The three turtlebacks, (Badwater turtleback, Copper Canyon turtleback, Mormon Point turtleback, by Curry, 1938), are smooth, curved surfaces, which form N- northwestward-plunging elongate domes on the E side of Death Valley. Although the three surfaces occupy relatively small areas, they are more than geologic curiosities; various interpretations of their origin support widely different views of the deformational and erosional history of the southwestern Great Basin in Cenozoic time. These surfaces are roughly parallel to bedding or foliation of anticlines in Precambrian schist, gneiss, and marble. Late Cenozoic fan and playa deposits are faulted over the surfaces along the turtleback faults.
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Generalized structural map
of Death Valley region, showing position of three turtleback surfaces of
Black Mountains. (Write et al., 1974 ). |
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A view of Copper Canyon Turtleback looking north. These turtlebacks show the fold-like geometry that resembles the backs of turtles (Curry, 1938). |
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By Qingwen
Miao