Project SAGUARO: Seismic Structure and Geology Under Arizona's Regional Orogens

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The Southern Basin and RAnge contains one of the Cordillera's most important and enigmatic Cenozoic tectonic regimes - the highly extended terrane consisting of a series of metamorphic core complexes and detachment fault structures along the southwestern margin of the Colorado Plateau. This terrane, a 25,000 km2 region known as the Whipple domain constitutes the largest tilt-block domain within the Southern Basin and Range and is characterized by west-tilted fault blocks and east- to northeast-dipping normal faults. This is a project to delineate, in three dimensions, the structural elements of t he Whipple domain and its a boundaries. This study will pay particular attention to subsurface tectonic configurations and spatial relationships as provided by seismic reflection profiles and will be "ground-truthed" by field observations. The seismic data base consists of 27 generally high- quality proprietary industry seismic reflection profiles (1400 km) line length) which are already resident at USC or for which we have received permission to obtain. These data will greatly expand upon the results of earlier CALCRUST work in the Whipple Mountains, and the portions of the COCORP and PACE transects which pass through the Whipple domain. The Whipple domain probably represents the most complete and contiguous overall exposure of the various structural elements of the Cordilleran highly extended terrane.