Fault-scarp morphology and amount of surface offset on late-Quaternary surficial deposits, eastern escarpment of the central Sierra Nevada, CA
- Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States). Dept. of Geology
Faults scarps, formed on glacial deposits and an alluvial fan near the east-central Sierra Nevada mountain front by late-Quaternary movement on the Hilton Creek (HCF), Wheeler Crest (WCFZ) and Coyote Warp (CWFZ) fault zones, were profiled to determine the amount and to estimate the recency of fault offset. Areas studied include McGee (N--near Lake Crowley), Pine, Mount Tom, Basin Mountain, McGee (S--near Bishop), and Bishop Creek drainages. The profile data indicate that movement of the range-front faults (HCF and WCFZ), which is characterized by normal slip, has offset Tioga-age deposits 6.5-26 m. Offset of Tahoe-age moraines cannot be measured directly because the landforms are buried at the mountain-front by moraines from later glaciations. However, the amount of offset is estimated at 52--130 m, based on crest-height differences between Tahoe and Tioga moraines. The rates of slip are highest on the northern end of the HCF, at McGee (N) Creek; the higher slip rates in this latter area may be related to its close proximity to the Long Valley caldera, where tectonic processes are complex and considered closely related to ongoing magmatic activity. The preservation of bevels on the fault scarps in both HCF and WCFZ, combined with the amounts of surface offset on the late-Pleistocene moraines, and AMS C-14 dates for charcoal found in fault-scarp colluvium, indicate that large ground-rupturing events have occurred on these faults during the Holocene. In contrast to the mountain-front faults, faults in the CWFZ, on a broad warp that separates the WCFZ from range-front faults to the south of Bishop, do not cross Tioga moraines, implying that surface rupture has not occurred in the CWFZ for at least 15,000-25,000 years. The degraded morphology of the fault scarps on adjacent Tahoe and pre-Tahoe moraines, which have been offset between 10.5 and 30 m, attests to the lack of late-Pleistocene and Holocene fault activity in this latter area.
- OSTI ID:
- 5880459
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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