TEPHROCHRONOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN KIT FOX HILLS, DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

The northern Kit Fox Hills in central-east Death Valley are a pressure ridge adjacent Northern Death Valley fault zone (NDVFZ). To determine the age of the uplifted sediments, I mapped, measured a stratigraphic section and collected samples for tephrochronologic and paleomagnetic analysis. The paleomagnetic data and similarity coefficients (SC) indicate tephra sample VME-KFH-03 correlates with 1.9-1.5 Ma middle Glass Mountain tuffs (SC = 0.9795), and VME-KFH-04 with 0.8-1.2 Ma Upper Glass Mountain ash beds (SC = 0.9902). The overlying VME-KFH-07 correlates with either the Bishop Ash Bed (~0.77 Ma) or a Mesquite Spring tuff (3.1 – 3.3 Ma). Paleomagnetics show the section to be dominantly reverse polarity beginning directly below VME-KFH-07. A normal polarity section is found between VME-KFH-03 and 04. One interpretation is that VME-KFH-07 is the Bishop Ash Bed with the underlying ash beds Upper Glass Mountain and the normal polarity section the Jaramillo subchron. Alternatively, VME-KFH-07 is interpretable as a Mesquite Spring tuff and the underlying ash beds previously undescribed beds with Glass Mountain affinity.