Geology of the Pacoima-Little Tujunga area

Citation

White, Walter Stanley (1937) Geology of the Pacoima-Little Tujunga area. Master's thesis, California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/CYM4-XK34. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:03282010-103919027

Abstract

Location: The Pacoima-Little Tujunga area is located in Los Angeles County, Cal., in the foothills of the western San Gabriel Mountains north and northeast of the town of San Fernando. The bounding meridians are Lat. 34° 17'-34° 20’N and Long. 118° 20 1/2'-118° 24 1/2'W. More precisely, the area includes about 11 square miles bounded by Little Tujunga Canyon on the east, Tujunga Valley on the south, Pacoima Wash on the west, and the Sierra Madre Fault (herein called the Lopez fault, a local name.) on the north. The location of the area is shown in Fig. 1.

Purpose of the work: The work was done in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the California Institute of Technology.

The primary purpose of the work was to extend knowledge of the stratigraphy and structure of this part of the Los Angeles Basin. It was also considered that the area might be suitable for mapping by students of field geology at the Institute.

Method of field work: The geology was plotted in the field on aerial photographs (scale 1500 ft. to the inch) made by the Fairchild Aerial Surveys, but the procedure is not recommended. Ease and accuracy of location are greater, but the labor and inaccuracies of transferring data to topographic maps more than make up for these advantages. With only limited field time and plenty of time to work up results, however, persons will find this method very useful.

Location and measurements of attitude were made with a Brunton Compass.

Six weeks in the summer of 1936 and occasional days during the academic year 1936-37 were spent in the field, making a total of about 50 days of actual mapping.

Thesis Files