Right-lateral displacements and the Holocene slip rate associated with prehistoric earthquakes along the southern Panamint Valley fault zone: Implications for southern Basin and Range tectonics and coastal California deformation

Journal Article · Tue Apr 10 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JB095iB04p04857· OSTI ID:5009828

Zhang, Peizhen; Ellis, M; Slemmons, D B; Mao, Fengying ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Nevada, Reno (United States)

The N 20{degree}W-trending Panamint Valley fault zone is linked to the N 60{degree}W-trending Hunter Mountain strike-slip fault and the Saline Valley fault system, which represents on of the three major fault systems accommodating active crustal extension in the southern Great Basin. The displacement associated with the most recent event, determined through six detailed topographic maps of offset features, is 3.2 {plus minus} 0.5 m, and a number of larger offsets, in range of 6-7 m and 12 m, are also observed. If the larger displacements represent, respectively, two and three events, each of {approximately} 3 m, then the fault zone appears to be associated with a characteristic earthquake, which the authors estimate from the length of the rupture zone and the displacement to be between (Ms) 6.5 and 7.2. The Holocene slip rate is 2.36 {plus minus} 0.79 mm/yr, is determined from the displacement of two alluvial features whose maximum age is estimated from pluvial shorelines. Assuming a characterisitc earthquake model, the recurrence interval is between 860 and 2,360 years. The total slip vector of the southern Panamint Valley fault system is oriented toward {approximately} N 35{degree}W, making this a predominately strike-slip fault. In conjunction with the N 60{degree}W orientation of the Hunter mountain strike-slip fault, the authors suggest that the displacement vector for the southern Great Basin is toward the NW, consistent with results from VLBI data, rather than WNW as determined by combining VLBI and geological data. This is turn suggests that the coastal California deformation component involves, respectively, less shortening and more strike-slip displacement perpendicular and parallel to the San Andreas fault than is currently proposed.

• OSTI ID: 5009828
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 95:B4; ISSN 0148-0227
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CALIFORNIA
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
SLIP
COASTAL REGIONS
DEFORMATION
EARTHQUAKE MAGNITUDE
EARTHQUAKES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GREAT BASIN
QUATERNARY PERIOD
STRATA MOVEMENT
TECTONICS
TOPOGRAPHY
VALLEYS
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
FEDERAL REGION IX
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
NORTH AMERICA
SEISMIC EVENTS
USA
580000* - Geosciences