Ct. Wrucke et al., THE BUTTE VALLEY AND LAYTON WELL THRUSTS OF EASTERN CALIFORNIA - DISTRIBUTION AND REGIONAL SIGNIFICANCE, Tectonics, 14(5), 1995, pp. 1165-1171
The Butte Valley and Layton Well Thrusts are major structural features
in two adjacent mountain ranges west of southern Death Valley. The Bu
tte Valley Thrust in the southern Panamint Range underlies most of the
range and emplaces Proterozoic rocks over strata as young as Jurassic
(?) in age. The Layton Well Thrust to the southwest in the Slate Range
has been interpreted to have Proterozoic rocks juxtaposed on rocks as
young as Jurassic, suggesting that the Butte Valley Thrust and the La
yton Well Thrust might be correlative. New information indicates that
the allochthonous rocks of the Layton Well Thrust are Mesozoic in age
and are not likely part of the same allochthon as that above the Butte
Valley Thrust. In addition, the Butte Valley Thrust cuts sharply down
ward to the north and west across lower plate Paleozoic strata, sugges
ting that the fault roots beneath the Layton Well Thrust. The Layton W
ell Thrust probably belongs to the East Sierran thrust system and thus
would be in the upper plate of the Butte Valley Thrust.