Week 6 - Aaron Gomez - Precambrian Rock Anomaly

Highlighted Area Precambrian

Maybe I missed something, but I could not find Precambrian rocks anywhere else in the state except for Southern California.  Interestingly enough, they seem to be concentrated along the San Andreas Fault.  The only other concentration of Precambrian rock begins near Lake Havasu City, Arizona, but still within California borders.  You can then follow the Nevada state boundary in a north westerly direction until you hit Death Valley, which is the final concentration of Precambrian rock.

So my question is, is there a relationship here.  They both run near parallel to each other (see map below).  There's no indication in the geological map that there's a major transform fault inland, and why would there be? But was there? Was this the site of a previous plate boundary that perhaps "broke off".  There's a lot of deformation in this area.  So it's not a stretch to suggest the reason this apparent line of Precambrian rock isn't more obviously linear is due to whatever rebound might've happened after the shift/break.

Overall Geologic Map (note Southern area)

San Andreas Fault

I would ask for gravity data to get an accurate indication of subsurface features.  This would help detect faults and major deformation.  The second thing I would ask for is detailed topographical, and aerial data of the area.  This would help analyse deformities that might be ruled out by some other mechanism.  I can also look for ancient rivers/streams to see if their beds had been dramatically altered.  I'd then request Lidar data.  I'd hope to get a very accurate model of the morphology of this Precambrian rock.  Then use computer simulations to try and "reassemble" it based on this morphology.  One could then infer the amount of deformation, and perhaps other effects as a result of the break.