Deformation analysis of tuffaceous sediments in the Volcanic Tableland near Bishop, California

Abstract

Small-scale brittle faults and fractures that cut bedded tuffaceous sediments of variable textures and grain sizes were studied in a 110-m-long cutbank exposure of poorly consolidated sediments at the southern erosional boundary of the Volcanic Tableland, Owens Valley, California. This study was motivated by the need to evaluate potential length scales for lateral flow in nonwelded bedded tuffs and tuffaceous sediments at Yucca Mountain, Nevada-the site of a potential high-level radioactive waste repository. Small-displacement (<20 cm) faults and fractures are strongly clustered and spatially correlated with larger faults (displacements >20 cm). Vertical fractures are present throughout the exposure, but fracture frequency is generally highest in the vicinity of larger faults. Fault zones are characterized by grain-size reduction and discrete slip surfaces, the number of which increases with increasing displacement. A semiquantitative stress field interpretation, based on tectonic constraints and reconstruction of overburden thicknesses, yields a simple history of burial, deformation, and exhumation under continuous tectonic extension. We interpret the deformation to include shear (faults), hybrid (faults, nonvertical fractures), and tensile (vertical fractures) failure of the tuffaceous sediments under conditions of low overburden stress (<2.5 MPa). The intersecting network of faults and fractures is characterized by grain comminution, cementation, and fracture dilation. These features, in conjunction with stratigraphic layering, likely produce anisotropic permeability, where maximum permeability is parallel to fault and fracture strike. © 2009 Geological Society of America.