Lava Mountains

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Lava Mountains
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Lava Mountains
Location of Lava Mountains in California [1]
Highest point
Elevation 1,392 m (4,567 ft)
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
District San Bernardino County
Range coordinates 35°26′13.862″N117°31′11.206″W / 35.43718389°N 117.51977944°W / 35.43718389; -117.51977944
Topo map USGS  Klinker Mountain

The Lava Mountains are a mountain range located along the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. [1] [2] They are one of the eastern limits of the Fremont Valley.[ citation needed ] They span the northwestern portion of the Golden Valley Wilderness, which sits between it and the Almond Mountains on the southeastern side. [3] The mountain range is cut by several deep-walled canyons with distinctive layers of multicolored sedimentary rocks. [3] The peak of the mountain range is at around 5,000 feet on Dome Mountain. [3]

Geology

The mountains are located along the Garlock Fault. [4] The Blackwater fault passes through the southwestern part of the area, and the Brown's Ranch fault zone and its associated faults pass through the western part. [2]

The pre-Tertiary rocks in the area mainly consist of quartz monzonite. [2] The major sedimentary unit is the Bedrock Spring Formation, which is chiefly composed of arkosic sandstone and conglomerate, as well as some silstone and brecciated volcanic rocks. [2] That formation is overlain by the Almond Mountain volcanics and the Klinker Mountain volcanics in the eastern and western parts of the region, respectively. [2] Overlying these are flows of Lava Mountains andesite dating to the late Pliocene, which are finally covered by Quaternary gravels, alluvium, and travertine. [2] All of the volcanic rocks in the area are plagioclase andesite porphyries. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lava Mountains". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Smith, George Irving (1956). Geology and Petrology of the Lava Mountains, San Bernardino County, California (phd thesis). California Institute of Technology.
  3. 1 2 3 "Golden Valley Wilderness". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  4. ↑ Keenan, Deborah L (2000-01-01). "The geology and geochemistry of volcanic rocks in the Lava Mountains, California: Implications for Miocene development of the Garlock Fault". UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. doi:10.25669/86xt-tu2t.


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