Tectonic Map of the Death Valley Ground-Water Model Area, Nevada and California

This digital geologic and tectonic database of the Death Valley ground-water model area, as well as its accompanying geophysical maps, are compiled at 1:250,000 scale. The map compilation presents new polygon, line, and point vector data for the Death Valley region. The map area is enclosed within a 3 degree X 3 degree area along the border of southern Nevada and southeastern California. In addition to the Death Valley National Park and Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault systems, the map area includes the Nevada Test Site, the southwest Nevada volcanic field, the southern end of the Walker Lane (from southern Esmeralda County, Nevada, to the Las Vegas Valley shear zone and Stateline fault system in Clark County, Nevada), the eastern California shear zone (in the Cottonwood and Panamint Mountains), the eastern end of the Garlock fault zone (Avawatz Mountains), and the southern basin and range (central Nye and western Lincoln Counties, Nevada). This geologic map improves on previous geologic mapping in the area by providing new and updated Quaternary and bedrock geology, new interpretation of mapped faults and regional structures, new geophysical interpretations of faults beneath the basins, and improved GIS coverages. The basic geologic database has tectonic interpretations imbedded within it through attributing of structure lines and unit polygons which emphasize significant and through-going structures and units. An emphasis has been put on features which have important impacts on ground-water flow. Concurrent publications to this one include a new isostatic gravity map (Ponce and others, 2001), a new aeromagnetic map (Ponce and Blakely, 2001), and contour map of depth to basement based on inversion of gravity data (Blakely and Ponce, 2001).