Smartville Block

The Smartville Block, also called the Smartville Ophiolite, Smartville Complex, or Smartville Intrusive Complex, is a geologic terrane formed in the ocean from a volcanic island arc that was accreted onto the North American Plate during the late Jurassic (~160–150 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. Associated with the Western Metamorphic Belt of the Sierra Nevada foothills it extends from the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, due west, under a section of the Central Valley and California Coast Ranges, in northern California. The ophiolitic sequence found in this terrane is one of several major ophiolites found in California. Ophiolites are crustal rocks from the ocean floor that have been moved on land. Ophiolites have been studied extensively regarding the movement of crustal rocks by plate tectonics.

Gold was discovered in California in the mid 1800’s. The Smartville Block is named for the small Gold Rush town of Smartville in Yuba County, California. Gold found in the Smartville Block and within the metamorphic belts of the Sierra Nevada foothills were created through hydrothermal processes. Mineral rich groundwater is heated geothermally and injected towards the surface through fractures in the rock created from faulting. Gold and other minerals are precipitated from this fluid and have accumulated in the Sierra Nevadan metamorphic belt region in features called veins. The Smartville Block’s eastern margin is the Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone, and generally defines the range of gold-bearing veins of the Mother Lode region, important in the history of the California Gold Rush.

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