QUATERNARY DEFORMATION OF MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE SEDIMENTS DUE TO MOVEMENT ALONG NORTHEAST TRENDING FAULTS WITHIN CHRISTMAS CANYON, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Mid-Pleistocene lacustrine, alluvial, and volcanic facies, outcropping adjacent to the left-lateral Garlock fault in Southern California, exhibit signs of on-going deformation. These sediments and several northeast trending faults are well exposed to the west of Christmas Canyon, south of the Garlock Fault and Randsburg Wash Road near Ridgecrest in Southern California. This region also lies within the Eastern California Shear Zone, and is thus influenced by numerous northwest trending dextral faults. LiDAR images covering the Garlock fault and the adjacent terrain reveal several offset fluvial features associated with recent movement on the Garlock fault. These images also suggest the presence of additional subsidiary faults, including the traces of several northeast trending faults. Subsequent field mapping was conducted to better understand the effect of localized faulting and its effect on the mid-Pleistocene Stratigraphy. To the south of the Garlock Fault the gently dipping Pleistocene strata are crosscut by several steeply dipping faults trending between 22^o and 65^o that have gently folded and offset the Pleistocene deposits in an apparent strike slip and vertical fashion. The interactions of these faults may provide insight into the formation of larger scale faults which trend at a high angle to active right lateral strike slip faults, which dominate the current tectonic regime in California. We explore the competing hypotheses that the pattern of faulting and folding can be explained by movement on the Garlock fault and associated minor faults alone, versus the alternative that these structures represent the interaction between the Garlock fault and the Eastern California Shear Zone.