Late Cenozoic tectonism of the Sacramento Valley, California

Abstract

Structure contours drawn on top of the Cretaceous rocks in the Sacramento Valley define a large number of diversely oriented folds and faults that are expressed in topographic, hydrologic, and geologic features at the land surface. Although many of the structures in the valley have a protracted history of movement, some dating back to the late Mesozoic, a remarkable number of these structures show late Cenozoic deformation that can be accurately determined from folding and faulting of widespread, dated Pliocene and Pleistocene volcanic units. These time-stratigraphic units are used to define structural domains of essentially contemporaneous late Cenozoic deformation that was characterized by east-west compressive stress. The oldest structural domain is located in the southeastern part of the valley, where east-side-up reverse movement on the Willows fault ceased prior to deposition of continentally derived sediments of late Miocene and early Pliocene age. In the middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene, east-west compressive deformation progressed northward through the valley so that the youngest late Cenozoic deformation is recorded in east-northeast-trending folds and faults in the Battle Creek domain, at the northern-most part of the valley. The northward progression of east-west compressive deformation appears to be related to the northward eclipse of eastwardmore » subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate before the northwestward migration of the Mendocino triple junction along the continental margin west of the valley.« less