Research Centers
Center for Volcanic and Tectonic Studies
The Center for Volcanic and Tectonic Studies (CVTS) conducts research projects focused in the Lava and El Paso Mountains; two ranges in the Mojave Desert of California that lie astride the central Garlock Fault.
Research in these areas will help in the understanding of the evolution of volcanic rocks produced during strike-slip faulting and in the late Miocene-Pliocene development of the Garlock Fault. This work is funded by the Geothermal Program Office, Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, Calif.
Work in the Lava and El Paso Mountains concentrates on establishing the volcanic stratigraphy, identifying volcanic centers, and collecting of samples for chemical analysis of major and trace elements.
Yucca Mountain
Correlation of sedimentary and volcanic units across the Garlock Fault to estimate its slip rate is an important component of our work. Between 1986 and 1996, CVTS research involved volcanic hazard studies at the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Most of this work was funded by the State of Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office (NWPO) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
This research concentrated on providing a regional perspective of the Quaternary-Tertiary volcanic and tectonic history of the Great Basin and Basin and Range provinces. Faculty members looked in detail at volcanism in the Yucca Mountain area. CVTS produced a considerable volume of data; some of the data was published, but much is unpublished. The data include geochemistry (major, trace and Sr, Nb and Pb isotopes) for basalt centers in Crater Flat and our analog areas (Fortification Hill and Sunset Crater, Ariz.; Grand Wash Trough, Ariz. and Nevada; Lunar Crater, the McCullough and Reveille Ranges, Nevada; and Hurricane, Utah); field data for Crater Flat and analog areas; geochronology; and kinematic studies of bedrock structures in Crater Flat and analog areas.
A portion of the CVTS Final Report to the State of Nevada NWPO can be viewed through this link to their website.
Your questions and comments are appreciated. If you would like more information about the Center for Volcanic & Tectonic Studies, please contact Eugene I. Smith, Ph.D. at eismith@unlv.nevada.edu.
