Smartville Block

The Smartville Block, also called the Smartville Complex or Smartville Intrusive Complex, is a geologic zone in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in the historic Gold Country in eastern California.

Gold

Its eastern margin is the Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone, and generally defines the gold-bearing veins range of the Mother Lode, important in the history of the California Gold Rush. It is named for the small Gold Rush town of Smartsville in Yuba County.

Geology

The Smartville Block is thought to be a geologic terrane, a piece of crust, probably an island arc, which accreted to the North American continent in the Jurassic Period, about 165 million years ago. The collision created sufficient crustal heating to drive mineral-laden water up through numerous fissures along the contact zone. When these cooled, among the precipitating minerals was gold.

References

Assembling California, by John McPhee, published 1993 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. ISBN 0-374-52393-2

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v t e Seismically active fault zones and tectonic blocks of California
Statewide Faults	San Andreas Fault Salinian Block
Southern California	Brawley Seismic Zone Chino Fault Elsinore Fault Zone Elysian Park Fault Garlock Fault Hollywood fault Hosgri Fault Imperial Fault Zone Laguna Salada Fault Newport–Inglewood Fault Northridge Blind Thrust Fault Peninsular Ranges Puente Hills Fault Raymond Fault Rose Canyon Fault Salton Trough San Cayetano Fault San Diego Trough Fault Zone San Felipe Fault Zone San Gabriel Fault San Jacinto Fault Zone Santa Maria River Fault Santa Ynez Fault Shoreline Fault Sierra Madre Fault Zone Ventura Fault White Wolf Fault Whittier Fault Yorba Linda Fault
Northern California	Bartlett Springs Fault Calaveras Fault Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault Concord Fault Hayward Fault Zone Healdsburg Fault Maacama Fault Mendocino Fracture Zone Mendocino Triple Junction Mount Diablo Thrust Fault Monta Vista Fault Nacimiento Fault Pleasanton Fault Rinconada Fault San Gregorio Fault San Pablo Fault Seal Cove Fault Serra Fault Silver Creek Fault Tesla Fault West Napa Fault
Sierra Nevada	Death Valley Fault Zone Furnace Creek Fault Zone Honey Lake Fault Zone Kern Canyon Fault Maria fold and thrust belt Owens Valley Fault Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone Sierra Nevada Batholith Sierra Nevada Fault Sierra Nevada-Great Valley Block Smartville Block Walker Lane
Category California Geological Survey Seismic Hazards Mapping Act Mexico (list)