Holocene displacement along branch and secondary faults in the San Andreas fault zone, southern California

Detailed geologic mapping of the San Andreas fault zone in Los Angeles County since 1972 has revealed evidence for diverse histories of displacement on branch and secondary faults near Palmdale. The main trace of the San Andreas fault is well defined by a variety of physiographic features. The geologic record supports the concept of many kilometers of lateral displacement on the main trace and on some secondary faults, especially when dealing with pre-Quaternary rocks. However, the distribution of upper Pleistocene rocks along branch and secondary faults suggests a strong vertical component of displacement and, in many locations, Holocene displacement appears to be primarily vertical. The most recent movement on many secondary and some branch faults has been either high-angle (reverse and normal) or thrust. This is in contrast to the abundant evidence for lateral movement seen along the main San Andreas fault. We suggest that this change in the sense of displacement is more common than has been previously recognized.The branch and secondary faults described here have geomorphic features along them that are as fresh as similar features visible along the most recent trace of the San Andreas fault. From this we infer that surface rupture occurred on these faults in 1857, as it did on the main San Andreas fault. Branch faults commonly form “Riedel” and “thrust” shear configurations adjacent to the main San Andreas fault and affect a zone less than a few hundred meters wide. Holocene and upper Pleistocene deposits have been repeatedly offset along faults that also separate contrasting older rocks. Secondary faults are located up to 1500 m on either side of the San Andreas fault and trend subparallel to it. Moreover, our mapping indicates that some portions of these secondary faults appear to have been “inactive” throughout much of Quaternary time, even though Holocene and upper Pleistocene deposits have been repeatedly offset along other parts of these same faults. For example, near 37th Street E. and Barrel Springs Road, a limited stretch of the Nadeau fault has a very fresh normal scarp, in one place as much as 3 m high, which breaks upper Pleistocene or Holocene deposits. This scarp has two bevelled surfaces, the upper surface sloping significantly less than the lower, suggesting at least two periods of recent movement. Other exposures along this fault show undisturbed Quaternary deposits overlying the fault. The Cemetery and Little Rock faults also exhibit selected reactivation of isolated segments separated by “inactive” stretches.Activity on branch and secondary faults, as outlined above, is presumed to be the result of sympathetic movement on limited segments of older faults in response to major movement on the San Andreas fault. The recognition that Holocene activity is possible on faults where much of the evidence suggests prolonged inactivity emphasizes the need for regional, as well as detailed site studies to evaluate adequately the hazard of any fault trace in a major fault zone. Similar problems may be encountered when geodetic or other studies, Which depend on stable sites, are conducted in the vicinity of major faults.     

Changes in rate of fault creep

Aseismic slip or fault creep is occurring on many faults in California. Although the creep rates are generally less than 10 mm/yr in most regions, the maximum observed rate along the San Andreas fault between San Juan Bautista and Gold Hill in central California exceeds 30 mm/yr. Changes in slip rates along a 162 km segment of the San Andreas fault in this region have occurred at approximately the same time at up to nine alinement array sites. Rates of creep on the fault near the epicenters of moderate earthquakes (M_L 4–6) vary for periods of several years, decreasing before the main shocks and increasing thereafter, in agreement with prior observations based on creepmeter results. The change of surface slip rate is most pronounced within the epicentral region defined by aftershocks, but records from sites at distances up to 100 km show similar variations. Additionally, some variations in rate, also apparently consistent among many sites, have a less obvious relation with seismic activity and have usually taken place over shorter periods. Not all sites exhibit a significant variation in rate at the time of a regional change, and the amplitudes of the change at nearby sites are not consistently related. The time intervals between measurements at the nine array sites during a given period have not always been short with respect to the intervals between surveys at one site; hence, uneven sampling intervals may bias the results slightly. Anomalies in creep rates thus far observed, therefore, have not been demonstrably consistent precursors to moderate earthquakes; and in the cases when an earthquake has followed a long period change of rate, the anomaly has not specified time, place, or magnitude with a high degree of certainty. The consistency of rate changes may represent a large scale phenomenon that occurs along much of the San Andreas transform plate boundary.     

What can strike‐slip fault spacing tell us about the plate boundary of western North America?

The spacing of parallel continental strike‐slip faults can constrain the mechanical properties of the faults and fault‐bounded crust. In the western US, evenly spaced strike‐slip fault domains are observed in the San Andreas (SA) and Walker Lane (WL) fault systems. Comparison of fault spacing (S) vs. seismogenic zone thickness (L) relationships of the SA and WL systems indicates that the SA has a higher S/L ratio (~8 vs. 1, respectively). If a stress‐shadow mechanism guides parallel fault formation, the S/L ratio should be controlled by fault strength, crustal strength, and/or regional stress. This suggests that the SA‐related strike‐slip faults are relatively weaker, with lower fault friction: 0.13–0.19 for the SA vs. 0.20 for WL. The observed mechanical differences between the San Andreas and Walker Lane fault systems may be attributed to variations in the local geology of the fault‐hosting crust and/or the regional boundary conditions (e.g. geothermal gradient or strain rate).     

Geophysical images of the creeping segment of the San Andreas fault: implications for the role of crustal fluids in the earthquake process

High-resolution magnetotelluric (MT) studies of the San Andreas fault (SAF) near Hollister, CA have imaged a zone of high fluid content flanking the San Andreas fault and extending to midcrustal depths. This zone, extending northeastward to the Calaveras fault, is imaged as several focused regions of high conductivity, believed to be the expression of tectonically bound fluid pockets separated by northeast dipping, impermeable fault seals. Furthermore, the spatial relationship between this zone and local seismicity suggests that where present, fluids inhibit seismicity within the upper crust (0–4 km). The correlation of coincident seismic and electromagnetic tomography models is used to sharply delineate geologic and tectonic boundaries. These studies show that the San Andreas fault plane is vertical below 2 km depth, bounding the southwest edge of the imaged fault-zone conductor (FZC). Thus, in the region of study, the San Andreas fault acts both as a conduit for along-strike fluid flow and a barrier for fluid flow across the fault. Combined with previous work, these results suggest that the geologic setting of the San Andreas fault gives rise to the observed distribution of fluids in and surrounding the fault, as well as the observed along-strike variation in seismicity.     

On the internal structure and mechanics of large strike-slip fault zones: field observations of the Carboneras fault in southeastern Spain

Deciphering the internal structure of large fault zones is fundamental if a proper understanding is to be gained of their mechanical, hydrological and seismological properties. To this end, new detailed mapping and microstructural observations of the excellently exposed Carboneras fault zone in southeastern Spain have been used to elucidate both the internal arrangement of fault products and their likely mechanical properties. The fault is a 40 km offset strike-slip fault, which constitutes part of the Africa–Iberia plate boundary. The zone of faulting is 1 km in width not including the associated damage zone surrounding the fault. It is composed of continuous strands of phyllosilicate-rich fault gouge that bound lenses of variably broken-up protolith. This arrangement provides a number of fluid flow and fluid sealing possibilities within the fault zone. The gouge strands exhibit distributed deformation and are inferred to have strain hardening and/or velocity hardening characteristics. Also included in the fault zone are blocks of dolomite that contain thin (<1 cm thick) fault planes inferred to have been produced by strain weakening/velocity weakening behaviour. These fault planes have a predominantly R₁ Riedel shear orientation and are arranged in an en echelon pattern. A conceptual model of this type of wide fault zone is proposed which contrasts with previous narrow fault zone models. The observed structural and inferred mechanical characteristics of the Carboneras fault zone are compared to seismological observations of the San Andreas fault around Parkfield, CA. Similarities suggest that the Carboneras fault structure may be a useful analogue for this portion of the San Andreas fault at depth.     

The kinematic paradox of the San Andreas Fault

The Pacific-North America plate boundary along the San Andreas fault system is notoriously a right-lateral transpressive margin where both almost pure thrust and strike-slip tectonics take place. The Pacific plate travels WNW, forming an angle of about 25° with the boundary. Since the Pacific is moving WNW faster than North America, right lateral transtension should result along the San Andreas system. North America, in turn, travels westward obliquely to the boundary and a left-lateral transpressive component would be expected along the same margin. Therefore, the right-lateral transpression of the San Andreas system can be partitioned into (i) a sinistral transpression along the southwestern margin of the North America plate obliquely overriding (ii) a faster right lateral transtension occurring along the transfer margin of the Pacific plate between the East Pacific rise in the California Gulf and the Gorda ridge to the north-west. This is due to the oblique trend of the Pacific and North America plate margins with respect to their motion in a absolute reference frame.
The geodynamics of California is marked by a unique setting in which there is a special subduction where, in contrast with classic subduction zones, the footwall of the subduction plane is obliquely diverging from the hanging wall in an E-W section, while it is converging at slower rates in a NE-SW direction. The extensional E-W component is absorbed into the Basin and Range rifting, whereas the compressive NE-SW component is mainly expressed in the Coast Ranges and California offshore. The compression perpendicular to the San Andreas is then not intrinsic in the strike-slip movement, but it is rather an independent tectonic factor. Therefore, the San Andreas system cannot be considered as an archetype of a pure strike slip fault.     

Geodimeter measurements of slip and strain accumulation along the san andreas fault

The U.S. Geological Survey conducts repeated geodimeter surveys of trilateration networks in central California in order to study the processes of slip and strain accumulation along the San Andreas fault. The precision of distance measurement is described by a standard deviation where a = 3mm, b = 2 · 10⁻⁷, and L is the line length. Within the precision of measurement, no anomalous strain episodes preceding earthquakes or even strain discontinuities at the time of earthquakes were detected from repeated measurements of lines near the epicenters of small (magnitude 4.5–5.1) earthquakes. Annual measurements of small (5-km aperture) strain polygons near the San Andreas fault have not proved strain accumulation in a 3-year period. Repeated measurements of longer lines over periods of 8 to 14 years indicate changes that cannot be attributed to fault slip and must represent strain accumulation at the level of a few parts in 10⁷ per year.     

Kinematics of compressional fold development in convergent wrench terranes

Kinematic models are presented for compressional fold development in wrench and convergent wrench terranes that relate fold shortening, axial rotation, and axial extension. Fold shortening may be derived from final fold geometry. Existing fold geometry and axial orientation, two readily measurable quantities, provide the data needed to determine the relative components of shearing and convergence within the fold system. Analyses utilizing these kinematic models indicate that folds developed in sedimentary rocks in the wrench borderlands of both the Rineonada and San Andreas wrench faults in central California are the product of strongly convergent wrenching. The axes of these folds have been rotated no more than a few degrees during the course of their development. In contrast, folds developed in the Alpine Schists along the Alpine fault in New Zealand and in Pleistocene sediments along the southern limit of the San Andreas fault suggest an almost pure wrench setting and large (>25 °) axial rotations.

Significant axial extension is inherent in wrench-related compressional folds. This axial extension is commonly manifest in the form of normal and strike-slip faults that are internal to the folds and trend at high angles to the fold axes. The relative amount of axial extension diminishes as the degree of convergence increases. This axial extension, and the associated extensional features, can be a diagnostic indication of the influence of wrenching.     

Origin and spatial distribution of gas at seismogenic depths of the San Andreas Fault from drill-mud gas analysis

Data are presented on the molecular composition of drill-mud gas from the lower sedimentary section (1800–3987 m) of the SAFOD (San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth) Main Hole measured on-line during drilling, as well as C and H isotope data from off-line mud gas samples. Hydrocarbons, H₂ and CO₂ are the most abundant non-atmospheric gases in drill-mud when drilling seismogenic zones. Gas influx into the well at depth is related to the lithology and permeability of the drilled strata: larger formation gas influx was detected when drilling through organic-rich shales and permeable sandstones. The SAF (San Andreas Fault), encountered between approximately 3100 m and 3450 m borehole depth, is generally low in gas, but is encompassed by two gas-rich zones (2700–2900 m and below 3550 m) at the fault margins with enhanced ²²²Rn activities and distinct gas compositions. Within the fault, two interstratified gas-rich lenses (3150–3200 m and 3310–3340 m) consist of CO₂ and hydrocarbons (upper zone), but almost exclusively of hydrocarbons (lower zone).     

GPS-derived strain in northwestern California: Termination of the San Andreas fault system and convergence of the Sierra Nevada–Great Valley block contribute to southern Cascadia forearc contraction

GPS-derived velocities (1993–2002) in northwestern California show that processes other than subduction are in part accountable for observed upper-plate contraction north of the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ) region. After removing the component of elastic strain accumulation due to the Cascadia subduction zone from the station velocities, two additional processes account for accumulated strain in northern California. The first is the westward convergence of the Sierra Nevada–Great Valley (SNGV) block toward the coast and the second is the north–northwest impingement of the San Andreas fault system from the south on the northern California coastal region in the vicinity of Humboldt Bay. Sierra Nevada–Great Valley block motion is northwest toward the coast, convergent with the more northerly, north–northwest San Andreas transform fault-parallel motion. In addition to the westward-converging Sierra Nevada–Great Valley block, San Andreas transform-parallel shortening also occurs in the Humboldt Bay region. Approximately 22 mm/yr of distributed Pacific–SNGV motion is observed inland of Cape Mendocino across the northern projections of the Maacama and Bartlett Springs fault zones but station velocities decrease rapidly north of Cape Mendocino. The resultant 6–10 mm/yr of San Andreas fault-parallel shortening occurs above the southern edge of the subducted Gorda plate and at the latitude of Humboldt Bay. Part of the San Andreas fault-parallel shortening may be due to the viscous coupling of the southern edge of the Gorda plate to overlying North American plate. We conclude that significant portions of the upper-plate contraction observed north of the MTJ region are not solely a result of subduction of the Gorda plate but also a consequence of impingement of the western edge of the Sierra Nevada–Great Valley block and growth of the northernmost segments of the San Andreas fault system.     

Talc friction in the temperature range 25°–400 °C: Relevance for Fault-Zone Weakening

Talc is one of the weakest minerals that is associated with fault zones. Triaxial friction experiments conducted on water-saturated talc gouge at room temperature yield values of the coefficient of friction, μ (shear stress, τ/effective normal stress, σ′_N) in the range 0.16–0.23, and μ increases with increasing σ′_N. Talc gouge heated to temperatures of 100°–400 °C is consistently weaker than at room temperature, and μ < 0.1 at slow strain rates in some heated experiments. Talc also is characterized by inherently stable, velocity-strengthening behavior (strength increases with increasing shear rate) at all conditions tested. The low strength of talc is a consequence of its layered crystal structure and, in particular, its very weak interlayer bond. Its hydrophobic character may be responsible for the relatively small increase in μ with increasing σ′_N at room temperature compared to other sheet silicates.Talc has a temperature–pressure range of stability that extends from surficial to eclogite-facies conditions, making it of potential significance in a variety of faulting environments. Talc has been identified in exhumed subduction zone thrusts, in fault gouge collected from oceanic transform and detachment faults associated with rift systems, and recently in serpentinite from the central creeping section of the San Andreas fault. Typically, talc crystallized in the active fault zones as a result of the reaction of ultramafic rocks with silica-saturated hydrothermal fluids. This mode of formation of talc is a prime example of a fault-zone weakening process. Because of its velocity-strengthening behavior, talc may play a role in stabilizing slip at depth in subduction zones and in the creeping faults of central and northern California that are associated with ophiolitic rocks.     

Palaeoseismology in steep terrain: The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault, Transverse Ranges, California

Transpressional tectonics are typically associated with restraining bends on major active strike-slip faults, resulting in uplift and steep terrain. This produces dynamic erosional and depositional conditions and difficulties for established lines of palaeoseismological investigation. Consequently, in these areas data are lacking to determine tectonic behaviour and future hazard potential along these important fault segments. The Big Bend of the San Andreas fault in the Transverse Ranges of southern California exemplifies these problems. However, landslides, probably seismically triggered, are widespread in the rugged terrain of the Big Bend. Fluvial reworking of these deposits rapidly produces geomorphic planes and lines that are markers for subsequent fault slip. The most useful are offset and abandoned stream channels, for these are relatively high precision markers for identifying individual faulting events. Palaeoseismological studies from the central Big Bend, involving ¹⁴C ages of charcoal fragments from trench exposures, illustrate these points and indicate that the past three faulting events, including the great 1857 earthquake, were relatively similar in scale, each producing offsets of about 7–7.5 m. The mean recurrence interval is 140–220 years. The pre-1857 event here may be the 1812 event documented south of the Big Bend or an event which took place probably between 1630 and 1690. Ground breakage in both events extended south of the Big Bend, unlike the 1857 event where rupture was skewed to the north. The preceding faulting event ruptured both to the north and south of the Big Bend and probably occurred between 1465 and 1495. All these events centred on the Big Bend and may be typical for this fault segment, suggesting that models of uniform long-term slip rates may not be applicable to the south-central San Andreas. A slip-rate estimate of 34–51 mm a^{− 1} for the central Big Bend, although uncertain, may also imply higher slip in the Big Bend and highlights difficulties in correlating slip-rates between sites with different tectonic settings. Slip rates on the San Andreas may increase within the broad compressional tectonics zone of the Big Bend, compared to the north and south where the plate boundary is a relatively linear and sub-parallel series of dominantly strike-slip faults. Partitioning slip within the Big Bend is inherently uncertain and insufficient suitably comparable data are available to sustain a uniform slip model, although such models are a common working assumption.     

Four-dimensional transform fault processes: progressive evolution of step-overs and bends

Many bends or step-overs along strike–slip faults may evolve by propagation of the strike–slip fault on one side of the structure and progressive shut-off of the strike–slip fault on the other side. In such a process, new transverse structures form, and the bend or step-over region migrates with respect to materials that were once affected by it. This process is the progressive asymmetric development of a strike–slip duplex. Consequences of this type of step-over evolution include: (1) the amount of structural relief in the restraining step-over or bend region is less than expected; (2) pull-apart basin deposits are left outside of the active basin; and (3) local tectonic inversion occurs that is not linked to regional plate boundary kinematic changes. This type of evolution of step-overs and bends may be common along the dextral San Andreas fault system of California; we present evidence at different scales for the evolution of bends and step-overs along this fault system. Examples of pull-apart basin deposits related to migrating releasing (right) bends or step-overs are the Plio-Pleistocene Merced Formation (tens of km along strike), the Pleistocene Olema Creek Formation (several km along strike) along the San Andreas fault in the San Francisco Bay area, and an inverted colluvial graben exposed in a paleoseismic trench across the Miller Creek fault (meters to tens of meters along strike) in the eastern San Francisco Bay area. Examples of migrating restraining bends or step-overs include the transfer of slip from the Calaveras to Hayward fault, and the Greenville to the Concord fault (ten km or more along strike), the offshore San Gregorio fold and thrust belt (40 km along strike), and the progressive transfer of slip from the eastern faults of the San Andreas system to the migrating Mendocino triple junction (over 150 km along strike). Similar 4D evolution may characterize the evolution of other regions in the world, including the Dead Sea pull-apart, the Gulf of Paria pull-apart basin of northern Venezuela, and the Hanmer and Dagg basins of New Zealand.     

An archaeoseismic approach and method for the study of active strike-slip faults

The use of archaeology to study earthquake hazards provides a human dimension to an issue of modern societal concern. We developed an archaeoseismic approach to the study of prehistoric earthquakes on active strike-slip faults. This approach employs a combination of standard archaeological and paleoseismic techniques. We have successfully applied this approach and its attendant methods to an archaeological site that straddles and has been offset by the San Andreas fault in northern coastal California. Resultant fault parameters, including cumulative rate of slip and timing of the penultimate event, are comparable to results of strictly paleoseismic investigations at other sites on this fault. The archaeoseismic approach furnishes a number of advantages over geologic studies in terms of the availability and number of potential study sites, the abundance of datable materials, and the array of potential piercing features with which to constrain fault history. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Correlation of clayey gouge in a surface exposure of serpentinite in the San Andreas Fault with gouge from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD)

Magnesium-rich clayey gouge similar to that comprising the two actively creeping strands of the San Andreas Fault in drill core from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) has been identified in a nearby outcrop of serpentinite within the fault zone at Nelson Creek. Each occurrence of the gouge consists of porphyroclasts of serpentinite and sedimentary rocks dispersed in a fine-grained, foliated matrix of Mg-rich smectitic clays. The clay minerals in all three gouges are interpreted to be the product of fluid-assisted, shear-enhanced reactions between quartzofeldspathic wall rocks and serpentinite that was tectonically entrained in the fault from a source in the Coast Range Ophiolite. We infer that the gouge at Nelson Creek connects to one or both of the gouge zones in the SAFOD core, and that similar gouge may occur at depths in between. The special significance of the outcrop is that it preserves the early stages of mineral reactions that are greatly advanced at depth, and it confirms the involvement of serpentinite and the Mg-rich phyllosilicate minerals that replace it in promoting creep along the central San Andreas Fault.     

Geology of the Lick Observatory Quadrangle,California

The Lick Observatory 7.5-minute quadrangle exposes evidence of geologic events that range from subduction of Mesozoic Franciscan Complex, through accumulation of marine Miocene porcellanite and clastics, to the development of the San Andreas fault system and deformation within it. The active Calaveras fault zone, with its linear valleys and subparallel strike-slip strands, transects the quadrangle and, northwest of San Filipe Valley, joins and incorporates the older Madrone Springs fault. The topography has formed in the past 1 to 2 million years and rises northeastward from the East Evergreen range-front thrust, across the Calaveras and several inferred mountain-building faults, to the 1280 m crest of Mt. Hamilton.

The stratigraphy includes coherent, variously schistose metagraywacke of the late Mesozoic Franciscan Complex; discordant zones of melange of sheared shale and blocks that include blueschist and eclogite; serpentine that may represent the Coast Range Ophiolite; relatively undeformed sandstone, shale, and conglomerate of the late Mesozoic Great Valley sequence; marine Miocene Claremont Porcellanite, mudstone, and Briones Sandstone; and deformed nonmarine gravels of the Pleistocene and Pliocene Santa Clara Formation.

The Franciscan sandstones are complexly deformed and discordantly transected by tectonically emplaced melange zones; a local chert mass marks the remnant of a discordantly overlying thrust sheet. Southwest of the Calaveras zone, folded Miocene rocks are faulted over the more strongly deformed Great Valley sequence. Those rocks, in turn, are thrust over small windows of Franciscan rock, and the entire mountain mass is thrust over Santa Clara gravels at the foot of the range. These latter structures postdate the 3.5 Ma imposition of compression across the plate margin suggested by plate tectonic reconstructions.     

Continuation of the San Andreas fault system into the upper mantle: Evidence from spinel peridotite xenoliths in the Coyote Lake basalt, central California

The Coyote Lake basalt, located near the intersection of the Hayward and Calaveras faults in central California, contains spinel peridotite xenoliths from the mantle beneath the San Andreas fault system. Six upper mantle xenoliths were studied in detail by a combination of petrologic techniques. Temperature estimates, obtained from three two-pyroxene geothermometers and the Al-in-orthopyroxene geothermometer, indicate that the xenoliths equilibrated at 970–1100 °C. A thermal model was used to estimate the corresponding depth of equilibration for these xenoliths, resulting in depths between 38 and 43 km. The lattice preferred orientation of olivine measured in five of the xenolith samples show strong point distributions of olivine crystallographic axes suggesting that fabrics formed under high-temperature conditions. Calculated seismic anisotropy values indicate an average shear wave anisotropy of 6%, higher than the anisotropy calculated from xenoliths from other tectonic environments. Using this value, the anisotropic layer responsible for fault-parallel shear wave splitting in central California is less than 100 km thick. The strong fabric preserved in the xenoliths suggests that a mantle shear zone exists below the Calaveras fault to a depth of at least 40 km, and combining xenolith petrofabrics with shear wave splitting studies helps distinguish between different models for deformation at depth beneath the San Andrea fault system.     

与大型走滑断裂相关的旋转

与大型走滑断裂有关的旋转一方面起因于断裂带的大规模走滑,另一方面也与大断裂带内部及外围次级断裂系的水平运动密切相关.尽管前人提出了一些有关断裂带走滑与旋转的动力学模式,但由于不同走滑断裂系变形环境及边界条件的差异,断裂走滑导致块体旋转的机制是非常复杂的,很难用统一的动力学模式来解释.对美国西海岸圣安德列斯断裂、美国盆岭区Lake Mead断裂系、中国西南哀牢山-红河走滑断裂系以及新西兰Alpine断裂带、土耳其北安那托利亚断裂等的研究结果均表明,在断裂带走滑过程中,相关构造及块体的旋转非常明显.运用古地磁学、磁组构、构造分析、高精度GPS监测及构造模拟等方法,可以对这些构造及块体的旋转方向和幅度进行研究.由于大规模旋转会导致构造格局及地质地貌特征的改变,因此在走滑断裂带的研究中必须加以重视.     

Spatial radon anomalies on active faults in California

Radon emanation has been observed to be anomalously high along active faults in many parts of the world. We tested this relationship by conducting and repeating soil-air radon surveys with a portable radon meter across several faults in California. The results confirm the existence of fault-associated radon anomalies, which show characteristic features that may be related to fault structures but vary in time due to other environmental changes, such as rainfall. Across two creeping faults in San Juan Bautista and Hollister, the radon anomalies showed prominent double peaks straddling the fault-gouge zone during dry summers, but the peak-to-background ratios diminished after significant rain fall during winter. Across a locked segment of the San Andreas fault near Olema, the anomaly has a single peak located several meters southwest of the slip zone associated with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Across two fault segments that ruptured during the magnitude 7.5 Landers earthquake in 1992, anomalously high radon concentration was found in the fractures three weeks after the earthquake. We attribute the fault-related anomalies to a slow vertical gas flow in or near the fault zones. Radon generated locally in subsurface soil has a concentration profile that increases three orders of magnitude from the surface to a depth of several meters; thus an upward flow that brings up deeper and radon-richer soil air to the detection level can cause a significantly higher concentration reading. This explanation is consistent with concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen, measured in soil-air samples collected during one of the surveys.     

Three-dimensional mechanical modeling of large-scale crustal deformation in China constrained by the GPS velocity field

We present a quantitative model for the crustal movement in China with respect to the Eurasia plate by using the three-dimensional finite element code ADELI. The model consists of an elastoplastic upper lithosphere and a viscoelastic lower lithosphere. The lithosphere is supported by the hydrostatic pressure at its base. The India–Eurasia collision is modeled as a velocity boundary condition. Ten large-scale faults are introduced as Coulomb-type frictional zones in the modeling. The values for the root mean square (RMS) of the east and north velocity components differences (RMS(Ue) and RMS(Un)), which are between the observation and the prediction, are regarded as the measurements to evaluate our simulations. We model the long-term crustal deformation in China by adjusting the faults frictions ranged from 0.01 to 0.5 and considering the effects resulted from lithospheric viscosity variation and topographic loading. Our results suggest most of the large-scale faults frictions are not larger than 0.1, which is consistent with other large-scale faults such as the North Anatolian fault (Provost, A.S., Chery, J., Hassani, R., 2003. Three-dimensional mechanical modeling of the GPS velocity field along the North Anatolian fault. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 209, 361–377) and the San Andreas fault (Mount, V.S., Suppe, J., 1987. State of stress near the San Andreas fault: implications for wrench tectonics. Geology, 15, 1143–1146). Further, we examine the effects on the long-term crustal deformation in China of three causes: the large-scale faults, lithospheric viscosity structure and topographic loading. Results indicate that the lithospheric viscosity structure and the topographic loading have important influences on the crustal deformation in China, while the influences caused by the large-scale faults are small. Although our simulations satisfactorily reproduce the general picture of crustal movement in China, there is a poor agreement between the model and the observed GPS velocity field in Sichuan–Yunnan area. It may result from our simple models such as that the faults are all vertical from model surface to bottom and that the effects caused by the subduction of Burma slab are neglected.