Quaternary Stratigraphy, Drainage-Basin Development, and
Geomorphology of the Lake Manix Basin, Mojave Desert

October 4-7, 2007

Principal trip leaders: Marith Reheis, Dave Miller, Joanna Redwine, Stephanie Dudash

The proposed add-on trip to southern Death Valley on October 8 has been postponed, possibly to winter break this year. Contact John Caskey (caskey@sfsu.edu) if you are interested.

Information will be distributed on this website; announcements regarding updates to the website will be made using the Pacific Cell Yahoo! group; if you want to receive update announcements make sure you are registered by sending your email address to friends_of_the_pleistocene@yahoogroups.com. Send questions to mreheis@usgs.gov or dmiller@usgs.gov. The guidebook will also be posted for download on this website before the field trip. For advance reading, check the attached references.

View upstream of lakebeds and fluvial incision from the south rim of Afton Canyon

• Pre-Registration is now closed.

Guidebooks will be available on-line at this website before the trip for you to print out and bring; we will print only a FEW copies to sell separately during the field trip (not included in registration fee). We need to have a headcount on how many plan to come, and pre-registration will guarantee you a T-shirt. Pre-register NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 24 to make sure you get a T-shirt in the size you want!

• View the list of pre-registered attendees
• Camping and motels

FIELD TRIP ITINERARY

October 4 (Thursday)-- Optional pre-day trip: Early downcutting of Lake Manix threshold, and initial flooding of Afton subbasin
Participants MUST be energetic and physically fit for a demanding hike, and 4WD carpooling is absolutely required.

• 4-5 hour round-trip hike to see critical evidence for pre-late Pleistocene shorelines and discharge predating the cutting of Afton Canyon
• 4WD trip up the Mojave River bed (Mojave Road) to see evidence for flooding and first arrival of lake waters into the Afton subbasin of Lake Manix

October 5 (Friday)-- Afton Subbasin of Lake Manix and the history of Afton Canyon:

• Overview and deposits along North Afton beach ridge and older fan-delta deposits
• The "slackwater" deposit controversy; flooding or inset younger lake?
• Inception of first lake in Afton subbasin following catastrophic flood
• Stratigraphy and dating of late Pleistocene shoreline fluctuations

October 6 (Saturday)-- Manix subbasin of Lake Manix and tectonic disruptions

• Overview of ongoing studies at Calico Early Man Site
• Buwalda Ridge: evidence for highstands exceeding 543 m and Manix fault outcrop
• Area of Manix Wash and Mojave River, including outcrop and core stratigraphy and dating
• History of Mojave River, including inception of Manix basin and river evolution following demise of Lake Manix
• Faulting and uplift of lake deposits on SW flank of Harvard Hill

October 7 (Sunday)-- Coyote Lake subbasin of Lake Manix: post-Lake Manix history

• SE Coyote beach ridge deposits and record of fluctuating lakes during and after late Pleistocene Lake Manix
• Coyote Wash barrier beaches and Mojave River channel deposits; history of post-Manix Coyote Lake

END OF OFFICIAL FIELD TRIP in early afternoon on Sunday

Possible post-field trip excursions for FOP diehards:

October 7 (Sunday, late afternoon)-- Lake Mojave shoreline fluctuations: Comparison of multiple dating techniques, led by Lewis Owen (University of Cincinnati)

• Caravan to the northwest corner of Silver Lake to a gravel quarry cross-dated by multiple investigators and techniques (¹⁴C, luminescence, cosmogenic nuclides, ESR, U-series, and AAR)

October 8 (Monday, all day)-- Lake Manly (Death Valley) in southern Death Valley: Lake fluctuations and tectonics, led by John Caskey (San Francisco State University)

• NOTE: The proposed add-on trip to southern Death Valley on October 8 has been postponed, possibly to winter break this year. Contact John Caskey (caskey@sfsu.edu) if you are interested.