A new hypothesis for the amount and distribution of dextral displacement along the Fish Lake Valley-northern Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault zone, California-Nevada

The Fish Lake Valley-northern Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault zone, a similar to 250 km long, predominantly right-lateral structure in California and Nevada, is a key element in tectonic reconstructions of the Death Valley area, Eastern California Shear Zone and Walker Lane, and central Basin and Range Province. Total displacement on the fault zone is contested, however, with estimates ranging from similar to 30 to similar to 63 km or more. Here we present a new synthesis of available constraints. Preextensional thrust faults, folds, and igneous rocks indicate that offset reaches a maximum of similar to 50 km. Neogene rocks constrain its partitioning over time. Most offset is interpreted as similar to 13-10 Ma, accruing at similar to 3-5 mm/yr in the middle of the fault zone and more slowly toward the tips. The offset markers imply similar to 68 +/- 14 km of translation between the Cottonwood Mountains and Resting Spring-Nopah Range (similar to 60 +/- 14 km since similar to 15 Ma) through a combination of strike slip and crustal extension. This suggests that a previous interpretation of similar to 104 +/- 7 km, based on the middle Miocene Eagle Mountain Formation, is an overestimate by similar to 50%. Our results also help to mitigate a discrepancy in the similar to 12-0 Ma strain budget for the Eastern California Shear Zone. Displacement has previously been estimated at similar to 100 +/- 10 km and similar to 67 +/- 6 km for the Basin and Range and Mojave portions of the shear zone, respectively. Our new estimate of similar to 74 +/- 17 km for the Basin and Range is within the uncertainty of the Mojave estimate.