Gold-silver mining districts, alteration zones, and paleolandforms in the Miocene Bodie Hills Volcanic Field, California and Nevada

Based on volcanic stratigraphy, geochronology, remnant paleosurfaces, and paleopotentiometric surfaces in mining districts and alteration zones, present landforms in the Bodie Hills volcanic field reflect incremental construction of stratovolcanoes and large- to small-volume flow-domes, magmatic inflation, and fault displacements. Landform evolution began with construction of the 15–13 Ma Masonic and 13–12 Ma Aurora volcanic centers in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the field, respectively. Smaller volcanoes erupted at ~11–10 Ma in, between, and south of these centers as erosional detritus accumulated north of the field in Fletcher Valley. Distally sourced, 9.7–9.3 Ma Eureka Valley Tuff filled drainages and depressions among older volcanoes and was partly covered by nearly synchronous eruptives during construction of four large 10–8 Ma volcanoes, in the southern part of the field. The lack of significant internal fault displacement, distribution of Eureka Valley Tuff, and elevation estimates derived from floras, suggest that the Bodie Hills volcanic field attained present elevations mostly through volcano construction and magmatic inflation, and that maximum paleoelevations (>8,500 ft) at the end of large volume eruptions at ~8 Ma are similar to present elevations.