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John G. Vedder

Publications and source records attributed to John G. Vedder.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

The Miocene Topanga group of southern California — A 100-year history of changes in stratigraphic nomenclature

A review of selected literature summarizes the origin and chronology of changes in usage of 'Topanga' in the Miocene stratigraphic nomenclature of the Los Angeles Basin and adjacent areas in southern California. The review was done to summarize and reconcile some differences in Miocene stratigraphic nomenclature as applied to geologic map compilations of the Santa Ana (Morton, 2004), San Bernardino (Morton and Miller, 2003), Long Beach (Saucedo and others, 2003) and Los Angeles (Yerkes and Campbell, 2005) 30' x 60' quadrangles, all of which are products of the cooperative (California Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey) Southern California Areal Mapping Project (SCAMP). The deposition of the Topanga Group spans about 6 my (from as old as about 18 ma to as young as about 12 ma), and the sequence of included strata records changes in provenance and depositional environments that are contemporaneous with part of a major Miocene tectonic episode in southern California -- the 'basin-inception phase' in the evolution of the Neogene Los Angeles basin (Yerkes and others, 1965). The area of Topanga deposition extends to the southern, eastern, northern, and northwestern sides of the Los Angeles basin, as well as the southern part of the eastern Ventura Basin. Topanga beds are inferred to underlie the thick upper Miocene and Pliocene deposits of the central Los Angeles Basin and the southern part of the eastern Ventura Basin; however, they have been reached by drilling only in marginal areas, where the overlying deposits are relatively thin. Post-Topanga strata were deposited in more-restricted areas of rapid subsidence. Selected papers are summarized as they relate to the Topanga nomenclature, and are presented in chronological order.

California↗
USGS2001

Geologic map and digital database of the San Rafael Mtn. 7.5-minute quadrangle, Santa Barbara County, California

Geologic mapping of the San Rafael Primitive Area (now the San Rafael Wilderness) by Gower and others (1966) and Vedder and others (1967) did not include all of the San Rafael Mtn. quadrangle, and the part that was mapped was done in reconnaissance fashion. To help resolve some of the structural and stratigraphic ambiguities of the earlier mapping and to complete the mapping of the quadrangle, additional field work was done during short intervals in 1980 and 1981 and from 1996 to 1998. Contacts within the belt of Franciscan rocks at the southwestern corner of the quadrangle were generalized from the detailed map by Wahl (1998). Because extensive areas were inaccessible owing to impenetrable chaparral, observations from several helicopter overflights (1965, 1980, 1981) and interpretations from aerial photographs were used as compilation aids. Consequently, some of the depicted contacts and faults are highly inferential, particularly within the Upper Cretaceous rocks throughout the middle part of the quadrangle.

California↗
USGS1973

Structure and development of the continental margin of British Honduras

The continental margin of British Honduras is characterized by elongate ridges that are sub-parallel with the coast and that diverge slightly northward. Each ridge apparently is formed by aligned fault blocks composed of continental basement rock that rotated and subsided during rifting of the margin. The western part of the Cayman Ridge may be underlain by similar rock that extends southwestward into the margin. Little sediment has been trapped in the basins between the ridges, presumably as a result of long-term, low rates of sedimentation. A canyon system that is controlled by both fault-block ridges and cross faults transects the margin and opens into the Yucatan Basin. Deep-sea sediments are characterized by a succession of pelagic deposits above acoustic basement rocks; these deposits are covered by turbidites that have formed deep-sea fan deposits in some places. The change from pelagic to turbidite deposition may have occurred at the end of Cretaceous time when regional uplift provided a source for clastic materials. The principal channel for transport of sediment to the deep sea is believed to be a graben that extends northeastward from the southwest corner of the Gulf of Honduras. Development of the margin may have begun in Late Jurassic time when sphenochasmic rifting created the ancestral Gulf of Honduras. Near the end of Cretaceous time, a new set of motions began, with the Caribbean plate moving relatively eastward and slightly away from the North American plate. This new motion resulted in continued movement of basement blocks through Tertiary and Quaternary time. Although this margin is not young, it has a geomorphically youthful aspect in that the sedimentary sequences do not obscure the rift structures.

British Honduras, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Honduras↗