| Brawley Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Pleistocene | |
| Type | Geologic formation |
| Overlies | Ocotillo Formation |
| Location | |
| Region | Colorado Desert, California |
| Country | United States |
| Type section | |
| Named for | City of Brawley |
The Brawley Formation is a geologic formation in the Colorado Desert of southern California, located in northwestern Imperial County and eastern San Diego County. [1]
Sandstone and mudstone of the Brawley Formation accumulated between ~1.1 and ~0.6–0.5 Ma in a delta on the margin of an arid Pleistocene lake. [1] It is in the San Jacinto Fault Zone area, including in the San Felipe Hills.
It preserves fossils from the Pleistocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period, during the Cenozoic Era. [2]
The San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) is a major strike-slip fault zone that runs through San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties in Southern California. The SJFZ is a component of the larger San Andreas transform system and is considered to be the most seismically active fault zone in the area. Together they relieve the majority of the stress between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates.
The Coyote Mountains are a small mountain range in San Diego and Imperial Counties in southern California. The Coyotes form a narrow ESE trending 2 mi (3.2 km) wide range with a length of about 12 mi (19 km). The southeast end turns and forms a 2 mi (3.2 km) north trending "hook". The highest point is Carrizo Mountain on the northeast end with an elevation of 2,408 feet (734 m). Mine Peak at the northwest end of the range has an elevation of 1,850 ft (560 m). Coyote Wash along I-8 along the southeast margin of the range is 100 to 300 feet in elevation. Plaster City lies in the Yuha Desert about 5.5 mi (8.9 km) east of the east end of the range.
The Imperial Fault Zone is a system of geological faults located in Imperial County in the Southern California region, and adjacent Baja California state in Mexico. It cuts across the border between the United States and Mexico.
The Brawley Seismic Zone (BSZ), also known as the Brawley fault zone, is a predominantly extensional tectonic zone that connects the southern terminus of the San Andreas Fault with the Imperial Fault in Southern California. The BSZ is named for the nearby town of Brawley in Imperial County, California, and the seismicity there is characterized by earthquake swarms.
The 1940 El Centro earthquake occurred at 21:35 Pacific Standard Time on May 18 in the Imperial Valley in southeastern Southern California near the international border of the United States and Mexico. It had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It was the first major earthquake to be recorded by a strong-motion seismograph located next to a fault rupture. The earthquake was characterized as a typical moderate-sized destructive event with a complex energy release signature. It was the strongest recorded earthquake to hit the Imperial Valley, and caused widespread damage to irrigation systems and led to the deaths of nine people.
The 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake occurred at 16:16 Pacific Daylight Time on 15 October just south of the Mexico–United States border. It affected Imperial Valley in Southern California and Mexicali Valley in northern Baja California. The earthquake had a relatively shallow hypocenter and caused property damage in the United States estimated at US$30 million. The irrigation systems in the Imperial Valley were badly affected, but no deaths occurred. It was the largest earthquake to occur in the contiguous United States since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake eight years earlier.
The Perris Block is the central block of three major fault-bounded blocks of the northern part of the Peninsular Ranges. The Perris Block lies between the Santa Ana Block to the west and the San Jacinto Block to the east. The Perris Block, was named by Walter A. English in 1925 for the city of Perris, located near the center of the block.
The Mt. Eden Formation is a geologic formation in Riverside County, California. It underlies the San Timoteo Formation, and preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period.
The San Benito Gravels is a Quaternary Epoch geologic formation in California.
The Tecopa Lake Beds is a Blancan Pleistocene geologic formation in the Mojave Desert in eastern California. It is in the Tecopa area, east of Death Valley, in southeastern Inyo and northeastern San Bernardino County.
The Palm Spring Formation is a Pleistocene Epoch geologic formation in the eastern Colorado Desert of Imperial County and San Diego County County, Southern California.
The Ocotillo Formation is a Pliocene fluvial-alluvial fan geologic formation in the Colorado Desert of Southern California.
The Turlock Lake Formation is an Early Pleistocene geologic formation in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Sacramento County, California. Cities in/over the formation's area include Citrus Heights, Carmichael, and Roseville.
The 1918 San Jacinto earthquake occurred in extreme eastern San Diego County in Southern California on April 21 at 14:32:29 local time. The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Several injuries and one death occurred with total losses estimated to be $200,000.
The Salton Buttes are a group of volcanoes in California, on the Salton Sea. They consist of a 7-kilometer (4.3 mi)-long row of five lava domes, named Mullet Island, North Red Hill, Obsidian Butte, Rock Hill and South Red Hill. They are closely associated with a fumarolic field and a geothermal field, and there is evidence of buried volcanoes underground. In pre-modern times Obsidian Butte was an important regional source of obsidian.
The 1987 Superstition Hills and Elmore Ranch earthquakes were a pair of earthquakes measuring Mw 6.0 and 6.5 that rattled the Imperial Valley of California. The earthquakes caused damage in Southern California and Mexico, but was limited due to their location in a sparsely populated area. It was felt as far as Las Vegas and Phoenix. More than 90 were injured, and two people were killed in Mexico.
The 1968 Borrego Mountain earthquake occurred on April 8, at 18:28 PST, near the unincorporated community of Ocotillo Wells in San Diego County. The moment magnitude (Mw ) 6.6 strike-slip earthquake struck with a focal depth of 11.1 km (6.9 mi). Damage was relatively moderate, and the mainshock was assigned a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) of VII. Shaking was felt in Nevada, and Arizona. It was the largest earthquake to strike California since 1952, and its display of afterslip became the subject of scientific interest.
The San Felipe Fault Zone is an active Quaternary fault zone made up of continuous right-lateral fault strands]. It is a part of the San Andreas fault system and it is located in the western Salton Trough spanning three counties: Imperial, Riverside, and San Diego county, California. It is hypothesized to have originated during the early Pleistocene period.
The 1915 Imperial Valley earthquakes were two destructive shocks centered near El Centro, California on June 22. The earthquakes measured Ms 6.25 and occurred nearly one hour apart at 19:59 and 20:57 PST. Both shocks were assigned VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. Heavy damage occurred in the areas of Mexicali and El Centro, amounting to $900,000. At least six people were killed in the earthquakes.
The San Diego Trough Fault Zone is a group of connected right-lateral strike-slip faults that run parallel to the coast of Southern California, United States, for 150–166 km (93–103 mi). The fault zone takes up 25% of the slip within the Inner Continental Borderlands. Portions of the fault get within 30 km (19 mi) of populated cities, however the faults never reach shore. The north of the fault zone begins where the San Pedro Basin Fault Zone and the Santa Catalina Fault Zone meet, and the southern section terminates where it reaches the Bahía Soledad Fault. Seismic risk along the fault is high, with potential earthquake scenarios reaching up to magnitude 7.9 in the worst case. An earthquake of this size would devastate coastal areas.
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