Deformation in the White Mountain seismic gap, California-Nevada, 1972-1982

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth
By:  and 

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Abstract

A 100×40 km trilateration network extending from Bishop, California, to near Hawthorne, Nevada, crosses the east end of the Long Valley caldera, site of renewed magma inflation in the 1979–1980 interval, and spans most of the White Mountain seismic gap. The network was surveyed in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1979, 1980, and 1982. The 1980 survey may be contaminated by a scale error. In addition, leveling surveys across the caldera have been run in 1932, 1957, 1975, 1980, 1982, and 1983. Interpretation of the deformation is complicated by the occurrence of the May 1980 Mammoth Lakes earthquake sequence (four earthquakes ML≥6) at the south edge of the caldera as well as other moderate earthquakes within the White Mountain seismic gap. The vertical deformation is largely accounted for by 0.10‐ to 0.15‐km3 expansion of a spherical magma chamber 8–10 km beneath the resurgent dome within the Long Valley caldera sometime between July 1979 and September 1980 with an additional expansion of perhaps 0.05 km3 between September 1980 and July 1982. Some additional sources of deformation within the aftershock zone of the Mammoth Lakes earthquakes seem to be required to explain the horizontal deformation. We show that right‐lateral slip on vertical faults extending WNW from each of the three largest earthquakes in the Mammoth Lakes sequence provides the required additional deformation, but this solution is by no means unique. There are simply too few data to define the rather complex deformation that apparently occurred within the aftershock zone. There is little doubt, however, that inflation of a magma chamber beneath the resurgent dome within the Long Valley caldera was involved in the deformation.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Deformation in the White Mountain seismic gap, California-Nevada, 1972-1982
Series title Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth
DOI 10.1029/JB089iB09p07671
Volume 89
Issue B9
Year Published 1984
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Contributing office(s) Earthquake Science Center, Volcano Hazards Program
Description 17 p.
First page 7671
Last page 7687
Country United States
State California
Other Geospatial Long Valley caldera
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