A Geologic Report on the Pacoima Area

Citation

Shoemaker, Eugene Merle and Glover, Patrick Norman and Muehlberger, William R. and Nicolai, Fred H. (1947) A Geologic Report on the Pacoima Area. Senior thesis (Major), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/NG1S-EQ56. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:07072015-115042010

Abstract

The region treated in the following report is a small area of about one square mile near Pacoima, California. It consists of a group of small hills that that form the western abutment of the Hansen Dam. It is underlain by a section of intrusives, sediments, and extrusives, which may be subdivided into four groups.

The oldest rocks form the Dimebere complex of Jurassic (?) plutonic rocks, pegmatites, and schists. Lying uncomformably on this is a series of alternating terrestrial sandstones and bassalts of Tertiary age. These are unconformably overlain in turn by the Hansen Dam formation, a series of marine shales and sandstone correlated with the Temblor by the fossil contact. Finally into these strata was intruded the Munglish andesite.

These strata form a shallow, plunging anticline, whose axis trends slightly east of north and lies in the center of the hills. The unconformities have been offset in several places by a series of faults apparently related to the anticline.

A complete outline of the geologic history is included in the report.

Thesis Files