UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION OF LINEAMENTS AND FAULTS IN LATE CENOZOIC DEPOSITS IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE BENTON RANGE 1:100,000 QUADRANGLE AND THE GOLDFIELD, LAST CHANCE RANGE, BEATTY, AND

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lineaments and faults in Quaternary and late Tertiary deposits in the southern part of the Walker Lane are potentially active and form patterns that are anomalous with respect to the typical fault patterns in most of the Great Basin. Little work has been done to identify and characterize these faults, with the exception of those in the Death ValleyFurnace Creek (DVFCFZ) fault system and those in and near the Nevada Test Site. Four maps at a scale of 1:100,000 summarize the existing knowledge about these lineaments and faults based on extensive aerial-photo interpretation, limited field investigations, and published geologic maps. The lineaments and faults in all four maps can be divided geographically into two groups. The first group includes west-to north-trending lineaments and faults associated with the DVFCFZ and with the Pahrump fault zone in the Death Valley Junction quadrangle. The second group consists of north-to east-northeast-trending lineaments and faults in a broad area that lies east of the DVFCFZ and north of the Pahrump fault zone. Preliminary observations of the orientations and sense of slip of the lineaments and faults suggest that the least principal stress direction is west-east in the area of the first group and northwest-southeast in the area of the second group