Hydrostructural Maps of the Death Valley Regional Flow System, Nevada and California--Map A: Structural Framework, Neogene Basins, and Potentiometric Surface; Map B: Structural Framework, Earthquake Epicenters, and Potential Zones of Enhanced Hydraulic Conductivity

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What does this data set describe?

Title:
Hydrostructural Maps of the Death Valley Regional Flow System, Nevada and California--Map A: Structural Framework, Neogene Basins, and Potentiometric Surface; Map B: Structural Framework, Earthquake Epicenters, and Potential Zones of Enhanced Hydraulic Conductivity
Abstract:
The locations of principal faults and structural zones that may influence ground-water flow were compiled in support of a three-dimensional ground-water model for the Death Valley regional flow system (DVRFS), which covers 80,000 square km in southwestern Nevada and southeastern California. Faults include Neogene extensional and strike-slip faults and pre-Tertiary thrust faults. Emphasis was given to characteristics of faults and deformed zones that may have a high potential for influencing hydraulic conductivity. These include: (1) faulting that results in the juxtaposition of stratigraphic units with contrasting hydrologic properties, which may cause ground-water discharge and other perturbations in the flow system; (2) special physical characteristics of the fault zones, such as brecciation and fracturing, that may cause specific parts of the zone to act either as conduits or as barriers to fluid flow; (3) the presence of a variety of lithologies whose physical and deformational characteristics may serve to impede or enhance flow in fault zones; (4) orientation of a fault with respect to the present-day stress field, possibly influencing hydraulic conductivity along the fault zone; and (5) faults that have been active in late Pleistocene or Holocene time and areas of contemporary seismicity, which may be associated with enhanced permeabilities.
The faults shown on maps A and B are largely from Workman and others (in press), and fit one or more of the following criteria: (1) faults that are more than 10 km in map length; (2) faults with more than 500 m of displacement; and (3) faults in sets that define a significant structural fabric that characterizes a particular domain of the DVRFS. The following fault types are shown: Neogene normal, Neogene strike-slip, Neogene low-angle normal, pre-Tertiary thrust, and structural boundaries of Miocene calderas. We have highlighted faults that have late Pleistocene to Holocene displacement (Piety, 1996). Areas of thick Neogene basin-fill deposits (thicknesses 1-2 km, 2-3 km, and >3 km) are shown on map A, based on gravity anomalies and depth-to-basement modeling by Blakely and others (1999). We have interpreted the positions of faults in the subsurface, generally following the interpretations of Blakely and others (1999). Where geophysical constraints are not present, the faults beneath late Tertiary and Quaternary cover have been extended based on geologic reasoning. Nearly all of these concealed faults are shown with continuous solid lines on maps A and B, in order to provide continuous structures for incorporation into the hydrogeologic framework model (HFM). Map A also shows the potentiometric surface, regional springs (25-35 degrees Celsius, D'Agnese and others, 1997), and cold springs (Turner and others, 1996).
Supplemental_Information:
A composite base map is included based upon published 83-m DEM data from USGS 1:250,000-scale quadrangles, as well as road lines and political boundaries from published USGS 1:100,000-scale DLG data. The 1:100,000-scale data were generalized to 1:250,000 scale for inclusion with the 1:250,000-scale database.
Additional coverages include a ground-water model area coverage, and text labels for structural features. Files necessary for printing the map are also included such as text fonts, linesets, shadesets, projection files, and AML files. These files are all explained in the included README.txt file.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Potter, Christopher J., Sweetkind, Donald S., Dickerson, Robert P., and Killgore, Michele L., 2002, Hydrostructural Maps of the Death Valley Regional Flow System, Nevada and California--Map A: Structural Framework, Neogene Basins, and Potentiometric Surface; Map B: Structural Framework, Earthquake Epicenters, and Potential Zones of Enhanced Hydraulic Conductivity: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies MF-2372, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -118.000
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -115.000
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 38.250
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 35.000
  3. What does it look like?
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/2002/mf-2372/mf-2372.gif (GIF)
    Reduced-size image of the map sheet, 169x250 pixels, 32-bit RGB true color, 27k bytes.
    http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/2002/mf-2372/mf-2372_map_A.pdf (PDF)
    Printable digital map sheet, 6.3 megabytes.
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 2002
    Currentness_Reference:
    Publication date
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: map
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Vector data set.
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 11
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: .9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -117.0
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.0
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 65
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 65
      Planar coordinates are specified in meters
      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1927.
      The ellipsoid used is Clarke 1866.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378206.4.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/294.98.
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    All coverages contain the standardized attributes for arcs and polygons assigned by ARC/INFO. For arcs these attributes are:
    COLUMN--ITEM_NAME----------WIDTH-----OUTPUT-----TYPE---#_DECIMALS
    1-------FNODE#---------------4----------5---------B---------\
    5-------TNODE#---------------4----------5---------B---------\
    9-------LPOLY#---------------4----------5---------B---------\
    13------RPOLY#---------------4----------5---------B---------\
    17------LENGTH---------------8---------18---------F---------5
    25------<cover>#-------------4----------5---------B---------\
    29------<cover>-ID-----------4----------5---------B---------\
    
    For polygons these attributes are:
    COLUMN--ITEM_NAME----------WIDTH-----OUTPUT-----TYPE---#_DECIMALS
    1-------AREA-----------------8---------18---------F---------5
    9-------PERIMETER------------8---------18---------F---------5
    17------<cover>#-------------4----------5---------B---------\
    21------<cover>-ID-----------4----------5---------B---------\
    ****The following coverages were used in both Map A and Map B****
    COVERAGE--------ENTITIES---------DESCRIPTION
    dvrfspoly-------lines/polygons---base map
    halo_bd---------lines------------flow model boundary
    hstruc2---------lines------------faults; attributed with ITEM h_code as follows:
    ITEM: h_code           DESCRIPTION              SYMBOL
          1                Normal fault             1 (color.lin)
          2                Strike-slip fault        2 (color.lin)
          3                Detachment fault         83 (geoscamp1.lin)
          4                Caldera Boundary         83 (geoscamp1.lin)
          5                Transverse fault         5 (color.lin)
          6                Thrust fault             27 (geology.lin)
          7                Thrust fault (inferred)  37 (geology.lin)
    hydrostruc_bb---lines------------displacement symbols on faults
    dvrfs_rd--------lines------------roads (minor and major)
    dvrfs_hptxt-----points-----------text labels for physiographic features,
                                       including town names.
    county_100k-----lines------------county boundaries
    nts_outline-----lines------------boundary of Nevada Test Site
    nvca------------lines------------State line boundary between California
                                       and Nevada.
    stipplebuffer---polygons---------stippled area on faults that have
                                       measurable late Pleistocene or younger
                                       displacement.
    townpts---------points-----------locations of towns
    pot_cont--------lines------------potentiometric contours with elevations
                                       posted on each contour line.
    cald_txt--------points-----------text lables for calderas
    flt_txt---------points-----------text lables for faults
    ****The following coverages are used on Map A only****
    hueb, satb, valb-----------------color shaded-relief map, composited from
                                       83-m DEM data from the following USGS
                                       1:250,000-scale quadrangles:  Tonapah,
                                       Lund, Las Vegas, Death Valley,
                                       Caliente, Goldfield, Kingman, and Trona
                                       and include depth to pre-Tertiary
                                       surface.
    coldsprgs-------points-----------locations of cold springs
    springreg-------points-----------locations of regional springs (24 degrees
                                       C to 35 degrees C).
    ****The following coverages are used on Map B only****
    red, green, blue-----------------color shaded-relief map, composited from
                                       83-m DEM data from the following USGS
                                       1:250,000-scale quadrangles: Tonapah,
                                       Lund, Las Vegas, Death Valley,
                                       Caliente, Goldfield, Kingman, and
                                       Trona.
    polybuffer------polygons---------zones that have special geologic
                                       characteristics, as well as seismicity
                                       clusters, that may be consistent with
                                       relatively large hydraulic
                                       conductivities.
    polynums--------points-----------roman numeral values used to label the
                                       "polybuffer" cover.
    eq78to86--------points-----------earthquake epicenter locations.  Four (4)
                                       ITEMS from this cover were used:
                                       magnitude, date, x-coord and y-coord.
                                       The date values that fell in the range
                                       of 1978 to 1986 were used for this map.
    
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/2002/mf-2372/mf-2372_pam.pdf

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Christopher J. Potter
    • Donald S. Sweetkind
    • Robert P. Dickerson
    • Michele L. Killgore
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
    Neogene and pre-Tertiary faults modified from Workman and others, 2002, by C.J. Potter. Late Pleistocene and Holocene faults from Piety, 1996. Modified faults digitized by M. L. Killgore.
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Christopher J. Potter
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Denver Federal Center, MS-939
    Denver, Colorado
    USA

    303-236-1735 (voice)
    cpotter@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

These maps (maps A and B) were prepared in support of a regional three-dimensional ground-water model currently being constructed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the DVRFS. The maps identify regional geologic structures whose possible hydrologic significance merits their inclusion in the HFM for the DVRFS.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
    Piety, 1996 (source 1 of 9)
    Piety, L.A., 1996, Compilation of known or suspected Quaternary faults within 100 km of Yucca Mountain, Nevada and California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-112, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: late Pleistocene and Holocene faults, Maps A and B
    Workman and others, 2002 (source 2 of 9)
    Workman, J.B., Menges, C.M., Page, W.R., Ekren, E.B., Rowley, P.D., and Dixon, G.L., 2002, Tectonic map of the Death Valley groundwater model, Nevada and California: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2381-B, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: map
    Source_Contribution: fault locations, base map (Maps A and B)
    Blakely and others, 1999 (source 3 of 9)
    Blakely, R.J., Jachens, R.C., Calzia, J.P., and Langenheim, V.E., 1999, Cenozoic basins of the Death Valley extended terrane as reflected in regional-gravity anomalies: Geological Society of America Special Paper 333, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.

    Other_Citation_Details:
    in Wright, L.A., and Troxel, B.W., eds., Cenozoic basins of the Death Valley region
    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: gravity-modeled Cenozoic basin thicknesses (Map A)
    D'Agnese and others, 1998 (source 4 of 9)
    D'Agnese, F.A., Faunt, C.C., and Turner, A.K., 1998, An estimated potentiometric surface of the Death Valley region, Nevada and California, developed using Geographic Information System and automated interpolation techniques: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4052, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: potentiometric surface (Map A)
    D'Agnese and others, 1997 (source 5 of 9)
    D'Agnese, F.A., Faunt, C.C., Turner, A.K., and Hill, M.C., 1997, Hydrogeologic evaluation and numerical simulation of the Death Valley regional ground-water flow system, Nevada and California: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96-4300, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: regional springs
    Potter and others, 2002 (source 6 of 9)
    Potter, C.J., Dickerson, R.P., Sweetkind, D.S., Drake, R.M. II, Taylor, E.M., Fridrich, C.J., San Juan, C.A., and Day, W.C., 2002, Geologic map of the Yucca Mountain region, Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Series Map I-2755, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: map
    Source_Contribution: fault locations
    Rogers and others, 1987 (source 7 of 9)
    Rogers, A.M., Harmsen, S.C., and Meremonte, M.E., 1987, Evaluation of the seismicity of the southern Great Basin and its relationship to the tectonic framework of the region: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87-408, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: paper
    Source_Contribution: earthquake epicenter locations
    Turner and others, 1996 (source 8 of 9)
    Turner, A.K., D'Agnese, F.A., and Faunt, C.C., 1996, Digital hydrographic, land use/land cover, and hydrologic unit boundary files for the Death Valley region of southern Nevada and southeastern California processed from U.S. Geological Survey 1:100,000- and 1:250,000-scale digital data files: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-362, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: map
    Source_Contribution: cold springs
    Harmsen and Rogers, 1988 (source 9 of 9)
    Harmsen, S.C., and Rogers, A.M., 1988, Earthquake location data for the southern Great Basin of Nevada and California--1984 through 1986: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87-596, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado.

    Type_of_Source_Media: map
    Source_Contribution: earthquake epicenter locations
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 2000 (process 1 of 10)
    Edits made in ARCEDIT to existing data include: linework digitized and attributed from more recent mapping, incorrectly attributed polygons relabeled, fault attributes and displacement symbols edited, geophysically located structures added, caldera boundaries edited, and global changes made to colors.
    Date: 2000 (process 2 of 10)
    Compile selected faults and caldera boundaries from previous digital data; linework digitized and attributed; displacement symbols added in ARCEDIT.
    Date: 2000 (process 3 of 10)
    In ARCEDIT, complete inferred subsurface continuations of faults.
    Date: 2000 (process 4 of 10)
    In ARCEDIT, edit fault and caldera-boundaries and displacement symbols.
    Date: 2000 (process 5 of 10)
    Import gravity-modeled depths of Cenozoic basins, locations of earthquake epicenters, and potentiometric surface.
    Date: 2000 (process 6 of 10)
    Digitize and edit "Potential Zones of Enhanced Hydraulic Conductivity".
    Date: 2001 (process 7 of 10)
    Review of data by L.T. Grose.
    Date: 2001 (process 8 of 10)
    Review of data by C.C. Faunt.
    Date: 2001 (process 9 of 10)
    Final editing of map to address review comments.
    Date: 06-Mar-2002 (process 10 of 10)
    Creation of original metadata record Person who carried out this activity:
    Christopher J. Potter
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Box 25046
    Denver, Colorado
    USA

    (303) 236-1735 (voice)
    cpotter@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    The database was compiled largely from pre-existing digital data and combined in ARC/INFO. Frequency tests were run on the arc and polygon labels to ensure that no features are unlabeled. The attributes have been checked by both the authors and the reviewers for agreement with published maps, unpublished field mapping, and preliminary drafted versions of the map. The attribute data in the data set should be taken as an accurate representation of the authors' geologic interpretations.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    The estimated horizontal positional accuracy of the data is 65 meters. All data used from published and unpublished digital sources are limited by the accuracy of that data. Attempts were made to verify the accuracy of these data by comparison to published tographic data and overlap with other digital data.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    This dataset includes only the coverages pertaining to the hydrostructural map. Any margin material on the printed map (explanation of map symbols, and so forth) is not included. This map was produced to be used at 1:350,000 scale. Any geologic features too small to be shown at this scale have been omitted or generalized if they are of significant importance. The smallest objects are approximately 100 meters on a side.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    All lines were visually inspected by the authors for proper intersections, repetition, overshoots, undershoots, and overall logical consistency. The geologic features in the map area are all described, in the view of the authors, at a consistent scale of 1:350,000. All coverages were cleaned and built in ARC/INFO (version 9.0.2) to ensure a logical consistency that is topologically clean.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
None. Acknowledgment of the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey Central Publications Group
    Box 25046 Denver Federal Center, MS-902
    Denver, Colorado
    USA

    303-236-5486 (voice)
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? USGS Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2372
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Although these digital spatial data have been subjected to rigorous review and are substantially complete, they are released on the condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from their authorized or unauthorized use.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 13-Jun-2016
Metadata author:
Peter N Schweitzer
USGS Midwest Area
Collection manager, USGS Geoscience Data Clearinghouse, http://geo-nsdi.er.usgs.gov/
Mail Stop 954
12201 Sunrise Valley Dr
Reston, VA
USA

703-648-6533 (voice)
703-648-6252 (FAX)
pschweitzer@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)

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