Late Quaternary deformation and slip rates in the northern San Andreas fault zone at Olema Valley, Marin County, California

Quaternary sedimentary deposits along the structural depression of the San Andreas fault (SAF) zone north of San Francisco in Marin County provide an excellent record of rates and styles of neotectonic deformation in a location near where the greatest amount of horizontal offset was measured after the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. A high-resolution gravity survey in the Olema Valley was used to determine the depth to bedrock and the thickness of sediment fill along and across the SAF valley. In the gravity profile across the SAF zone, Quaternary deposits are offset across the 1906 fault trace and truncated by the Western and Eastern Boundary faults, whose youthful activity was previously unknown. The gravity profile parallel to the fault valley shows a basement surface that slopes northward toward an area of present-day subsidence near the head of Tomales Bay. Surface and subsurface investigations of the late Pleistocene Olema Creek Formation (Qoc) indicate that this area of subsidence was located further south during deposition of the Qoc and that it has migrated northward since then. Localized subsidence has been replaced by localized contraction that has produced folding and uplift of the Qoc. This apparent alternation between transtension and transpression may be the result of a northward-diverging fault geometry of fault strands that includes the valley-bounding faults as well as the 1906 SAF trace. The Vedanta marsh is a smaller example of localized subsidence in the fault zone, between the 1906 SAF trace and the Western Boundary fault. Analyses of Holocene marsh sediments in cores and a paleoseismic trench indicate thickening, and probably tilting, toward the 1906 trace, consistent with coseismic deformation observed at the site following the 1906 earthquake.New age data and offset sedimentary and geomorphic features were used to calculate four late Quaternary slip rate estimates for the SAF at this latitude. Luminescence dates of 112–186 ka for the middle part of the Olema Creek Formation (Qoc), the oldest Quaternary deposit in this part of the valley, suggest a late Pleistocene slip rate of 17–35 mm/year, which replaces the unit to a position adjacent to its sediment source area. A younger alluvial fan deposit (Qqf; basal age 30 ka) is exposed in a quarry along the medial ridge of the fault valley. This fan deposit has been truncated on its western side by dextral SAF movement, and west-side-down vertical movement that has created the Vedanta marsh. Paleocurrent measurements, clast compositions, sediment facies distributions, and soil characteristics show that the Bear Valley Creek drainage, now located northwest of the site, supplied sediment to the fan, which is now being eroded. Restoration of the drainage to its previous location provides an estimated slip rate of 25 mm/year. Furthermore, the Bear Valley Creek drainage probably created a water gap located north of the Qqf deposit during the last glacial maximum 18 ka. The amount of offset between the drainage and the water gap yields an average slip rate of 21–30 mm/year. Finally, displacement of a 1000-year-old debris lobe approximately 20 m from its hillside hollow along the medial ridge indicates a minimum late Holocene slip rate of 21–25 mm/year. Similarity of the late Pleistocene rates to the Holocene slip rate, and to previous rates obtained in paleoseismic trenches in the area, indicates that the rates may not have changed over the past 30 ka, and perhaps the past 200–400 ka. Stratigraphic and structural observations also indicate that valley-bounding faults were active in the late Pleistocene and suggest the need for further study to evaluate their continued seismic potential.     

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.     

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.     

Salinia revisited: a crystalline nappe sequence lying above the Nacimiento fault and dispersed along the San Andreas fault system,central California

Salinia, as originally defined, is a fault-bounded terrane in westcentral California. As defined, Salinia lies between the Nacimiento fault on the west, and the Northern San Andreas fault (NSAF) and the main trace of the dextral SAF system on the east. This allochthonous terrane was translated from the southern part of the Sierra Nevada batholith and adjacent western Mojave Desert region by Neogene-Quaternary displacement along the SAF system. The Salina crystalline basement formed a westward promontory in the SW Cordilleran Cretaceous batholithic belt, relative to the Sierra Nevada batholith to the north and the Peninsular Ranges batholith to the south, making Salinia batholithic rocks susceptible to capture by the Pacific plate when the San Andreas transform system developed. Proper restoration of offsets on all branches of the San Andreas system is a critical factor in understanding the Salinia problem. When cumulative dextral slip of 171 km (106 mi) along the Hosgri–San Simeon–San Gregorio–Pilarcitos fault zone (S–N), or dextral slip of 200 km (124 mi) along the Hosgri–San Simeon–San Gregorio–Pilarcitos–northern San Andreas fault system, is added to the cumulative dextral slip of 315–322 km (196–200 mi) along the main trace of the SAF north of the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains, central California, there is a minimum amount of cumulative dextral slip of 486 km (302 mi) or a maximum amount of cumulative dextral slip of 522 km (324 mi) along the entire SAF system north of the Tehachapi Mountains. When these sums are compared with the offset distance (610–675 km or 379–420 mi) between the batholithic rocks associated with the Navarro structural discontinuity (NSD) in northern California, and those in the ‘tail’ of the southern Sierra Nevada granitic rocks in the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains, central California, a minimum deficit of from ～100 km (～62 mi) to a maximum deficit of ～189 km (～118 mi) is needed to restore the crystalline rocks associated with the NSD with the crystalline terranes within the San Emigdio and Tehachapi mountains – the enigma of Salinia. Two principal geologic models compete to explain the enigma (i.e. the discrepancy between measured dextral slip along traces of the SAF system and the amount of separation between the Sierra Nevada batholithic rocks near Point Arena in northern California and the Mesozoic and older crystalline rocks in the San Emigdio and Tehachapi mountains in southern California). (i) One model proposes pre-Neogene (>23 Ma), Late Cretaceous or Maastrichtian (<ca. 71 Ma) to early Palaeocene or Danian (ca. 66 Ma) sinistral slip of 500–600 km (311–373 mi) along the Nacimiento fault and of the western flank of Salinia from the eastern flank of the Peninsular Ranges (sinistral slip but in the opposite sense to later Neogene (<23 Ma) dextral slip along and within the SAF system. (ii) A second model proposes that the crystalline rocks of Salinia comprise a series of 100 km- (60 mi-) scale allochthonous (extensional) nappes that rode southwestward above the Rand schist–Sierra de Salinas (SdS) shear zone subduction extrusion channels. The allochthonous nappes are from NW–SE: (i) Farallon Islands–Santa Cruz Mountains–Montara Mountain, and adjacent batholithic fragments that appear to have been derived from the top of the deep-level Sierra Nevada batholith of the western San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains; (ii) the Logan Quarry–Loma Prieta Peak fragments that appear to have been derived from the top of a buried detachment fault that forms the basement surface beneath the Maricopa sub-basin of the southernmost Great Valley; (iii) The Pastoria plate–Gabilan Range massif that appears to have been derived from the top of the deep-level SE Sierra Nevada batholith; and (iv) the Santa Lucia–SdS massif, which appears to be lower batholithic crust and underlying extruded schist that were breached westwards from the central to western Mojave Desert region. In this model, lower crustal batholithic blocks underwent ductile stretching above the extrusion channel schists, while mid- to upper-crustal level rocks rode southwestwards and westwards along trenchward dipping detachment faults. Salinian basement rocks of the Santa Lucia Range and the Big Sur area record the most complete geologic history of the displaced terrane. The oldest rocks consist of screens of Palaeozoic marine metasedimentary rocks (the Sur Series), including biotite gneiss and schist, quartzite, granulite gneiss, granofels, and marble. The Sur Series was intruded during Cretaceous high-flux batholithic magmatism by granodiorite, diorite, quartz diorite, and at deepest levels, charnockitic tonalite. Local nonconformable remnants of Campanian–Maastrichtian marine strata lie on the deep-level Salinia basement, and record deposition in an extensional setting. These Cretaceous strata are correlated with the middle to upper Campanian Pigeon Point (PiP) Formation south of San Francisco. The Upper Cretaceous strata, belonging to the Great Valley Sequence, include clasts of the basement rocks and felsic volcanic clasts that in Late Cretaceous time were brought to a coastal region by streams and rivers from Mesozoic felsic volcanic rocks in the Mojave Desert. The Rand and SdS schists of southern California were underplated beneath the southern Sierra Nevada batholith and the adjacent Salinia-Mojave region along a shallow segment of the subducting Farallon plate during Late Cretaceous time. The subduction trajectory of these schists concluded with an abrupt extrusion phase. During extrusion, the schists were transported to the SW from deep- to shallow-crustal levels as the low-angle subduction megathrust surface was transformed into a mylonitic low-angle normal fault system (i.e. Rand fault and Salinas shear zone). The upper batholithic plate(s) was(ere) partially coupled to the extrusion flow pattern, which resulted in 100 km-scale westward displacements of the upper plate(s). Structural stacking, temporal and metamorphic facies relations suggest that the Nacimiento (subduction megathrust) fault formed beneath the Rand-SdS extrusion channel. Metamorphic and structural relations in lower plate Franciscan rocks beneath the Nacimiento fault suggest a terminal phase of extrusion as well, during which the overlying Salinia underwent extension and subsidence to marine conditions. Westward extrusion of the subduction-underplated rocks and their upper batholithic plates rendered these Salinia rocks susceptible to subsequent capture by the SAF system. Evidence supporting the conclusion that the Nacimiento fault is principally a megathrust includes: (i) shear planes of the Nacimiento fault zone in the westcentral Coast Ranges locally dip NE at low angles. (ii) Klippen and/or faulted klippen are locally present along the trace of the Nacimiento fault zone from the Big Creek–Vicente Creek region south of Point Sur near Monterey, to east of San Simeon near San Luis Obispo in central California. Allochthonous detachment sheets and windows into their underplated schists comprise a composite Salinia terrane. The nappe complex forming the allochthon of Salinia was translated westward and northwestward ～100 km (～62 mi) above the Nacimiento megathrust or Franciscan subduction megathrust from SE California between ca. 66 and ca. 61 Ma (i.e. latest Cretaceous–earliest Palaeocene time). Much, or all, of the westward breaching of the Salinia batholithic rocks likely occurred above the extrusion channels of the Rand-SdS schists; following this event, the Franciscan Sur-Obispo terrane was thrust beneath the schists, perhaps during the final stages of extrusion in the upper channel. Later, the Sur-Obispo terrane was partially extruded from beneath the Salinia nappe terrane, during which time the upper plate(s) underwent extension and subsidence to marine conditions. Attenuation of the Salinia nappe sequence during the extrusion of the Franciscan Complex thinned the upper crust, making the upper plates susceptible to erosion from the top of the Franciscan Complex near San Simeon, where it is now exposed. In the San Emigdio Mountains, the relatively thin structural thickness of the upper batholithic plates made them susceptible to late Cenozoic flexural folding and disruption by high-angle dip–slip faults. The ～100 km (～62 mi) of westward and northwestward breaching of the Salinia batholithic rocks above the Rand-SdS channels, and the underlying Nacimiento fault followed by ～510 km (～320 mi) of dextral slip from ～23 Ma to Holocene time along the SAF system, allow for the palinspastic restoration of Salinia with the crystalline rocks of the San Emigdio–Tehachapi mountains and the Mojave terrane, resolving the enigma of Salinia.     

Refining the image of the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield, California using a finite difference travel time computation technique

The Parkfield Area Seismic Observatory (PASO) was a dense, telemetered seismic array that operated for nearly 2 years in a 15 km aperture centered on the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) drill site. The main objective of this deployment was to refine the locations of earthquakes that will serve as potential targets for SAFOD drilling and in the process develop a high (for passive seismological techniques) resolution image of the fault zone structure. A challenging aspect of the analysis of this data set was the known existence of large (20–25%) contrasts in seismic wavespeed across the San Andreas Fault. The resultant distortion of raypaths could challenge the applicability of approximate ray tracing techniques. In order to test the sensitivity of our hypocenter locations and tomographic image to the particular ray tracing and inversion technique employed, we compare an initial determination of locations and structure developed using a coarse grid and an approximate ray tracer [Thurber, C., Roecker, S., Roberts, K., Gold, M., Powell, M.L. , and Rittger, K., 2003. Earthquake locations and three-dimensional fault zone structure along the creeping section of the San Andreas fault near Parkfield, CA: Preparing for SAFOD, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30 3, 10.1029/2002GL016004.] with one derived from a relatively fine grid and an application of a finite difference algorithm [Hole, J.A., and Zelt, B.C., 1995. 3-D finite-difference reflection traveltimes, Geophys. J. Int., 121, 2, 427–434.]. In both cases, we inverted arrival-time data from about 686 local earthquakes and 23 shots simultaneously for earthquake locations and three-dimensional Vp and Vp/Vs structure. Included are data from an active source seismic experiment around the SAFOD site as well as from a vertical array of geophones installed in the 2-km-deep SAFOD pilot hole, drilled in summer 2002. Our results show that the main features of the original analysis are robust: hypocenters are located beneath the trace of the fault in the vicinity of the drill site and the positions of major contrasts in wavespeed are largely the same. At the same time, we determine that shear wave speeds in the upper 2 km of the fault zone are significantly lower than previously estimated, and our estimate of the depth of the main part of the seismogenic zone decreases in places by  100 m. Tests using “virtual earthquakes” (borehole receiver gathers of picks for surface shots) indicate that our event locations near the borehole currently are accurate to about a few tens of meters horizontally and vertically.     

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.     

活动断裂带岩石的变形机制和摩擦性质—以圣·安德列斯断层为例

岩石的变形机制和力学性质对认识活动断裂带的孕震机制和发震过程都具有重要意义。圣·安德列斯（San Andreas）转换断层是太平洋板块与北美板块的构造边界,也是重要的地震活动带,总结了美国南加州地震中心对圣·安德列斯断层钻孔断层岩的研究进展。对断层泥的高速摩擦实验发现：动力弱化现象只在高速滑移时才发生,伴随着摩擦生热,岩石的摩擦系数显著降低。断层泥中富镁黏土矿物的富集可以显著降低断层的摩擦系数,促进蠕滑,黏土矿物的不均一分布可导致断裂带变形行为和地震分布的突变。与断层泥和碎裂岩不同,粉碎岩形成于快速传播地震的断裂端部,具高孔隙率和高渗透率,流体活动性强。此外,断层岩的有机质成熟度可用来追溯古地震造成的热异常。在川滇中国地震科学实验场开展科学钻探项目,研究断层岩样品的显微结构、物理性质和变形历史,以期为理解大陆汇聚与转换挤压过程中复杂的地震活动提供重要信息。     

Hydrothermal frictional strengths of rock and mineral samples relevant to the creeping section of the San Andreas Fault

We compare frictional strengths in the temperature range 25–250 °C of fault gouge from SAFOD (CDZ and SDZ) with quartzofeldspathic wall rocks typical of the central creeping section of the San Andreas Fault (Great Valley sequence and Franciscan Complex). The Great Valley and Franciscan samples have coefficients of friction, μ > 0.35 at all experimental conditions. Strength is unchanged between 25° and 150 °C, but μ increases at higher temperatures, exceeding 0.50 at 250 °C. Both samples are velocity strengthening at room temperature but show velocity-weakening behavior beginning at 150 °C and stick-slip motion at 250 °C. These rocks, therefore, have the potential for unstable seismic slip at depth. The CDZ gouge, with a high saponite content, is weak (μ = 0.09–0.17) and velocity strengthening in all experiments, and μ decreases at temperatures above 150 °C. Behavior of the SDZ is intermediate between the CDZ and wall rocks: μ < 0.2 and does not vary with temperature. Although saponite is probably not stable at depths greater than ∼3 km, substitution of the frictionally similar minerals talc and Mg-rich chlorite for saponite at higher temperatures could potentially extend the range of low strength and stable slip down to the base of the seismogenic zone.     

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.     

Quaternary crustal deformation along a major branch of the San Andreas fault in central California

Deformed marine terraces and alluvial deposits record Quaternary crustal deformation along segments of a major, seismically active branch of the San Andreas fault which extends 190 km SSE roughly parallel to the California coastline from Bolinas Lagoon to the Point Sur area. Most of this complex fault zone lies offshore (mapped by others using acoustical techniques), but a 4-km segment (Seal Cove fault) near Half Moon Bay and a 26-km segment (San Gregorio fault) between San Gregorio and Point Ano Nuevo lie onshore.At Half Moon Bay, right-lateral slip and N—S horizontal compression are expressed by a broad, synclinal warp in the first (lowest: 125 ka?) and second marine terraces on the NE side of the Seal Cove fault. This structure plunges to the west at an oblique angle into the fault plane. Linear, joint0controlled stream courses draining the coastal uplands are deflected toward the topographic depression along the synclinal axis where they emerge from the hills to cross the lowest terrace. Streams crossing the downwarped part of this terrace adjacent to Half Moon Bay are depositing alluvial fans, whereas streams crossing the uplifted southern limb of the syncline southwest of the bay are deeply incised. Minimum crustal shortening across this syncline parallel to the fault is 0.7% over the past 125 ka, based on deformation of the shoreline angle of the first terrace.Between San Gregorio and Point Ano Nuevo the entire fault zone is 2.5–3.0 km wide and has three primary traces or zones of faulting consisting of numerous en-echelon and anastomozing secondary fault traces. Lateral discontinuities and variable deformation of well-preserved marine terrace sequences help define major structural blocks and document differential motions in this area and south to Santa Cruz. Vertical displacement occurs on all of the fault traces, but is small compared to horizontal displacement. Some blocks within the fault zone are intensely faulted and steeply tilted. One major block 0.8 km wide east of Point Ano Nuevo is downdropped as much as 20 m between two primary traces to form a graben presently filling with Holocene deposits. Where exposed in the sea cliff, these deposits are folded into a vertical attitude adjacent to the fault plane forming the south-west margin of the graben. Near Point Ano Nuevo sedimentary deposits and fault rubble beneath a secondary high-angle reverse fault record three and possibly six distinct offset events in the past 125 ka.The three primary fault traces offset in a right-lateral sense the shoreline angles of the two lowest terraces east of Point Ano Nuevo. The rates of displacement on the three traces are similar. The average rate of horizontal offset across the entire zone is between 0.63 and 1.30 cm/yr, based on an amino-acid age estimate of 125 ka for the first terrace, and a reasonable guess of 200–400 ka for the second terrace. Rates of this magnitude make up a significant part of the deficit between long-term relative plate motions (estimated by others to be about 6 cm/yr) and present displacement rates along other parts of the San Andreas fault system (about 3.2 cm/yr).Northwestward tilt and convergence of six marine terraces northeast of Ano Nuevo (southwest side of the fault zone) indicate continuous gentle warping associated with right-lateral displacement since early or middle Pleistocene time. Minimum local crustal shortening of this block parallel to the fault is 0.2% based on tilt of the highest terrace. Five major, evenly spaced terraces southeast of Ano Nuevo on the southwest flank of Mt. Ben Lomond (northeast side of the fault zone) rise to an elevation of 240 m, indicating relatively constant uplift (about 0.19 m/ka and southwestward tilt since Early or Middle Pleistocene time (Bradley and Griggs, 1976).     

Neogene non-marine sedimentation and tectonics in small pull-apart basins of the San Andreas fault system, Sonoma County, California

The San Andreas fault system in northern California forms an 80–90 km wide zone of right-lateral shear. Extensional tectonism within this broad shear zone is indicated by both Neogene silicic volcanic rocks that gradually young in the direction of shear propagation to the north-west and by numerous Neogene faultbounded structural basins filled with thick non-marine sequences. The Little Sulphur Creek basins, three well-exposed 1·5–2 km wide pull apart basins within this shear system, have sedimentation patterns analogous to those of much larger pull-apart basins. They were formed and subsequently deformed by east-west extension and by north-west to south-east-orientated right-slip concurrently with basin filling. Palaeocurrent and maximum-clast size data indicate both lateral sediment transport from fault-bounded basin margins and longitudinal transport down the basin axes. The basins are filled primarily with coarse alluvial-fan and streamflow deposits derived from a surrounding igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic provenance. Two of the basins contain basin-plain-type lacustrine turbidites that grade laterally into distal alluvial fan, fan-delta, and sublacustrine delta deposits. Talus deposits along the south-west margin of the basins contain megabreccia indicative of active uplift. Structures indicative of dewatering, liquefaction, and slumping suggest penecontemporaneous tectonism.     

Application of geomorphic analysis and ground-penetrating radar to characterization of paleoseismic sites in dynamic alluvial environments: an example from southern California

Selecting paleoseismic sites in dynamic, range-front environments can be difficult, because they are sites of rapid deposition and poor preservation of coarse-grained, channelized alluvium. The most obvious tectonic landforms, tall scarps, are often too old to constrain sequences of specific rupture events. The faulted deposits that do provide maximum and minimum earthquake ages, however, are often buried or masked by erosion in active drainage channels. Subsurface images of stratigraphic and structural relationships at multiple sites are useful prior to excavation. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is an effective tool for locating sites suitable for trenching studies. We illustrate the utility of GPR with a case study of a thrust fault in southern California.     

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.     

皖东五河—凤阳地区钱台子金矿床黄铁矿标型特征及S-Pb同位素组成

岩石的变形机制和力学性质对认识活动断裂带的孕震机制和发震过程都具有重要意义。圣·安德列斯（San Andreas）转换断层是太平洋板块与北美板块的构造边界,也是重要的地震活动带,总结了美国南加州地震中心对圣·安德列斯断层钻孔断层岩的研究进展。对断层泥的高速摩擦实验发现：动力弱化现象只在高速滑移时才发生,伴随着摩擦生热,岩石的摩擦系数显著降低。断层泥中富镁黏土矿物的富集可以显著降低断层的摩擦系数,促进蠕滑,黏土矿物的不均一分布可导致断裂带变形行为和地震分布的突变。与断层泥和碎裂岩不同,粉碎岩形成于快速传播地震的断裂端部,具高孔隙率和高渗透率,流体活动性强。此外,断层岩的有机质成熟度可用来追溯古地震造成的热异常。在川滇中国地震科学实验场开展科学钻探项目,研究断层岩样品的显微结构、物理性质和变形历史,以期为理解大陆汇聚与转换挤压过程中复杂的地震活动提供重要信息。     

Carbon–oxygen isotope and trace element constraints on how fluids percolate faulted limestones from the San Andreas Fault system: partitioning of fluid sources and pathways

Understanding the way fluids flow in fault zones is of prime importance to develop correct models of earthquake mechanics, especially in the case of the abnormally weak San Andreas Fault (SAF) system. Because fluid flow can leave detectable signatures in rocks, geochemistry is essential to bring light on this topic. The present detailed study combines, for the first time, C–O isotope analyses with a comprehensive trace element data set to examine the geometry of fluid flow within a significant fault system hosted by a carbonate sequence, from a single locality across the Little Pine Fault–SAF system. Such a fault zone contains veins, deformation zones, and their host rocks. Stable isotope geochemistry is used to establish a relative scale of integrated fluid–rock ratios. Carbonate δ¹⁸O varies between 28‰ and 15‰ and δ¹³C between 5‰ and −7‰. From highest to lowest delta values, thus from least to most infiltrated, are the host rocks, the vein fillings, and the deformation zone fillings, respectively. Infiltration increases toward fault core. The fluids are H₂O–CO₂ mixtures. Two fluid sources, one internal and the other external, are found. The external fluid is inferred to come essentially from metamorphism of the Franciscan formation underneath. The internal (local) fluid is provided by a 30% volume reduction of the host limestones resulting from pressure solution and pore size reduction. Most trace elements, including the lanthanides, show enrichment at the 100-m scale in host carbonate rocks as fluid–rock ratios increase toward the fault core. In contrast, the same trace element concentrations are low, relative to host rocks, in veins and deformation zone carbonate fillings, and this difference in concentration increases as fluid–rock ratio increases toward the fault core. We suggest that the fluid trace elements are scavenged by complexation with organic matter in the host rocks. Elemental complexation is especially illustrated by large fractionation of Y–Ho and Nb–Ta geochemical pairs. Complexation associated with external fluid flow has a significant effect on trace element enrichment (up to 700% relative enrichment) while concentration by pressure solution associated with volume decrease of host rocks has a more limited effect (up to 40% relative enrichment). Our observations from the millimeter to the kilometer scale call for the partitioning of fluid sources and pathways, and for a mixed focused–pervasive fluid flow mechanism. The fluid mainly flows within veins and deformation zones and, simultaneously, within at least 10 cm from these channels, part of the fluid flows pervasively in the host rock, which controls the fluid composition. Scavenging of the fluid rare earth elements (REE) by host rocks is responsible for the formation of REE-depleted vein and deformation zone carbonate fillings. Fluid flow is not only restricted to veins or deformation zones as commonly believed. An important part of fluid flow takes place in host rocks near fault zones. Hence, the nature of the lithologies hosting fault zones must be considered in order to take into account the role of fluids in the seismic cycle.     

Paleoliquefaction study of the Clarendon–Linden fault system, western New York State

The lack of earthquake-induced liquefaction features in Late Wisconsin and Holocene sediments in Genesee, Wyoming, and Allegany Counties suggests that the Clarendon–Linden fault system (CLF) did not generate large, moment magnitude, M≥6 earthquakes during the past 12,000 years. Given that it was the likely source of the 1929 M 4.9 Attica earthquake, however, the Clarenden–Linden fault system probably is capable of producing future M5 events. During this study, we reviewed newspaper accounts of the 1929 Attica earthquake, searched for earthquake-induced liquefaction features in sand and gravel pits and along tens of kilometers of river cutbanks, evaluated numerous soft-sediment deformation structures, compiled geotechnical data and performed liquefaction potential analysis of saturated sandy sediments. We found that the 1929 M 4.9 Attica earthquake probably did not induce liquefaction in its epicentral area and may have been generated by the western branch of the Clarendon–Linden fault system. Most soft-sediment deformation structures found during reconnaissance did not resemble earthquake-induced liquefaction features, and even the few that did could be attributed to non-seismic processes. Our analysis suggests that the magnitude threshold for liquefaction is between M 5.2 and 6, that a large (M≥6) earthquake would liquefy sediments at many sites in the area, and that a moderate earthquake (M 5–5.9) would liquefy sediments at some sites but perhaps not at enough sites to have been found during reconnaissance. We conclude that the Clarendon–Linden fault system could have produced small and moderate earthquakes, but probably not large events, during the Late Wisconsin and Holocene.     

Temporal trends in concentrations of DBCP and nitrate in groundwater in the eastern San Joaquin Valley,California, USA

Temporal monitoring of the pesticide 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) and nitrate and indicators of mean groundwater age were used to evaluate the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals in groundwater and to predict the long-term effects in the regional aquifer system in the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California. Twenty monitoring wells were installed on a transect along an approximate groundwater flow path. Concentrations of DBCP and nitrate in the wells were compared to concentrations in regional areal monitoring networks. DBCP persists at concentrations above the US Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) at depths of nearly 40 m below the water table, more than 25 years after it was banned. Nitrate concentrations above the MCL reached depths of more than 20 m below the water table. Because of the intensive pumping and irrigation recharge, vertical flow paths are dominant. High concentrations (above MCLs) in the shallow part of the regional aquifer system will likely move deeper in the system, affecting both domestic and public-supply wells. The large fraction of old water (unaffected by agricultural chemicals) in deep monitoring wells suggests that it could take decades for concentrations to reach MCLs in deep, long-screened public-supply wells, however.     

Geologic and geochemical study of the Picacho gold mine, California: gold in a low-angle normal fault environment

The Picacho gold deposit, located in southeasternmost California, is a low-grade gold deposit in a nearly flat-lying denudational fault of regional extent and probable Oligocene age. The deposit is hosted by intensely fractured and faulted Mesozoic leucogranite and by chloritic augen gneiss and schist, and is overlain unconformably and in fault contact by unmineralized late Oligocene Quechan volcanic rocks. The deposit is structurally characterized by normal and normal-oblique faults of low to high dip at shallow depths in the mine, merging downward with a synchronous, low-dipping ore-stage extensional fault system (the Chocolate Mountains/Gatuna Fault) of probable Oligocene age in deeper portions of the deposit. The fault system was infiltrated during much of its active life by hot, dilute, highly exchanged meteoric water having temperatures of 170°–210° C, salinity <2 wt% NaCl equivalent and calculated δ¹⁸O_fluid between −2.6‰ and 5.2‰. This main-stage fluid precipitated quartz, pyrite, and specular hematite, accompanied by silicification and sericitization. Auriferous ore-stage pyrite was precipitated late in the fault evolution probably by mixing of reducing ore fluid with relatively oxidized main-stage fluid during regional Oligocene extension on the Chocolate Mountains/Gatuna Fault. The Picacho deposit is characterized by a gold–arsenic–antimony geochemical signature consistent with bisulfide complexing of gold in reducing fluid, in contrast with typical denudation fault-hosted base-metal-rich deposits associated with high-salinity fluids elsewhere in the southwestern United States. The deposit is overprinted by Miocene normal faults having a wide range of dips. These postore faults are associated with red earthy hematite precipitation, pyrite oxidation, and supergene enrichment of gold. Editorial handling: L. Meinert     

Late Holocene earthquakes in southern Apennine: paleoseismology of the Caggiano fault

Although southern Apennines are characterized by the strongest crustal earthquakes of central-western Mediterranean region, local active tectonics is still poorly known, at least for seismogenic fault-recognition is concerned. Research carried out in the Maddalena Mts. (southeast of Irpinia, the region struck by the M _w=6.9, 1980 earthquake) indicates historical ruptures along a 17-km-long, N120° normal fault system (Caggiano fault). The system is characterized by a bedrock fault scarp carved in carbonate rocks, which continues laterally into a retreating and eroded smoothed scarp, affecting the clayey-siliciclastic units, and by smart scarps and discontinuous free-faces in Holocene cemented slope-debris and in modern alluvial fan deposits. The geometry of the structure in depth has been depicted by means of electrical resistivity tomography, while paleoseismic analysis carried out in three trenches revealed surface-faulting events during the past 7 ky BP (¹⁴C age), the latest occurred in the past 2 ky BP (¹⁴C age) and, probably, during/after slope-debris deposition related to the little ice age (∼1400–1800 a.d.). Preliminary evaluation accounts for minimum slip rates of 0.3–0.4 mm/year, which is the same order of rates estimated for many active faults along the Apennine chain. Associated earthquakes might be in the order of M _w=6.6, to be compared to the historical events occurred in the area (e.g., 1561 and 1857 p.p. earthquakes).     

活动断裂调查中的高分辨率遥感技术应用方法研究

郯庐断裂带是我国东部地区最为重要的大型活动断裂之一,具有较强的发震能力,断裂带沿线多处穿过人类活动及聚集的城市。为了研究郯庐断裂带的几何展布及活动性特征,选取郯庐断裂带的沂沭断裂莒县至郯城范围为研究对象,考虑东部地区植被覆盖,采用机载激光雷达和地基激光雷达手段采集了断裂带沿线左山(一步涧)段、钟华山段、岌山段、马陵山段以及蒋家岭等地高精度地形数据,对断裂的滑动分布特征进行分析。通过对测量得到的点云数据进行点云匹配、镶嵌、植物滤除以及不规则三角网建模处理,得到了0.1 m空间分辨率的数字高程模型(Digital Elevation Model,DEM),实现了对断裂微地貌形态的高清晰度三维再现,提取了断裂断错冲沟右旋水平位错量和断层陡坎垂直位错量,结合地质填图和探槽揭露的古地震事件进行验证和对比,对郯庐断裂带莒县至郯城段的断层活动特征进行了定量分析。结果表明,沿断裂带左山(一步涧)段、钟华山段、岌山段和马陵山段的水平和垂直位错量具有分级特征,晚第四纪以来可能发生过多期(3~5次)活动和多次古地震事件。研究成果为进一步研究郯庐断裂运动学和几何学提供了重要依据,同时也说明地基激光雷达和机载激光雷达技术在活动断层研究中有着广泛的应用前景。