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~.ALIFORNIAGEOLOGY

December 1984

ROCKHOUSE BASIN WILDERNESSSTUDY AREA

Understanding California's Geology - Our Resources - Our Hazards

RESEARCH PROPOSALS SOLICITED

283

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262

. 263. 273. 274

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Wrinen inquiries concerning this pro­gram, and requests for Proposals Infor­mation Package No. RFP-1586, should beaddressed 10:

The United States Geological Surveyinvites proposals for research contractsand grants under the continuing Earth­quake Hazard Reduction Program. Theproposed research must be directed to­ward the goal of identifying, evaluatingand characterizing the immediate andlong term seismic ha7.ard. Program objec­tives and lasks required to achieve thoseobjectives are described in Proposallnfor­mation Package No. RFP-1586.

USGS RESEARCH PROPOSALS SOLICITED .MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF THE ROCKHOUSE BASIN

WILDERNESS STUDY AREA .SHASTINA - A VOLCANIC CONE OF MOUNT SHASTA .SHASTINA 1964 - A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAy , ..1964 INDEX _..................... . .NEW BOOKS.... . .MAIL ORDER FORM • .CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY SUBSCRIPTION FORM .ROBERT W. WEBB. MEMORIALPROJECT UPDATE GEOlOGY, ROBERT WALLACE WEBB

MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM ..•" ,...•,....•...•.•,...••,...•....•..•........•DMG RELEASES .

OFR 64-31 SF, INDEX TO GEOLOGIC REPORTS, SPECIALSTUDIES ZONES ...•,•....." ...••,... " ...•...•.•....•,...•........•,..•,..•.....•........

BULLETIN 202 - GEOLOGY OF THEPOINT REYES PENINSULA, MARIN COUNTy ..

SP70-MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - POTASHSP71-MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - TITANIUMSP72-MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - GYPSUM.SP73-MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - LIME .SP74-MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - SULFURSP75--MINERAL COMMODITY REPORT - ZEOLITE

Front Coyer, View northward toward Rockhouse Basin, on area along the crestof the Sierra Nevada in Kern and Tulare counties. The mineral resource potentialof thi5 oreo is described in on orticle beginning on p. 263. Photo by John L.Burnell.

-

Contracting OfficerU.S. Geological SurveyMail StOp 285345 Middlefield RoadMenlo Park, California 94025CGEOA 31 \ \21 261-284 (1964)

Deeember 196'1IVolume 31/Number 12

I ( l~ALIFORNIA6. OLOGY

... PUBlICAnON OF THEOEPARTMENT OF CONSERV,tlnOH

DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY

SlIIle or C.MOlroll GEORGE oeUKMEJIANGovemot

The Resources Aqoncy GORDON K VAN VLECKSecretary for Resources

Qoopatlmenl or ~.tOO'\ DON L BLUBAUGHa..c,~

Drv$l;lIl or I,bnes & Geology JAMES F DAVISStare GeoIogI$l

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY stall

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CloLIFORNlA GEOlOO¥ IISSN 0026 4~1 os ilUblosI>edmor>tNr 111' lJ'oe~ 01 Coo&ervatoon. 0Ms00n 01M"'ft.,.., Geology 1M -"\oOt'I OlI!C<llIS'" tn, 20ltlSu...,. s..era"""'lO. CA 95814 Second clau POS~"Pall at sa.;."menlO C, Postma.to<

... _~changes to CALIFORNlA GEOLOGY IUSPS 350 8'l0).80.2980, 5aer_1O CA~12

Re1KlI1S~ 0Ms00n lit M<nes and GeoiolwPoto'C" .fI<l ...."Clft .nd ""WS ,tems '~!ed 10 the .,~scooncet .. CalItOf1"llll .t. oncIuO<'<l '" lhe fnagiUlI'Ie Cont'otNJle<l art"'.... pI>Q\Ogf'.... _ Ilem~_ and geoIogocalm(><>1""ola~",._

TN ~o<W:lusoons 'nd _ ....p'BUed a'. _'I' \I'IOseoJ 1M aoJ''''''s ana atll ne' 'IIl«SSatIfy end<wSC!<! ~ 1MDepanment oJ Consenta\lOl'lCon~8~ l)8 _1l'SSQ(l '" E(Iolo.- CAll

FOP-NIA GEOlOGY, 1416 Nonll> SU_. Room 1:).01 Saoa·me<l1O CA 95814

Subw",_ 15 00 Ile< rear~ copoM 50,' 8aet1al DMG oil"" S8na 5\lOSC,,,,loon o.-dolIs ana cna"9" ...8d<lr~ l<Ilor"",'"" 10 C"'lIF~NI'" GEOLOGY PO 9<>.

""" s.c._to CA 95812

Proposals will be due early February,1985. It is anticipated thai funding of se­lected programs will start on or after Oc­tober 1, 1985. ~

202 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY DecemOO' 1964

MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL

Bochhouse Basin Wilderness studu areaKERN AND TULARE COUNTIES

by

GARY C. TAYLOR, GeologistDeportment of Conservation

Division of Mines and Geology

'" ge-ologic, energy, C1nd mine.oh (GfM) .....­ver of the Rockhouse Ba.in Wilde,n"" SludyA,eo was conducted in 1983 10 dele,m,ne i/ theo,ea wa••uilable 10< inely,io" in II.e Notiongl Wi'·dernes. P,,, ........o'ion .y.lem. The mine,ol. foundin ,hi. southe,n Sierra Neyoda o.eo 0'" describedin Ihi .....m"lory I,om Special Repo,I 157, M,,,erolRelOOfc" POlentio! of Ihe Rockhcwle BOlin Wild",·nen Study Area, Kem and Tulore coun';e., Coli·10<1'1;0, 1984, p'epored fa, Ihe U.S. 8u.eou 01land Management (BlM) by California DeporT­mel'll of Con.ervol;on, Di"i,ion of Mine. olld Ge·ology IDMGI .1,,11 members G.c. Toylo._ ftc'loyd, J.T. ,1,110'1, J.L 8urnell, M.e. Stinoon. 11.e.(haJ)mon. M.A. Silvo, (.F. 8ocon. ond T.P. Ande,'son...ecIilor,

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INTRODUCTION

The Rockhouse Basin WildernessStudy Area (WSA) is situated near thesouthern terminous of the Sierra Nevadaapproximately 65 miles northeast of Bak­ersfield, It covers about 37.000 acres im­mediately cast of the Sequoia NatiollulForest boundary (Figure I).

The area is boundl.:d on the cast by theprecipitous, 4{X)()·foot scarp of the SiermNevada faull and on the west by the 3000·foot.deep. V·shap,:d canyon of the southfork of the Kern Ri\'er.

The topography ranges from moderateslopes (I'hoto 1,2) to barren. predpltouschITs and steep-walled canyons. The high­est palIIt 10 the area is an unnamed peakat an elevation of8315 fCCI. and the lowestpoim is about 3200 feet on the \ alley flooralong Canebrake Creek near Highway178,

Figure 1. location of the Rockhouse Basin Wilderness Study Area, Kern andTulare counties, California.

Photo 1. View northwest into Rockhouse Basin from Pacific Crcst Trail. The leftcenlral half of Ihe photo shows the granitic exfoliotion domes of the adiocenlDomelond Wilderness. Photos by John L. Burnett.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY Oe<:emDer t984 263

GEOLOGIC MAP SHOWING MINES AND PROSPECTSOF THE

ROCKHOUSE BASIN WILDERNESS STUDY AREAKERN AND TULARE COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA

Figure 2.

GENERAL GEOLOGY

The Rockhouse Basin WSA encom·passes an elevated erosional surface ofmetasedimentary rocks of the KernvilleSeries that have been intruded by graniticplutons of the Sierra Nevada batholith.Occurring in the area are three distin­guishable plUloJlic rocks (Figure 2) th;\tbecome more felsic with decreasing ageand range in composition from gabbro­quartz diorite to granodiorite-graniteaplite. These are the Summit Gabbro (Ju·ra~sic and/or Triassic). the SacatarQuartz Diorite (Jurassic), and the Isabel­la Granodiorite (Cretaceous) (Miller andWebb. 1940). The mctamorphic rocks ofthe Kernville Series were derived fromfine-grained, arenaceous to argilliferousclastic sedimentary rocks. with minor cal·can.:ous and volcaniclastic interbeds thatwere deposited in a shallow water envi­ronment. Subsequent burial. intense fold­ing, and biotite-subfacies metamorphismhas led to the formation of quartzites.schists. and phyllites. with minor assem­blages of marble, slate. and hornfels.These metamorphic rocks occur within aJ-mile·wide, northwest-striking. steeplyeastward-dipping roof pendant and assmaller scatlcred ,..;enoliths within the plu.tonic rocks west of the pendan\. Minoroutcrops of Tertiary olivine basalts occuralong the western border of the area, andminor erosional remnants of older Qua­ternary gravels mantle parts of Rock­house Basin.

The present local drainage patterns 11\

the study area are largely controlled byjoints developed within the granitic intru·sives and modified by regional uplift ande,..;tensive erosion.

PLUTONIC ROCKS

Summit Gabbro

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Typically, the Summit Gabbro is acoarse- to medium-grained. inequigranu­lar 10 porphyritic hornblende gabbro. Insome places, it approaches a pyro,..;eni!e incomposition with a matn,..; of greenish­black clinopyro,..;ene (augite). Thesesmall bodies of pyro,..;enite typically showa common spatial association to contactzones and probably reprcsenl small-scalemagmatic differentiation within the Sum­mit Gabbro. The Summit Gabbro may bean early border phase of the SacatarQuartz Diorite (Bergquist and Nitkie­wiez, 1982).

The Summit Gabbro is the oldest intru·sive rock in the area and it also has thesmallest areal distribution. II is e,..;posedwithin the northeastern part of the WSAas two distinct, elongated, north-trendingsepta; as a small. detached int rusion alongthis same trend; and as a small irregular­shaped intrusion near the northernboundary of the study area. These rocksform Ihe highest topographic elevationswithin the area.

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Photo 2. Pinon pine covered slopes of Chimney Peak, elevation 7990, with la­mont Meadows in foreground. lamont Meadows is the eoslern boundary of theRockhouse Basin Wilderness Study Area.

Socotor Quartz Diorite

The Sacatar Quartz Diorite includesmedium- to line-grained equigranularmesocnllic hornblende quartz dioritc(tonalite) and equigranular leucocratichornblende granodiorite. This laller rock­type occurs principally in the northernpart of the study area where it is in con­tact with the Kernville Series. SummitGabbro. and with the YOunger IsabellaGranodiorite. The grallodiorite. the mostfdsic rock-type within the Sacatar QuartzDiorite, is sometimes difficult to distin­guish from mafic phases of the IsabellaGnanodiorile. Substllntial areas of mixedrocks occur between the Sacatar QuartzDiorite alld the Isabella granodioritewhere contact zones are transitional (Fig­ur(2).

A discordant hornblende-biotite mill­eral pair yielded a mean potassium-argon(K-Ar) age of 145.4 million years (m.y.)for the Sacatar Quartz Diorite (Bergquistand Nitkiewiez. 1982). This date is olderlhan other K-Ar ages reported for south­ern Sierra Nevada and nearby TehachapiMountains (Evernden and Kistler. 1970:Ross. 1980, 1983) and it confirms theJu­rassic age of the Sacatar Quartz Dioriteassigned by Miller and Webb (1940).

The Summit Gabbro. which is intrudedby the Sacatar Quartz Diorite. is probablyof Jurassic or Triassic Age. Contactsbetween the two plutons appear to be ver­tical. are typically very sharp, and usuallyprovide clear evidence of the intrusive na­ture of the &leatar Quartz Diorite into theSummit Gabbro. The Sacatar Quartz Dio­rite is commonly foliated along these con­tacts. However. areas that contain anassemblage of mixed rocks exist alongsome of the contacts. Where a gabbroicphase of the Sacatar Quartz Diorite existsand is highly contaminated with inclu­sions and schlieren of the Summit Gabbroor fine-grained diorite, it becomes difficultto distinguish the intrusive relationship.

Isabella Granodiorite

The Isabella Granodiorite. which iscomposed of granite. quartz-monzonite.and quartz-diorite occurs throughout thestudy area and is almost continuously ex­posed in the southern part of the area.Typically. specimens of the IsabellaGranodiorite arc medium- to coarse­grained. inequigranular, leuocratic rocks.However. texture may vary locally fromequigranular to coarsely porphyritic withprominent phenocrysts of potassium feld-

spar. An additional faek'S of the IsabellaGranodiorite is a coarse-grained. foliatedgranite in which layers of quartz alternatewith layers of feldspar. This facies occurscommonly along the margin of the pluton.

A single age date of 81.1 m,y. was deter­mined from biotite for a sample of IsubellaGranodiorite from the Domel:llld areawest of the Rockhouse Basin WSA (Berg­quist and Nitkiewiez, 1982). This LateCretaceous minimum age is in closeagreement with olher K·Ar biotite ages ofthe Isabella Granodiorite and equivalentullits in the vicinity of Rockhouse Basin(Ross. 1980, 1983: Evernden and Kistler.1970).

The Isabella Granodiorite, the most fel­sic intrusion within the study area. lypi­cally exhibits sharp contactS with both theKernville Series and the Sacatar QuartzDiorite. However. transitional mixed rockzones do exist in certain areas: such a zoneis located immediately west of Big PineMeadow. Here, randomly sampled speci­mens of ISllbclla Granodiorite cannot bedistinguished from Saeatar Quartz Dio­rite.

Aplite, Pegmatite, and Mafic Dikes

The Sacatar Quartz Diorite and the Isa­bella Granodiorite show extensive devel­opment of aplite. pegmatite. and 8ranodi­orite dikes. especially in the southern partof the area. Immediately west of the Bu-

reau of Land Management's Long Valleycampground. numerous large granodior­ite dikes have intruded the Sacatar QuartzDiorite along a northeasterly trend. Thesedikes have low-dip angles and near paral·leI strikes. and the dikes can be lraeedsouthward to the Isabella Granodiorite.

In turn, the Isabella Granodiorite hasbeen intruded by late-stage aplite and peg.matite dikes thai arc particularly perva­sive in parts of the area, A large pcgmlllitedike with a width in excess of 30 fect islocated just outside of lhc studyarea at upper Chimney Meadows. Thisdike is composed of almost pure pot­ash feldspar and quartz and has beenmined commercially as a source of silica(Webb. 1937), Moderate-sized (2·5 foot)p.:gmatite dikes are numerous aroundLong Valley and typically eon lain largefeldspar crystals, quartz. and books ofbi­ollle.

Aplite dikes are found in both the Saca­tar Quartz Diorite and Isabella Granodi­orite. Typically. the dikes are leucocratic.finc-grained to coarsely granular, and inthe area west of marker VABM Long.Section 31. T23S. R36E. show an abun­dance of pink- to ruby-colored garnetcrystals disseminated within a matrix ofwhite feldspar. A coarsely crystallinequartz-feldspar pegmatite dike forms aprominent. northwest-trending outcropnear the Ulmont Mcadow-Long ValleyRoad.

266 CALlFORNtA GEOLOGY December 1964

Crosscuning these late-stage felsicdikes within the Isabella Granodiorite aremafic dikes. These mafic dikes are wellexposed at the upper part of LamontMeadow. They exhibit a microcrystallinetexture and appear to be basaltic in com­position.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS

The metamorphic rocks within thestudy IIrea belong to the Kernville Series(Miller, 1931). In this report, they areseparated into two map units: (1) a mas­sive, light-gray to black quartzite that oc­curs in the northern part of the study area,and (2) an undifferentiated unit that con­tains quartz.mica schists, quartzites, andphyllites, with minor assemblages of mar­ble. slate, hornfels. and metavolcanicrock. In addition. due to economic andmetallogenic considerations, both the bar­ite-bearing sedimentary horizons andtungsten-bearing calcareous interbedsthat occur within undifferentiated Kern­ville Series rocks were mapped (Figure2). This sequence of metasedimentaryrocks may be, in part, the lateral equiva­lents of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks eastof the Sierra Nevada, or they may be cor­relative with Mesozoic metamorphic roofpendants to the north (Bergquist andNitkiewiez, 1982).

The metasedimentary rocks exposed inthe northern part of the area consist large­ly of a gray to black, massive quartzite,with minor interbeds of quartz-micaschist and phyllite. Quartzite ranges intexture from massive to thinly laminated,and from coarsely crystalline to crypto­crystalline; it typically exhibits an iron·stained, weathered surface. In places. thequartzite is very micaceous and showsdevelopment of chlorite schist lensesalong contacts with granitic rocks. Con­tact zones vary from extensive zones ofmixed rock exhibiting large subparallelseptal masses to narrow zones measumblein inches. Allhough the most extensivecross-sectional e;o;.posure of undifferentiat­ed Kernvillc Series lies outside of thestudy area, there is a well exposed sectionalong the Rockhouse Basin.ChimneyMeadows Road.

Quartzites within thc study area typi­cally are light gray to bluish-gray, me­dium grained, thinly laminated, and rangefrom nearly pure quartzite to micaceousquartzite. Quartzites are exposedthroughout the roof pendant. Collectivelythey are several thousand feet thick andare also present as thick beds within largerareas of the Kernville Series. Quartzite is

intercalated with thin calcareous lenses(marbles) in both the area of the Rock­house tungsten property known as Kern­Sierra and in the area of the barite mine(T23S. R36E, Section 34).

Interbedded with the quartzites arewell-foliated, greenish-gray to dark gray,fine.gmined schists that range in compo·sition from quartz-rnuscovite-biotite-gar.net schists to quartz-mica schists.Phyllites, typically massive and very darkin color. and exhibiting good cleavage, arewell exposed in the area of the baritemine.

Several zones of calcareous sedimentsand marbles up to 100 feet thick occur inthe area. Marbles are white- to bluish­gray, thinly bedded, fine-grained tocoarsely crystalline, and range from near­ly pure calcite 10 dolomite varieties. Mar­ble beds are associated with and containinterbeds of barite. Silicification of themarble commonly occurs near intrusivecontacts and, locally, zones of quartz-epi­dote-garnet skarn have been developedalong the contacts. Metamorphosed vol­canic rocks occur within Ihe KernvilleSeries as minor intercalated beds withinthe metasedimentary sequence. Metavol­canic rocks typically e;o;.hibit equigranularand uniform composition, light-gray col­or, and appear massive in outcrop. Allmetavolcanic beds, commonly tens of feetthick, are subparallel to the enclosingmetasedimentary rocks and probably arehypabyssal intrusions.

VOLCANIC ROCKS

Tertiary volcanic rocks do not occurwithin the Rockhouse Basin WSAjhowever, these rocks do occur immediate­ly adjacent to the western border of thearea. Due to this nearby location, theserocks were mapped and field checked.

A northeast trending ridge immediatelywest of marker VABM Long is capped byan olivine-augite basal! now. Flow rocksare typically dark gray to black on a freshsurface and light gray where weathered.Thc rocks exhibit a microcrystallinegroundmass and isolated xenocrysts (2­40 mm) of gray, glass)' quartz. The basalt,which measures less than 100 fect thick.shows minor developmcnt of columnarjointing. Extensive fmcturing and land­sliding has resulted in the accumulation ofdisjointed rubble piles downslope. Thisflow, underlain by Cretaceous IsabellaGranodiorite. is of Tertiary age and isprobably contemporaneous with an oli­vine basalt from Black Mountain, located

about 4 miles westward. which yielded awhole-rock Miocene age of 12.3 m.y.(Bergquist and Nitkiewiez, 1982). Otherolivine basalts from the Kern Plateauhave yielded dates of 3.6 m.y. (Pliocene)and younger (Moore and Dodge, 1980).

UNCONSOLIDATED QUATERNARYDEPOSITS

Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternaryage in the study area consist of extensivecolluvial veneers of slopewash and talusaprons at the base of steeper slopes andbroad alluvial fans.

Slopewash deposits mantle most gra­nitic slopes and some slopes underlain byresistant metamorphic rocks. Streamchannels are filled with coarse, poorlysorted gravels with minor deposits offinergrained sediments occurring wherestream gradients deerease:. Thinly lami­nated, organic-rich alluvial sediments onthe order of tens of feet thick occur withinBig Pine, Lamont, Chimney, and sevemlother smaller intermontane meadows.

Highly resistant metamorphic rocks,principally quartzites, have developed ex­tensive talus aprons in areas of high relief.Large disjointed granitic blocks and rub­ble piles are present along Chimney Creekand occur predominantly at the base ofthe cliffs along the southern border of thestudy area.

Broad alluvial fans have developedalong the lower drainage of ChimneyCreek. within Rockhouse Basin WSA,and in the area immediately north ofHighway 178. An older. partly eroded,alluvial gravel sequence underlies Rock­house Basin.

STRUCTURE

The metamorphic rocks that fonn theroof pendant at Chimney Peak have agcneral structural trend of N4S·W and avertical to near-vertical eastward dip. As­suming that the sequencc is not over­IUrned or isoclinally repeated, the oldestrocks occur along the western margin Ilndbecome progressively younger in an east­ern dir«tion. No evidencc of regionalfolding was found during the field investi­gation. Locally, large blocks of meta·morphic rocks have been disjointed androtated along plutonic contacts by mag­matic stoping. The roof pendant rocks canbe chllracterized as an eastward-dippinghomoclinal sequence of metasedimentaryrocks.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 26'

Photo 3. Do Good hmgsten prospect which occurs in 0 smoll detached septo ofKernville Series metosedimentary rock surrounded by Socotor Quort:t-Oiorite.

Individual intrafonnational metasedi­mentary sequences show intense small­scale deformation. Calc-silicate rocks,carbonale lenses, and quartzites common­ly show isoclinal folds with venical plung­ing-fold axes and development ofboudinage structure. These small-scalestructures 3re common throughout theroof pendant rocks and become very pro­nounced adjacent to contacts with pluton­ic rocks.

On a regional scale. the most importantstructures in the area are a group ofcircu­lar granitic intrusions. Part of the Dome­land Wilderness to the west is underlainby one of these intrusions, and sc\'eralmore have been identified to the north­west. A truncated circular intrusion wasmapped at Lion Meadows in the HockellPeak quadrangle (Burnett, 1963). Thesestructures are most obvious on high-alti­tude photographs and lANDSAT satel­lite imagery. They are the eroded tops ofgranitic plutons, and the circular bandsarc alternating layers of malic and felsicintrusive rock.

The eastern edge of the circular struc­ture beneath the Domeland Wildernessunderlies the western edge of the Rock­house Basin WSA and has innuenceddrainage development within the studyarea. The granitic rocks typically exhibita prominetll nonheast and subordinatenorthwest SCt of joints. However. thenorthwestern part of the study area isdominated by circular jointing associatedwith the Domeland Wilderness circularstructure. Toward the southeast. the cir·cular jointing gives way to joints with astrong east-west orientation. Analysis ofLANDSAT satellite imagery suggeststhat most of the surface drainage and theorientation of peaks and ridge.~ arc con­trolled by these regional joint panerns.

The metamorphic rocks exhibit moder­ate jointing. lineament development, and.in places. minor faulting, all of whichprobably represent structural adjustmentsthat occurred during emplacement of theCretaceous plutons. Structural evidencefor minor faulting exists within the barite­bearing horizon. which appe:lrs to havebeen offset by small nonheast-trendingstrike-slip faults.

Several prominent northeast-trendinglineaments occur in Quaternary sedi­ments within and along the eastern mar­gin of Rockhouse Basin. These lineamentsexhibit definite tonal color dilTerences oncolor air photos, which suggests the pres­ence of a ground water barrier. In places,

these lineaments are coincident with lUI

erosional surface developed on older allu­vial gravel. However, probably, the linea­ments do not indicate Quaternarydisplacement along faults. As they are ontrend with a prominent northeast jointsel, these lineaments probably reneet bur­ied bedrock structures.

The study area is bounded by two ma­jor faults. The Sierra Nevada fault zone.which is located immediately to the eastof the area. shows several thousand feet ofpost-Pliocene vertical displacement. TheKern Canyon fault is a major pre-Quater­nary north-trending structure that islocated about 18 miles wcst of the studyarea. Several pre-Quaternary faults trendinto the study area (Jennings. 1975).However. no evidence was found duringthis study 10 indicate Quaternary move­ment along any of these faults.

MINERAL DEPOSITS

Mining History

There are no patented mining claimsin the Rockhouse Basin WSA. Countyand DlM records indicate that 43 claimsare currently located wit hin or close to thestudy area. Although the area was un­doubtedly prospected during the middle­to-late 1800 s and the early 1900 s whengold placers along the South Fork of theKern River were active. no records existof any mining claims during this period.

The first claim of record is that of thebarite property discovered by Williamlyle Skinner in 1920. The property re­mained undeveloped until 1930 because ofits isolation and inaccessibility. Develop­ment of barite propenies by Paso BarytaMines and other operators continuedthrough the 1930s and 19405. The lastrecorded shipment of barite was by theDrilling Mud Division of Maceo Com­pany to their Rosamond Mill in Decem­ber 1951 (Kundert, 1953).

Tungsten claims were filed in the late1930s, and demand spurred by WorldWar II price supports Jed to Olher tung­sten discoveries. Recorded tungslen pro­duction began in 1942 with constructionof a 50-ton gravity concentrator at theKern·Sierra mine, which was worked in­termitlently in 1942 and 1943 (Kraus­kopf. 1953). Tungsten prices underwent arapid decline at the end of the World War11. and all production ceased until U.S.Government price support was reinstatedin 1951 during the Korean War. Minortungsten production was recorded forboth the Western No. I and the Do Good­Humbug properties during the early1950 s, but all operations had ceased by1956 when the federal government tung­sten purchase program was suspended.Currently, there arc no active mines with­in the area.

Of the three properties that have re­corded tungsten production, only the DoGood·Humbug claims (Photo 3) are

268 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1964

Photo 5. View northwest. Triangle B barite prospect. High-grade, white crystallinebarite has been selectively mined from this open cut since the 1930s.

Photo 4. View southeast along eastward dipping barite-bearing metasedimen­tary sequence within the Kern ... iIIe Series at Barite Prospect No.2. Ferruginous schistand organic slote comprise the footwall.

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Records indicate Ihal the thickness ofbarite lenses that were mined was highlyvariable. Farly-nine measured thicknesseswhich averaged 28 feet with a maximumof 68 feet were recorded (Busey. 19]6).One adit. for example. was driven "severalhundreds of feet along a 4- to G-.foot wide.granular bed of barite" (Kundert. 195]).The sizes oflhe pits examined during thisstudy are consistent with Ihese figures.

/_.~..

(Photo 4). The barite lenses range fromless than I fOOl to ]0 feet Ihick and thebedding is near-vertical 10 vertical (Photo5). The metasedimentary sequence in·c1udes organic-rich slate. melasiltslone.micaceous quartzite. ferruginous schist(Photo 6). and coarsely crystalline, fetidmarble beds. Barite also occurs in discretegray- 10 brown-stained beds or as barilicmarble.

Potential Mine.al Re.aurcu. RlKkhou.e 8a.;n.Numbe, Ioco,ian keyed to figu.e 2

00 N"ME COMMODITY, Do Good pto'II«' ",nil""", s..... 1",ng """II«' ...., Humbug pro_I '~ng"""

• lIock"",,,o,e ·I:.,n Slerro '''''11,,---,, UnkllO..n (""'lI".n '''''II".nclaim No. 11

• Di.;. O,,"n <101m '-', GoId.n S'ock '-"No.• 1"0'1'"'<'

• Unk""wn lbo",. bo"l.pro'II«' No. 11

• 1'longltt I I"o'l'"'<t bor".

" Unl"" ..n (bo,ite bo",.pto'PO'C' No. J)

" Unl""wn lboti'. borrl.1"""'fH<' ....0. 11

" N... Py"•• ",0'11«' bot".

" T.rong$e C I"o'J'O'C' bo"l.

" W....'n No. 1 '~nll".n. bo",.

" llue Gem 1"0_' '-""'"" Wh". era.. 1e-ld.J'O'. '1"0'"

~ 1 f>'O'f'O'Ct

" Unk""..n unkllO..n

" Unkno..n ~nk"o.."

" lie<! Knob No.1 ....and No.2 1"0'1'"'<'

'" Sly II.... pro'I'"'<' gold. 110"""""

" Sidewinde, No. I lung"""

within the Rockhouse Basin WSA. Pro­duction from the Kern-Sierra mine beganin 1942 (Krauskopf, 1953); however, ex­amination of the underground and surfaceworkings reveals only minimal stopedevelopment and minor actual produc­tion. The Western No. I mine, developedby a short adit and minor stoping, pro­duced several shipments of hand-cobbedore in 1953 (Lawrence Fox, personalcommunication, 198]). The Do Good­Humbug mines are developed by an open·cut/shaft and caved adit, respecth·ely.Surface workings at the Do Good mineindicate minor production. but infonna­tion on actual tonnages produced is notavailable.

Barile occurs as discontinuous lenseswilhin a bedded metasedimentary se­quence of the Kernville Series along astrike distance of approximately] miles

Sarite

Geological environments considered tohave potential for the development ofmineral resources were examined in detailduring the course of this study. All areasunderlain by metasedimentary rocks ofthe Kernville Series were extensively fieldchecked and mapped at a I:20,000 scale.Particular emphasis was given to igneouscontact zones and calc-silicate horizonswithin the Kernville Series.

GEOLOGY OF MINERAL DEPOSITS

CALIfORNIA GEOLOGY Decembe. 1~ 2"

Photo 6. Open cut on Triangle C barite prospect. Small discontinuous lenses andveinlets of white crystalline barite are visible within the dark colored ferruginousschist (seen across the cenler of the photo).

Open pit and open cut mining exploitedlocal areas of high specific gravity barite.Samples from selected zones would pro­duce specific gravities of 4.2 to 4.4(McNeil, 1934), with wallrock averaging3.2 to 3.9. However. Kundert'S 1953 reoport cites Maceo Company as stating the"Nine Mile Deposit was of substandardgrade and averaged 3.6 to 3.75." Due tosloughing of pit walls. most pits reveallinle in·situ barite available for examina·tion. Very lillIe information has been de·veloped for evaluation of down.dipextension of exposed ore zones. Contactwith Maceo Drilling and Mud Divisionand other operators revealed that noevaluation of down-dip ore extensions bydrilling was ever performed. However, itis reasonable to infer that the barite lensesare distributed over a vertical distance ofat least 1200 feet. This is based on thevertical distribution of open cuts in thebarite lenses, 6950 to 8186 fect in eleva­tion; reports of a tunnel that was driven400 feet below the highest surface expo­sure and that ellposed an ore width of 6 to10 feet (McNeil, 1934; Busey, 1936); thevertical to near-vertical bedding of thebarite lenses: and the absence of major'fold structures or faults.

Earlier workers interpreted thesedeposits as epithermal veins. However,evidence developed during this study indiocates that these deposits originated as syn­genetic sedimentary barite. Evidencesupporting this COnclusion includes: (I)

all barite lenses are parallel to bedding;(2) there are no crossculling veinlets orapophyses of barite into wallrockj (3)there is a lack of associated epigenetic sul­fide mineralization; (4) very discrete,sharp, and uneroded intergrain bounda­ries exist between calcite-barite minerals;and (5) metamorphic fabric is developedin the barite.

Feldspar

An extensive zone of pegmatite andaplite dikes exists between the southernpart of Long Valley and the nonhern partof Lamont Meadow. This zone representslate-stage magmatic activity for the gra·nitic intrusives. Pegmatite dikes are com­posed of large potash feldspar crystals,quartz, and coarse books of biotite.Aplites are line grained and light colored.They contain medium·sized crystals offeldspar, quartz, muscovite, and locallyabundant red to pink garnets. Typicalthicknesses of the dikes range from I to 4feet. all hough thicknesses of g to 10 feetwere nOled. Within Section 32, T23S,R37E, located immediately east of theWSA. a large pegmatite dike 30 to 40 feetin thickness was mined for its high qualityfeldspar and quartz during the 1920s.

Gem Stones

Turquoise occurs 111 a small prospectpit (Blue Gem Claim) located on the eastslope of a hill immediately southeast of

the BLM campground in Long Valley.Turquoise appears as small (I to 4 0101)disseminated veinlets and larger irregular­shaped blebs within a weathered pegma­tite and granodiorite that is overlain by aniron-stained. micaceous quartzite. Verylillie turquoise was visible in-place andthis was found only within a small cavityat the base of the pit wall. However, smallfracture· and vug-filling material appears10 be of gem quality_ Color ranges fromgreenish.blue for oxidized dump materialto dark sky-blue for vein material. X-raydiffraction pallerns confirmed the materi­al to be turquoise (Dr. James POSt. Cali·fornia State Unive:rsity. Sacramcnlo,personal communication).

Turquoise, a basic copper aluminumphosphate (CuAI.(PO.).(OH)· SH,O),is a secondary mineral formed from theweathering of pre-existing primary miner­als. In this case, geologic and mineralogicrelationships indicate that minerals of theapatite group, contained either within thegranodiorite or pegmatite, were: the prob­able: source for calcium phosphate. Cop­per was contributed by oxidation ofsullides contained in the metamorphicquartzite or within the pegmatite.

Morble

Two discrete beds of calcareous sedi­ments containing intercalated beds ofmarble and several smaller detached podsof marble occur along the margins of theKernville Series roof pendant. The telltureof marble ranges from coarsely crystallineto lindy laminated. Thickness of beds ishighly variable, but does not exceed 60feet; the marble beds pinch and swellalong strike.

Ouorlzite

Quartzite is the most elliensive rocktype in the Kernville Series. It locally at­tains thicknesses of several thousand feet.Large areas in the northern part of thestudy area are underlain by massive: tothinly laminated, gray-colored quartzite(Figure 2). Extensive beds of quartzite,intercalated with other metamorphic rocktypes. occur in the barite mine area. AI·though quartzite is abundant, relativelylillIe is pure, most is micaceous. iron­stained, or mixed with other metasedi­mentary rocks.

All tungsten deposits occur either alongplutonic-metamorphic contact zones orwithin detached xenoliths of metasedi·mentary rock close 10 plutonic contact

270 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984

fM'Photo 7. Tungsten prospec.t odjoc.ent to Rockhouse Basin Rood. The prospect wasdeveloped along a 20-foot wide gornetiferous-toctite zone which comprises a smalldetached septa of Kernville Series within Socotor Quartz Diorite. Remnant bed­ding, which is visible directly over the odit opening, has been preserved by theselective replacement of limeslone by granular garnet and epidote.

zones. Wilh the exceplion of the WesternNo. I prospect and an unnamed prospect.both of which appc':ar to be associatedwith the barite-bearillg calc-silicate hori­ZOIl. all prospects occur along a narrowzone or wilhin detached septa of a calc­silicale horizon near the western bound­ary of lhe sludy area adjacent to LongValley and Rockhouse Basin.

These deposits are typical Sierra Ne­vada type contact mclasomatic deposits.J>re-existing sedimenlary rocks were ther­mally metamorphoSt."<I by intrusions ofplutonic rocks, and calcareous sedimentswere altered to form garnet-epidote-py­roxene taetite (Photo 7). Typically.scheelite (calcium lungstate) wasmelasomatical1y introduced into thesetaclile zoncs to fornl disseminated grainsand veinlets wilh associated minor sulfideminerali1.3tion.

Tungsten production from the area hasbeen minor. Production records and fieldexaminations reveal thai only the Kern­Sierra. Do Good. Weslern No. 1 and.possibly, the Humbug properties had mi­nor production. The Kernville Series ofmetasedimentary rocks within the studyarea arc predominantly compost."<I ofmetamorphosed clastic and argillic sedi­ments. Calcareous sedimenls necessary toform scheelite-bearing taclite zones aremlllor.

Overall. the taclite zones can be charac­terized as follows: verlical to near-verticalbedding; measured widths to a maximumof 20 feet; formation of small lenticular orpodiform ore-bearing bodies; disseminat­ed scheelite mineralization within tactite7.ones. although high-grade blebs andvein lets were Iloted: and limitl'<l down-dipextension. Only two prospectS offer struc­luralmsight into thc vertical dIstributionof taClite zones. The Kern-Sierra proper­ly. developdl by a shaft and two adit!>.exposes a vertical sectIon of approximate­ly 200 feet. From a width of 12 to 15 feetin Ihe discovery pit. the tactile decreasesto a width of 3104 feet in the lower adil.The Do Good property. developed by a14- to 16-foot open cut/shaft. reveals anapparenl marked decrease or truncationof the lactite zone over a vertical distanceof 60 feel.

Uranium-Thorium

Balh DMG geochcmical analysis ofstream sediments and Department of En­ergy (DOE) airborne radiometric surveysand water-sample data confirm the pres­ence of modes I uranium enrichment with­in the study area. Analysis of these data

•

reveals that anomalous values arcpredominantly associated with the occur­rence of pegmatite dikes, .....hlch representlate-stage magmatic aClivity of the gran­itic intrusives.

Optical examimllion of Stream sedi­ments with anomalous uranium-thOriumvalues and hand-held scintillomcter sur­veys of collected pegmatite samples revealthe presence of radioactive minerals. Ra­dioacth'e point source emitters withinpegmallle hand samples appear as black.vitreous opaque minerals which, withoutconfinnation by X-ray diffraction plll­terns. have been tentati\'e!y identified asallanite. Optical examination of the hc.wymineral split-stream sample. collectedduring the study. reveals an abundance ofmetamict 7ircons (qrtolite) in whichcrystallatlice disruption due to radiatIondamage is readily apparent. Both of theseminerals. as well as thorite. are commonminor accessory minerals of pcgmatltes.It would appc':aT that uranium·bearingminerals were concentrated in the late­stage pc':gmatites.

Mineralized Zones

The Kern\ilk $cries of metamorphicrocks ubiquitously conlain minoramounts of disscminaled sulfides. typical­ly pyrite. which upon weathering have im­parted iron-oxide staining to most roofpendant rocks. Howe\·er. mineralized

areas containing ba!>e metal sulfides arcrare within the study area.

Tactite zones usually contain mlllorsulfides (pyrite, chalcopyrite. pyrrhotite_molybdenite) and minor secondary cop­per minerals (azurite. malachite, chryso­colla). Sulfide mineralization occursalong sc\'eral small veins exhibiting P) ritebox-works \.5 miles south of markerVABM Canyon. Section 6, T23S, R36E_Baxworks are present in samples takenfrom the Dixie Queen claim, and dis­~eminated sulfides (pyrite) occur 1JI

quartz diorite and quartzite. 0.5 milenorth of the BLM Long Valley camp­ground.

GEOCHEMICAL SURVEY

The main objective of lhe geochemIcalsurvey was to identify areas that possiblycontain undiscovered or concealed min­eral deposits. Stream-sediment S<1mplcsrepresent a composite of the material up­slream from the sample site. Samplingstream sl-diments can be an effective andrapid mel hod of mincral exploration, asanomalous quantities of metallic elementsin the sediment may signal the occurrt'nceof concealed or unknown deposils of pros­pecting interest (Huber and others, 1982.p. 22).

SedIment samples were taken from allthe major streams and tributaries. includ­ing some samples from streams oUlside

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 271

the study area that headed within thestudy area. At each of 294 sample sites.two samples were collecH.'d. One sample.weighing between 1 and 20 pounds. wascollected and later dried and sieved. anda 100 gram or larger fraction finer than 80mesh (minus 0.18 mm) was retained foranalysis. The other sample was a heavymineral concentrate that was concentrat­ed, where possible, by panning at the site.Each sample was composited from activealluvium collected from scveral locationswithin an area that may extend out asmuch as 100 feel.

Several hundred rock samples were col­lected for petrographic examination. andof these, 13 from claims, prospects, andother obviously mineralized areas werechemically analyzed.

SUMMARY

Barite appeared in most heavy m1l1eralconcentrate samples, including those col­lectt'd from granitic terrains. Most of theareas in the northern two-thirds of theRockhouse Basin WSA with anomalousbarite concentrations are associated withroof pendant rocks of the Kernville Series,which is known to contain scdimentarybarite. However, samples from the south­ern one-third of the Rockhousc BasinWSA, which ""ere collected from streamsdraining granitic terrain. also had anoma-

Be,gq...i~t. J.R., and Nitkiewin, A.M .• 1982. Geo­logie mop of the Domeland Wildernell and'Of\tiguou~ 'oodlell o,eo~, Ke.n and Tulo,e'ountie~. Coli/ornio: U.S. Geologi,ol SurveyMi«:ellone-ou1 Field Studie. Mop Mf·1395A.«:ole 1,48.000.

Burnell. J.L., 1963, Re,onnoillon,e geologic mop0/ port of Ihe Hod,ell Peak quodrongle: Coli­/omio Div;sion of Mine. and Geology, F,unol' ~ 2' Sheet 0/ Ihe Stale Geologic Mop.

B...rnell. J.l., 1976, Koweoh Peak. PMOf\ and its'elot;on~hip to Ihe age 0/ the Ke'n Canyon/oult, Tulofe County: Colifornio Oiv;~ion ofMi~~ ond Ge-ology Mop Sheet 35••cole 1:­62•.500.

Bu~ey, A,P., 1936, Untitled con~...hing report (,on.fidentiol ,e/e,ence).

Evemden, J.F., and K"'le,. R.W" 1970, Ch'Of\ol·ogy of emplo,ement 0/ Me.ozoic batholithic,omplen. in Colifo,nlo ond we.le,n Nevodo,U.S. Geologi,ot Survey P,o/ellionol Pope,623, 42 p.

Hube" N.K., Oher. H.W" Boiley, R,A" Thurbe,.H.K., Mille" M.S., Hillman, C.T., Lind ...y, D.S.,and Mo"i•. R,W .• 1982. Mine'DI rnOurCn of

lous harile concentrations. The presenceof anomalous barite here is problematical,but it could represent vein-type introduc­fion into the granitic rocks.

Trace amountS of the tungsten mineralssheelitc and powellite appeared in manyof the samples examined under fluores­cent light. Most of these samples are fromdrainage basins that are underlam entirelyor in part by metamorphic rocks of theKernville Series with known skarn depos­ifS.

Heavy mineral concentrate s:.tmpkswith measurablc radlOaClivllY normallycontained common to abundant grains ofzircon, lIlany of which were metamict.Rarc allanitc grains in combination withzircon werc found in radioactive s.amplescollecled from the southcrn margin of thearea.

Obscr\'oo sulfide mlllerals III heavymineral concentrate samples were limitedto pyrite which, whcn present, occurred intrace to rarc amounts and usually alteredto limonite.

The geochemical survey revealedanomalous concentrations of metallic ele­ments in several areas that previouslywere not known to contain mineraliza­tion. An area immediately northwest ofI3ig Pine mC'ddow contains IlIne: sample

REFERENCES

Ihe Minereh Wildemeu ond odiocent o,eo~,

Modefo and Mono ,o...ntie., Colifornio, U.S.Geologi,ol Su,~ey Bulletin 1516 A·O, 159 p.

Jenning., C.W., 1975, fault mop 01 Coli/ornio,Colilo,nio Di~i.iOf\ of Mine. and Geology,>cole 1:750,000.

Krou.kopl, K.B., 1953, T...n.g.'en depo.ill of Mo·dero, fre~no. and Tulare 'aunlie" ColilornioDivi.ion 0/ Mine. ond Ge-ology Spedol Repo,'35, p. 10-11.

K...nde". C.J., 1953, Preliminory field reporl_Nine Mile Conyon ba,ile depo.it (con/iden.liol.e/e,ence).

McNeil, C.T., 1934, Po.o Bo,ylo depo.il-Con·....h,ng and onolyticol ,epo" (,on/idenliol ,ef·erencel,

Miller, w.J., 1931, GeologIC .eclion. 0"011 Ihe.0... lhe,n SIerro Neoodo 0/ Colilo,nlo, Uni~e,'

~ity of Coli/orniD, Berhley. Deportment 0/Geologicol Sden,e. P...blkolion, o. 20, no. 9,p.331·360.

Miller, W.J., ond Webb, R.W., 1940. Oe~"ipt;vegeology of Ihe Kernville quodrongle, Colifo"nio, Coli/ornio Journol 01 Mine. and Geology,v. 36, no, 4, p. 343·378, plole 2. ~cDle 1:125,·000.

sites, ovcr an areal distribution of I mile,that show anomalous concentrations ofCu, Mo, Au, Ag. Sb, and U. All samplesrepresenf small, independent, subparalleldrainages that head immediately west ofthe: Rockhouse Basin WSA boundary. Sixsamples show coppc:r-molybdenum ano­malies. No samples are anomalous intungsten, although small garnctiferoustactite bodies containing visible sulfideswere noted within the area. These: basemctal anomalies arc associated with a bar­IUm anomaly which, 111 thc absence oftungstcn values, may indicate the pres­ence of an overprinting hydrothermal sys­tem of mincralization.

An anomalous concentration of rung·sten coincident with a discrete magnctichigh in Section 2, T24S. R36E may mdi­calC an unexposed tungsten-beanng tac­me zone,

Geochemical anomalies recorded forAs, Ag, Au. and Sb along the northwest­ern boundary of the Rockhouse BasinWSA may indicalc the presence of hydro­thermal mineralizution. Also, al thesouthern end of the Rockhouse BasmWSA anomalous base metals and gold­silver values may indicate an area of hy­drothermal mincralization. However, thegeochemical anomalies are of relativelylow magnitude. and there is a lack of cor­roborating evidence.

Moore. J.C., and Dodge. f.c.w.. 1980, Late CeonOIoi, vokoni, roch 01 Ihe ""uthe", SierraNevado, Colilornio, Po,t I, Geology and pe­!,ology, Ge-ologicol Society 0/ Amerko Bulle­lin, v. 91, nO. 9, p. 1515·1518.

Ron, D.C., 1980, Re'Of\noillon,e ge-ologi, mopof ba>ement ,och of the ""ulhernmo.1 SiertoNeoodo (norlh 10 35" 30'N), U.S. GeologicolSu'~ey Open·File Repo,1 80-307, 23 p., mop",ole 1:125,000.

Ron, D.C., 1983, Generalized geologic mop 01the ~outhem S;erro Nevodo Coli/ornio ~how.

ing .omple locotion./or K·Ar ond Rb·Sr dote.,U.S. Ge-ologicol S...'~ey Open_file RepO<I 83·231.

T...cke" W.B., and Somp.on, R.J., 1931. feld.po"~itico, ondolu,ile and kyonite deposits of Coli_lo",io in Twenly-.evenlh Repo't of the StoleMineroIO{li.t. Coli/o,nio Stale Mining B...reo....p. 414-6.

Webb, R.W., 1937, Geology 0/ a portion 01 the""uthern Sie"o Nevodo of Coli/ornio-Thenorthern Kernville quodrongle, Colifo,nio In,li.lule of Te,hnology, ...npubli.hed Ph.D. the•••. ~

CALIfORNIA GEOLOGY December t984

Geologic Note

SHASTINA-A VOLCANIC CONEOF MOUNT SHASTA

Siskiyou County

Shaslina is one of four cones that com­poses Mount Shasta. The Sargents Ridgecone. the oldest. developed around a cen­tral vent high on the south side of lhepresent Mount Shasta. The Misery HillcOile is centered jU~1 soUlh of the presentsummit. The youngest cone. Hallumcone, ronns the summit of Mount Shasta.Shaslln:l stands apart from the other threecon,--s as a parasitic cone centered 2.5 kmwest of the summit.

If II stood alone, Shastina would be amajor volcano of the Cascade Range. Thebulk of Shastina is composed of pyrollcneandesite lava flows, but the summit area isa complex of at least four hornblende da­cite plug domes. The emplacement ofthese domes, approximately 9400 yearsago, was accompanied by clIplosive erup­lions of pyroclastic flows that raced downthe west side of Shastina. These pyroclas­tic flows produced a fan of debris thatextends 17 km from the summit of Shas­tina and covers an area of 6S km1 includ­ing mOSt of the land underlying the townof Weed.

REFERENCES

Aerial view of the north ~ide of Mount Shasta. Shastina is the parasitic cone onthe west (right) shoulder of Mount Shasta (January 1962). PhOtO by Ernest S.Carter.

In July 1984, Ernest Carter, who gaveus an accounl of his climb of Whitneyglacier (CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY,January 1984), returned 10 Mt. Shasta fora final climb on Ihe mountain. This time,he climbed Shastina to photograph thevolcanic features of the summit area. Thefollowing photographs are a few of themany pictures he took of the climbingparty at Shastina, and the Whitney Gla­cier.

Chriltiorl$en, R.t, 1982, Valconic hOlord po/en_tiol in the Colifornio CooeDdes in SIO/UI ofvolconic prediction ond emergency responsecopobilitiel in valconic hOIOrd lonel of Coli­'orn;o, Coli'omio Depor/menl of Conservo­tion, Division of Minel ond Geology, Sper;iolpublicotion 6:1. p. "1·j9.

Miller, CD•• 1978, Holocene pyrocloSl;C flowdepolill f,om ShOltino ol'ld 8lock Bulle, westMount ShOltino, California, U.S. Geologico!Survey Journol of Reseorch, v. 6, p. 611-62...

Miller, C.O., 1980. Polen/iol hOlords from fulureeruptions in the vicinity of Mount ShollO vol·con<>, nor/hem California, U.S. GeologicalSurvey Bullelil'l 1S03• ..3 p. • •

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 19601 27J

SHASTINA 1984A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

By

Erne" Carl•• ond four climbing porlne" 0$·~end.,d Sho.tina Qnd Mount Sho,to in July 1984.Corle, look photograph. 01 Sho,tino and 'Uf­,oundi"i!" The climb bKome (I phYlicol ordeal 10.him d"", to Inow blindnen i"'lIfted beCCI"'", it woo","c.no')' to toke the photograph. without sun

goggle> and because 01 0 le<;l injury. We .incerelythonk Ernest Corle. for pr'''''I;'''' !hi, un","uolphol"9,aphic t<lcQ,d ond hi, ob......olion. of ,nowcondition. on Mount Shalla fa, publication in

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY....~ifor.

ERNEST S. CARTER, PhotographerMountain View, California

To fI.och It>e Summitp.oceed "om comPllt" 10 camp.it.;a.for. ,ell,ng out 0\loin, prepo,. rheploce for tho... who co..... ohe••At lent we mUll de.tend to po.. onOur knowledge to olh......

On the first day of the climb we gained4000 feet of ahitude in 8 hours of toilingup the boulder filled Cascade Gulch.Higher up. the steep scree-slopes are in­terspersed with hard snow banks, but thesnow has melted in the gulch. At 9500 feetwe put on crampons and ascended theicefield leading to the campsite al JO,SOOfeet.

Photo 1. Aeriol view of Shostino covered with winter snow (1962). The oreos pictured in Photos 4-9 ore identified.

,,, CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY OecemtHIr 1964

•

Early on the second day, we divide into11010 teams-one pany of three to ascendMount Shasta. I and my climbing part­ner ascend up a 6O-degree ice and rockridge leading to the summit (Photo I­II). This route was chosen to take photo­graphic advantage of the position of thesun ri.sing behind the crest of MountShasta. As we reached the top of the spur.Shastina was bathed in early morninglight.

The weather was ideal for photographicwork and it continued to be absolutelyperfect. To the west, the valley below wasrevealed in detail in the clean morning air,(Photo 2). To the north. the snow-cappedCascade peaks of Oregon rose like whitepyramids into the blue sky.

Photo 2. Climbing Mt. Shada above the Shoslino col. The community of Weedlies in the valley in background.

Photo 3. View of the summit orea of Shostino looking wesl ocross the col. Thee:llplosion croler (snow covered area in front of Shastina) is occupied by Sissonloke. In July 1984, the lake (hidden by the croler rim) was dry. In 1983 Sissonlake was filled with snow.

Whitney Glacier has lost its snow coverwhich was present in August 1983. Theexposed ice is now sculptured into bizarreand beautiful shapes. On Mount Shasta.1984 has been the dryest winter and hot­test summer for many decades. The ero­sion on the steep-lava-scree slopesconfining the iceflow of the glacier hasbeen severe. The scree is loose because thesnow and ice have melted. The spectacu­lar seraes that were on the lower part ofWhitney Glacier in 1983 (Photo 12) havenearly vanished. Those that remain arecovered with black lava grit. These lavadust layers will provide evidence of cli­matic conditions decades, perhaps centu­ries, from now.

At noon these<:ond day, the col becamea veritable furnace because the sun reflect­ed from the surrounding ice walls. Thevalley. 8000 feet below, was now coveredwith a dense layer of haze. caused by theIClO-degree heat and by the smoke of aforest fire which was raging about 40miles to the southeast.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 215

Photo 4. South slope of Shostino. The highest point onShostina is a plug dome within the large summit croler.The southeast crater rim is marked by the horizontal snowpatches just below the highest point.

Photo 5. Trough between the southeast crater rim andthe summit of Shostino.

Photo 6. Snow covered ridge leading to the summit ofShostina.

Photo 7. Plug domes within the croter of Shostina, northof the summit.

At the Shastina col, the flow of Whit­ney Glacier changes direction fromroughly southwest to northwest. The en­suing pressure and friction creates thespectacular icefalls and crevasses. The in­crease in steepness fonns the bergschrundwhen the glacier "peels" away from theice flow,just as a stream cascades over theedge ora cliff (Photos lOand II). The iceat the bergschrund varies in color fromdark blue to pale green. The rims of the

crevasses sparkle like diamond-studdedtiaras.

The glaciers on Mount Shasta are re­treating toward the IO,5QO.rOOl level.Above this level the ice cover has re­mained stable; the movement of ice ap­pears to have inereased as evident in thespectacular bergschrund and the long anddeep crevasses of the upper Whitney Gla-

cieL Above the IO,5QO.foot level evapora­tion takes place but it docs not effect thesize of the ice flow.

Sisson Lake is dry (Photo 3). In 1983it was filled with snow. We climb up thesteep scree slope to the rinl or Shastina.The Shastinacrater, dry in 1960and 1962.was under a heavy snow and ice pack in1983 and 1984.

"6 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December Ill&(

Photo 8. Clarence King lake lies in thedeepest part of the crater between the

~ black, craggy plug dome (left) and thenorthern rim of Shostino crater (right).The lake was fronn in July 198-4.

Photo 9. Northern rim of Shastina. ~

Photo 10. View of the upper WhitneyGlacier from Shastina. The bergschrund

~ at the Shastina col oppears in the lower, left. The northeast rim of the explosion

•

................:-_ crater containing Sisson lake appeors.. in the lower center of the picture.

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 277

At 4:30 p.m. on Ihis second day. thephotographic work is compleled. We de­scend 10 the Shastina col and from Iheredown Ihe icc:field 10 the campsite.

The summit party arrives at the camp­site also. We are all tired but jubilant andsatisfied al the achievement of our goals.

photo 11. 8ergsehrund ot the Sho$tinocol and the ice fall between the upper ~and lower Whitney Gloeier.

Photo 12. Lower Whitney Glacier. A..1 1983 climb 01 Whitney Glacier is de­., scribed in CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY,

January, 1984.

So il i. lIle Maunlai ....e.. bond togelh...10' IhOJ a,duaul climb. and dOJ.cenll,willt guiding hondo g,o.ped and~lpi"ll hand. oUllt.. lche<:l.weOkneUtll, erro... mi.unde..fondinglOfe IIltl wo'p 01 0 ho,d opprOJnliulhip.aul lor Iho.tI who do not Io.e heo'l.Ihere glHm. f,om lime 10 time,ot the bottom 01 0 (fua"e oron 0 vettigJou. ,idge,IhOJ p,icele.. ctyllal_lhe tnOm<tnl af Ittl,h.

{)Qumol ~

"8 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984

JonuooyFebtl,lo,yMorchAprilMo,June

p. 1·20p. 21·..a1" 41 - 64p. 65·88

p. 89· 112p. 113 - 136

INDEX TO VOLUME1984

Compiled by Corole R. Johnson

37 JulyAugu.'SeplemberOClobe.No~embe,

Decembe,

p. 137· 160p. 161 - 184p. 185 - 212p. 213 • 236p. 237 _ 260p. 261 - 284

-A-

Aeromognelic Survey. in Colilorn,o, 1979· B3, 1:9A.llu~'ol micro",ol1grophy.Mojo~e De.erl, 7:139

• B-

Boiley, Edgor H.. memo.iol, 1: 1980lemon. Poul C. 5:91Buo.e, Slephen, 6: 115Block Gho.1 01 Sil_erodo, 2:29Book Re_iew.

1:16; 2:37; 3:61; 4:87, 5:111, 6:133: 7:157;B:184: 9:210; 10:231; 11:258; 12:2Bl

Bullel'n 202, geology of Po,nl Reyn, 12:284Burnell, John l., 10:215

- c-

CALIFORNIA. GEOLOGY plice increo.e, 8:162Compion, Lindo f., 6:1\9Conn, Low.ence, 8:173Copay Hill., geologic .Iruclu,e in, 2:23Corlx>ndo1e, CA, 2:32Coree" in geology, 9:205Corler, Elne,' S., 1:3: 12:274Cenoloic ~olconic ,'roligrophy of ShOllO Valley.

4,67Chole, Ga,dan W., 1:9Che,'e,mon. Charie., 4:67Chhreau~. Joe, Jr., 11:255Chino

In~ilalian 10 gealogi'h, 11:251Geologic ucuuian. in (hina. 11:252

Clark, Williom B., 3:43

(ounlinFre.na. Courlrighl Inl,u.i~e Zone, 5:91Inyo, fo"il. & formOlion., lower

Combrion Type Woucoban Seetion,7,149;Ch'y,olile A.be"o, Depa.i1. DeolhVolley, 10,221

Kern, Rockhou,e Bo.;n, 12:263lo. Angele •• Sonro COlalino, 11:239Mo,ipa.o. Lo.1 arrow. 3:58Monlerey, Lond.lide on 51010' Highway I,

6:130Ne~odo, Gold Mint! of Gron Volley, 3:43Oronge, Verde Conyon lond.lide, 8:173Place" lake Combie ,ond., g,o~el,. 11:255Ri~er,ide, Jo.huo Tree NOlionol Monumenl,

4:75Son Bernardino. Jo.huo Tree NOlionol Monu

menl, 4:75;Allu~iol miCrOOI<Oligrophy, Moio~e

De,e",7:139Sonlo Clo,o, Morgon Hill eorlhquoke, Ap.i1

1984,7:146

Morgon Hitl eorlhquol<e couled "Kord.hoking force, 8:163

Surfoce loulling. Mo<gon Hill eOllhquoke. A.pril 84, 8<168

50n Lui. Obi,pa. Geolhe,mal ,e'OUfCe, 01po.o Roble" hi"orical u,e of, 6: 119

Si.kiyou, Sho.lo Volley, 4:675ho.l1no, 12:273

Tulo'e, Rockhou,e Bo.in. 12,263Yolo, Copay Hill" geologic .Iruclu,e, 2:23

Courlrighl Inl,u,,~e Zone, 5:91C'omer, Chri., 3:54

. D.

Deolh Volley, choy.orile o.be,'o. depa.il, 10:221DeGroH, Je,ome V., 5:91Di.lribul'on 01 minerol ,e'OU"e. in CA., DMG

Nole 40, 9,193DMG M'nerol Commodily P,ogrom., 10,236DMG Nole 40, D;,'ribulion 01 mine,ol relOuren

in CA, 9:193Don'l coli il dirl, 8:177Dupro" Don, 1':255

- E-

EOrlhquokn, 9:194Eorlhquokn

Mo'gon HillMo,gon Hill eo,thquoke, 8:168Mo,gon Hill eorlhquoke 01 Ap.il 1984,

7:146Morgan Hill eo,'hquoke cou.ed ,eco,d

.hoking force, 8:163fureko .ond dunn, 3:42

- F-

field "ip, lB97, G,eol Foil. of Ihe POlomic, Mooy·lond, 1:14

field re.eoreh fund, 2:22field Irip-guidebaolc guideline., 6:129file, Donald l., 10:221Focal mechoni.m .Iudie., 3:54fo"il. ond lormolion., lower Comb,ion Iype,

Woucobon .eetion. 7:149Fouits and paleon'ology. 9:201

-G-

Goy, Thomo. E., J, .. 8,163General Williom T. Sherman, eue'ph, life of,

6:123Geologic od~enlu,e in Ouler Hebride., 7:154Geologic Slrueture in Copay Hill., 2:23Geomo,phic p,a~incn, principal foull., 9,\B6Geologic Ho.ord Wo,ning Cr'lerio. USGS. 6: 118Geolhe,mol ,e,ource. council mee'ing, 7:138GeOlhermol relOurCn of CA _ new lechnicol

mop, 6:115

Geolhermol ,e.ource., Po.o ~oble•• 6: 119Gold ond Sil~e, cou"e, 4:66Gold mines of Gro" Volley. 3:43Gold mining londocope. 01 Ihe Wesl, 10,224Goldbell Sp"ng. choy,olile o.be.,o, depa,il.

Oeolh Volley, 10,221G,oduole Iheses & di"erlolion. on Colilornio gO'.

alogy, index 1979·B2, 5:99G'on Volley gold mine., 3:43G,oy. Clifflon H., 8:171Guidebook guideline. for geologic field I.ip., 6,·

'"- H-

Hor!, Eo,1. 8,168Highwoy 1 10n<:hlide, 6:130

-,.Inde~, 1984 Colilo<nio Geology. 12:279Inde~ 10 groduole Ihe.e. ond di.lerlolion. on Col·

ilornio geology, 1979·1982, .5:99lMilolion 10 g.,ologi'h, Chino, 11:251

- J-

John., ~ichord H., memo'iol, 3:63Jenkin., Olof P.• memo'iol, 1,19Jo,huo Tree Nolionol Monumenl, 4:75Julio Pfeifle,·8urn. Slale Pork, 6: 130

- K-

Ki.lle" Ronold W., .5:91

• L-

Lolce Combie ~pec'olry .ond~ ond gro~el~, 11,255Lond.lide hOlo,d., 8: 171Lond.lides

Slole Highwoy 1, Julio Pfeiffer·Burns SIOlePork,6:13O

Ve,de Conyon, hiuo,y of, 8:113Learned, fleono, M., ,eli,e•• 10:23.5Leighlon, F. Beoch, 8:173Life Ihrough geologic lime, 9,211Lisr 01 o~oiloble publicolion., oddendo, 7: 159Lloyd, Jon, 6:123Lo.' A."ow. 3:SB

-M-

Mop.Foull. ond foull ruplu,e, 9:200Mop .heel 32, 5:110Geomorphic pro_ince., principolloull., 9:186Geolhermol re.ource. of Colilo,nio, 6: 11.5Mineral re.ourcu, 9:193Prelim. ,e~iew, propa.ed Spedol Sludie.

Zone•• 8,183

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY Decembe, 1984 279

Matt"ews, William 1"1., Ill, 9,2Q$Memariah

Bailey, Edga. H.• 1:19Ja"ns, Ric"a.d H., 3:63Jenkin., 0101 1"., 1: 19Webb, Robe.t W.• 12:283

Mille•• Daniel N., J•., 9:205Mineral Commodify p.og.om, 10:236Mineral Re.ource Potential. Rockhouse Ba,in Wil.

ck!rneu Study Area, 12,263Mineral Resou.ce Quiz, 9:212Mines and Mine.ol produce" in CA (Sp 671. 6:·

136Mining and Geology Boa.d, State. 11:257Mining re~iew, 1983, 10:215Moio~e Desert. ollu~iol mic.o,l,oligrophy, 7:139Morgan Hill eo.t"quoke surloce loulling, 8:168Mo,gon Hm eO""quoke 01 Ap,iI 198". 7:1"6Mo.gon Hill eo.t"quoke, cou.ed record s"oking

Io<ce, 8:163Morgonthaler, J. Oo~id, 5,99Mo...nl Shalla, W"itney Glacier climb, 1,3

Vokonic conu, 12,273

-0-

Oil and go' well drilling, 10:231Open·lile reporh

OFR 83·29 SAC, Mine,ol Iond doni/icolion.Ploce,..ille quod., EI Oo<ado Co., 1:15

OFR 83-31 SF, WOlenhed., Inglenoak quod.,Mendocir>o Co.• 6,13$

OFR 83·32 SF. Wote....eds. Weslport quod.,Mendocino Co., 6: 135

OFR 83·33 Sf, Wole""eds, Dutc"mon', Kr>otlquod., Mendocino Co., 6:135

OfR 83·3.. LA, Block Star Canyon, s""lh ..all,quod., O,onge Ca., 1:1$

OfR 83-3$ SAC, Mineral land clo"ificalion,Georgetown quod .• EI Dorado, Plocer COlOn·ties...:88

OfR 83·38 Sf, WOlenhed" S"erwood Peakquad., Mendocino Ca., 6: 135

OfR 83-39 Sf, Wole,,"ed•• Co"Io Peakquod., Mendocir>o Co., 6,135

OFR 83,"0 SF. wole""eds. leggett qliOd.,Mendocino Co.• 6,135

OFR 83-'" SF. Wole,,"eds, Noble 8ullequod., Mendocino Co., 6:135

OFR 8<1·1 LA, Geology 01 Colobo,os·Ago....o·Eastern Thou,ond Oak, area, los AngellO',Venlu,o counlies, 10:232

OFR 8"·2 LA, Mine,ollond classification, Melcol Range quod., Son Berno.dir>o. 10:232

OFR B"·3 LA, Mine.ol land donilicolion, Kel«> quod., Son Bernardino, 10:232

OFR 8...5 SAC, Cala~e.os Big T.ee, StalePark, Cala~e'a" Tuolumne counlies. 6: 135

OFR 8"-6 SAC, Big Bo,in Redwood, StalePork, Santa C.\I1 Co" 6:136

OFR B"·7 SAC, WOle••hed., C.. ild. Hill quod.,Mendocir>o Co., 10:232

OFR B"·8 SF. Woter,"ed•• Req...o q...od .. DelNorte Co., 10:232

OFR B.·9 SF. Wote....ed,. l"Io"i, qliOd .• Humboldl Co., 10,232

OFR 8"·10 SF. Wole""ed•• B.icelond quod.•Humboldl Co., 10:232

OFR 8"·11 SF. Wolenhed., Honeydew quod••Humboldt Co., 10:232

OFR 8.·12 SF, Woterlheds, Elk quod., Mendocino CO., 10:232

OFR 8..·1. SF, Watersheds, lincoln Ridgequod., Mendocino Co., 10:233

on 8<1·18 SF, Wolerll1eds, lon9~0le quod.,Mendocino Co., 10,233

OFR 8.·22 SF, Eo.le," Morin Co. slope loi'u'es, JonliOty 3·... 1982 s'o.m, 10:233

OFR 8..·2) SAC, Mic,oeort"qliOke. geop"y,icol geodelic su,..eys, eo,lern San Gob.ielMtns.. Upper Pomona Volley. Son Be.no,·dino Co., 10:233

OFR 8..-2. LA. En~i'onmentol geology, lo Hob,o, Yo,bo lindo, P.odo Oom q...od•• Or·anglO Co•• 10,23.

OFR 8.·26 SAC, Sei.micity near Aswon HighDam, Egypt, wit" application 10 inducedsei.micily in Colifornio, 10,23..

OfR 8..·27 LA, Inoenlory and analysis 01 recenl damaging .lape loilures and debri.flooding, So. Orange Co., 10:235

OFR 8.-28 LA. Engineering g&Ology, no.t""01'0' EI Toro q...od.. Orange Coo, 10,235OFR 8.-31 SF, Inde. to geologic repo.u lor

sites within Spe-ciol Sludie. lone•• 12,273OfR 8.. ·..9 LA, Newhall q...od.. norlheoSl

q...a,le', los Angeles Co.,11,2$9OfR 8"·50 SAC, Geol"ermol ene'gy at long

Beach no~ol .hipyord and noool station,and 01 Seal Beoc" no~ol weapon. "olion,11:2$9

Our dependence on mineral ,es""rees. 9: 188Ouler Hebride., geologic od~enture, 7:15..

- p-

Pestrong, Raymond, 8,177Poormond, Iroi, 8,173Precious metals s"ort c"""e, 1:2Project update geology, .ymposium, 12:283Publicalion. in Pren, OMG, 8:176Publications releo.e., .1010 DMG Nole Serie>,

Open·lile reporll, Special Repo,", SpecialPublications, Bulletin.

- R-

Ropp, John S., 9:188Regi.l.otion e_ominotions, 1,2Retiremen"

leo",ed, Eleanor "I., 10:235Rhodes, 8everly "I., 3,62Woonon, Tom M., 3:62

h~iews, see book reoiew.Rhodes. Beoerly "I.••eli,es. 3:62Rock"ouse Bo.in Wilde.nen Study Area, mineral

'eS""rce potential, 12,263Rohe, Randall E., 10,22.Rowland. Slep"en "I., ":239

- s-

Son Froncioco Boy area, ollice move. 7,138Santo COlolino Island, geology, 11:239Saucedo. George J.• 2:23; .:67Seiple. Eric, 7,1<19Shokol. Anthony, 8:163Sharp, Robe'l 1"., 7: \39Shasta Volley. Cenozoic volcanic "'otig'ophy.

.:67

S"o.lino-o photographic enoy, 12:27"SIWlllina-o oolconic cane of Moun! ShOIIO, 12:

27lSherburne, Rager W., 3:5-4; 8:163Sierra Notional Fore.!, C"".lright inlrusive lOne,

5:91Significant eo.thqliOh•• 1983, USGS, 6:132SMAIlA,. r>onu.bon onn""ncement, 8,176Special Publication.

SP 6$, SMIP rKords, lmpe,ial Volley Earthquake of OClober 15, 1979. 1:15

SP 66, Coalinga, California eo.tl\quOkel,1983,3:63

SP 67, Minel and mineral produce•• ocli~e inCalifornia, 6: 136

SP 69, Annololed bibliograp"y. geOlhermolinlo.molion by OMG lIolI. 1960·8•• 10,235

SP 70. Mine.ol Commodify Repo.T~otoS",

12,28..SP 71, M;nerol Commodity Reporl-Tilanium,

12:28..SP 72. Mineral Commodity .eport-Gyp.um,

12,28"SP 73. Minerol Commodity Report--lime, 12:·

,S<SP 7... Mineral Commodify Reporl-Sulfu••

12,28..SP 75. Mine.ol Commodity Repo.T-Zeolites,

12,28..Special Repor"

SR 1$3, Minerot land clossificolian, ogg.egotemoleriol. in western Son Diego Co. p·C re­gion, 2:39

STOle Mining and Geology Boord, 11,257Slrong Malian Instrumenlotion Program, 8: 165Surface loulling, Morgan Hill eo,thqliOh, B: 168

- T-

Toylo<, Gory C" 12:263Theses and dissertations on Califo.nio geology,

1979·1982, index 10 groduole, 5,99Trent, D.O., .:"75Toppozodo, TOUlson, 7:1<1.6

- U-

U.S. Geological SurveyGeologic hOIo,d warning crilerio, 6: 118

Re.eorch p'Opo'Oll solicited. 12:262Significont eort"quokes, 1983, 6,132

-v-

Verde Canyon Iondslide, hi$lO<y 01. 8:173Voices from the po.t, e_cerpTl. General William

1. S"e,mon, 6,123

-w-Wagner, David L, 2:23Wong Gong Gue. P,olesso., 11:251Webb, Robert W., memorial, 12:283Wehtoge, Edwo.d F., 2,']9William. CraIe•• Oregon, 2:28Wood•• "lory C., 3,58; 7,15.; 11:252Woollon, Tom "I., retire., 3,62Wo<~s. By.an. 6:\30

"" CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984

nEIIJ BOOll5Geochemistry

All 1>Oo~. ,""....ed .. tho. """bon .re on 101" ,n 'heD....,..on l,br.'V ,n P1H.anl H,~. 3CI7 C....,c D<,~ The IlOOtlIere Nor evo,lllble for pure""''''' I,om DMG

MAil ORDER FORMComplete odd,en fo.m on ned page.

APPLIED ENVIRONMENTAL OED­C~IEMISTRY. Edited by lain Thornton. 1983.Academic Press Inc.. III Finh Avenue. NewYork.. NY 10001, SOl p. S70.00. hard cover.

Geochemistry is concerned wilh understand­ing how lhe dements and their isotopes arcdislnbuled in the atmosphere. water, and lhesolid parts of lhe Earth. Throughout history,modification orthe Earth's surface. wilh result­ant rapid alteration of the nalural distributionof elements. has been II hallmark of humanactivity. With the spread of industrialiullionand a growing population's increased demandon resources, human impact on the environ­menl intensified. At the !l;lmc time. researchhas led 10 increased appreciation of the manyand often subtle ways that bi08eochemical cy·cles impact humans. Environmemal geochem­istry has evolved as the slUdy of compJc~

chemical interactions in the biosphere. It hasbroad interdisciplinary ties to soil science,agriculture, hydrology, geomedicine. and e~­

ploration geology.

The remainder of the book is devoled 10 ap­plications of geochemiSlry. The roles of numer­ous C5SCntial macro- and micronutrients andlrace elements in human. animal. and plant de­~elopment and heallh are still incompletely un·derslood. Inlcractions between elemenlS areoflell complex: one may inllibit tile body's ablh­ty to usc: another. Many elements ~m to beCSS('nlial in small amounts. show a broad rangeof physiological responses in moderateamounts, and are potentially toxic in largeamounts.

Especially in lhe industrialized nalions. met·als pollullon of loOlJ. air. and waler is now amajor concern. Three chapters deal with

Indicole number of copieJ

•BUllETIN

sources of metal pollution, biogeochemicalpathways, models 10 predict speciation pal­terns of metals in natural media. and assess·menl of pollulion. These chapters are likely tobe of special interesl to Californians. The finalchapteTS deal with effects of pollulants fromcoal development. and with natural en~iron­

memal radioaclivily.

The book's comprehensive treatment and e~­

tensive references lists will be useful. Regionaldiscussions and many, though by no means all,examples are drawn from or direcled 10"'ardslhe United Kingdom. but the information isbroadly applicab!e....Gai/ Wiggett.

p.ice includeJpostoge and JOles te,.

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Mine.ol commodity 'epo.t - Zeolile. 1984. S1.00

Twenty-one authors from the U.S., U.K.,Wales. West Germany, and Norway contribut­ed sixteen chapters 10 this book on lhe princi·pies. scope. and applicalions of environmentalgeochemistry. The book is directed towards in­formed readers and specialists; nearly all chap­ters assume basic knowledge of geology andchemIstry. An elemenlary overview of the fun­damentals of the subject is offered In the firstchapter. with discussions of the primary dislri­bUlion of elements in rocks. redistribution ofelements by weathering, and the roles ofsolu­lion chemiSlry. Eh, pH. small particles. andcolloids In surfiCIal reorganiution of elementsinlO secondary phases.

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Chapters Two and Three compnse Up-IO­date discussions of methodologies of regiollalgeochemical mapping and laboratory analyti·cal methtxls.

COUNTY MAPS

___ Ke<n. 1962. Geology in colo•.___ Kern. 1962. Mines and P'OlpectJ.___ Tula.e. 1958. MineJ and p'OSpe<tl.

COUNTY REPQIlT5

.............................. . SO.SO. $0.50

..................... . SO.SO

Four chaplers deal further "'ith pnnciples ofchemical reactions in soil (wilh emphasis ontrace metals) and water, and wUh the interac­tIons of soil with waterborne elemenlS, mi_cr0be5. plams. animals. and humans. Thechapt"r 011 waler quality includes a discussionof the effccts of such chemical treatme11lS aschlorination. softening. and pH adjustment.tllat are commonly dOlle on natural walersbefore they are distributed for human con­sumplion. Sucll trealmems may rcmo~e natu­rally-occurring lrace elemellls or add otllerelements.

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o I yr 55,00 o 2 yr $10001983 ONTARIO MINERAL SCORE.

Compiled by G.L. Wcatherson 1984. MmISlr)'of Naturol Resources. Pubhc Senlce Centre.Whltnc) 8Iock. 99 Wellesley Streel West.ToronlO. Onlario M7A IW3. 242 p. .510,00.male chech pa)able to Treasurer ofOnlariO:p.a)·ment must acromp.an) order. Paper cover.

ThiS publication IS:I ~latislical Tt.'Cord of theOntano Imneral Industr)' wllhlll the w'orldmark!:l SCORE al"O qand~ for Screen Co-or­dmllled Resource E"alualloll. the l'Omputcrprogram used 10 produce tillS 3rd pubhcallonin the Video Cen~us Scritj;

o ADDRESS CHANGE, Send us on old oddress label and your new address.Allow 60 days for address change.

Your order .ub,c,ipho" cOMol be p,ocened unlen cor.ect omou"! i••em,ned. All r",eig" o"d (0"0d,on orde's muSI be poid w,lh on Inte,no"onol Money O,de, or O,oft ooyoble 'n Un,led Slote. fund,Add,e.. oil o,de" 10 DIVISION Of MINES AND GEOLOGY, PO 8", 1980, Soc,o",en!o.(ol;lo,nio 95811.

The mmeralmduMr)' ofOmano has 40.000employees O\<er 30 different minerals arc pro­dU<:l'd for a .'alue of.58 billion annually. Thesemlllerais :Ire ""alto the ""ell being of the peopleofClInada In addilion 10 pro\'idmg lhe coun­lr). o\er 90% of the minerals are exponcd toolher countries. Among thc mmerals producedlIrc slone;, for pa"lng. gypsum. sulphur, '>alt.l."<lppcr, meh!. UraniUm, platinum. and gold ~

282 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984

MEMORIAL

Roberl W. Webb1909-1984

PROJECT UPDATE GEOLOGY

Rober1 Wallace WebbMemorial Symposium

February 9, 19848:30 a.m. - S:30 p.m.

Sponsored byUniversity of Califomia. Los Angeles

,"dNational Association of Geology

Teachers-Far Western Section

ROBERT W. WEBB

Robert W. Webb. Professor Emeritus in the Department ofGeological Sciences at the University of California, Santa Bar­bara (UCSB). died suddenly while hiking with UCSB studentsnear Mammoth Lake on Friday, May 4. 1984. Webb. 75. wasparticipating in the annual departmental geology field trip whenhe was stricken.

Although he retired in 1975 from VeSB, Webb continued toserve pari-time, advising students and conducting field trips. AIretirement, Webb had been with the University of Califomia 43years - 27 at UCSB and 16 at UCLA.

He was the first recipient oflhe Robert Wallace Webb Awardof the Far Western &<:Iioo of the National Association of Geol·ogy Teachers. established in his honor in 1973 for "sustainedexcellence of earth science teaching and sustained exceptionalservice to the geological teaching profession:'

In 1973, Webb received the Neil Miner Award of the NAGTfor "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest inthe ear1h sciences:' II is the highest honor that the geologicalteaching profession in the United States can confer upon one ofits members.

Dl'1G RELEASESOFR B4-31 SF

Seven leading geologists in their fields will be addressing thecurrent state of the ar1S and technology in geology. All thespeakers are successful former students of Rober1 WallaceWebb.

For more information contact:

Dorothy L. Steller. Cypress College,9200 Valley View Street.Cypress. CA 906]0. 714-826-2220

While at VCSB, Webb also sen-ed in several administrativeposts and was head of the geology department for seven years.

Dr. Webb was a member of many professional organizations.He wrote numerous profcssional repor1s. papers. and texts. Hewas co-author of three DMG Bulletins on Minerals of Califomi a(BI36. BI73. and 8189).

At the time of Webb's retirement, two of his former studentssummarized his contributions to education: "Total involvementwith his students. challenging course work, high expectations.good humor and unforgettable field trips."...Jouma/ arOe%gi·ca/ Educarion. ~

INDEX TO GEOLOGIC REPORTSFOR SITES WITHIN SPECIAL STUD­IES ZONES. By Perry Wong. 1984. Twoplatcs (1:1.000.000 & 1:100.000 scale)with explanation.

Under the Alquist-Priolo Special Stud­ics Zoncs Act, the State Geologist cstab­lishes regulatory zones in order tomitigate the hazard of surface fault rup­ture. Sites proposed for developmentwithin these zones arc required to havegeologic investigations before develop­ment permits are issued by cities andcounties. Copies of these investigative re·

por1S arc filed wllh the California Depart­ment of Conservation, Division of Minesand Geology. as well as with various citiesand counties.

Since 1974, a tOlal of \,694 site-invcsti­gation reports have been filed as of July I,1984 and arc available for review at theBay Area Regional Office of DMG. Mostof the sites investigated are in the SanFrancisco Bay and Los Angeles regions.Much information on the presence or ab­sence of recently active faults is containedin these reports, which may be of generalinterest.

This open-file report identifies the ap­proximate local ions of the invesligatedsiles and facilitates the use of the DMGreport file.

OFR 84·31 SF is available for referenceat the Sacramento, Ray Area (PleasantHill). and Southern California (Los An­geles) Regional Offices. Also. it may bepurchased from the Bay Area RegionalOffice (New address: 367 Civic Drive,Pleasant Hill) at the cost of reproduclion(approximately 53.00 to 54.00).

• •

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 28J

STATE OF CALIFORNIATHE RESOURCES AGENCY

DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGYCALIFOANIA DIVISION OF

MINES AND GEOLOGYP.O,BOX 29BO

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95812

USPS)SO &to

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

SECOND CLASS POSTAGE PAIDAT SACRAMENTO. CALIFORNIA

BULLETIN 202 SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS • • • • •

GEOLOGY OF THE POINT REYESPENINSULA, MARIN COUNTY.CALIFORNIA. By Alan J. Galloway.1977. 72 p.. I plate (scale 1:48.000). Re­prin!. Now available. S6.00.

The Poinl Reyes Peninsula is a triangleof land about 100 square miles in westernMarin county. California. It is boundedon the east by the valley of the San An­dreas fault zone and on the remainingsides by the Pacific Ocean.

The structure of the area is dominatedby the San Andreas fault zone. which IS

about a mile and a half wide. It cutsthrough Ihe Franciscan assemblage. Mio­cene sedimentary deposits, and graniticrocks. The Peninsula is underlain by up­per Cretaceous granitic rocks. whieh con­tain roof pendants of schist and marblethat crop out principally along IvernessRidge and Pomt Reyes. The granillcrocks are overlain by Tertiary and Qua­ternary <>edimentary rocks west and southof the InvernL'Ss Ridge. Rocks of theFranciscan assemblage are found east ofthe San Andreas faull.

Bul1etm 202 is designed to be both acomprehellsive report for the geologistand a source of information for Ihe inter­ested layman. This report describes thelithology. geography, structure. geomor­phology, geologic history, and L'Conomicgeology of the Point Reyes Peninsula. Acolored geologic map prlllted on a topo­graphic base (scale I :48,000) and onegeologic cross seclion arc included in thereport.

SP10 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Potash. By Gary Taylor.1984 $1.00

51'11 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Titanium. By MarjorieBushnell. 1984 $1.00

SP12 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Gypsum. By John L.Burnett. 1984. $1.00

SP73 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Lime (quicklime, hydrat­ed lime. and dead-burneddolomite). By Marjorie M. Bush-nell. 1984. . $1.00

5P74 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Sulfur. By Melvin C.Slinson. 1984 $1.00

SP15 MINERAL COMMODITY RE­PORT - Zeolite. By Melvin C.Stinson. 1984 51.00

The Mineral Commodity Report(MCR) series was developed in response(0 increased public awareness and interestin non-renewable resources. The mineralsindustry in California produces about $2billion of non-fuel mineral products annu­ally, and is one of !.he largest and mostdiverse minerals industries in the UnitedSlates. MCRs and other industry-orientedDepartment publications are used by theprivate seclOr to assess mineral and indus­trial markets and mineral resource poten­tials.

The MCR series will make mineral eco­nomics and mineral resource inrormationgenerated by the U.S. Bureau of Minesand by the Depanment ofConservation'sDivision of Mines and Geology readilyavailable to the general public and themining industry. Each MCR focuses on aparticular mineral commodity and, in 10to 20 pages, presents an up-to-date eco­nomics and resource summary. Data re­lates to California as well as the nationand the world.

More than a dozen MCRs will be pub­lished by the Depanmelll of Conservationthis year.

Copies of Mineral Commodity Reportswill be available at a nominal charge of$1.00 per copy from the Calirornia Divi­sion of Mines and Geology, P.O. Box2980. Sacramento. CA 95812. Copies mayalso be purchased or examined at any ofthe Division's regional infonnation of­fices. For infonnation, please call: (916)445-5716. ~

284 CALIfORNIA GEOLOGY December 1984 78898-650 11/84 12M osp WA