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Published March 1980 | public
Journal Article

Stratigraphy, structure, and metamorphism in the central Panamint Mountains (Telescope Peak quadrangle), Death Valley area, California: Summary

Abstract

The Telescope Peak quadrangle is located in the central Panamint Mountains, which form the western boundary of the central part of Death Valley, California. The central Panamint Mountains are composed of lower Precambrian gneiss and schist and upper Precambrian sedimentary rocks. These rocks were metamorphosed during late Mesozoic time and deformed during late Mesozoic and Cenozoic time. The stratigraphy of the upper Precambrian rocks indicates a tectonically active depositional environment during the initiation of the Cordilleran geosyncline; the petrology of the metamorphic rocks indicates that the metamorphism occurred along a gradient with a low dp/dT; and the structure suggests an evolution from a compressional to an extensional tectonic regime during late Mesozoic and Tertiary time. This report summarizes the results of geologic mapping in the Telescope Peak quadrangle, and Figure 1 is a generalized version of the geologic map of the Telescope Peak 15' quadrangle by Albee, Labotka, Lanphere, and McDowell (1980). A more complete discussion of the geology occurs in Part II of this article.

Additional Information

© 1980 Geological Society of America. Manuscript received by the Society March 19, 1979; Revised manuscript received October 8, 1979; Manuscript accepted October 24, 1979. Field work in the Panamint Mountains was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation to Albee and from the Geological Society of America to Lanphere, McDowell, and Labotka. The staff members of Death Valley National Monument have been of great assistance during the course of the field work. We have benefited from stimulating discussions about Death Valley geology, many of them in the field, with R. H. Jahns, R. E. Powell, L. T. Silver, J. H. Stewart, G. R. Tilton, B. W. Troxel, G. J. Wasserburg, and L. A. Wright. Critical reviews by B. C. Burchfiel and B. W. Troxel have improved the readability of the manuscript.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 25, 2023