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R. G. Stanley

Publications and source records attributed to R. G. Stanley.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2012

Fault geometry and cumulative offsets in the central Coast Ranges, California: Evidence for northward increasing slip along the San Gregorio-San Simeon-Hosgri fault

Estimates of the dip, depth extent, and amount of cumulative displacement along the major faults in the central California Coast Ranges are controversial. We use detailed aeromagnetic data to estimate these parameters for the San Gregorio–San Simeon–Hosgri and other faults. The recently acquired aeromagnetic data provide an areally consistent data set that crosses the onshore-offshore transition without disruption, which is particularly important for the mostly offshore San Gregorio–San Simeon–Hosgri fault. Our modeling, constrained by exposed geology and in some cases, drill-hole and seismic-reflection data, indicates that the San Gregorio–San Simeon–Hosgri and Reliz-Rinconada faults dip steeply throughout the seismogenic crust. Deviations from steep dips may result from local fault interactions, transfer of slip between faults, or overprinting by transpression since the late Miocene. Given that such faults are consistent with predominantly strike-slip displacement, we correlate geophysical anomalies offset by these faults to estimate cumulative displacements. We find a northward increase in right-lateral displacement along the San Gregorio–San Simeon–Hosgri fault that is mimicked by Quaternary slip rates. Although overall slip rates have decreased over the lifetime of the fault, the pattern of slip has not changed. Northward increase in right-lateral displacement is balanced in part by slip added by faults, such as the Reliz-Rinconada, Oceanic–West Huasna, and (speculatively) Santa Ynez River faults to the east.

Lithosphere↗
USGS2012

Migrated hydrocarbons in exposure of Maastrichtian nonmarine strata near Saddle Mountain, lower Cook Inlet, Alaska

Magoon and others (1980) described an 83-meter- (272-foot-) thick succession of Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, and coal exposed on the south side of an unnamed drainage, approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) east of Saddle Mountain in lower Cook Inlet (figs. 1 and 2). The initial significance of this exposure was that it was the first reported occurrence of nonmarine rocks of this age in outcrop in lower Cook Inlet, which helped constrain the Late Cretaceous paleogeography of the area and provided important information on the composition of latest Mesozoic sandstones in the basin. The Saddle Mountain section is thought to be an outcrop analog for Upper Cretaceous nonmarine strata penetrated in the OCS Y-0097 #1 (Raven) well, located approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the south–southeast in Federal waters (fig. 1). Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) drilled the Raven well in 1980 and encountered oil-stained rocks and moveable liquid hydrocarbons between the depths of 1,760 and 3,700 feet. Completion reports on file with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM; formerly Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, and prior to 2010, U.S. Minerals Management Service) either show flow rates of zero or do not mention flow rates. A fluid analysis report on file with BOEM suggests that a wireline tool sampled some oil beneath a 2,010-foot diesel cushion during the fl ow test of the 3,145–3,175 foot interval, but the recorded fl ow rate was still zero (Kirk Sherwood, written commun., January 9, 2012). Further delineation and evaluation of the apparent accumulation was never performed and the well was plugged and abandoned. As part of a 5-year comprehensive evaluation of the geology and petroleum systems of the Cook Inlet forearc basin, the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys obtained a research permit from the National Park Service to access the relatively poorly understood ‘Saddle Mountain exposure’ that is located in the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. This work was done in cooperation with the Alaska Division of Oil & Gas and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research geologists. This report expands on Magoon and others’ (1980) description of the exposure, presents new data on sandstone composition and reservoir quality, presents new geochemical data on petroleum extracted from the outcropping sandstone, and describes oil-bearing correlative strata penetrated by the Raven well. Although the exposure is more than a kilometer (0.6 mile) east of Saddle Mountain (fig. 2), in this report we variously refer to it as the Saddle Mountain succession, Saddle Mountain section, or the rocks at Saddle Mountain underlain by Upper Jurassic strata of the Naknek Formation.

Alaska↗
USGS2010

Neogene contraction between the San Andreas fault and the Santa Clara Valley, San Francisco Bay region, California

In the southern San Francisco Bay region of California, oblique dextral reverse faults that verge northeastward from the San Andreas fault experienced triggered slip during the 1989 M7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake. The role of these range-front thrusts in the evolution of the San Andreas fault system and the future seismic hazard that they may pose to the urban Santa Clara Valley are poorly understood. Based on recent geologic mapping and geophysical investigations, we propose that the range-front thrust system evolved in conjunction with development of the San Andreas fault system. In the early Miocene, the region was dominated by a system of northwestwardly propagating, basin-bounding, transtensional faults. Beginning as early as middle Miocene time, however, the transtensional faulting was superseded by transpressional NE-stepping thrust and reverse faults of the range-front thrust system. Age constraints on the thrust faults indicate that the locus of contraction has focused on the Monte Vista, Shannon, and Berrocal faults since about 4.8 Ma. Fault slip and fold reconstructions suggest that crustal shortening between the San Andreas fault and the Santa Clara Valley within this time frame is ∼21%, amounting to as much as 3.2 km at a rate of 0.6 mm/yr. Rates probably have not remained constant; average rates appear to have been much lower in the past few 100 ka. The distribution of coseismic surface contraction during the Loma Prieta earthquake, active seismicity, late Pleistocene to Holocene fluvial terrace warping, and geodetic data further suggest that the active range-front thrust system includes blind thrusts. Critical unresolved issues include information on the near-surface locations of buried thrusts, the timing of recent thrust earthquake events, and their recurrence in relation to earthquakes on the San Andreas fault.

California↗
USGS2009

Continuing evolution of the Pacific-Juan de Fuca-North America slab window system-A trench-ridge-transform example from the Pacific Rim

Many subduction margins that rim the Pacific Ocean contain complex records of Cenozoic slab-window volcanism combined with tectonic disruption of the continental margin. The series of slab windows that opened beneath California and Mexico starting about 28.5 Ma resulted from the death of a series of spreading ridge segments and led to piecewise destruction of a subduction regime. The timing and areal extent of the resultant slab-window volcanism provide constraints on models that depict the subsequent fragmentation and dispersal of the overlying continental margin. The initial Pioneer slab window thermally weakened the overlying western Transverse Ranges and California Borderlands region starting about 28.5 Ma. A second thermal pulse occurred in the same region starting about 19 Ma during growth of the Monterey slab window. This additional heating, combined with the capture of a partially subducted Monterey plate fragment by the Cocos plate, initiated the pulling apart and rotation of the adjacent continental margin. Similarly, the capture of Guadalupe and Magdalena plate fragments by the Pacific plate and initiation of the Guadalupe-Magdalena slab window about 12.5 Ma are coeval with Baja California pulling away from the Mexico continental margin, with the break along the Comondú arc, in crust already thermally weakened by about 10 My of volcanism. In coastal California, distributed crustal extension and subsidence accompanied the new transform plate boundary, and continued until the slab windows cooled and plate motion coalesced along a through-going system of strike-slip faults. The transform boundary continues to evolve, and forward modeling predicts an instability with the current configuration as a result of convergence between the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges batholiths, starting about 2 My in the future. The instability may be resolved by a shift in the locus of transform motion from the San Andreas fault to the eastern California shear zone, or by breaking off another fragment of the Mojave or southern Sierra Nevada crustal blocks and translating it northward.

Tectonophysics↗
USGS2007

Geophysical Characterization of Pre-Cenozoic Basement for Hydrocarbon Assessment, Yukon Flats, Alaska

The Cenozoic basins of interior Alaska are poorly understood, but may host undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in sufficient quantities to serve remote villages and for possible export. Purported oil seeps and the regional occurrence of potential hydrocarbon source and reservoir rocks fuel an exploration interest in the 46,000 km2 Yukon Flats basin. Whether hydrocarbon source rocks are present in the pre-Cenozoic basement beneath Yukon Flats is difficult to determine because vegetation and surficial deposits obscure the bedrock geology, only limited seismic data are available, and no deep boreholes have been drilled. Analysis of regional potential field data (aeromagnetics and gravity) is valuable, therefore, for preliminary characterization of basement lithology and structure. We present our analysis as a red-green-blue composite spectral map consisting of: (1) reduced-to-the-pole magnetics (red), (2) magnetic potential (green), and (3) basement gravity (blue). The color and texture patterns on this composite map highlight domains with common geophysical characteristics and, by inference, lithology. The observed patterns yield the primary conclusion that much of the basin is underlain by Devonian to Jurassic oceanic rocks related to the Angayucham and Tozitna terranes (JDat). These rocks are part of a lithologically diverse assemblage of brittlely deformed, generally low-grade metamorphic rocks of oceanic affinity; such rocks probably have little or no potential for hydrocarbon generation. The JDat geophysical signature extends from the Tintina fault system northward to the Brooks Range. Along the eastern edge of the basin, JDat appears to overlie moderately dense and non-magnetic Proterozoic(?) and Paleozoic continental margin rocks. The western edge of the JDat in subsurface is difficult to distinguish due to the presence of magnetic granites similar to those exposed in the Ruby geanticline. In the southern portion of the basin, geophysical patterns indicate the possibility of overthrusting of Cenozoic sediments and underlying JDat by Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks of the Schwatka sequence. These structural hypotheses provide the basis for an overthrust play within the Cenozoic section just south of the basin.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2002

Geologic and isostatic gravity map of the Nenana basin area, central Alaska

The Nenana Basin area is a prospective petroleum province in central Alaska, and this geologic and isostatic gravity map is part of a petroleum resource assessment of the area. The geology was compiled from published sources as shown on the index map (map sheet). Map units are organized and presented according to the scheme of lithotectonic terranes proposed by Jones and others (1987) and Silberling and Jones (1984); we recognize, however, that this terrane scheme is controversial and likely to be revised in the future. In some cases, we combined certain terranes because we were unable to match the terrane boundaries given by Jones and others (1987) and Silberling and Jones (1984) with specific faults shown on existing geologic maps. Postaccretion cover deposits represent overlap assemblages that depositionally overlie accreted terranes. Plutonic igneous rocks shown on this map include several plutons that are clearly postaccretionary, based on isotopic ages and (or) field relations. It is possible that some of the plutons predate accretion, but this has not been demonstrated. According to Jones and others (1982), the terranes in the area of our map were assembled during late Mesozoic or earliest Cenozoic time. The gravity contours are derived from data used in earlier compilations that are supplemented by some National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data along the Alaska Pipeline level line. The earlier compilations were used for simple Bouguer maps, prepared primarily by non-digital methods, and are superseded by this map. The present map is the result of digital processing that includes the 1967 Geodetic Reference System, the IGSN-71 datum, digital terrain corrections, and conversion to isostatic gravity so that geologic structures on the margin of the Alaska Range are more clearly portrayed. Computation procedures are described in part by Barnes (1972, 1984), Jachens and Roberts (1981), and Barnes and others (1994). The calculations used a crustal density of 2.67 g/cm 3 , a density contrast at the base of the isostatic root of 0.4 g/cm 3 , and a root thickness at sea level of 25 km. The distribution of data within the map area is uneven and locally controls the shape of the computer-generated contours. Altimetry was used for most of the elevation control and its inconsistency is responsible for many of the small contour irregularities. Ninety percent of the measurements are estimated to have an accuracy of about 1.5 mgal or about a quarter of the 5 mgal contour interval. Data collection and analysis were assisted by R.V. Allen, R.C. Jachens, M.A. Fisher, T.R. Bruns, J.G. Blank, J.W. Bader, Z.C. Valin, J.W. Cady, R.L. Morin, and P.V. Woodward. The most promising area for petroleum exploration is a prominent 25 mgal isostatic gravity low north of Nenana (T. 2 S., R. 8 W.). This gravity low probably corresponds to the deepest part of a sedimentary basin filled by Cenozoic strata that includes nonmarine fluvial and lacustrine deposits of the Eocene to Miocene Usibelli Group. Smaller gravity lows are associated with outcrops of these sedimentary rocks north of Suntrana (T. 12 S., R. 6-9 W.) and Sable Pass (T. 16 S., R. 11 W.). A broad low on the north flank of the Alaska Range east of the Wood River (T. 10 S., R. 1 E.) indicates another basin under the Tanana lowland that extends eastward off the map area towards Delta Junction, where its presence was confirmed by both gravity and seismic data. Gravity modelling suggests that the base of the Usibelli Group in the area north of Nenana (T. 2 S., R. 8 W.) is about 3,000 to 3,350 m beneath the ground surface. Organic geochemical studies indicate that mudstones and coals in the Usibelli Group are potential sources of petroleum; calculations based on borehole temperatures suggest that, in the area of the gravity low, these rocks may have been buried deeply enough to generate oil and gas. Two exploratory wells, the Union Nenana No. 1 and the ARCO Totek Hills No. 11, were drilled some distance away from the gravity low in areas where the Usibelli Group is thin. Mudlogs show that both wells were dry holes that bottomed in schist and had gas shows associated with coal beds in the Usibelli Group, but no reported signs of oil.

Alaska↗
USGS1995

Preliminary Geologic Map of the Big Pine Mountain Quadrangle, California

Reconnaissance geologic mapping of the San Rafael Primitive Area (now the San Rafael Wilderness) by Gower and others (1966) and Vedder an others (1967) showed s number of stratigraphic and structural ambiguities. To help resolve some of those problems, additional field work was done on parts of the Big Pine Moutain quadrangle during short intervals in 1981 and 1984, and 1990-1994.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1991

Paleogeographic implications of an erosional remnant of Paleogene rocks southwest of the Sur-Nacimiento Fault Zone, southern Coast Ranges, California

A small tract of heretofore-unrecognized Paleogene rocks lies about 30 km northeast of Santa Maria and 1 km southwest of the Sur-Nacimiento fault zone near upper Pine Creek. This poorly exposed assemblage of rocks is less than 50 m thick, lies unconformably on regionally distributed Upper Cretaceous submarine-fan deposits, and consists of three units: fossiliferous lower Eocene mudstone, Oligocene(?) conglomerate, and basaltic andesite that has a radiometric age of 26.6 ?? 0.5 Ma. Both the sedimentary and igneous constituents in the Paleogene sequence are unlike those of known sequences on either side of the Sur-Nacimiento fault zone. The Paleogene sedimentary rocks near upper Pine Creek presumably are remnants of formerly widespread early Eocene bathyal deposits and locally distributed Oligocene(?) fluvial deposits southwest of the fault zone. The 26.6 Ma basaltic andesite, however, may not have extended much beyond its present outcrops. An episode of Oligocene(?) displacement is required by the contrast in thicknesses, depositional patterns, and paleobathymetry of the juxtaposed rock sequences. -from Authors

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗