In this interpretive cross section, granites (shown in red) of the Sierra Nevada have been down-dropped along an east-dipping range front fault
(Independence Fault) as well as the Lone Pine and (Owens Valley Faults near the center of the valley. A third west-dipping fault (Inyo-White Mtns. Fault)
results in the formation of a graben with 3000 meters of alluvial sediment along the eastern side of the valley.