Genoa Fault

Posted Mon Aug 25, 2008 in Nevada

One afternoon while Boss and I drove north along U.S. 395 toward Reno, he glanced to the left (west) and said “The Genoa fault is easy to see today.”

I looked and saw a gouge in the hillside a couple hundred feet above the valley floor. With the shadows forming in the afternoon sun, it was plain to see. It’s an interesting feature and something that fascinates. I still like geology and wish I knew more about it.

I did a little research over the weekend and found a couple of links. The first is Prominent Fault Scarps in Western Nevada and has a lot of interesting information. The second is Genoa fault a Valley disaster looking for a time to happen — an analysis of the potential outcome (damage) of a significant earthquake along the Genoa Fault that was published in the local newspaper.

On the way home this afternoon, I decided to drive through Genoa and see if I could make a few images of the fault. Tomorrow I’ll probably drive south from Genoa and see if I can get a decent image of the slickensides that are exposed where a portion of the fault is exposed in a road cut.