USE OF LANDSAT THEMATIC MAPPER IMAGES IN REGIONAL CORRELATION OF SYNTECTONIC STRATA, COLORADO RIVER EXTENSIONAL CORRIDOR, CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA

This study utilizes enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images in concert with field work to solve problems in regional correlation of Miocene rocks in the Colorado River extensional corridor of California and Arizona. These syntectonic volcanic and sedimentary deposits preserve a dateable record of crustal extension, although regional correlation and analysis of the deposits are difficult because of the small sizes of the sedimentary basins in which they accumulated and disruption by postdepositional faulting. The recognition criteria derived from field mapping and image interpretation in the Mohave and Whipple Mountains were applied to an adjacent area in which stratigraphic affinities were less well known. Stratigraphic and structural relations suggested by the TM image were confirmed by subsequent field work. -from Authors