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Geomorphic and hydrologic implications of the rapid incision of Afton Canyon, Mojave Desert, California

Norman Meek
Geomorphic and hydrologic implications of the rapid incision of Afton Canyon, Mojave Desert, California
Geology (Boulder) (January 1989) 17 (1): 7-10

Abstract

Afton Canyon is a >150-m-deep canyon that formed as a result of overflow and drainage of Lake Manix, an approximately 215 km (super 2) late Wisconsin pluvial lake in the central Mojave Desert. Because the canyon age is within the range of conventional radiocarbon dating, it is possible to provide a time-based chronology of events and resultant landscape changes due to a >120 m base-level drop. Analysis of erosion volumes upstream of Afton Canyon and a review of public and private well logs downstream of the canyon mouth indicate that late Wisconsin surfaces are deeply buried downstream of Afton Canyon. Burial depths are approximately 55 m at the mouth of Afton Canyon, 27 m in the Cronese basin, and 18 m at Crucero. The well logs also indicate that Soda Lake was far more areally extensive prior to late Wisconsin time. Stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence suggests that Afton Canyon was cut rapidly sometime after 14,230 + or -1325 yr B.P. The rapid draining of Lake Manix and subsequent basin dissection have important implications for late Quaternary lake fluctuations in Death Valley, base-level changes and resultant alluvial-fan adjustments in the Cronese basin, the sand source for the Kelso Dunes, and the absence of old artifacts in the Cronese basin and the Mojave River wash region.


ISSN: 0091-7613
EISSN: 1943-2682
Coden: GLGYBA
Serial Title: Geology (Boulder)
Serial Volume: 17
Serial Issue: 1
Title: Geomorphic and hydrologic implications of the rapid incision of Afton Canyon, Mojave Desert, California
Author(s): Meek, Norman
Affiliation: Univ. Calif., Dep. Geogr., Los Angeles, CA, United States
Pages: 7-10
Published: 198901
Text Language: English
Publisher: Geological Society of America (GSA), Boulder, CO, United States
References: 17
Accession Number: 1989-024516
Categories: Geomorphology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Illustration Description: illus. incl. sketch map
N34°00'00" - N35°45'00", W117°40'00" - W114°15'00"
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2017, American Geosciences Institute.
Update Code: 1989

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