Figure 7. The Big Pine volcanic field,
CA, illustrates the relationship between regional faults and vents in basaltic
volcanic fields. Three young vents and their lava flows (Crater Mountain,
Fish Springs, and Red Mountain) are cut by fault splays of the Owen's Valley
fault. A vent alignment on the west side of the valley appears to have
formed during a single episode of activity and is fault controlled. Near
Fish Springs and Oak Creek, some Quaternary basalt lavas cannot be traced
back to vents, an indication of the high rates with which volcanoes are
covered by alluvium and displaced by faulting in this rapidly subsiding
basin. Water wells reveal that much of the subsurface in this area consists
of intercalated basalt flows and alluvium.