Arrastre Wash Case Study

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The Arrastre Wash is a region which contains interesting geologic structures, and it is located on the west side of the city of Tucson in the Tucson Mountain Park. This region is predominantly composed by sedimentary rocks from the lower Cretaceous such as sandstone and shale, which can be distinguished by the grain size, and the conglomerates from the Quaternary. The rocks from the lower Cretaceous were deposited on an alluvial environment in which the energy of transport sediments varied. The outcrops were twisted, folded and uplifted Fold Geometry The region is characterized by a system of anticlines and synclines, which from the stereographic fold analysis, it was possible to notice that they are asymmetrical, steeply inclined with non constant interlimb angles. In addition, the layers appear to have uniform thickness, so if this assumption is correct, the folds on the Arrastre Wash are concentric. The five folds identified in the Arrastre Wash have trend either to the Northwest or Southeast. For example, Fold 1 has a trend of 318, but the Fold 2 has a trend of 135. The folds in the Arrastre Wash have plunges in the range of 1 to approximately 20, which in the classification of the plunge …show more content…

The sediments on the Arrastre wash were deposited in the alluvial environment, in other words, by a river that passed through the region during the Cretaceous. Moreover, they were initially horizontal, but stresses, which could be caused by the increase in pressure and temperature or even the movement of the tectonic plates, forced the layers to fold. In addition to the folds, it was possible to observe the ripple marks on the floor of the Ripple Wash, which gives the direction in which the river was flowing, and joints on certain

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