Levi Fatzinger Noble was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

. He was born in 1882 into a prominent and wealthy family of Auburn, New York

Auburn, New York

Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...

. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1904 and his doctorate in 1909, both from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

.

In 1910, Noble married Dorothy Evans of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

. As a wedding gift, Dorothy’s
parents gave them a fruit ranch near Valyermo, California

Valyermo, California

Valyermo is an unincorporated town located in the Mojave Desert, in Los Angeles County, California. The town has a population of about 450.- Geography :Valyermo is located about southeast of Palmdale in the Antelope Valley portion of Southern California...

, at the foot of the north slope of the San Gabriel Mountains

San Gabriel Mountains

The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...

 and athwart the San Andreas Fault

San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

 zone. The ranch was their principal residence for the rest of their lives. Dorothy served as the Valyermo postmaster from 1914 to 1930.

His entire career was spent as a member of the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

. Upon retirement, he received the Interior Department's gold medal for distinguished service. In his field investigations, which began in 1917 and continued off and on for 45 years, he observed and accurately recorded most of the major geologic features of Death Valley

Death Valley

Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...

.

He also is remembered for his studies of Precambrian

Precambrian

The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...

 and Paleozoic

Paleozoic

The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

 rocks of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...

 and as the first to prepare a detailed geologic map of a large part of Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park is the United States' 15th oldest national park and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the Wonders of the World. The park covers of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties.Most...

. In addition, he engaged in a long-term investigation of a fifty-mile segment of the San Andreas fault

San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

. He was the first to cite evidence for many miles of horizontal displacement along this major structural feature of western North America.

Publications

• "Contributions to the geology of the Grand Canyon, Arizona – The geology of the Shinumo area" American Journal of Science, 4th ser., v. 29, p. 369-386. (1910)
• "The Grand Canyon of the Colorado" Science v. 34, p. 378-380. (1911)
• "The Shinumo quadrangle, Grand Canyon district, Arizona" U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 549 (1914)
• "Geologic history of the Bright Angel quadrangle, Arizona": Text on back of topographic sheet, Bright Angel quadrangle, Arizona (Coconino County): U.S. Geological Survey. (1918)
• "A section of the Paleozoic formations of the Grand Canyon at Bass Trail": U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 131-B, p. 23-73. (1922)
• "Colemanite in Clark County, Nevada": U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 735, p. 23-39. (1922)
• "Borate deposits in the Kramer district, Kern County, California": U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 785, p. 45-61. (1926)
• "Note on a colemanite deposit near Shoshone, California, with a sketch of the geology of a part of the Amargosa Valley": U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 785, p. 63-73. (1926)
• "The San Andreas rift and some other active faults in the desert region of southeastern California": Report on the advisory committee in seismology, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Yearbook 25, 1925–1926, p. 415-428. (1927)
• "The San Andreas rift in a part of southern California": Third Pan-Pacific Science Congress, Tokyo, 1926, Proceedings, p. 394-400. (1928)
• "A section of the Kaibab limestone in Kaibab Gulch, Utah": U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 150, p. 41-60. (1928)
• "Nitrate deposits in southeastern California, with notes on deposits in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico": U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 820 (1931)
• "The San Andreas rift in the desert region of southern California": Carnegie Institute of Washington, Yearbook 31, p. 355-363. (1932)
• "Excursion to the San Andreas Fault and Cajon Pass, in Gale, H. S., ed., Southern California": 16th International Geological Congress, Guidebook 15 (1933)
• "Structural features of the Virgin Spring area, Death Valley, California": Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 52, p. 941-1000. (1941)
• "Geology of the Pearland quadrangle, California": U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ 24. (1953)
• "Geology of the Valyermo quadrangle, California": U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Map GQ 50. (1954)
• "The San Andreas Fault zone from Soledad Pass to Cajon Pass, California", in Jahns, R. H., ed., Geology of Southern California: California Division of Mines Bulletin 170, chapter IV, p. 37-48. (1954)
• "A reconnaissance of the Archean complex of the Granite Gorge, Grand Canyon, Arizona": with J.F. Hunter. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 98-I, p. 95-113. (1916)
• "Nitrate deposits in the Amargosa region, southeastern California": with G.R. Mansfield and others. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 724, 99 p. (1922)
• "Geology of the central and southern Death Valley region, California," with L.A. Wright in Jahns, R. H., ed., Geology of Southern California: California Division of Mines Bulletin 170, chapter II, p. 143-160. (1954)