The Surface of Crystalline Basement, Great Valley and Sierra Nevada, California: A Digital Map Database

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
The Surface of Crystalline Basement, Great Valley and Sierra Nevada, California: A Digital Map Database
Abstract:
Crystalline basement in central California extends westward from the exposed Sierra Nevada beneath the sedimentary fill of the Great Valley and under the eastern edge of the Coast Ranges at mid-crustal depth. The surface of this basement is defined from three types of control: in the Sierra Nevada from the topography itself, beneath the eastern two thirds of the Great Valley in considerable detail from numerous wells drilled for oil and gas, and beneath the western San Joaquin Valley in less detail from seismic reflection and refraction profiles. Together, these data demonstrate that the surface of crystalline rock is continuous from the exposed rock in the mountains to the top of high-velocity rock buried deep beneath the eastern front of the southern Coast Ranges.
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Wentworth, Carl M., Fisher, G. Reid, Levine, Paia, and Jachens, Robert C., 1995, The Surface of Crystalline Basement, Great Valley and Sierra Nevada, California: A Digital Map Database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-96.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.4
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -118.5
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.4
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 35.0
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Calendar_Date: 1995
    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?
      The map projection used is Lambert Conformal Conic.
      Projection parameters:
      Standard_Parallel: 33
      Standard_Parallel: 45
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -120
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0
      False_Easting: 0
      False_Northing: 0
      Planar coordinates are encoded using coordinate pair
      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?
    CCB-BWELLS.PAT
    Basement wells (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ELEV
    Elevation (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-5830
    Maximum:245
    Units:unknown
    Resolution:1
    TRS
    Township?? (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    OWNER
    Name of the owner of the well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    NAME
    Well identification (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    LAT
    Latitude of well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:35.171
    Maximum:40.375
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001
    LONG
    Longitude of well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-122.338
    Maximum:-118.624
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001
    STATION
    unknown (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    LITH
    Lithology of basement (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    SOURCE
    Source of well information (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ROSS
    More specific lithology (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    TR01
    Numerical value (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:0
    Maximum:256
    COMMENT
    Specific comments on wells (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    CCB-CONT.AAT
    basement contours (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ELEV
    Elevation of basement (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-16000
    Maximum:3000
    Units:unknown
    Resolution:1000
    CCB-CWELLS.PAT
    constraining wells (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ELEV
    Elevation (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-7058
    Maximum:-629
    Units:unknown
    Resolution:1
    TRS
    Township?? (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    OWNER
    Name of the owner of the well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    NAME
    Well identification (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    LAT
    Latitude of well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:35.102
    Maximum:40.018
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001
    LONG
    Longitude of well (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-122.396
    Maximum:-118.780
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001
    STATION
    unknown (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    CCB-QBNDY.AAT
    Boundary of Quaternary alluvium in the Great Valley (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    LTYPE
    Line type (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ValueDefinition
    contact, quatObserved quaternary contact
    scratch boundaryLocation of a scratch boundary
    CCB-QBNDY.PAT
    Boundary of Quaternary alluvium in the Great Valley (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    PTYPE
    Point type (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ValueDefinition
    QalLocation of Quaternary alluvium
    (blank)unknown
    CCB-SEIS.AAT
    Seismic lines (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    SEISLINE
    unknown (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    CCB-SEIS.PAT
    Elevation points (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    ELEV
    Elevation (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-16600
    Maximum:-3300
    Units:unknown
    Resolution:100
    SEISLINE
    unknown (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    LAT
    Latitude (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:35.631
    Maximum:38.079
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001
    LONG
    Longitude (Source: OFR-95-0096)
    Range of values
    Minimum:-122.170
    Maximum:-119.360
    Units:degrees
    Resolution:0.001

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Carl M. Wentworth
    • G. Reid Fisher
    • Paia Levine
    • Robert C. Jachens
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Wentworth, Carl MJR
    USGS-GEO-WRG-EHZ
    Mail Stop 977, USGS
    345 Middlefield Rd
    Menlo Park, CA
    US

    650-329-4950 (voice)
    cwent@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The main purpose was to explore and document the shape and continuity of the basement surface and to determine the relation of the surface to the tectonic wedge hypothesis (Wentworth and others, 1984; Wentworth and Zoback, 1989).

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: unknown (process 1 of 2)
    The compilation was begun as part of the investigation of the 1983 Coalinga earthquake (Wentworth and Zoback, 1990; Yerkes, Levine, and Wentworth, 1990), and was subsequently converted to digital form and extended to the whole of the Great Valley and Sierra Nevada. The database in its present form was compiled in ARC/INFO, a commercial Geographic Information System (Environmental Systems Research Institute [ESRI], Redlands, California), and is stored in ARC/INFO coverage format (version 6) in a UNIX tar file.
    Date: 08-Oct-2002 (process 2 of 2)
    Creation of original metadata record Person who carried out this activity:
    Peter N Schweitzer
    U.S. Geological Survey, ER
    Geologist
    Mail Stop 954
    12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
    Reston, VA
    USA

    703-648-6533 (voice)
    703-648-6252 (FAX)
    pschweitzer@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?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Complete
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    This report presents a compilation of data through 1985 that define the surface of this crystalline basement, a contour map of the surface, and the lithology of the basement rock sampled by many of the wells. The compilation was begun as part of the investigation of the 1983 Coalinga earthquake (Wentworth and Zoback, 1990; Yerkes, Levine, and Wentworth, 1990), and was subsequently converted to digital form and extended to the whole of the Great Valley and Sierra Nevada.

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
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    USGS Information Services
    Box 25286, Denver Federal Center
    Denver, Colorado
    USA

    1-888-ASK-USGS (voice)
    1-303-202-4695 (FAX)
    infoservices@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? US Geological Survey Open File Report 95-0096
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with the North American Stratigraphic Code. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
  4. How can I download or order the data?
    • Availability in digital form:
      Data format: basement contours, well locations and their measurements, boundary of quaternary alluvium, seismic lines and elevation points in format ARCE (version 6.x) Size: 1.5
      Network links: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1995/96/ccbsmt.zip
    • Cost to order the data: none

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 10-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 for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://geo-nsdi.er.usgs.gov/metadata/open-file/95-96/metadata.faq.html>
Generated by mp version 2.9.48 on Tue Jul 03 20:06:41 2018