Owens Valley, California

Alluvial fans cut by tectonic faults can also yield information on the frequency of earthquakes. An offset debris flow fan in Owens Valley (California) was dated with °Be by Bierman et al. (1995). Based on boulder ages from different parts of the flow and the record of three faulting events, the authors deduced earthquake recurrence intervals of 5800-8000 years for that location. Zreda and Noller (1998) measured C1 in a bedrock fault scarp at Hebgen Lake (Montana) and were able to extract the ages of six prehistoric... 

Another study was initiated in 1976 by Birch and collaborators 327) to survey and suppress the beetle population in the towns of Lone Pine, Independence, and Big Pine all in Owens Valley, California. These towns are separated from one another by at least 24 km of open, high elevation desert, and each contains a moderate number (300—500) of elms and beetles, but apparently no Dutch elm disease. Traps were deployed on the perimeter of Lone Pine, throughout Independence on a grid pattern and throughout Big Pine in four lines. Traps were also... 

The suspension of aerosols during dust storms from the Owens Dry Lake in California has been a subject of great concern to residents in the Owens Valley. 

The Owens Valley lies in east central California between the Sierra Nevadas to the west and the Inyo-White Mountains to the east. The valley is 120 miles long, but only seventeen miles across at its widest point. While the valley floor lies at an elevation of approximately 4,000 feet, the mountains on either side tower to 12-14,000 feet. This topography is important for two reasons. First, the Sierra Nevadas create a rain shadow... 

In order to obtain quantitative data on particulate air quality in the Owens Valley, a study sponsored by the California Air Resources Board was conducted by the Air Quality Group at UCD. The primary objective was to determine the impact of the dry lake bed on the average particulate concentration and on the dust storm particulate concentrations in the valley. In order to accomplish this, it was necessary to determine the elemental composition of the dry lake bed and to determine the average weekly and dust storm concentration of aerosols. 

The Owens Lake brine analysis of Table V Indicates that the Na/S ratio should be approximately 3.8 for lake bed materials, which agrees quite well with the ambient ratio measured at Keeler. The above data suggests that airborne sulfur aerosols measured in the Owens Valley are in the form of sulfates which are suspended from the efflorescent crust on the Owens Lake bed. Therefore, if we assume that all the sulfur measured at each site is in the form of sulfate, then during a dust storm, the sulfate standard for the state of California (25pg/m ) is violated near the Owens Lake. It should be noted that the sulfate standard was developed for very fine acidic aerosols. The sulfates measured here are larger and basic particles, so their toxicity may be different from particles for which the standard was written. The calculated sulfate levels at each site during a dust storm are listed in Table VI. 

Prior to the current analyses we had predicted that most of the remaining 38 prehistoric Delta Olivella beads would be made from shells procured in northern California. This was based purely on an economic model that minimizes transport distance. In other words, the closest source (by foot) of Olivella shell to Owens Valley is southern California, while the closest source of Olivella in the Delta region is the coast immediately north and south of San Francisco Bay. Moreover, saddle (F2/F3) and sequin (M1/M2) beads are found exclusively in central and northern California (12, 13), again implying a more northern source. On the other hand Hlb and G2 beads are found all over California. Results of the carbon and oxygen isotopic analyses are presented in Table II. 

Fiber and particulate residues, archaeological textiles by infrared techniques, 44-77 Fiber charring, 49-50 Fiber dyeing, 51 Fiber mineralization, 51 Field analysis by XRF, obsidian sources in Central Pet6n, Guatemala, 506-521 Fish Slough Cave, Owen s Valley, California, population movement studies, 80... 

Saint Amand P., Mathews L. A., Gaines C., and Reinking R. (1986) Dust Storms from Owens and Mono Valleys, California. Naval Weapons Center Technical Publication NWC TP 6731, Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, 79pp. 

Two different portions of the California coast could be distinguished on the basis of the isotopes. Basically it was possible to determine if shells came from the northern two-thirds, or the southern third of the state s coast. Analyses of a small sample of six prehistoric beads are from the Owens Valley in southeastern California and four from interior northern California, at distances up to several hundred kilometers from the sea, indicated that all ten were made in southern California. 

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