Miocene rifting in the Los Angeles basin: Evidence from the Puente Hills half-graben, volcanic rocks, and P-wave tomography

Abstract

Formation of the Puente Hills half-graben in the northeastern Los Angeles basin and eruption of the Glendora and El Modeno Volcanics (16–14 Ma) help to define the timing of extension in the basin. Normal faulting on the proto-Whittier fault ca. 14 Ma established the Puente Hills half-graben, in which sedimentary strata accumulated between ca. 14 and 10 Ma and into which diabase sills intruded. North-South contraction began to invert the Puente Hills half-graben ca. 7 Ma, leading to formation of the Puente Hills anticline and the Whittier fault. Our high-resolution three-dimensional P-wave velocity model shows two anomalous higher velocity (6.63 km/s) bodies at depths between 9 and 18 km, which we attribute to dioritic plutons named here for Whittier Narrows and El Modeno. The stocklike Whittier Narrows pluton could have been a source for the Glendora Volcanics and the diabase sills in the Puente Hills half-graben. The sill-shaped El Modeno pluton was a likely source for the El Modeno Volcanics. The northwesterly alignment of the plutons may mark the location of the northeastern Los Angeles basin rift boundary, which is associated with the clockwise rotation of the western Transverse Ranges. Three active faults, the Elysian Park blind thrust, the Puente Hills blind thrust, and the Whittier fault, converge on the Whittier Narrows pluton, which may have played a role in their location and segmentation.