Michael Oskin

Community Fault Model (CFM) for Southern California

We present a new three-dimensional model of the major fault systems in southern California. The model describes the San Andreas fault and associated strike- slip fault systems in the eastern California shear zone and Peninsular Ranges, as well as active blind-thrust and reverse faults in the Los Angeles basin and Transverse Ranges. The model consists of triangulated surface representations (t-surfs) of more than 140 active faults that are defined based on surfaces traces, seismicity, seismic reflection profiles, wells, and geologic cross sections and models. The majority of earthquakes, and more than 95% of the regional seismic moment release, occur along faults represented in the model. This suggests that the model describes a comprehen- sive set of major earthquake sources in the region. The model serves the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) as a unified resource for physics-based fault systems modeling, strong ground-motion prediction, and probabilistic seismic hazards assessment.

Rapid localization of Pacific–North America plate motion in the Gulf of California

Correlation of late Miocene volcaniclastic strata across the northern Gulf of California shows that the Pacific–North America plate boundary localized east of the Baja California peninsula ca. 6 Ma. Dextral offset of the 12.6 Ma Tuff of San Felipe and a pair of overlying ca. 6.3 Ma pyroclastic flows indicate at least 255 ± 10 km of displacement along an azimuth of 310°. Isopach and facies trends of the Tuff of San Felipe support no more than a few tens of kilometers of additional dextral displacement between 12.6 and 6.3 Ma. These constraints indicate that nearly all of the dextral displacement between the Pacific and North American plates prior to 6.3 Ma was accommodated outside of the gulf region, and by 4.7 Ma, the plate boundary motion was localized in the Gulf of California. Although continental extension has accounted for a component of plate boundary motion in northwestern Mexico since cessation of subduction offshore of southern Baja California at 12.5 Ma, transfer of Baja California to the Pacific plate was delayed by at least 6–7 m.y.

Near-Field Deformation from the El Mayor–Cucapah Earthquake Revealed by Differential LIDAR

Earthquakes from Above Preparing for risks and hazards associated with large earthquakes requires detailed understanding of their mechanical properties. In addition to pinpointing the location and magnitude of earthquakes, postmortem analyses of the extent of rupture and amount of deformation are key quantities, but are not simply available from seismological data alone. Using a type of optical remote sensing, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Oskin et al. (p. 702) surveyed the surrounding area that ruptured during the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake in Northern Mexico. Because this area had also been analyzed in 2006, a comparative analysis revealed slip rate and strain release on the shallow fault zone and a number of previously unknown faults. As remote imaging becomes cheaper and more common, differential analyses will continue to provide fault-related deformation data that complements modern seismological networks. Optical remote sensing before and after a large earthquake reveals its rupture dynamics. Large [moment magnitude (Mw) ≥ 7] continental earthquakes often generate complex, multifault ruptures linked by enigmatic zones of distributed deformation. Here, we report the collection and results of a high-resolution (≥nine returns per square meter) airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) topographic survey of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake that produced a 120-kilometer-long multifault rupture through northernmost Baja California, Mexico. This differential LIDAR survey completely captures an earthquake surface rupture in a sparsely vegetated region with pre-earthquake lower-resolution (5-meter–pixel) LIDAR data. The postevent survey reveals numerous surface ruptures, including previously undocumented blind faults within thick sediments of the Colorado River delta. Differential elevation changes show distributed, kilometer-scale bending strains as large as ~103 microstrains in response to slip along discontinuous faults cutting crystalline bedrock of the Sierra Cucapah.

Pacific-North America plate motion and opening of the Upper Delfin basin, northern Gulf of California, Mexico

Correlation of conjugate rifted margins of the Upper Delfin basin constrains the timing and amount of transtensional opening along the Pacific–North America plate boundary in the northern Gulf of California. Lithologic, geochemical, paleomagnetic, and geochronologic data from a set of four ignimbrites, consisting of eight distinctive cooling units, are shown to correlate from northeastern Baja California to Isla Tiburon and adjacent areas of western Sonora. These matching ignimbrites are the ca. 12.6 Ma tuff of San Felipe, the 6.3 ± 0.2 Ma tuffs of Mesa Cuadrada (Tmr3 and Tmr4), the tuffs of Dead Battery Canyon (Tmr5), and the 6.1 ± 0.5 Ma tuffs of Arroyo El Canelo. Offset distributions and facies patterns of these ignimbrites support 255 ± 10 km of opening between conjugate rifted margins of the Upper Delfin basin. Addition of deformation from the continental margins of this basin indicates at least 276 ± 13 km of Pacific–North America plate motion between coastal Sonora and the main gulf escarpment in Baja California since ca. 6 Ma; a further 20 ± 10 km of northwestward displacement of Isla Tiburon relative to coastal Sonora occurred sometime after 12.6 Ma. These reconstructions agree with earlier estimates of slip across the Gulf of California and on the San Andreas fault system of southern California, but require that the Pacific–North America plate boundary became localized in the gulf at ca. 6 Ma. The restored continental margins of the Upper Delfin basin show that only a 20–25 km width of upper continental crust has foundered beneath this part of the northern Gulf of California. This result suggests that most of the crustal area formed by opening of the Upper Delfin basin was either exhumed from lower-crustal levels or is new transitional oceanic crust.

Elevated shear zone loading rate during an earthquake cluster in eastern California

We compare geodetic velocity to geologic fault slip rates to show that tectonic loading was doubled across the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) during a cluster of major earthquake activity. New slip rates are presented for six dextral faults that compose the ECSZ in the central Mojave Desert. These rates were determined from displaced alluvial fans dated with cosmogenic 10 Be and from a displaced lava flow dated with 40 Ar/ 39 Ar. We find that the sum geologic Mojave ECSZ slip rate, ≤6.2 ± 1.9 mm/yr, is only half the present-day geodetically measured velocity of 12 ± 2 mm/yr. These rates account for cumulative fault slip and geodetic observations that span the 60-km-wide shear zone; therefore this difference cannot be attributed to postseismic relaxation. Redistribution of tectonic loading over the earthquake cycle at a regional scale suggests that earthquake clustering may be enhanced via feedback with weakening of ductile shear zones.

Marine incursion synchronous with plate-boundary localization in the Gulf of California

Volcanic strata on southwest Isla Tiburon define the age of interstratified marine rocks and, through revision of existing correlations, the age of the proto–Gulf of California marine incursion. A 5.7 ± 0.2 Ma ash flow was emplaced at the base of the marine section. A rhyodacite dike and its related lava flow, dated as 11.2 ± 1.3 Ma, 3.7 ± 0.9 Ma, and 4.2 ± 1.8 Ma, intrudes and overlies, respectively, the marine rocks. The 11.2 Ma age, which was the core datum for a middle Miocene proto–Gulf of California origin for the underlying rocks, is discordant with all other isotopic and microfossil ages. An alternative interpretation, utilizing all available geologic and geochronologic data except this discordant age, is that marine strata on Isla Tiburon are latest Miocene to early Pliocene age. Reinterpretation of these strata supports a simplified history of marine incursion into the Gulf of California. Marine rocks as old as 8.2 Ma in the southern Gulf of California indicate an early marine incursion, perhaps flooding a region of more intense proto–Gulf of California continental extension. Flooding of the entire basin by 6.5–6.3 Ma correlates to the sudden onset of significant Pacific–North American plate-boundary motion within the Gulf of California.

Slip rate of the Calico fault: Implications for geologic versus geodetic rate discrepancy in the Eastern California Shear Zone

[1] Long-term (10 5 years) fault slip rates test the scale of discrepancy between infrequent paleoseismicity and relatively rapid geodetic rates of dextral shear in the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). The Calico fault is one of a family of dextral faults that traverse the Mojave Desert portion of the ECSZ. Its slip rate is determined from matching and dating incised Pleistocene alluvial fan deposits and surfaces displaced by fault slip. A high-resolution topographic base acquired via airborne laser swath mapping aids in identification and mapping of deformed geomorphic features. The oldest geomorphically preserved alluvial fan, unit B, is displaced 900 ± 200 m from its source at Sheep Springs Wash in the northern Rodman Mountains. This fan deposit contains the first preserved occurrence of basalt clasts derived from the Pipkin lava field and overlies Quaternary conglomerate deposits lacking these clasts. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating of two flows from this field yields consistent ages of 770 ± 40 ka and 735 ± 9 ka. An age of 650 ± 100 ka is assigned to this fan deposit based on these ages and on the oldest cosmogenic 3 He exposure date of 653 ± 20 ka on a basalt boulder from the surface of unit B. This assigned age and offset together yield a mid-Pleistocene to present average slip rate of 1.4 ± 0.4 mm/yr. Ayounger fan surface, unit K, records 100 ± 10 m of dextral displacement and preserves original depositional morphology of its surface. Granitic boulders and pavement samples from this surface yield an average age of 56.4 ± 7.7 ka after taking into account minimal cosmogenic inheritance of granitic clasts. The displaced and dated K fans yield a slip rate of 1.8 ± 0.3 mm/yr. Distributed deformation of the region surrounding the fault trace, if active, could increase the overall displacement rate to 2.1 ± 0.5 mm/yr. Acceleration of slip rate from an average of 1.4 mm/yr prior to � 50 ka to 1.8 mm/yr since � 50 ka is possible, though a single time-averaged slip rate of 1.6 ± 0.2 mm/yr satisfies the data. These rates are faster than any other paleoseismic or long-term slip rate yet determined for other dextral faults in the Mojave Desert and imply that fault slip rates and earthquake productivity are heterogeneous across this portion of the ECSZ. Total displacement across the Calico fault diminishes northward as shear is distributed into folding and sinistral faults in the Calico Mountains. This pattern is consistent with an approximately threefold drop in geologic slip rate as the Calico fault steps over onto the Blackwater fault and demonstrates the significance of fault interaction for understanding the pattern of present-day strain accumulation in the ECSZ.

Large-magnitude transient strain accumulation on the Blackwater fault, Eastern California shear zone

We investigate the Quaternary slip rate for the Blackwater fault, Eastern California shear zone, through mapping and geochronology of offset volcanic rocks. Basalt flows of the Black Mountains support the presence of faulting at 3.77 ± 0.11 Ma, 1.8 ± 0.1 km of subsequent slip, and a well-constrained long-term slip rate of 0.49 ± 0.04 mm/yr. Total slip diminishes northward, evidenced by a 0.3–1.8 km offset of a 7.23 ± 1.07 Ma dacite flow in the Black Hills and fault termination in the Lava Mountains, 5 km short of the Garlock fault. Slow long-term slip rate together with sparse evidence for Holocene rupture contradict predictions of rapid slip rate from tectonic geodesy. These results support the conclusion that as much as 95% of geodetic strain accumulation across the Blackwater fault, and thus from 1 to 6 mm/yr of geodetic strain measured across the Eastern California shear zone, is a transitory phenomenon. Discrepant geologic and geodetic results may indicate an increased near-term seismic hazard, but merit caution for interpretation of fault slip rates from geodesy alone.

Alpine landscape evolution dominated by cirque retreat

Despite the abundance in alpine terrain of glacially dissected landscapes, the magnitude and geometry of glacial erosion can rarely be defined. In the eastern Kyrgyz Range of central Asia, a widespread unconformity exhumed as a geomorphic surface provides a regional datum with which to calibrate erosion. As tectonically driven surface uplift has progressively pushed this surface into the zone of ice accumulation, glacial erosion has overprinted the landscape. With as little as 500 m of incision into rocks underlying the unconformity, distinctive glacial valleys display their deepest incision adjacent to cirque headwalls. The expansion of north-facing glacial cirques at the expense of south-facing valleys has driven the drainage divide southward at rates of as much as two to three times the rate of valley incision. Glacial erosion rules based on ice flux incompletely explain this dominance of cirque retreat over valley incision. Local processes that either directly sap cirque headwalls or inhibit erosion down-glacier appear to control, at least initially, alpine landscape evolution.

Assembly of a large earthquake from a complex fault system: Surface rupture kinematics of the 4 April 2010 El Mayor–Cucapah (Mexico) Mw 7.2 earthquake

The 4 April 2010 moment magnitude (M_w) 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake revealed the existence of a previously unidentified fault system in Mexico that extends ∼120 km from the northern tip of the Gulf of California to the U.S.–Mexico border. The system strikes northwest and is composed of at least seven major faults linked by numerous smaller faults, making this one of the most complex surface ruptures ever documented along the Pacific–North America plate boundary. Rupture propagated bilaterally through three distinct kinematic and geomorphic domains. Southeast of the epicenter, a broad region of distributed fracturing, liquefaction, and discontinuous fault rupture was controlled by a buried, southwest-dipping, dextral-normal fault system that extends ∼53 km across the southern Colorado River delta. Northwest of the epicenter, the sense of vertical slip reverses as rupture propagated through multiple strands of an imbricate stack of east-dipping dextral-normal faults that extend ∼55 km through the Sierra Cucapah. However, some coseismic slip (10–30 cm) was partitioned onto the west-dipping Laguna Salada fault, which extends parallel to the main rupture and defines the western margin of the Sierra Cucapah. In the northernmost domain, rupture terminates on a series of several north-northeast–striking cross-faults with minor offset (<8 cm) that cut uplifted and folded sediments of the northern Colorado River delta in the Yuha Desert. In the Sierra Cucapah, primary rupture occurred on four major faults separated by one fault branch and two accommodation zones. The accommodation zones are distributed in a left-stepping en echelon geometry, such that rupture passed systematically to structurally lower faults. The structurally lowest fault that ruptured in this event is inclined as shallowly as ∼20°. Net surface offsets in the Sierra Cucapah average ∼200 cm, with some reaching 300–400 cm, and rupture kinematics vary greatly along strike. Nonetheless, instantaneous extension directions are consistently oriented ∼085° and the dominant slip direction is ∼310°, which is slightly (∼10°) more westerly than the expected azimuth of relative plate motion, but considerably more oblique to other nearby historical ruptures such as the 1992 Landers earthquake. Complex multifault ruptures are common in the central portion of the Pacific North American plate margin, which is affected by restraining bend tectonics, gravitational potential energy gradients, and the inherently three-dimensional strain of the transtensional and transpressional shear regimes that operate in this region.