Detailed geologic mapping and subsurface study of late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments in northern Bear Lake Valley show at least four episodes of deposition of fluvial, marsh, bay, and lacustrine sediments. from oldest to youngest, these are the Ovid, Liberty, Wardboro, and Lifton episodes. These episodes are substantially different than those proposed by previous investigators. The informal term Bear Lake Formation is formally redefined here as the Bear Lake Group, and includes the newly defined Ovid Formation, Liberty Formation, lanark Formation, and Rainb= Gravel. The overlying Wardboro Loess, also defined here, provides a probably age of 11,000 to 8,000 years B. P. for widespread post-Wisconsinan deposition of loess in northern Utah and southern Idaho. The Ovid Episode began prior to 27,400 years B. P ., d=ing a warm, dry, climatic interval. Sediments deposited during the early part of the Ovid Episode include marsh and bay deposits of the l=er part of the Ovid Formation in northern Bear Lake Valley , probably similar deposits of the lCN~er part of the lanark Formation west of the Bloomington Scarp (on the west side of Bear Lake Valley), and marshy deposits beneath Bear Lake in southern Bear Lake Valley. West-sloping pediments at the north end of Bear Lake Valley, between Bennington and Georgetown, Idaho, and old alluvial fans, also may have formed at this time. The northern outlet of the valley was near 5990 feet at this time . Downfaulting along the Bear L3ke fault zone on the east side of Bear L3ke Valley, and prol:able eastward tilting affected the central valley during the Ovid Episode. At this time, deposition of deep-water carbonates, beneath Bear L3ke, prol:ably began in southern Bear L3ke Valley. Later, cooler- and Jl'Oister clirratic conditions of a Late Pleistocene glacial interval (Pinedale?) resulted in a shall& extension of this lake into northern Bear L3ke Valley during the Liberty Episode. Progradational, shallow-water sand deposits of the Liberty Formation show that Bear Lake attained its most recent maximum areal extent at this time. Simultaneous deposition of the Rainbow Gravel at the entrance of the Bear River into the valley, near Dingle, Idaho, and of the sandy, deltaic upper part of the Lanark Formation along the west side of the valley, reflected the increased addition of sediments, probably due to glaciation and higher stream discharges. The valley outlet was at an altitude near 5945 feet. Downcutting of the valley outlet and waning moist climatic conditions led to exposure of lake beds, increased effectiveness of the wind, and deposition of the Wardboro Loess during the Wardboro Episode. This loess prol:ably is correlative with the Niter Loess in Thatcher Basin (Gem and Gentile valleys, Idaho). It is slightly more than 8,000 C14 years old, and probably less than 11,000 year old. Recurrent faulting along the east margin (Bear Lake fault zone) and west margin (Bloomington Scarp) of the valley at the onset of the Lifton Episode led to a brief re- expansion of Bear Lake, and then a recession southward to its present position near 5923 feet. During this time, a series of beach ridges, successively younger southward, and undifferentiated sediments of marsh, bay, and stream origin, formed in northern Bear Lake Valley. The present valley outlet is near 5873 feet.

The aim of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) project, a component of the NSF Earthscope Initiative, is to directly observe active fault processes at seismogenic depths through the drilling of a 3 km deep (true vertical depth) inclined borehole across San Andreas fault. Preliminary subsurface models based on surface mapping and geophysical data predicted different lithologies than were actually encountered. At 1920 meters measured depth (mmd), a sequence of well-indurated, interbedded arkosic conglomerates, sandstones, and siltstones was encountered. We present a detailed lithologic and structural characterization as a step toward understanding the complex geologic history of this fault-bounded block of arkosic sedimentary rocks. We divide the arkosic section into three lithologic units with different compositional, structural, and sedimentary features: the upper arkose, 1920-2530 mmd, the clay-rich zone, 2530-2680 Illtlld, and the lower arkose, 2680-3150 mmd. We interpret the section to have been deposited in a Salinian transtensional basin, in either a subaqueous or subaerial fan setting. We suggest four different possibly equivalent sedimentary units to the SAFOD arkoses, the locations of which are dependent on how the San Andreas fault system has evolved over time in the vicinity of the SAFOD site. Detailed analysis of three subsidiary faults encountered in the arkosic section at 1920 mmd, 2530 mmd, and 3060 mmd, shows that subsurface faults have similar microstructures and composition as exhumed faults at the surface, with less evidence of alteration from extensive fluid flow.

A new geologic map of the Sinai Tholus region on the Thaumasia plateau, Mars reveals the structural, magmatic, and stratigraphic complexity that can be found in the Tharsis region on Mars, and may help answer key questions about the origin of the subvolcanic basement, evolution of the regional stress field, development of Valles Marineris, and magmatic history of the region. Sinai Tholus is a topographic high in a relatively flat, lava flow covered part of Thaumasia Plateau, just south of the central part of Valles Marineris. Here, five stratigraphic units and one generalized impact unit have been mapped at a 1:200,000 scale. The Late Noachian Sinai Tholus Formation (lNst) is the oldest (at least 3.65 Ga based on crater retention age), and the most rugged. This unit is likely megaregolith consisting of altered impact breccia, sedimentary units, and lava flows. Numerous grabens strike NW (159°), NE (42°), and EW (86°), with EW-striking faults being unique to lNst and the oldest of the three sets. Similarly unique to lNst are linear ridges; these likely exhumed igneous dikes have higher olivine abundances according to the spectral analyses of CRISM and are erosionally resistant topographic highs. Their average strikes (18° and 74°) are different enough from the grabens to indicate an earlier, magmatic-related extension resulting in their formation. lNst is only exposed along an eroded normal fault face; much of it is covered by the Late Hesperian Highlands of the Sinai Dorsa Formation (lHsd) (3.6 Ga). A patera in this region may have been an eruptive source for this unit, indicating an igneous origin. However, CRISM data indicate higher abundances of low temperature alteration minerals than in the underlying Sinai Tholus Formation. This, combined with its highly erodible nature, makes it appear that lHsd was deposited or altered during a wet, oxidizing period. It was then cut by the NE-striking faults and uplifted about 1 to 1.5 km along an EW-trending normal fault. These two units were subsequently eroded in the south, exposing lNst and its igneous dikes and fault sets. This is further supported by the presence of erosional, seemingly fluvial, escarpments defining the boundary between lNst and lHsd. The Late Hesperian Nia Fossae Formation (lHnf) was deposited as a series of fissure-fed basaltic lavas around 3.6 Ga, and its vents likely covered. Further extension caused NW-trending faults to cut all units. The Late Hesperian Ridged Plains of the Sinai Planum Formation (lHsp) also formed around 3.6 Ga as a younger series of fissure-fed basaltic flood lavas. lHsp covered much of lHsd, lHnf, and the patera. The region then underwent tectonic contraction, possibly due to planetary cooling, as evidenced by wrinkle ridges with a consistent strike (146°) similar to those found globally. The uniquely stratified Early Amazonian Louros Valles Formation (eAlv) formed about 1.9 Ga and buries the northern exposures of lHsd and lHsp. CRISM and CTX imagery indicate that this unit consists of thin alternating light and dark layers containing clays and sulfates. Similar beds have been noted on the north side of Valles Marineris and could have been part of a large, ephemeral lake before being cut by the canyon.