Coarse-grained deltaic sedimentation in the Miocene Cuyama strike-slip basin, California Coast Ranges

J. Alan Bartow

doi:10.1016/0037-0738(90)90117-c

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70016234

Coarse-grained deltaic sedimentation in the Miocene Cuyama strike-slip basin, California Coast Ranges

J. Alan Bartow

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The Cuyama basin, located in the southern Coast Ranges of California southwest of the San Andreas fault, developed early in the history of the San Andreas transform system. The Miocene marine basin formed in a transtensional setting along a dextral strike-slip fault of the transform system following Oligocene non-marine basin formation in an extensional setting. The lower and middle Miocene Vaqueros Formation in the northwestern part of the basin, which represents the first of two transgressive-regressive cycles, is described here in terms of nine facies in two broad facies groups. The 400-m-thick Soda Lake Shale Member (of the Vaqueros) comprises deep-basin and starved-basin facies. A thin transgressive facies occurs locally at the base of the formation. The overlying Painted Rock Sandstone Member (of the Vaqueros), which is more than 2200 m thick and consists mostly of coarse-grained sandstone and pebbly sandstone, constitutes a delta complex of prodelta, slope channel, delta front, tide-influenced distributary channel, interdistributary bay, and fluvial channel facies. The basinal depositional system consisted of turbidite mud and sand, and hemipelagic and pelagic sediments of the basinal facies deposited in a rapidly subsiding basin. The delta depositional system consisted of the delta complex facies that prograded into the deep basin and had a steep prodelta slope that extended to bathyal depths. The delta is inferred to be a mixed fluvial-wave-dominated fan delta, analogous in its delta-front morphology and processes to a fjord delta, in which coarse sediment delivered to the delta front by braided streams was transported down the prodelta slope into deep water by sediment gravity flows. Transgression and rapid deepening of the basin in the early Miocene coincided with rapid tectonic subsidence. Deepening culminated with deposition of a starved-basin facies or condensed section at the time of maximum transgression, which was followed by the beginning of a regression and basin shallowing. The overall basin history and geometry of the northwestern Cuyama basin are typical of strike-slip basins. The initial rapid subsidence to bathyal depths at rates of more than 500 m/m.y. in the early Miocene is interpreted to be a result of extension at the releasing bend of a dextral strike-slip fault.

Explore related subjects

Sedimentary Geology Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 35.147948029666736° to 35.46021498392952° latitude; -118.85287255038679° to -118.42847050429917° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

J. Alan Bartow. 1990. Coarse-grained deltaic sedimentation in the Miocene Cuyama strike-slip basin, California Coast Ranges. https://doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(90)90117-c

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2018

Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology

The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the southern Bouse Formation and similar-age deposits in the western Salton Trough, which we use to interpret processes that controlled the birth and early evolution of the Colorado River. The southern Bouse Formation is divided into three laterally persistent members: basal carbonate, siliciclastic, and upper bioclastic members. Basal carbonate accumulated in a tide-dominated marine embayment during a rise of relative sea level between ~ 6.3 and 5.4 Ma, prior to arrival of the Colorado River. The transition to green claystone records initial rapid influx of river water and its distal clay wash load into the subtidal marine embayment at ~ 5.4–5.3 Ma. This was followed by rapid southward progradation of the Colorado River delta, establishment of the earliest through-flowing river, and deposition of river-derived turbidites in the western Salton Trough (Wind Caves paleocanyon) between ~ 5.3 and 5.1 Ma. Early delta progradation was followed by regional shut-down of river sand output between ~ 5.1 and 4.8 Ma that resulted in deposition of marine clay in the Salton Trough, retreat of the delta, and re-flooding of the lower river valley by shallow marine water that deposited the Bouse upper bioclastic member. Resumption of sediment discharge at ~ 4.8 Ma drove massive progradation of fluvial-deltaic deposits back down the river valley into the northern Gulf and Salton Trough. These results provide evidence for a discontinuous, start-stop-start history of sand output during initiation of the Colorado River that is not predicted by existing models for this system. The underlying controls on punctuated sediment discharge are assessed by comparing the depositional chronology to the record of global sea-level change. The lower Colorado River Valley and Salton Trough experienced marine transgression during a gradual fall in global sea level between ~ 6.3 and 5.5 Ma, implicating tectonic subsidence as the main driver of latest Miocene relative sea-level rise. A major fall of global sea level at 5.3 Ma outpaced subsidence and drove regional delta progradation, earliest flushing of Colorado River sand into the northern Gulf of California, and erosion of Bouse basal carbonate and siliciclastic members. The lower Colorado River valley was re-flooded by shallow marine waters during smaller changes in global sea level ~ 5.1–4.8 Ma, after the river first ran through it, which requires a mechanism to stop delivery of sand to the lower river valley. We propose that tectonically controlled subsidence along the lower Colorado River, upstream of the southern Bouse study area, temporarily trapped sediment and stopped delivery of sand to the lower river valley and northern Gulf of California for ~ 200–300 kyr. Massive progradation of the fluvial-deltaic system back down the river valley into the Salton Trough starting ~ 4.8–4.5 Ma apparently was driven by a huge increase in sediment discharge that overwhelmed the sediment-storage capacity of sub-basins along the lower river corridor and established the fully integrated river channel network.

Colorado River↗

USGS2018

Variability in eddy sandbar dynamics during two decades of controlled flooding of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon

Sandbars are iconic features of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S.A. Following completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963, sediment deficit conditions caused erosion of eddy sandbars throughout much of the 360 km study reach downstream from the dam. Controlled floods in 1996, 2004, and 2008 demonstrated that sand on the channel bed could be redistributed to higher elevations, and that floods timed to follow tributary sediment inputs would increase suspended sand concentrations during floods. Since 2012, a new management protocol has resulted in four controlled floods timed to follow large inputs of sand from a major tributary. Monitoring of 44 downstream eddy sandbars, initiated in 1990, shows that each controlled flood deposited significant amounts of sand and increased the size of subaerial sandbars. However, the magnitude of sandbar deposition varied from eddy to eddy, even over relatively short distances where main-stem suspended sediment concentrations were similar. Here, we characterize spatial and temporal trends in sandbar volume and site-scale (i.e., individual eddy) sediment storage as a function of flow, channel, and vegetation characteristics that reflect the reach-scale (i.e., kilometer-scale) hydraulic environment. We grouped the long-term monitoring sites based on geomorphic setting and used a principal component analysis (PCA) to correlate differences in sandbar behavior to changes in reach-scale geomorphic metrics. Sites in narrow reaches are less-vegetated, stage changes markedly with discharge, sandbars tend to remain dynamic, and sand storage change dominantly occurs in the eddy compared to the main channel. In wider reaches, where stage-change during floods may be half that of narrow sites, sandbars are more likely to be stabilized by vegetation, and floods tend to aggrade the vegetated sandbar surfaces. In these locations, deposition during controlled floods is more akin to floodplain sedimentation, and the elevation of sandbar surfaces increases with successive floods. Because many sandbars are intermediate to the end members described above, high-elevation bar surfaces stabilized by vegetation often have a more dynamic unvegetated sandbar on the channel-ward margin that aggrades and erodes in response to controlled flood cycles. Ultimately, controlled floods have been effective at increasing averaged sandbar volumes, and, while bar deposition during floods decreases through time where vegetation has stabilized sandbars, future controlled floods are likely to continue to result in deposition in a majority of the river corridor.

Colorado River, Grand Canyon↗

USGS2016

The evolution of a thermokarst-lake landscape: Late Quaternary permafrost degradation and stabilization in interior Alaska

Thermokarst processes characterize a variety of ice-rich permafrost terrains and often lead to lake formation. The long-term evolution of thermokarst landscapes and the stability and longevity of lakes depend upon climate, vegetation and ground conditions, including the volume of excess ground ice and its distribution. The current lake status of thermokarst-lake landscapes and their future trajectories under climate warming are better understood in the light of their long-term development. We studied the lake-rich southern marginal upland of the Yukon Flats (northern interior Alaska) using dated lake-sediment cores, observations of river-cut exposures, and remotely-sensed data. The region features thick (up to 40 m) Quaternary deposits (mainly loess) that contain massive ground ice. Two of three studied lakes formed ~ 11,000–12,000 cal yr BP through inferred thermokarst processes, and fire may have played a role in initiating thermokarst development. From ~ 9000 cal yr BP, all lakes exhibited steady sedimentation, and pollen stratigraphies are consistent with regional patterns. The current lake expansion rates are low (0 to < 7 cm yr − 1 shoreline retreat) compared with other regions (~ 30 cm yr − 1 or more). This thermokarst lake-rich region does not show evidence of extensive landscape lowering by lake drainage, nor of multiple lake generations within a basin. However, LiDAR images reveal linear “corrugations” (> 5 m amplitude), deep thermo-erosional gullies, and features resembling lake drainage channels, suggesting that highly dynamic surface processes have previously shaped the landscape. Evidently, widespread early Holocene permafrost degradation and thermokarst lake initiation were followed by lake longevity and landscape stabilization, the latter possibly related to establishment of dense forest cover. Partial or complete drainage of three lakes in 2013 reveals that there is some contemporary landscape dynamism. Holocene landscape evolution in the study area differs from that described from other thermokarst-affected regions; regional responses to future environmental change may be equally individualistic.

Alaska↗