Did plinian eruptions in California lead to debris flows in Nevada? An intriguing stratigraphic connection

A common association of thin, late Holocene Mono and Inyo crater tephra beds buried by debris flows within a 250-km-long corridor of western Nevada suggests that there has been at times a genetic link between these two otherwise independent processes. The unambiguous depositional relations and the u...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 2007-03, Vol.35 (3), p.219-222
Main Authors: Bell, John W, House, P. Kyle
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
absolute age
ash falls
burial
C-14
California
carbon
Cenozoic
Churchill County Nevada
Copper Canyon
cores
correlation
dates
debris flows
Holocene
Igneous rocks
Inyo Domes
isotopes
mass movements
Mineral County Nevada
Mono County California
Mono Craters
Nevada
Petrology
plinian-type eruptions
Prehistoric era
pyroclastics
Quaternary
Quaternary geology
radioactive isotopes
Sedimentation & deposition
storm environment
Stratigraphy
tephrochronology
United States
upper Holocene
volcanic ash
volcanic rocks
volcanism
Walker Lake
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Summary:A common association of thin, late Holocene Mono and Inyo crater tephra beds buried by debris flows within a 250-km-long corridor of western Nevada suggests that there has been at times a genetic link between these two otherwise independent processes. The unambiguous depositional relations and the undisturbed character of the tephra beds at more than 20 sites indicate that tephra deposition was often followed by burial under debris flows produced by intense precipitation. Considering that average return periods are hundreds of years for such storms, it is highly improbable that this stratigraphic association is random coincidence. We propose that the most plausible explanation for this association is that some Plinian ash columns produced intense thunderstorms, resulting in large debris flows that buried the tephra beds.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/G23330A.1