Two-Dimensional Magnetotelluric Model of Deep Resistivity Structure in the Bodie-Aurora District of California

Magnetotelluric data were acquired during October 2001 by the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) as part of a study to examine the structural nature of basins in
the transition zone between the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the
Basin and Range province of Nevada. Magnetotelluric (MT) geophysical studies
assist the mapping of geologic structure and the inference of lithologic
packages that are concealed beneath the Earth's surface.

The Basin and Range province has a complicated geologic history, which includes
extension and compression of the Earth's crust to form the basins and ranges
that blanket much of Nevada. The basins and ranges in the vicinity of this
study trend northeastward and are bounded by steeply dipping strike slip
faults. Interestingly, deep east-west magnetic trends occur in the aeromagnetic
data of this study area indicating that the northeast-trending basins and
ranges represent only thin-skinned deformation at the surface with an
underlying east-west structure. To investigate this issue, MT data were
acquired at seven stations in eastern California, 20 km east of Mono Lake. The
purpose of this report is to present a two-dimensional apparent resistivity
model of the MT data acquired for this study.

[Summary provided by the USGS.]