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Blake

Publications and source records attributed to Blake.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Significance of Klamath rocks between the Franciscan Complex and Coast Range ophiolite, northern California

Small fault‐bounded slabs of low‐grade (prehnite‐pumpellyite‐bearing) slate, metagraywacke, and greenstone occur between the Coast Range ophiolite and South Fork Mountain Schist for at least 60 km south of the Klamath Mountains, northern California. The metagraywacke slabs differ from typical Franciscan Complex metagraywacke to the west by the absence of blueschist‐facies minerals and the abundance of quartz and chert clasts, and they differ from sandstone and mudstone of the Great Valley sequence to the east by the presence of a penetrative cleavage and low‐grade metamorphism. The metasedimentary rock in the slabs is petrographically identical to the Jurassic Galice Formation, which occurs along the western and southern margins of the Klamath Mountains. Upward drag along a west dipping reverse fault best explains the present structural position of the slabs and is consistent with available geological and geophysical data. These data imply that the Coast Range ophiolite structurally overlies Sierran‐Klamath basement at least locally.

Oregon, Washington

Unconformity between Coast Range ophiolite and part of the lower Great Valley sequence, South Fork of Elder Creek, Tehama County, California

The South Fork of Elder Creek is located on private property about 6 mi (10 km) northwest of Paskenta, Calif. (Fig. 1). To visit this locality it is necessary to call Mr. Les Sutfin (916-824-4628) and arrange to pick up the key to the gate at his home in Corning. From the Paskenta Store, drive 3.3 mi (5.3 km) north on the Toomes Camp road to the locked gate on the north side of the road. From here, take the Pellows Road (four-wheel drive vehicle recommended) 3.6 mi (5 km) north to the end of the road, then walk west along the trail parallel to the South Fork of Elder Creek for approximately 0.5 mi (0.8 km) to the unconformity(Fig. 2).

DNAG Special Publication

Neogene basin formation in relation to plate tectonic evolution of San Andreas fault system, California

More than 90% of the known petroleum accumulations west of the San Andreas fault in California are in strata deposited in areally restricted Neogene basins that formed during a major tectonic reorganization of western California. These deep, localized Neogene basins replaced broad, regionally persistent Paleogene depositional aprons, although some of the Neogene basins in northern and central California had Paleogene precursors. The evolution of each of the Neogene basins is complex, and aspects of the kinematics of each are unique; nonetheless, all can be considered products of an overall right-lateral shear system associated with a sliding margin between the Pacific and North American lithospheric plates. The sliding margin developed in western California about 29 m.y. ago, when the Pacific plate contacted North America after subduction of the intervening Farallon plate. The initial position of the common boundary between the Pacific and North American plates was along the continental margin. Right slip between the Pacific and North American plates gradually shifted eastward to right-slip faults, such as the San Andreas, located farther inland. This shift seems to be documented by relations in the southern California area. About 300 km of right slip has occurred along the San Andreas fault during the past 10 to 15 m.y., and at least several hundred additional kilometers along associated right-slip faults of the San Andreas system. The Neogene basins in southern California began to develop during the interval in which the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates shifted from the continental edge to the San Andreas fault, apparently because the step-by-step switch to different surfaces of weakness caused local extension and compression within a broad zone of right-lateral shear. A major phase of basin formation appears to have been synchronous with a change in azimuth of relative shear between the Pacific and North American plates to a more westerly direction, resulting in extensional strain. This change in motion initiated basin development in offshore central and northern California and affected the ongoing development of basins as a result of right slip along the San Andreas and related faults in other parts of California.

California

Major chemical characteristics of Mesozoic Coast Range ophiolite in California

Sixty-four major element analyses of rocks representative of the Coast Range ophiolite in California were compared with analyses of other onland ophiolite sequences and those of rocks from oceanic ridges. The rocks can be classed in five groups harzburgite-dunite, clinopyroxenite-wehrlite, gabbro, basalt-spilite, and keratophyre-quartz keratophyre which on various diagrams occupy nonoverlapping fields. The harzburgite-dunite from onland ophiolite and ocean ridges are comparable and very low in alkalies. Possible differentiation trends defined on AFM diagrams by other rocks from onland ophiolites and ocean ridges suggest two lines of descent: (1) A trend much like the calc-alkalic trend, though shifted somewhat toward higher iron, and (2) an iron-enrichment trend defined chiefly by the more iron-rich gabbros and amphibolite. MgO-variation diagrams for rocks from the Coast Range ophiolite further distinguish the iron-rich gabbros and amphibolite from the other rock groups and indicate that the iron enrichment, unlike that of the Skaergaard trend, is related to the formation of amphibole. Ophiolite sequences that include the most silicic rock types, such as quartz keratophyre, also exhibit the most pronounced dual lines of descent, suggesting that the silicic rocks and the amphibole-rich gabbros are somehow related. Although the major element chemistry of the Coast Range ophiolite is clearly like that of rocks dredged from oceanic ridges, it is not sufficiently diagnostic to discriminate among the choices of a spreading ridge, an interarc basin, or perhaps even the root zone of an island arc as the site of ophiolite formation.

California