Eastern Pacific spreading rate fluctuation and its relation to Pacific area volcanic episodes

Sea-floor spreading rates from four locations along the Nazca-Pacific plate boundary and one along the Juan de Fuca-Pacific plate boundary show variations over the past 2.4 m.y., with decreasing rates prior to the Jaramillo to Olduvai time interval (0.92–1.73 m.y. ago) and increasing rates since then. Other Pacific area volcanic phenomena in mid-plate and convergent-boundary settings also show minima about 1.3–1.5 m.y. ago and a maximum at present and another maximum about 5 m.y. ago: extrusion rates along the Hawaiian Ridge; volcanic episodes associated with calc-alkalic provinces of western Oregon and Central America; temporal variations in the SiO₂ content of Aleutian ash layers; and the number of deep-sea ash layers. These phenomena may fluctuate in response to changing spreading rates. During times of more rapid spreading increased shear and melting along lithospheric boundaries may occasion increased volcanic activity, whereas during times of less rapid spreading volcanic activity may be less intense.     

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.     

Recent crustal movements in the Sierra Nevada—Walker lane region of California—Nevada: Part i, rate and style of deformation

This review of geological, seismological, geochronological and paleobotanical data is made to compare historic and geologic rates and styles of deformation of the Sierra Nevada and western Basin and Range Provinces. The main uplift of this region began about 17 m.y. ago, with slow uplift of the central Sierra Nevada summit region at rates estimated at about 0.012 mm/yr and of western Basin and Range Province at about 0.01 mm/yr. Many Mesozoic faults of the Foothills fault system were reactivated with normal slip in mid-Tertiary time and have continued to be active with slow slip rates. Sparse data indicate acceleration of rates of uplift and faulting during the Late Cenozoic. The Basin and Range faulting appears to have extended westward during this period with a reduction in width of the Sierra Nevada.The eastern boundary zone of the Sierra Nevada has an irregular en-echelon pattern of normal and right-oblique faults. The area between the Sierra Nevada and the Walker Lane is a complex zone of irregular patterns of hörst and graben blocks and conjugate normal-to right- and left-slip faults of NW and NE trend, respectively. The Walker Lane has at least five main strands near Walker Lake, with total right-slip separation estimated at 48 km. The NE-trending left-slip faults are much shorter than the Walker Lane fault zone and have maximum separations of no more than a few kilometers. Examples include the 1948 and 1966 fault zone northeast of Truckee, California, the Olinghouse fault (Part III) and possibly the almost 200-km-long Carson Lineament.Historic geologic evidence of faulting, seismologic evidence for focal mechanisms, geodetic measurements and strain measurements confirm continued regional uplift and tilting of the Sierra Nevada, with minor internal local faulting and deformation, smaller uplift of the western Basin and Range Province, conjugate focal mechanisms for faults of diverse orientations and types, and a NS to NE—SW compression axis (σ₁) and an EW to NW—SE extension axis (σ₃).     

Recent crustal movements in the Central Sierra Nevada—Walker lane region of California—Nevada: Part ii, The pyramid lake right-slip fault zone segment of the Walker lane

The Pyramid Lake fault zone is within the Honey Lake—Walker Lake segment of the Walker Lane, a NW-trending zone of right-slip transcurrent faulting, which extends for more than 600 km from Las Vegas, Nevada, to beyond Honey Lake, California. Multiscale, multiformat analysis of Landsat imagery and large-scale (1: 12,000) lowsun angle aerial photography, delineated both regional and site-specific evidence for faults in Late Cenozoic sedimentary deposits southwest of Pyramid Lake. The fault zone is coincident with a portion of a distinct NW-trending topographic discontinuity on the Landsat mosaic of Nevada. The zone exhibits numerous geomorphic features characteristic of strike-slip fault zones, including: recent scarps, offset stream channels, linear gullies, elongate troughs and depressions, sag ponds, vegetation alignments, transcurrent buckles, and rhombohedral and wedge-shaped enclosed depressions. These features are conspicuously developed in Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary deposits and landforms.The Pyramid Lake shear zone has a maximum observable width of 5 km, defined by Riedel and conjugate Riedel shears with maximum observable lenghts of 10 and 3 km, respectively. P-shears have formed symmetrical to the Riedel shears and the principal displacement shears, or continuous horizontal shears, isolate elongate lenses of essentially passive material; most of the shears are inclined at an angle of approximately 4° to the principal direction of displacement. This suggests that the shear zone is in an early “PreResidual Structure” stage of evolution, with the principal deformation mechanism of direct shear replacing the kinematic restraints inherent in the strain field.Historic seismic activity includes microseismic events and may include the earthquake of about 1850 reported for the Pyramid Lake area with an estimated Richter magnitude of 7.0. Based on worldwide relations of earthquake magnitude to length of the zone of surface rupture, the Pyramid Lake fault zone is inferred to be capable of generating a 7.0–7.5-magnitude event for a maximum observable length of approximately 6 km and a 6.75–7.25-magnitude event for a half length of approximately 30 km.     

A study of the Rima Sirsalis lunar magnetic anomaly

The source of the lunar magnetic anomaly associated with the Rima Sirsalis linear rille has been modelled using the vector field intensities due to arbitrary uniform magnetization in a rectangular prism. It is shown that in order to match the Apollo 16 subsatellite data, the lunar surface near the rille must have a vertical magnetization of 6–9 × 10⁻³ G if the anomaly is due to flux leakage from a gap in the crust with the dimensions of the rille. This is more than one order of magnitude larger than the magnetization of any lunar sample, but is comparable with the high magnetization recently deduced for the Reiner γ formation in Oceanus Procellarum. An alternative explanation is that Rima Sirsalis and its surroundings are the site of a vertical magnetization contrast of 10⁻⁵ – 10⁻⁴ G which is at least as wide as the rille and extends to a depth of tens of kilometers in the crust. A wider magnetic source reduces the required magnetization (or depth) proportionately, since to first order the field at high altitude is proportional to the magnetic dipole moment per unit length.     

Effect of freeze—thaw cycles on resilient properties of fine-grained soils

Stress-deformation data for silt and clay subgrade soils were obtained from in-situ tests and laboratory tests, for use in mechanistic models for design of pavements that will experience freezing and thawing. Plate-bearing tests were run on in-service allbituminous-concrete (ABC) pavements constructed directly on silt subgrade, and on an experimental ABC pavement constructed on clay subgrade, applying repeated loads to the pavement surfaces while the subgrade was frozen, thawing, thawed, and fully recovered. The in-service pavement had experienced several seasons of natural cyclic freezing and thawing, while the experimental pavement was artificially frozen and thawed twice. Repeated-load laboratory triaxial compression tests were performed on the same soils in the frozen and thawed states.

Analysis of deflection data from the in-situ tests showed resilient moduli of the subgrade soils up to more than 10 GPa when frozen, as low as 2 MPa during the thawing period, and up to more than 100 MPa when fully recovered. Analysis of the laboratory tests, which gave moduli comparable to the latter values, showed that resilient modulus and Poisson's ratio in the thawed and recovering conditions can be expressed as a function of the stress state, the moisture content, and the dry density.     

Comparison of 10 years of oxygen isotope and insoluble impurity profiles from the Devon Island and Camp Century ice cores

Oxygen-isotope profiles for the Devon Island ice cap and Camp Century Greenland are affected by a number of variables, some of which must have been the same for both sites. The two δ(¹⁸O) records spanning about 120,000 years are brought into relative alignment by comparison of major δ features, and subsequent verification that the insoluble particulate concentration records were also in phase for this alignment. The difference between the δ profiles is shown to be mainly a function of the altitude of the accumulation area for Camp Century. This altitude seems to have been higher than present for the last 100,000 years, suggesting the present flow line through the site has never been shorter. The maximum altitude for the Camp Century accumulation area is 1500 m above the present site and is almost synchronous with the maximum in particulate concentration that occurs at 16,000 yr B.P. The synchronism is likely due to the maximum sea-level lowering that exposed vast areas of continental shelf to wind erosion.     

Application of infinite slope analysis to subaqueous sediment instability,Mississippi delta

Submarine landslides are described on very low angle slopes (0.5°–1.7°) in the Mississippi prodelta area and are evaluated using infinite slope analysis. For instability to occur, pore water pressure ratios in excess of hydrostatic (u/γ_wz) and approaching geostatic (u/γ′z) are needed. These calculated values, based on three sets of effective strength parameters and for two sediment depths to failure, are in close agreement with measured pore water pressure data from in situ piezometers. Ratios of (u/γ′z) as large as 0.986 have been monitored. Mud vents are also indicative of large internal pressures within the sediments, generated by rapid sedimentation, wave perturbation, and biogenic methane. The analysis suggests that the reduction in effective stress may be sufficient to cause failure by gravitational stresses alone.