Heather A.

Marshall

Eel River Tectonics, Northern California

Figure 1: Franciscan Complex, South Fork Eel River, near Leggett, CA.

Formations of the Eel River:

There is one major unit in the Eel River area; the Franciscan Complex. Figure 1 shows a

picture of the river channel, with Franciscan rocks in the outcrop. Figure 4 shows a simplified geologic

map of California, cut and expanded to see the Eel River drainage. The Eel flows primarily through the

Late Mesozoic Franciscan Complex, with some Great Valley equivalents near the mouth of the river.

The sand collection site is on the South Fork of the Eel, and fully situated on Franciscan assemblage

rocks.

Most of the literature places the Eel in the Central Belt of the Franciscan (4, 8, 9) where others

do not differentiate the Franciscan at all. Generally, the Franciscan consists of a “melange with a

pervasively sheared matrix of mudstone and greywake sandstone containing blocks and slabs of intact
Heather A. Marshall

greywake sandstone, greenstone, chert and serpentine. Also common are high-grade blocks of

blueschist, eclogite, amphibolite, and garnet amphibolite (9).” In some areas blocks of pink to grey

limestone of Late Cretaceous age are evident as per McLaughlin et al. Other rock types seen in the

Franciscan to a lesser extent than greywake include glaucophane schist, greenstone, and volcanics. All

of these have been metamorphosed to some extent.

Ogle describes the primary rock type of the Franciscan in much more detail than do more recent

authors. Greywake is the principal type of rock in the Franciscan, comprising about 75% , interbedded

with some thin shales. It is comprised of angular to sub-angular poorly sorted grains of feldspar,

quartz, biotite and rock fragments (chert, volcanics, quartzite, slate and mica schist) bound by greenish-

gray argillaceous material that is crystallizing to chlorite, epidote, sericite and other silicates. (11)

Looking at Figure 2, the angular shape of the sediments is clearly seen, and the varied

composition described by Ogle is also easily seen. As the Franciscan is primarily greywake, it makes

sense that sediments in the river bed are of similar composition. The collection site of the sand was

nearer the headwaters of the Eel River than the mouth (Figure 3), so the sediments likely had not

traveled far from their original source.

Heather A. Marshall

Figure 2: Magnified picture of Eel River Sand,

(which looks like the gravel in the river bed if you don't know this picture is magnified!)

Erosion and Mass Wasting:

As noted earlier, the Franciscan is primarily greywake sandstone. The area has been

pervasively sheared causing zones of weakness creating trellis networks of drainages. These drainage

patterns cause deeply cut canyons on the steep slopes of the river valley.(1) These sediments are also

prone to mass wasting, especially in areas of high rainfall as the Eel River area is. The mass wasting is

accentuated by anthropogenic such as logging, road maintenance and construction, and clearing of land

for grazing. All of these reduce the ability of the land to retain sediments, causing increased erosion,

and thus more sediments to enter the watershed. Erosional issues were discussed in more detail by the

author in South Fork Eel River Sediment- Erosion and Sediment Formation.
Heather A. Marshall

Figure 3: Google Earth map of collection area. Approximate latitude and longitude of campground

area 39.853357,-123.721933

Tectonics of the Coast Ranges:

The tectonic history of the Coast Ranges is difficult and complex. Many ideas exist as to why

the Coast Ranges were uplifted and continue to uplift. One idea is that The primary uplift of the Coast

Ranges occurred in association with Cretaceous subduction. Another idea is that the uplift was caused

by transpression along the San Andreas Fault system, similar to the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

Lock et al (7) provides these two ideas, and dismisses them as not logical for this area.

Burger states in his dissertation (10) that there are “Two major tectonic processes (that) have

profound effects on the mid-Pleistocene to Present evolution of the Eel River Basin: continued

convergence between the Gorda (southern Juan de Fuca) and north American plates, and the northward

migration of the MTJ (Mendocino Triple Junction).”

Lock et al (7) agrees with the MTJ migration idea, going into much further detail. Lock et al
Heather A. Marshall

modeled the effects of the MTJ migration on the Eel River area of the Coast Ranges. The predictions

showed a double uplift, which are seen as the divides between the Russian and Eel Rivers, and the Eel

and Van Duzen Rivers. They think the passage of the MTJ to the northwest causes an uplift in the

Coast Ranges as a response to the influx of asthenosphere and resulting high temperatures in the slab

window that forms in the wake of a triple junction. Lock t al tested the models of the MTJ migration to

what is seen in the Coast Ranges. They found that the models matched what is seen, and predictions

that the Coast Ranges should sequentially emerge with the passage of the triple junction such that

remnant marine sediments that outcrop in the now-emergent Coast Ranges young to the north.

The final piece to this puzzle is discussed by Shervais et al (9) and that is he emplacement of the

Coast Range Ophiolites. These are thought to coincide with the “Nevadan Orogeny” and e part of the

reason of the uplift of the Coast Ranges. Shervais et al notes that the high-grade metamorphic rocks of

the Franciscan assemblage, and high-grade terranes in the Eastern belt of the Franciscan seem to have

formed about 160-165 ma, coincident with the postulated ridge collision event in the northern Coast

Range Ophiolite (CRO). Shervais suggests that these high-grade blocks are too young to have formed

during subduction initiation, and that the hanging wall lithosphere would be too cold for high-grade

metamorphism by heating from above. They propose a direct tectonic link between the ridge collision

event and the Nevadan Orogeny. Describing that a ridge collision will result in shallow underthrusting,

heating of the superjacent lithosphere, and a likely change in relative convergent directions. Shervais

concludes that this ridge collision event was the driving fore behind the classic, Late Jurassic Nevadan

Orogeny.

Summary:

The geology of he Coast Ranges is extremely complicated. Multiple theories exist as to how

and why they are being uplifted, and as to how the rocks known as “melange” really were formed. The

primary rock of the Franciscan- the meta-sedimentary greywake sandstone, is friable and easily eroded,
Heather A. Marshall

causing mass wasting and erosion problems throughout the Coast Ranges. The formation of the Coast

Range tectonics range from forming during the Nevadan orogeny, to forming as a result of the

migrating Mendocino Triple Junction. The question is... Which is correct? Or are they all correct to

some extent. My thoughts are that they all are correct to some extent, and they all fill in a piece of the

puzzle. I do not think that any one of the ideas fully explain all of what is seen in the Coast Ranges.

Figure 4: Cut of Simplified Geologic Map of California from the California Geologic Survey,

cut to show the Eel River area (North of Ukiah) showing Late Mesozoic (latest Jurassic and

Cretaceous) rocks of the Franciscan Complex as light blue, and the San Andreas Fault line going NW

into the Pacific west of Ukiah.

Heather A. Marshall

References:

Figure 1 - Matthew Wygant

Figure 2 - Dr. Clary

Figure 3 - Google Earth maps

Figure 4 – Simplified Geologic Map of California, California Geologic Survey pdf from:

http://geology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/information/

publications/ms/Documents/MS057.pdf

Lisle, T. E. (1990). “The Eel River, Northwestern California; High Sediment Yields From a

Dynamic Landscape.” In Wolman M.G. And Riggs H. C. (Ed.) “Surface Water Hydrology” vol 0-1,

The Geology of North America, GSA, p. 311-314. (1)

Mackey B. H., Roering J. J., and McKean J. A. (2009). “Long-Term Kinematics and Sediment

Flux of an Active Earthflow, Eel River, California.” GSA Geology vol 37, p. 803-806. (4)

Lock J., Kelsey H., Furlong k., and Woolace A. (2006). “Late Neogene and Quaternary

landscape Evolution of the northern California Coast Ranges: Evidence for Mendocino triple junction

tectonics.” GSA Bulletin vol 118, p. 1232-1246. (7)

McLaughlin R.J., Kling S.A., Poore R.Z., McDougall K., and Beutner E.C. (1982). “Post-

middle Miocene accretion of Franciscan rocks, northwestern California.” GSA Bulletin vol 93, p. 595-

605. (8)

Shervais J.W., Murchey B.L., Kimbrough D.L., Renne P.R., and Hanan B. (2005).

“Radioisotropic and iostratigraphic age relations in the Coast Range Ophiolite, northern California:

Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Western Cordillera.” GSA Bulletin vol 117, p. 633-653.

(9)

Burger R.L. (2002) “Mid-Pleistocene to Present Stratigraphic Responses in a Tectonically-

Driven Depositional Setting: Eel River Basin, Northern California.” The University of Texas at Austin,
Heather A. Marshall

UMI Microform Number 3108473. (10)

Ogle B.A. (1953). “Geology of Eel River Valley Area Humboldt County, California.” The

State of California Department of Natural Resources Bulletin 164. (11)