Magnetotelluric evidence for crustal suture zones bounding the Southern Great Valley, California

A geoelectric section inferred from a regional magnetotelluric study across the Coast Ranges, the Great Valley, and the Sierra Nevada reveals significant variations in electrical resistivity. Zones of lower resistivity interpreted at depths from 10 km to at least 30 km lie near mapped geologic boundaries between the Coast Ranges and the Great Valley and beneath the eastern side of the Great Valley. The former boundary is inferred by others to separate the subduction complex of the Coast Ranges from the mafic basement of the Great Valley. The lower resistivities are most likely associated with metasediments trapped between the Coast Ranges ophiolite and the former oceanic crust beneath the Great Valley. The latter boundary is problematic, but may be evidence for a deep metasedimentary section trapped between the ophiolites beneath the Great Valley and the granitic rocks of the Sierra Nevada. The lack of change in the magnetotelluric phase across the Great Valley indicates that a suture zone marked by lower resistivities is unlikely to be present beneath the valley. However, this does not preclude the existence of a resistive suture zone.