Late quaternary slip-rate variations along the Warm Springs Valley fault system, northern Walker Lane, California-Nevada border

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

The extent to which faults exhibit temporally varying slip rates has important consequences for models of fault mechanics and probabilistic seismic hazard. Here, we explore the temporal behavior of the dextral‐slip Warm Springs Valley fault system, which is part of a network of closely spaced (10–20 km) faults in the northern Walker Lane (California–Nevada border). We develop a late Quaternary slip record for the fault using Quaternary mapping and high‐resolution topographic data from airborne Light Distance and Ranging (LiDAR). The faulted Fort Sage alluvial fan (40.06° N, 119.99° W) is dextrally displaced 98+42/-43 m, and we estimate the age of the alluvial fan to be 41.4+10.0/-4.8 to 55.7±9.2  ka, based on a terrestrial cosmogenic 10Be depth profile and 36Cl analyses on basalt boulders, respectively. The displacement and age constraints for the fan yield a slip rate of 1.8 +0.8/-0.8 mm/yr to 2.4 +1.2/-1.1 mm/yr (2σ) along the northern Warm Springs Valley fault system for the past 41.4–55.7 ka. In contrast to this longer‐term slip rate, shorelines associated with the Sehoo highstand of Lake Lahontan (~15.8  ka) adjacent to the Fort Sage fan are dextrally faulted at most 3 m, which limits a maximum post‐15.8 ka slip rate to 0.2  mm/yr. These relations indicate that the post‐Lahontan slip rate on the fault is only about one‐tenth the longer‐term (41–56 ka) average slip rate. This apparent slip‐rate variation may be related to co‐dependent interaction with the nearby Honey Lake fault system, which shows evidence of an accelerated period of mid‐Holocene earthquakes.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Late quaternary slip-rate variations along the Warm Springs Valley fault system, northern Walker Lane, California-Nevada border
Series title Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
DOI 10.1785/0120120020
Volume 103
Issue 1
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher Seismological Society of America
Contributing office(s) Geologic Hazards Science Center
Description 17 p.
First page 542
Last page 558
Country United States
State California, Nevada
Other Geospatial Walker Lane
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details