The Lava Mountains are a mountain range located along the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California.[1][2] They are one of the eastern limits of the Fremont Valley.[citation needed] They span the northwestern portion of the Golden Valley Wilderness, which sits between it and the Almond Mountains on the southeastern side.[3] The mountain range is cut by several deep-walled canyons with distinctive layers of multicolored sedimentary rocks.[3] The peak of the mountain range is at around 5,000 feet on Dome Mountain.[3]
| Lava Mountains | |
|---|---|
  Lava Mountains Location of Lava Mountains in California[1] | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,392 m (4,567 ft) |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| District | San Bernardino County |
| Range coordinates | 35°26′13.862″N 117°31′11.206″W / 35.43718389°N 117.51977944°W |
| Topo map | USGS Klinker Mountain |
Geology
editThe mountains are located along the Garlock Fault.[4] The Blackwater fault passes through the southwestern part of the area, and the Brown's Ranch fault zone and its associated faults pass through the western part.[2]
The pre-Tertiary rocks in the area mainly consist of quartz monzonite.[2] The major sedimentary unit is the Bedrock Spring Formation, which is chiefly composed of arkosic sandstone and conglomerate, as well as some silstone and brecciated volcanic rocks.[2] That formation is overlain by the Almond Mountain volcanics and the Klinker Mountain volcanics in the eastern and western parts of the region, respectively.[2] Overlying these are flows of Lava Mountains andesite dating to the late Pliocene, which are finally covered by Quaternary gravels, alluvium, and travertine.[2] All of the volcanic rocks in the area are plagioclase andesite porphyries.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "Lava Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g Smith, George Irving (1956). Geology and Petrology of the Lava Mountains, San Bernardino County, California (phd thesis). California Institute of Technology.
- ^ a b c "Golden Valley Wilderness". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
- ^ Keenan, Deborah L (2000-01-01). "The geology and geochemistry of volcanic rocks in the Lava Mountains, California: Implications for Miocene development of the Garlock Fault". UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. doi:10.25669/86xt-tu2t.
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