Bathymetry and structure of San Clemente Island, California, and tectonic implications for the southern California continental borderland

• Main Author: Ridlon, James Barr
• Other Authors: Byrne, John V.
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Geology > California > San Clemente Island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29378

Five lithologic units, ranging in age from Middle Miocene to Recent, are defined on the basis of continuous seismic reflection profile records. Two of the units are Miocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks that have been truncated to form a major unconformity (post-orogenic surface) related to the most recent major tectonism of the region. The remaining units are post-orogenic unconsolidated sediments. The fault pattern offshore is generally related to that exhibited on the island. The pattern conforms to a wrench-fault system hypothesized by Moody and Hill (1956) modified by a general north-south tensional fracturing. The San Clemente Fault is assumed to be the primary wrench fault of the system. Anomalies in the thicknesses and the structure of the unconsolidated sediment and rock units tend to confirm the structural model. A canyon (Eel Ridge Canyon) off the west side of San Clemente Island appears to have been caused by pivotal faulting and erosion, and represents a boundary between different structural trends north and south. A prominent terrace around the island is postulated to have been wave-cut during and since the Late Pleistocene. The island has been tilted slightly to the west by Recent tectonism. A steep magnetic gradient off the east side of the island is considered the consequence of faulted volcanic flows comprising the island itself and a deep basic rock mass responsible for a large positive magnetic anomaly off the northwest side. Other magnetic anomalies reflect major structural trends. Earthquake epicenter data suggest a recent and possibly cyclical occurrence of fault activity in the northern Continental Borderland region and the study area. Fault offsets at the sea floor and earthquake epicenters along the San Clemente fault zone imply recent adjustments along the fault. Wrench-fault movement resulting from a simple shear or shear couple is considered to have caused the zone of brecciation along the San Clemente Fault and produced the fault-trace curvature so evident in a series of en echelon, northwest-striking major faults of the Borderland. Tensile release during periods of wrench-fault development has been a fundamental factor in the structural development of the Borderland basins. The entire structure of the Continental Borderland is believed to have developed by right-lateral movement along the series of wrench faults. These faults are believed to have resulted from a translation of force by sea-floor spreading originating on the East Pacific Rise in the Gulf of California region. This force is considered to have moved a northern Continental Borderland crustal plate westward by east to west release along major wrench faults bordering the north and south ends of this plate. Sediments, transported along channels developed along faults in the island block, were deposited in basins developed by faulting and folding of the pre-orogenic rocks. Transportation appears to have been by means of turbidity-current flows, sand flows, and slides. A maximum average depositional rate of 35 to 47 centimeters per 1,000 years is estimated for post-orogenic sediments. The following findings are suggested for inclusion in the Neogene history of the island: (1) the top 365 meters of Miocene andesitic lavas were deposited above sea level and tend to become slightly more basic in composition with depth; (2) subsidence of the island region and temporary sea-level stand(s) occurred after the deposition of the volcanic rocks, with possible periods of foundering to about the Late Pliocene; (3) emergence, lengthy subaerial exposure, and a period of partial submergence took place from about Late Pliocene through Early Pleistocene; (4) a north-south compressive force developed or recurred across the Borderland during Late Pliocene, developing the present northwest-southeast and east-west wrench-fault systems that have been intermittently active to the present time; (5) much of the present Borderland topography formed during the Pleistocene to Recent. === Graduation date: 1969