Quaternary Geology and Neotectonics of the Pinto

Mountain Fault, Mojave Desert, Southern California

R. FORREST HOPSON, Geologist

Photo 1.View to the west across Morongo Valley toward Big Morongo Canyon, a linear valley (arrow) along the western part of the Pinto
Mountain Fault. Mt. San Gorgonio and the San Bernardino Mountains in background. Photo by R. F. Hopson.

INTRODUCTION just north of Joshua Tree National Park, and separates parts
of two geomorphic provinces, the eastern Transverse Ranges

A n overview of the Quaternary geology and neotec-

tonics of the Pinto Mountain Fault is presented
in this article. In addition I include a discussion on the
age of this fault, tectonic geomorphic evidence for Quaternary
slip and the seismic activity that has recently occurred near
and the Mojave Desert (Figure 1). It extends from near Mt.
San Gorgonio (Photo 1) eastward along the north side of the

this fault. Potential seismic activity of the Pinto Mountain

Fault is also briefly discussed. Much of this discussion is based
on my own geological mapping and observations (Hopson,
1994; 1996) as well as from other workers cited below.

Previous work
The Pinto Mountain Fault was first recognized and named
by Hill (1928). A number of workers who have either mapped
the geology of the area or investigated the Pinto Mountain
Fault include the following: Bader and Moyle (1960), Rogers
(1961), Dibblee (1967a, 1967b, 1968b, 1975, 1982a,
1982b, 1992), Rasmussen & Associates (1977, 1990),
Bacheller (1978), Bryant (1986), Grimes (1987, 1992), J
Howard and Allen (1988), Earth Systems Consultants (1992), o%
Matti and others (1992), Powell (1993), Richard (1993),
Howard (in press), and Howard and others (in press). 60 Miles -7-
J-
San Diego
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC SETTING 60 Kilometers California
Mexico \
The Pinto Mountain Fault is one of the most prominent Figure 1. Generalized map of southern California showing the eastern
east-trending geographic features in the southern California California shear zone and geomorphic provinces (Mojave Desert—purple
desert. The fault passes through the communities of Morongo outline; Transverse Ranges—gold outline). Stars indicate epicenters of the
Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and Twentynine Palms 1992 Landers and Joshua Tree earthquakes. Modified after Richard (1993).

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 3

eastern Transverse Ranges, which
include the Little San Bernardino and
Pinto mountains.
The Little San Bernardino and Pinto
mountains have low to moderate relief,
and east-sloping, plateau-like summits
that are uplifted erosion surfaces of an
ancient Tertiary plain (Dibblee, 1982a).
Alluvium-filled valleys surround the
Pinto Mountains, which on their north
and south fronts have steep, deeply
scalloped escarpments that rise abruptly
from the valley floor. Queen Mountain
is the highest peak in the Pinto Moun-
tains at 1,731 meters (m).
Sweeping northward from the Pinto
Mountains is a broad, triangular allu-
vium-filled basin referred to as Morongo
Basin. Located within this basin are the
Bartlett Mountains, Copper Mountain,
Donnell Hill, Campbell Hill and several
playas or dry lakebeds. Alluvium is up to
3,100 m thick in Morongo Basin.
The Pinto Mountain Fault is the
northernmost fault of a set of east-
trending, left-lateral strike-slip faults that
controls the east-west physiographic
grain of the eastern Transverse Ranges
(Powell, 1993). North of the Pinto
Mountain Fault, northwest-trending,
right-lateral strike-slip faults are the
predominant set of faults. These fault
sets form a broad network of mostly
strike-slip faults, called the eastern
California shear zone (ECSZ), (Dokka
and Travis, 1990; Dokka, 1992) that
extend north from the San Andreas
Fault near Indio, across the Mojave
Desert to the Garlock Fault (Figure 1).
The ECSZ accounts for an estimated
9-14 percent of right-lateral slip occur-
ring along the Pacific-North American
plate boundary and has accumulated a
total of about 65 kilometers (km) of
right-lateral slip in the last 10 million
years (Dokka and Travis, 1990).
Pre-Tertiary crystalline basement
rocks and Quaternary sediments are
cut by the Pinto Mountain Fault. The
basement rocks form rigid continental
crust beneath the eastern Transverse
Ranges and Mojave Desert and consist
of Precambrian gneiss, Paleozoic
marine metasedimentary rocks, and
Mesozoic plutonic and volcanic rocks.
Dike swarms of presumably late Jurassic
4 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
and possibly younger microdiorite and
rhyolite intrude this basement complex.
The 1 billion-year-old-Precambrian
gneiss and Paleozoic marine metasedi-
mentary rocks are roof pendants in
Mesozoic batholithic rocks. The Meso-
zoic batholithic rocks vary from horn-
blende diorite to monzogranite. The
quartz monzonite of Twentynine Palms,
which is a part of this batholithic belt,
may represent the eastern edge of a
belt of magmatism associated with the
onset of batholithic emplacement above
a subduction zone in western North
America.
QUATERNARY DEPOSITS
Quaternary deposits have been map-
ped in the area along the Pinto Moun-
tain Fault and are shown in Figures 2-5.
The oldest of these are Pleistocene
deposits determined from fossil age
correlations and radiometric age dates.
Fault deformation of these older Pleis-
tocene rock units, as well as Holocene
deposits along the Pinto Mountain
Fault, is clearly indicated; however,
late-Holocene sediments conceal a
significant portion of this fault.
EXPLANATION FOR FIGURES 2-5
QUATERNARY
CENOZOIC
0
0
0
o_
a Pioneertown Basalt
TERTIAR Y
0
0
0 Arkose sandstone
0 of Grimes (1987)
PRE- C ENOZOIC
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998
In the absence of radiocarbon dating
or fossil evidence, differentiating Qua-
ternary deposits into Pleistocene and
Holocene in the Mojave Desert is based
on degree of cementation; soil profile
development; extent and development
of desert-pavement* surfaces and
rock varnish color (Christenson and
Purcell, 1985; Dohrenwend and others,
1991). Pleistocene deposits are com-
monly well-cemented and have well-
developed B horizons with argillic
(Bt) and calcic (Bk) soil horizons.
They also have well-developed desert
pavement surfaces, dark rock varnish,
and red soil matrix. In comparison, use-
ful criteria for distinguishing Holocene
deposits in the Mojave Desert are bar-
and-swale morphology, and unvar-
nished to poorly developed rock varnish
surfaces.
The Quaternary geology along the
Pinto Mountain Fault was mapped on
a regional scale by Dibblee (1967a, b,
1968b). Mapping on a local scale and
descriptions of the Quaternary geology
for areas near Twentynine Palms and
* Terms in boldface type are defined
on page 11.
Eolian (wind-blown) Strike-slip fault, dashed where approx-
sand imately located, ? where queried,
dotted where covered. Hatchures
Alluvium, Basin represent downdropped block of Oasis
Fill deposits
of Mara scarp.
(undifferentiated)
Lacustrine (lake) Thrust fault, barbs on upthrown block
sediments
Campbell Hill Anomalous ridge Trench location
Formation
Pleistocene
Twentynine Palms
(undifferentiated)
Formation
Old Woman
Sandstone
FAULT STUDY
Predominately Mesozoic R1= Rasmussen & Assoc. (1977)
granitic rocks with Pre-
R2= Rasmussen & Assoc. (1990)
cambrian Pinto gneiss
and Paleozoic (?) E = Earth Systems Consultants (1992)
metasediment
 11 nPd koi reA uosuq op

,..
/Morong o f\i-alleYc).`
Fault-line
Sadd le
..
r Pinto Mountains

Figure 3. General map of Quaternary geology and faults along

IOW Mit the Pinto Mountain Fault between Joshua Tree and Indian Cove.
Modified after Bacheller (1978) and Bortugno and Spittler (1986).
Figure 2. General map of Quaternary geology and faults along the
western part of the Pinto Mountain Fault. Modified after Bortugno
and Spittler (1986) and Grimes (1987).

Figure 4. General
map of Quaternary
geology at the inter-
section of the Pinto
Mountain and Mes-
quite Lake faults.
Modified after
Bacheller (1978),
Bortugno and Spittler
(1986), Howard (in
press), and Howard
and others (in press).

Figure 5. General map of

Quaternary geology along
the eastern extension of
the Pinto Mountain Fault.
Modified from Howard and
Allan (1988) and Howard
(in press).

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 5

Yucca Valley were done by Bacheller
(1978) and Grimes (1987) respectively.
Bacheller (1978) characterized two
Pleistocene sedimentary deposits near
Twentynine Palms and informally
named them the Twentynine Palms and
Campbell Hill deposits. I have included
these deposits in my detail maps of the
area in Figures 2-5. Bacheller (1978)
was also able to distinguish Holocene
deposits from Pleistocene deposits.
Twentynine Palms Deposit
The Twentynine Palms deposit
mapped by Bacheller (1978) is largely
alluvial fan and partially lacustrine or
lake deposits derived from the Pinto
Mountains. Equivalent deposits were
mapped along the front of the Pinto
Mountains just east of Twentynine
Palms by Howard and others (in press).
A layer of airfall volcanic ash that occurs
near the base of the Twentynine Palms
deposit is correlated with the Bishop
Tuff (Bacheller, 1978), an ash that
erupted from the Long Valley caldera
in the eastern Sierra Nevada, and radio-
metrically dated at 730,000 years
before present (Mankinen and others,
1986). This suggests the Twentynine
Palms deposit is Pleistocene.
Campbell Hill Deposit
Bacheller's (1978) Campbell Hill
sedimentary unit, informally named after
exposures at Campbell Hill just east of
Twentynine Palms, is primarily com-
posed of lacustrine and fluvial deposits.
These deposits are derived largely from
the San Bernardino Mountains and adja-
cent areas (Bacheller, 1978; Howard
and others, in press), and exposures are
mainly confined to the Morongo Basin.
This deposit forms many of the low
hills just north of the Pinto Mountains
between Twentynine Palms and Yucca
Valley, including Campbell Hill, Donnell
Hill, and a linear ridge south of Copper
Mountain. The Campbell Hill deposit
is Pleistocene. This is based on its
Rancho-labrean mammalian fauna that
is probably less than 500,000 years old
(Bacheller, 1978).
Undifferentiated Pleistocene Deposits
Grimes (1987) mapped and de-
scribed three probable Pleistocene
deposits that are included as undiffer-
6 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
entiated Pleistocene in my maps. Two
of these are fanglomerate deposits,
each containing a particular clast com-
position, one quartzite, the other basalt.
The quartzite clasts originate from
Paleozoic rocks in the southern San
Bernardino Mountains and are set in a
matrix of reddish-brown arkosic sand-
stone. The basalt clasts, set in a reddish-
brown silty sand, silt and clay matrix,
are probably derived from two different
sources, the Pioneertown basalt and
amphibole-bearing basalt flows at Ante-
lope Creek in the eastern San Bernar-
dino Mountains. The third deposit is
an older alluvium. It's reddish-brown
silty, massive, poorly indurated sand
that varies from 1.5 to 18 m thick.
Probable older Pleistocene or latest
Tertiary fanglomerate deposits comprise
Burnt Mountain, a prominent elongate
hill a few kilometers south of Yucca
Valley (Figure 2). This deposit contains
granite and gneiss clasts and is tilted
and dissected. The age of these deposits
is suggested by their degree of deforma-
tion and erosion.
Holocene Deposits
At least three kinds of Holocene
(less than 11,000 years old) deposits
are recognized in Morongo Basin and
along the Pinto Mountain Fault: fluvial
(mostly alluvial-fan and streamwash),
lacustrine (playa), and eolian (wind-
blown) (Bacheller, 1978; Grimes, 1987;
Howard and Allen, 1988; Howard and
others, in press). The presence of late-
Holocene sedimentary deposits along
the Pinto Mountain Fault indicates that
modern sedimentation is occurring.
Holocene fluvial deposits occur as
alluvial fans and stream wash deposits
along the front of the Pinto Mountains.
They are identified by the bar-and-swale
geomorphic surfaces and are made of
poorly sorted sand, gravel, cobbles and
boulders (Howard and Allen, 1988;
Howard and others, in press). The flu-
vial deposits are shown as Basin Fill
deposits in Figures 2-5. The lacustrine
or playa deposits are recognized in
Yucca Valley and Dale Lake (Bacheller,
1978; Grimes, 1987). They are charac-
terized by grayish brown fine-grained
sand, silt and clay, and lack shoreline
features. Eolian deposits are made
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998
of loose, fine- to medium-grained wind-
blown sand. These deposits form both
active and stabilized dune fields that pile
up against the eastern Pinto and Sheep
Hole mountains (Howard and Allen,
1988; Tchakerian, 1992).
PINTO MOUNTAIN FAULT
The Pinto Mountain Fault is the long-
est (approximately 110 km) east-trending
fault in the southern Mojave Desert. Its
western terminus meets the north branch
of the San Andreas Fault (also called the
Mission Creek Fault) (Dibblee, 1967a;
1975) and is considered to extend east
to meet the northwest-trending Sheep
Hole Fault. Surface fault breakage has
been well documented between its inter-
section with the Mission Creek Fault
and the Mesquite Fault; however, east of
the Old Dale site its surface trace is not
exposed (Figure 5). This most eastern
extension is considered buried; the only
evidence of its existence is the linear
escarpment along the northern Pinto
Mountains (Powell, 1993).
The Pinto Mountain Fault has accum-
ulated a maximum of 16 km of left-
lateral displacement (Dibblee, 1968a
Hopson, 1996). Of this, 9 km occurred
since Pleistocene time based on offset
of the Pleistocene quartzite- and basalt-
bearing fanglomerates (Dibblee, 1968a;
Grimes, 1987). The accumulated 16 km
of displacement is based on fault restor-
ation of the Proterozoic and Mesozoic
crystalline basement rocks—specifically,
the realignment of the quartz monzon-
ite of Twentynine Palms, monzogranite
of Queen Mountain, the zone of Pinto
gneiss intruded by monzogranite of
Queen Mountain, White Tank mon-
zogranite, and the igneous and meta-
morphic complex of the Little San
Bernardino Mountains.
Evidence that points to the age of
initiation of the Pinto Mountain Fault is
not well defined; however earliest move-
ment may be no older than 7.3 million
years (Grimes, 1987). This is indicated
by deformed arkose and conglomerate
deposits identified by Grimes (1987).
Bedding units in these rocks are vertical-
dipping (Photo 2), cut by the Pinto Moun-
tain Fault between Yucca and Morongo
valleys and have been correlated with
the Old Woman Sandstone named by

Photo 2. Arkose alluvial sandstone and gravel beds adjacent to the Pinto Mountain
Fault near Yucca Valley. These beds have been tilted to vertical and may repre-
sent the first motion on the Pinto Mountain Fault. Professor Perry L. Ehlig for
scale. Photo by R. F. Hopson.
TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY
T ectonic geomorphology involves
the study of the earth's landforms
resulted from tectonic processes such
as faulting, folding and uplift. In order
to unravel an area's tectonic history by
studying its landforms, one must also
understand the weathering process or
the amount and rate of degradation the
surface has undergone. The degree
to which these landforms or construc-
tional features have been obscured
can be used to determine their age
relative to other landforms that have
lesser or greater amount of degrada-
tion, provided one takes into account
the relative resistance to erosion of the
landform's material (Yeats and others,
1997). In this way, tectonic geomor-
phology can yield insights about move-
ment along faults, which includes the
nature, timing, and distribution of fault-
ing. Landforms identified along the
Pinto Mountain Fault and useful geo-
CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
Dibblee (1967a) for exposures found a few
kilometers to the north (Grimes, 1987).
The Old Woman Sandstone underlies the
7.3-million-year old Pioneertown Basalt.
The Pinto Mountain Fault appears to cut
the northwest-trending faults in the Mojave
Desert with two possible exceptions: the
Johnson Valley Fault and the Mesquite Lake
Fault. Aftershock epicenters indicate the right-
lateral strike-slip Johnson Valley Fault propa-
gated south across the Pinto Mountain Fault,
identified as the Eureka Peak Fault, during the
June 1992 Landers earthquake near Yucca
Valley. This is suggested by two things: the
Johnson Valley Fault's alignment with the
Eureka Peak Fault and by focal mechanisms
that indicate events from this sequence extend
southward across the Little San Bernardino
Mountains to the San Andreas Fault. The focal
mechanisms exhibit right-lateral strike-slip
faulting along steeply dipping north- to north-
northwest-striking faults (Hauksson and others,
1993). The Mesquite Lake Fault offsets the
Pinto Mountain Fault 1.5 km based on geo-
logic mapping (Bacheller, 1978). Its southern
extension, south of the Pinto Mountain Fault,
is interpreted to be the west-dipping Twenty-
nine Palms Mountain Fault (Figure 4), which
uplifts and thrusts Twentynine Palms Mountain
eastward (Howard and others, in press).
morphic indicators for identification and
characterization of the activity along
the fault are described below. The
1 km long and occurs in alluvium of
probable Holocene age. Other, less
prominent scarps, occur in Pleistocene
block diagram illustrates some of these alluvium near Copper Mountain and in
landforms (Figure 6). Morongo Valley.
Fault Scarps
linear trough
Fault scarps are steep slopes or or valley
"v I
cliffs formed directly by movement
<<
,
along a fault; they represent the linear \.;
exposed surface of the fault before scarp -
it is modified by erosion. Generally sag
pond
the less eroded or more 'fresh' the
scarp is, the more recently it has
moved. Fault scarps developed
in Quaternary alluvium at several
locations along the Pinto Mountain
Fault. The best preserved scarp is
at the Oasis of Mara in Twentynine Figure 6. Block diagram showing some typical
Palms, the location of the Joshua landforms suggestive of recent movement along
Tree National Park visitor center. active faults. Modified after Clark (1973).
The scarp is about 2.5 m high and
continued on page 8...
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 7
continued from page 7...
Scarps about 2 m high occur in the
Twentynine Palms deposit along
splays just north of the Pinto Mountain
Fault (Hopson, 1994).
Pressure Ridges
Pressure ridges are hills formed
along a strike-slip fault because of
transverse pressure and shortening
that occurs at restraining bends along
the fault or between different strands
of the fault. Several pressure ridges
are recognized along the Pinto Moun-
tain Fault. One pressure ridge, Donnell
Hill made of the Campbell Hill deposit
(Photo 3), is between the Pinto Moun-
tain Fault and a northwest-striking
fault, suggesting that uplift may be
related to interaction between the two
faults. Other pressure ridges occur at
Copper Mountain and at the intersection
Photo 4. Linear ridge adjacent to the highway at the east end of Morongo Valley. The Pinto
Mountain Fault trends along the base of the ridge. Photo by R.F. Hopson.
NEOTECTONICS
Neotectonics is the study of the
faults and the deformational history of
the earth's crust that has occurred in
Post-Miocene time. Neotectonic defor-
mation is unmistakable along the Pinto
Mountain Fault from its intersection
with the San Andreas Fault to Twenty-
nine Palms where Bryant (1986) identi-
fies the fault as forming a broad, dis-
tributive zone of strike-dip normal faults.
Pleistocene Displacements
Nine km of displacement has oc-
curred along the Pinto Mountain Fault
CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
Photo 3. View is to the northeast. Donnell Hill, a pressure ridge along the Pinto Mountain
Fault near Twentynine Palms. The Pinto Mountain Fault forms the change in slope of
Donnell Hill. Another pressure ridge, Campbell Hill, uplifted by the Mesquite Lake Fault, is
the low, highly dissected hill in the distance on right. Photo by R.F. Hopson.
of the Pinto Mountain and Mesquite
Lake faults. These pressure ridges are
made of Pleistocene deposits includ-
ing those of the Campbell Hill and
Twentynine Palms (Figure 4).
since the deposition of lower Quater-
nary or Pleistocene age fanglomerates
(Dibblee, 1968a; Grimes, 1987). This is
indicated by matching the quartzite and
basalt clasts found in these fanglom-
erates with their nearest source expo-
sures farther west. The quartzite was
eroded from probable Paleozoic age
rocks near the headwaters of Big
Morongo and Mission creeks on the
southeast slopes of the San Bernardino
Mountains (Grimes, 1987; Dibblee,
personal communication, 1992).
Quartzite clasts were washed down Big
Morongo Creek and deposited across
the Pinto Mountain Fault where they
were offset 9 km to the east. The basalt
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998
Linear Ridges
Linear ridges and linear valleys
refer to long narrow features that can
be used to identify potential fault activ-
ity. Linear ridges may be the result of
either compression or lateral offset
along a strike-slip fault. Linear valleys
occur along strike-slip faults where
bedrock weakened by fault action
is more easily eroded, and are not
necessarily indicators of recent move-
ment. Two linear ridges occur along
the Pinto Mountain Fault. The linear
ridge at the east end of Morongo
Valley is especially well preserved
(Photo 4). It is about 1 km long and
made of Cretaceous igneous and
metamorphic rocks overlain by Terti-
clasts are two types, indicating they
were derived from different sources.
Olivine basalt clasts come from the
Pioneertown basalt (Figure 2) that forms
prominent mesas near Pioneertown.
The other type is an amphibole-bearing
basalt clast and was derived from basalt
flows near Antelope Creek in the San
Bernardino Mountains (Grimes, 1987).
This fanglomerate also demonstrates a
minimum of 9 km of left slip. Other
basalt clasts, though rare, occur in the
Pleistocene sediments of Campbell Hill
near Twentynine Palms (Bacheller,
1978).

Photo 5. View is to the east. Shutter ridge along the Pinto Mountain Fault near its inter-
section with the Mesquite Lake Fault. The Pinto Mountain Fault strikes along the base
of the shutter ridge. The Sheep Hole Mountains are in the distance. Photo by R.F.
Hopson.
ary sandstone and stream gravels
(Grimes, 1987). The only linear valley
along the Pinto Mountain Fault is Big
Morongo Canyon (Photo 1) and is
approximately 6 km long.
Shutter Ridges
Shutter ridges are formed from
ridges that have been displaced along
a strike-slip fault that is traversing a
ridge-and-valley topography, with the
displaced part of the ridge "shutting in"
the adjacent valley or drainage (Figure
6). Shutter ridges are most prominent
where the Pinto Mountain and Mes-
quite Lake faults intersect (Photo 5).
One less prominent shutter ridge oc-
curs near the mouth of Big Morongo
Holocene Displacement
The geomorphic features found along
the Pinto Mountain Fault show evidence
that suggests Holocene movement.
However, late Holocene movement is
not indicated because the fault is cov-
ered in many places by late Holocene
deposits. In addition, no direct dating of
the Holocene deposits displaced by the
Pinto Mountain Fault has been done.
Therefore incremental displacement
of the Pinto Mountain Fault is poorly
constrained and Holocene or recent
activity of the fault has been investigated
only to a limited degree. However, a
number of consulting reports cite offset
CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
Canyon (Hopson, 1994). Shutter
ridges along the Pinto Mountain Fault
are made of Mesozoic and Precam-
brian basement rocks capped by
Pleistocene alluvium.
Photo 6. View is to the northeast from the Pinto Mountains. Anomalous ridges along the
Pinto Mountain Fault in Twentynine Palms (arrows).The Pinto Mountain Fault cuts left to
right in the foreground. Photo by R.F. Hopson.
Holocene alluvium exposed in several
trenches between Yucca Valley and
Twentynine Palms. For example,
Rasmussen & Associates (1977) report
trench exposures in Joshua Tree that
show late Pleistocene alluvium juxta-
posed against unconsolidated deposits
thought to be Holocene (Figure 3). In
this trench, the Holocene sand is faulted
against tilted brown fine-grained sand
and gravel and coarse-grained white
sand with caliche-filled cracks that
appear to be Pleistocene. Exposed in
trenches in Twentynine Palms are prob-
able Holocene sediments that consisted
of warped fine sand and silt layers with
minor gravel truncated by the Pinto
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998
Fault-line Saddle
Fault-line saddles occur where a
fault crosses a drainage divide or ridge.
The soft rock along the fault is more
readily eroded creating a saddle in the
slope's profile. These features are use-
ful for identifying the surface trace of a
fault. One fault-line saddle occurs on
the Pinto Mountain Fault at the west
end of Big Morongo Canyon (Figure 2).
Other Geomorphic Features
Low anomalous ridges 1 km long
are formed from antiformal structures
that are parallel or subparallel to the
Pinto Mountain Fault (Photo 6). These
structures may be pressure ridges or
elevated areas of bedrock concealed
by surface deposits.
Mountain Fault (Rasmussen & Associ-
ates, 1990) (Figure 4). Earth Systems
Consultants (1992) reported that uncon-
solidated to slightly consolidated sand,
silt, and gravel cut by the Pinto Moun-
tain Fault were exposed in a trench in
Twentynine Palms (Figure 4). Exposed
in a second trench, Earth Systems Con-
sultants recovered an Indian arrowhead
a few feet below the surface in sag
pond deposits cut by the fault. This is
a very significant find. If the arrowhead
was in situ (recovered from sediments
undisturbed by human activities), it
proves the sediment was deposited in
Holocene times. Holocene fault activity
is also evident owing to the lack of
9
well-developed soil profiles in the basin
fill (Rasmussen & Associates, 1977,
1990; Bryant, 1986; Earth Systems
Consultants, 1992), lack of desert
pavement and rock varnish on geomor-
phic surfaces, and the presence of well-
developed scarps (Bacheller, 1978;
Hopson, 1994). There is little surfi-
cial evidence, however, that the Pinto
Mountain Fault has been active during
late Holocene time.
Slip Rate
The slip rate is poorly constrained,
but is estimated to be 0.3-5 mm/yr
based on the offset Pleistocene fanglom-
erate (Peterson and Wesnousky, 1994).
However, it is difficult to be certain of
the slip rate because the age of the
Pleistocene fanglomerate is not well
determined. Knowing the age of the
fanglomerate is crucial for determining
the slip rate.
RELATIONSHIP TO THE
LANDERS—BIG BEAR
EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE
The Pinto Mountain Fault transects
faults that ruptured during the 1992
Joshua Tree and Landers earthquakes
(collectively called the Landers earth-
quake sequence) (Hart and others,
1993; Hauksson, and others, 1993). It
is possible that the Pinto Mountain Fault
influenced the character of the Landers
earthquake sequence (Johnson and others,
1994). The earthquake sequence began
with the Joshua Tree foreshock in April
that had a moment magnitude (Mw) of
6.1; the main shock and aftershocks
were centered just south of the Pinto
Mountain Fault. The Landers June 28
earthquake was centered north of the
fault and ruptured northward (Figure 1).
Fault plane solutions indicate a right
sense of slip for the Joshua Tree event
(Hauksson and others, 1993) although
total slip displacement is unknown
because no evidence for ground rup-
ture was observed after the earthquake
(Rymer, 1992). The Landers main
shock was centered about 10 km north
of the Pinto Mountain Fault on the
Johnson Valley Fault near Landers.
The aftershock pattern to this event
extended north from the main shock
epicenter, and south, crossing the Pinto
Mountain Fault to the San Andreas
Fault (Hauksson and others, 1993).
South of the Pinto Mountain Fault, the
Johnson Valley Fault aligns with the
Burnt Peak and Eureka Peak faults
where they were exposed by ground
rupturing after the Landers earthquake
(Treiman, 1992). Hopson (1994, 1996)
speculated that the Johnson Valley Fault
may be propagating across the Pinto
Mountain Fault and will eventually con-
nect with the Eureka Peak Fault.
Possible slip triggered on the Pinto
Mountain Fault during the Landers
earthquake occurred in two areas.
The eastern area, north of the Yucca
Valley airport, was characterized by a
45 m-wide zone of generally right-step-
ping cracks, but some left-stepping
cracks were observed (Bryant, 1992).
The deformation was generally tensional
with up to 2 centimeters (cm) of exten-
sion, but both left-lateral and right-
lateral minor displacement occurred
(Bryant, 1992; Hart and others, 1993).
The second site north of the golf course
in Yucca Valley had one crack with up
to 6 cm of vertical offset, but may have
been enhanced by downslope move-
ment (Bryant, 1992).
HISTORICAL SEISMICITY
Seismic activity in the southern
Mojave Desert and eastern Trans-
verse Ranges is high, but none of the
recorded seismicity is suggestive of left-
lateral displacement along the Pinto
Mountain Fault (Hutton and others,
1991). Moreover, the Pinto Mountain
Fault was not seismically active in his-
toric time, that is, in the last 200 years

SPRINGS—POSSIBLE FAULT INDICATORS

indicators for fault activity are springs.
P
1 Active springs occur along the Pinto Mountain
Fault as the result of rainfall runoff in the Little San
Bernardino and Pinto mountains. This runoff infil-
trates and flows northward through alluvium until it is
blocked by an impervious barrier or fault gouge cre-
ated by the Pinto Mountain Fault. Dammed ground
water creates an elevated water table on one side
of the fault and a small pool or spring at the surface.

Sherman Shady Spring and Oasis of Mara are

two large springs along the Pinto Mountain Fault.
Sherman Shady Spring is in Big Morongo Canyon
and is marked by a thick stand of alders. The Oasis
of Mara, also called the Twentynine Palms Oasis, is
in Twentynine Palms at the Joshua Tree National
Photo 7. Grove of Washington fan palms at the spring, Oasis of
Park visitor center. It's marked by a grove of Wash- Mara. Donnell Hill, a pressure ridge, in the background to the
ington fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) (Photo 7). right. Photo by R.F. Hopson.

10 CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998

(Williams and others, 1990). In general,
the historic earthquakes were centered
in the southern part of the Mojave
Desert (with the exception of the 1927
Manix earthquake) with the most recent
centered on right-lateral faults. They
are the June 1992 Landers earthquake
(Mw 7.3), March 1979 Homestead Val-
ley earthquake (Mw 5.3), the June 1975
Galway Lake earthquake (Mw 5.1), and
the November and December 1975
Goat Mountain earthquakes (Mw 2.6
and 2.3 respectively) (Hutton and
others, 1991; Hart and others, 1993).
Recorded earthquakes in the eastern
Transverse Ranges were generally
small, Mw < 1.0, and were centered on
strike-slip and thrust faults (Hutton and
others, 1991). Farther west, seismic
events occurred along the San Andreas
and Banning faults at San Gorgonio
Pass, including the July 1986 North
Palm Springs earthquake (Mw 5.6),
centered on the Banning Fault (Hutton
and others, 1991).
POTENTIAL SEISMIC ACTIVITY
Given that the Pinto Mountain Fault
is one of the largest faults in the eastern
Transverse Ranges, the thought of its
potential for a large earthquake is sober-
ing. Numerous geomorphic features
indicate the Pinto Mountain Fault is a
young strike-slip fault, and the presence
of offset Holocene alluvium indicates
the fault is active. Moreover, this fault is
included in the state's Fault Evaluation
and Zoning Program (Hart and Bryant,
1997), and is considered 'sufficiently
active' (shows evidence of Holocene
movement) in an unpublished report
that evaluates the surface fault rupture
hazard of the Pinto Mountain and other
nearby faults (Bryant, 1986). So the
question remains—if this fault has
moved within the last 10,000 years,
why is there a lack of historical seismic
events and what is the potential for
future activity? Two reasonable hypoth-
eses can explain the lack of earthquakes
on the Pinto Mountain Fault: 1) earth-
quakes on the Pinto Mountain Fault
may have a long recurrence interval,
on the order of hundreds of years;
2) the Pinto Mountain Fault is becom-
ing locked by north-west striking right-
lateral faults in the Mojave Desert that
are propagating south into the eastern
Transverse Ranges. Definitive paleo-
seismic data, such as radiocarbon age
CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY
dates, from Holocene sediment exposed that improved this paper. Keith Howard
along the Pinto Mountain Fault are lack- is thanked for providing his geologic
ing, therefore the first hypothesis is report and map of the Valley Mountain
unproven. In support of the second 15-minute quadrangle and Sheep Hole
hypothesis, epicenter locations of Mountains 30 x 60 minute quadrangle
the Landers earthquake indicate the maps prior to publication. I am grateful
Johnson Valley Fault may be propagat- to Gary Rasmussen of Rasmussen &
ing across the Pinto Mountain Fault. Associates and to Mr. and Mrs. Paul
If this is in fact happening, the Pinto F. Smith for allowing me to use their
Mountain Fault may ultimately become consulting reports on the Pinto Moun-
inactive. tain Fault.
Recent fault activity in the eastern BIOGRAPHY
part of the Pinto Mountain Fault is not
reflected in surface geomorphic land- R. Forrest Hopson received his
forms. If the steep front of the Pinto M.S. in geology from California State
Mountains in this area is fault-controlled University, Los Angeles in 1996. His
by the Pinto Mountain Fault, then tec- thesis project involved mapping the
tonic activity along this stretch of the pre-Tertiary crystalline basement
fault has apparently ceased and erosion rocks along a 30 mile section of the
has become the dominant process by western Pinto Mountain Fault to doc-
which the mountain front is being modi- ument the offsets. His research on the
fied (Keller and Pinter, 1996). Pinto Mountain Fault and other sub-
jects have been presented at meet-
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ings of the Geological Society of
America and American Geophysical
I appreciate Edward Keller, Perry Union, and published in scientific
Ehlig, Robert Norris, Steve Lipshie and journals and field trip volumes.
Jonathon Matti for helpful comments
GLOSSARY
Argillic horizon: Soil horizon enriched in clay minerals that were moved
downward by soil-forming processes. Designated as Bt horizon.
Arkose: Sandstones that contain more than 25 percent feldspar grains.
B horizon: A zone of soil accumulation that consists of a variety of material
moved downward from above.
Bar-and-swale morphology: Surface morphology of young alluvial fans
where ephemeral streams have deposited their bedload. The swales are
stream channels between bars where sediment was deposited.
Calcic horizon: Soil horizon characterized by the accumulation of calcium
carbonate that may coat soil grains or fill pores. Designated as Bk horizon.
Desert pavement: A surface of tightly-fitted pebbles formed as a result of
the removal of sand grains by wind action.
Fanglomerate: Heterogeneous sedimentary material originally deposited as
an alluvial fan that consolidated to form solid rock.
Focal mechanism: Determination of fault plane orientation and slip direction
based on analysis of recorded first motions and/or amplitude of earthquake
waves. Also called fault-plane solution.
Lacustrine: Refers to lakes or playas (desert lake basins).
Rock varnish: Brownish to purple coating of manganese oxide on rocks in
desert environments.
Sag pond: A small body of water occupying an enclosed depression or sag
formed where active or recent fault movement has impounded drainage.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 11

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Nominations Sought for

ALFRED E. ALQUIST AW
The California Earthquake Safety Foundation is accepting nominations for the 1999 Alfred E. Alquist Award for
Achievements in Earthquake Safety. This award recognizes individuals and/or organizations who have made outstanding
contributions to seismic safety in California. Awards are given in many areas, including basic and applied research,
education, volunteer services and program implementation.
Past award recipients have included elected officials, educators, engineers, architects, disaster specialists, governmen-
tal advisors and businesses. One to three awards are given each year. Posthumous awards are not made.
A candidate may be nominated by an individual, a firm or an agency. Letters describing a nominee's background and
accomplishments should be sent to:
California Earthquake Safety Foundation
c/o George Mader
Spangle Associates
3240 Alpine Road
Portola Valley, CA 94028

Nominations must be postmarked no later than November 20, 1998.

The California Earthquake Safety Foundation was founded in 1985. It relies on tax deductible donations to support
activities. It's governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. For more information, contact George Mader, Chairman, at
(650) 854-6001; fax (650) 854-6070; or e-mail: mader.spanglegbatnet.com

CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 13