of the faults and other tectonic and physiographic features in the region. Saline Valley formed as the result of east-west extension due to the western migration of the Sierra Nevada and right-lateral shearing along the Western border of the basin and Range province. The extension and shearing are attributed to Northeasterly-Southesterly trending regional compressive forces. As a result of the regional stress field and deformation. Saline Valley developed in a zone of tension in a transitional area between the Sierra Nevada and basin and Range Provinces.