SEDIMENTARY AND VOLCANIC HISTORY OF THE CANE SPRING AREA IN THE MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE

Cane Spring is a series of seeps or fracture springs on the western side of the Cima volcanic range, near the eastern boundary of the Mojave Desert structural province. Minimal work has been produced on this area; the sources of water for these seeps are unknown at present and not thought to be part of the Mojave River groundwater or drainage basins. The depositional, tectonic, and magmatic history of this area is essential in constructing a model for understanding the complicated hydrological and geological processes that have affected the area.

Since 2014, we have undertaken interdisciplinary work, including cataloguing and mapping activities in order to collect data in a roughly trapezoidal 1 km² field area encompassing Cane Spring proper, newly discovered seeps, debris flows, and fresh basalt flows originating from the many cinder cones of the Cima volcanic range. GPS cataloguing of lithology type and abundance has been done in 100m² sections in a coordinate based system for the field area. Various lithologies are observed here, including andesites, basalts, conglomerates, and several granites sourced from the Teutonia batholith. There is evidence for a mass wasting event, which was followed by a time when the area was inundated with extensive fluvial activity supported by distinctive carbonaceous conglomerates. The most recent intact units are basalt flows which contain hackly morphologies at the base of numerous flows, which potentially indicates eruptions coterminous with the high energy fluvial activity. While sedimentary and volcanic rocks cover most of the area, generally NW trending faults are visible in the Proterozoic basement gneiss just outside the field area. The seeps or fracture springs that have been discovered appear to follow this NW trend, and are possibly related to the faulting that characterizes this section of the eastern Mojave. Determining the sources for these seeps and how they are related to one another through an understanding of the geologic history of the area has implications for the larger understanding of the evolution of hydrologic systems in arid environments and the controls that influence their location and development.