Stratigraphic and paleoecologic criteria that distinguish coseismically submerged from gradually submerged tidal wetland deposits, Oregon and Washington
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
Widespread buried tidal-wetland soils exposed in outcrop in southern Washington and northern Oregon suggest that sudden coastal subsidence accompanied great (M>8) Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes at least twice in the past 2,000 years. But interpretation of the estuarine stratigraphic record along the subduction zone is complicated by the interplay of many coastal-sedimentation and sea-level factors found on passive as well as active continental margins. In this presentation, the author outlines-some simple models of sea-level and land-level change along subduction zone coasts, explain how these types of changes might be recorded in the tidal-wetland stratigraphic record, compare stratigraphies from the active-margin coasts of Oregon and Washington with stratigraphies from similar sites along passive continental margins in North America and Europe, and identify criterion that can help distinguish stratigraphic sequences produced by gradual sea-level change from those that may have been produced by coseismic subsidence. Field stratigraphic data alone are an inadequate basis for mapping the coastal extent of past great earthquakes -- only through detailed paleoecologic and dating analyses can one test proposed models of crustal subsidence and recovery during great earthquakes. Rigorous testing of such models is essential if the coastal paleoseismic record is to be used in forecasting the timing and magnitude of future subduction zone earthquakes in Oregon and Washington.
- OSTI ID:
- 5023255
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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