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Stratigraphy and structure of the Strawberry Mine roof pendant, central Sierra Nevada, California

W. J. Nokleberg
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Abstract

The Strawberry mine roof pendant, 90 km northeast of Fresno, Calif., is composed of a sequence of metasedimentary rocks of probable Early Jurassic age and a sequence of metaigneous rocks of middle Cretaceous age. The metasedimentary rocks are a former miogeosynclinal sequence of marl and limestone now metamorphosed to calc-silicate hornfels and marble. A pelecypod found in the calc-silicate hornfels has been tentatively identified as a Mesozoic bivalve, possibly Inoceramus pseudomytiloides of Early Jurassic age. These metasedimentary rocks are similar in lithology, structure, and gross age to the metasedimentary rocks of the Boyden Cave roof pendant and are assigned to the Lower Jurassic Kings sequence. The younger metaigneous rocks are metamorphosed shallow-in trusi ve rocks that range in composi tion from granodiorite to rhyolite. These rocks are similar in composition and age to the metavolcanic rocks of the surrounding Merced Peak quadrangle and nearby Ritter Range, and probably represent necks or dikes that were one source for the meta volcanic rocks. The roof pendant is intruded by several plutons, ranging in composition from dioritic to highly felsic, that constitute part of the granodiorite of Jackass Lakes, also M middle Cretaceous age. The contemporaneous suites of metaigneous, metavolcanic, and plutonic rocks in the region represent a middle Cretaceous period of calc-alkalic volcanism and plutonism in the central Sierra Nevada and are interpreted as part of an Andean-type volcanic-plutonic arc. Three deformations are documented in the roof pendant. The first deformation is reflected only in the metasedimentary rocks and consists of northeast-to east-west-trending folds. Similar structures occur in the Boyden Cave roof pendant and in the Calaveras Formation and represent a Middle Jurassic regional deformation. Evidence of the second deformation occurs in the metasedimentary and metaigneous rocks and consists of folds, faults, minor structures, and regional metamorphism along N. 25? W. trends. Crosscutting of these structures by the contemporaneous granodiorite of Jackass Lakes indicates that this deformation occurred simultaneously with volcanism and plutonism during the middle Cretaceous. The third deformation involved both the roof pendant and adjacent plutonic rocks and consists of folds, faults, schistosities, and regional metamorphism along N. 65? -900 W. trends. Crosscutting of similar structures in other middle Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Merced Peak quadrangle by undeformed late Cretaceous plutonic rocks indicates a regional deformation of middle to late Cretaceous age. Structures of similar style, orientation, and age occur elsewhere in metavolcanic and plutonic rocks throughout the central Sierra Nevada.

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BibTeXRIS

W. J. Nokleberg. 1981. Stratigraphy and structure of the Strawberry Mine roof pendant, central Sierra Nevada, California. https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1154

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