Rise and fall of the southern Santa Cruz Mountains, California, from fission tracks, geomorphology, and geodesy

R. Burgmann, R. Arrowsmith, T. Dumitru, R. McLaughlin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Santa Cruz Mountains are closely associated with a left bend along the right-lateral San Andreas fault. The Loma Prieta area on the northeast side of the San Andreas consists of fault-bounded blocks that rise along active, deeply rooted, reverse and oblique-slip faults. Six samples from a transect across this area yield concordant apatite fission track ages averaging 4.6 ± 0.5 Ma. These ages date the time of cooling below ~110°C and suggest that about 3 km of unroofing has occurred over the last 4.6 m.y. Allowing for current elevations of about 1 km, this suggests an average uplift rate of the order of 0.8 mm/yr over the last 4.6 m.y. To further define the extent and distribution of this young uplift, morphometric analyses of the youthful topography of the area were used. The asymmetry in deformation on opposite sides of the San Andreas probably reflects the contrasting rock types on opposite sides of the fault, the influence of preexisting structure, and the interaction with neighboring faults of the San Andreas system. -from Authors

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)20,181-20,202
JournalJournal of geophysical research
Volume99
Issue numberB10
StatePublished - Jan 1 1994
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • Forestry
  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science
  • Ecology
  • Water Science and Technology
  • Soil Science
  • Geochemistry and Petrology
  • Earth-Surface Processes
  • Atmospheric Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Palaeontology

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