ALBERT

Description: [1]  The Grizzly Valley fault system (GVFS) strikes northwestward across Sierra Valley, a low-relief basin situated within a network of active dextral-slip faults in the northern Walker Lane, California. Quaternary motion along the Grizzly Valley fault system has not been previously documented. We used high-resolution (0.25 m) airborne LiDAR data in combination with high-resolution, P-wave, seismic-reflection imaging to evaluate Quaternary deformation associated with the GVFS. We identified suspected tectonic lineaments using the LiDAR data and collected seismic-reflection data along six profiles across the lineaments. The seismic-reflection images reveal a deformed basal marker that we interpret to be the top of Tertiary volcanic rocks overlain by a 120- to 450-m-thick suite of subhorizontal reflectors that we interpret to be Plio-Pleistocene lacustrine deposits. Three profiles image features that we interpret to be the principle active trace of the GVFS, which is a steeply dipping fault zone that vertically offsets the volcanic rocks and the lacustrine basin fill. These data suggest that the GVFS may have been active in latest Quaternary time because: 1) the LiDAR data show subtle surficial geomorphic features that are typical of youthful faulting, including a topographic lineament marked by a ~1-m-high ridge composed of discontinuous, left-stepping lobes; and 2) the seismic profiles demonstrate shallow faulting of the lacustrine strata that coincides with the left-stepping ridge. This investigation illustrates the potential for unidentified, low rate, strike-slip faults in transtensional basins and emphasizes the value of high-resolution topographic data and subsurface imaging as a means of identifying these structures.