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Tectonic, hydrogeologic, and climatic controls on Late Holocene dune formation, China Lake basin, Indian Wells Valley, California, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2021

Nicholas Lancaster Open the ORCID record for Nicholas Lancaster [Opens in a new window] ,
Steven N. Bacon ,
Thomas F. Bullard ,
Christina M. Neudorf ,
Amanda K. Keen-Zebert ,
David L. Decker  and
Matthew L. Boggs
Nicholas Lancaster*
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
Steven N. Bacon
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
Thomas F. Bullard
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
Christina M. Neudorf
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
Amanda K. Keen-Zebert
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
David L. Decker
Affiliation:
Desert Research Institute, Naval Earth Science and Engineering Program, Reno, Nevada, USA
Matthew L. Boggs
Affiliation:
Naval Air Warfare Center—Weapons Division, U.S. Navy, China Lake, California, USA
*
*Corresponding author email address: <nick@dri.edu> <nick.lancaster@dri.edu>
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Abstract

Analysis of patterns of faulting and hydrogeology, stratigraphic and sedimentologic studies, and luminescence dating of aeolian deposits in China Lake basin provide new perspectives on the origins and development of Late Holocene dunes and sand ramps in the seismically active Indian Wells Valley of eastern California. Aeolian dune and sand sheet deposits were sourced from alluvial material derived from granitic rocks of the south-eastern Sierra Nevada and are concentrated in areas with sand-stabilizing phreatophyte vegetation influenced by high groundwater levels along the active oblique-normal Little Lake and Paxton Ranch faults, which locally form barriers to groundwater flow. Three episodes of sand accumulation are recognized (2.1 ± 0.1 to 2.0 ± 0.1 ka, 1.8 ± 0.2 to 1.6 ± 0.2 ka, and 1.2 ± 0.1 to 0.9 ± 0.1 ka) during conditions in which sediment supplied to the basin during periods of enhanced rainfall and runoff was subsequently reworked by wind into dunes and sand ramps at the transition to more arid periods. Understanding the role tectonics plays in influencing the hydrogeology of seismically active lake basins provides insights to accurately interpret landscape evolution and any inferences made on past hydroclimate variability in a region.

Keywords

Mojave DesertChina LakeAeolianHoloceneTectonicsGroundwater hydrology
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 106 , March 2022 , pp. 11 - 27
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Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2021

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