Geology topics

M. A. Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to M. A. Fisher.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2012

The collision zone between the North d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and the New Hebrides island arc. 2. Structure from multichannel seismic data

The d'Entrecasteaux zone (DEZ) collides with the central New Hebrides island arc and consists of two subparallel ridges that strike east-west, stand 1–2 km above the surrounding oceanic plate, and subduct obliquely (15°) northward beneath the arc. Rocks dredged from the north ridge as well as reflections evident in multichannel seismic reflection data indicate that this ridge has a volcanic origin. Crystalline volcanic rocks are common along the lower flank of the ridge, but sedimentary, probably volcaniclastic, rock caps the ridge. Seismic reflection data collected over the lower arc slope reveal that mass wasting deposits locally make up most of the accretionary wedge. These deposits appear to form discrete bodies, suggesting that mass wasting occurred episodically. Large anticlines and thrust faults having large vertical separation are not readily evident where the colliding ridge intersects the arc slope; apparently, slope rocks have low strength so that mass wasting deposits formed instead of large-relief structures. Mass wasting is thought to occur as the accretionary wedge is uplifted in response to the northward oblique subduction of the north ridge. The toe of the north ridge flank marks an abrupt transition in the lithologies that make up the footwall of the interplate decollement. Footwall lithologies change from ocean basin to volcaniclastic ridge material, and this transition probably marks a discontinuity in friction along the decollement or in rock mechanical properties because north of the transition, thrust faults deform the accretionary wedge whereas south of the transition, steep reverse faults crosscut the wedge and pierce the north flank of the ridge. This piercement means that the decollement at least locally lies within the ridge and that ridge material exotic to the New Hebrides arc may be incorporated into the accretionary wedge.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗

USGS2012

Seismic reflection/refraction mapping of faulting and regional dips in the eastern Alaska Range

We present the results of a Trans‐Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT) investigation of the upper 2–5 km of the eastern Alaska Range in the vicinity of the Denali fault based on seismic reflection/refraction data, laboratory measurements of rock velocities, and structural mapping. The Denali fault is a major dextral slip structure mappable for more than 2000 km separating the Wrangellia and adjacent terranes to the south from the Yukon‐Tanana and adjacent terranes to the north. Geologic mapping suggests over 400 km of dextral slip has occurred on the fault, yet within the upper 1.5 km of the crust along the TACT corridor, basement rocks juxtaposed along the Denali fault reveal no significant seismic velocity differences, although the fault zone itself is associated with a minor lowering of velocity. The lack of seismic velocity contrast adjacent to the fault is in agreement with laboratory measurements of elastic wave velocities of samples from terranes bordering the fault. Laboratory measurements of elastic wave velocities of the metasedimentary mica‐quartz schists comprising the Yukon‐Tanana basement are highly anisotropic because of preferred orientation of mica and predict significant variations in velocity accompanying variations in foliation dip. Although other interpretations are possible, the northward shallowing of foliation dip of basement rocks in the Yukon‐Tanana terrane combined with the strong anisotropy associated with these highly foliated rocks can explain an observed northward increase in seismic velocity within this terrane. Seismic reflections from basement rocks within the Yukon‐Tanana terrane may originate from variations in anisotropy with depth and/or changes in composition reflecting different proportions of sandstone and shale in the protolith.

Alaska↗

USGS2012

Geophysical investigation of a Suture Zone: The Border Ranges Fault of southern Alaska

The Border Ranges fault separates structurally complex accreted Cretaceous rocks from less deformed middle or late Paleozoic and younger rocks in the Cook-Shelikof basin. Of the five types of geophysical data used to investigate this fault, gravity data give the clearest indication of its presence and crustal structure. For at least 400 km along the fault, gravity anomalies include a +20 to +30 mGal peak along the fault's upper plate and a −40 mGal trough along the lower plate. The paired anomaly can be modeled satisfactorily by a simple step, in a deep dense layer, that lies within 3 km of the projected offshore location of the fault. Relatively low-density rocks lie along the fault's lower plate to a depth of about 10 km, and the upper part of the fault dips within 20° of vertical. Satellite altimetry data show that two circular geoid lows lie along the Border Ranges fault and coincide with lows in free air gravity data. Seismic refraction and seismic reflection data suggest that the large-scale density anomalies that cause both types of lows must lie at depths greater than about 1 km within the margin. Three regional magnetic anomalies (Knik Arm, Seldovia, and Shelikof) terminate at the Border Ranges fault, suggesting that the fault truncates obliquely rocks that lie along its northwest side. Six seismic reflection lines cross the Border Ranges fault, but none of them shows reflections from it. The absence of such reflections probably results from the fault's steep dip and from the presence of strong water bottom multiples in the data. From the Late Jurassic until the early Late Cretaceous, the magmatic arc near the Cook-Shelikof basin was inactive, and we infer that the predominant motion along the Border Ranges fault was strike slip. Resurgent Late Cretaceous magmatism was contemporaneous with uplift of rocks along the northwest side of the Border Ranges fault and with deformation of turbidite sequences in the fault's lower plate. We propose that during the Late Cretaceous, motion along the Border Ranges changed from strike slip to reverse. Cenozoic rocks near the fault show no evidence for post-Cretaceous fault movement.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

Reflections from midcrustal rocks within the Mesozoic subduction complex near the eastern Aleutian Trench

Seismic reflection data collected in 1973 by Western Geophysical Company show that highly reflective rocks make up the midcrust of the convergent margin adjacent to the eastern Aleutian Trench. These rocks form an arch that strikes obliquely across the strongly expressed northeast-southwest structural grain of exposed Mesozoic rocks. In an earlier report we proposed that the deep events mark the location of either the presently subducting plate or the top of underplated rocks. However, the short radius of curvature of this arch precludes the possibility that the deep events indicate the igneous oceanic crust. Instead, the deep reflections could be from underplated rocks that have been arched by the imbrication or underplating of strata below the reflective rocks. High-amplitude water layer and interbed multiples prevent precise connection of shallow and deep geology. For example, the Border Ranges fault, a suture between major tectonostratigraphic terranes, is not revealed on any of our seismic sections. We speculate, however, that one band of reflections that rises toward but does not reach the surface is from the Eagle River thrust fault, which separates Late Cretaceous melange from deformed turbidite sequences of the same age.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

Seismic reflection images of the crust of the northern part of the Chugach terrane, Alaska: Results of a survey for the Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT)

Deep crustal seismic reflection data show strong reflections from the middle and lower crust of the convergent continental margin near the eastern end of the Aleutian trench. These data were collected across the Border Ranges fault system, a major suture zone that separates the Peninsular and Chugach tectonostratigraphic terranes. The Chugach terrane consists of metamorphosed, strongly deformed flysch, subduction melange as well as blueschist- and greenschist-facies rocks. Even so, highly reflective rocks lie at great depth within or beneath this terrane. The shallow part of the seismic section (0–5 s) reveals only a few reflections, which undulate and interweave, indicating that some of them originate outside of the plane of the seismic section. Other undulating events could reveal early Cenozoic granitic plutons or antiformal stacks of rock imbricated along thrust faults. In contrast to this shallow reflection pattern, three reflection bands contain most of the events on the middle part of the seismic section (5–12 s or 12–34 km). We interpret divergent reflections within the uppermost band (5–5.5 s) as gently north dipping thrust faults, and subparallel reflections truncated at the boundaries of the upper and middle bands may image a metamorphic foliation or thrust faults. If the truncated reflections represent thrust faults, then the reflection geometry suggests that subparallel roof and floor thrust faults bound imbricated rocks, forming duplex structures. The upper and middle bands are separated by an area on the seismic section that reveals few reflections. This area correlates approximately in depth with a high velocity (7.5 km/s) layer evident in refraction models. The poorly reflective, high velocity unit might be volcanic rocks like those exposed in the structurally lowest part of the Chugach terrane. If so, then the bottom of the poorly reflective rocks indicates the base of the Chugach terrane. Rocks that cause the upper and middle reflection bands and the intervening, poorly reflective volcanic rocks may form a midcrustal shear zone that is about 10 km thick. The deepest band of subparallel reflections (30–35 km) correlates closely in depth with the top of the Wadati-Benioff zone associated with the underthrusting Pacific plate. The reflections probably stem from the decollement that separates lithospheric plates within the subduction zone. This reflection band increases abruptly in thickness, possibly indicating local underplating of subducted sediment. No events from the oceanic Moho have been recognized. Neither the Border Ranges fault system, the suture between the Chugach and Peninsular terranes, nor deep crustal layers of the Peninsular terrane are evident in these seismic reflection data.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

A high-resolution seismic reflection/refraction study of the Chugach-Peninsular terrane boundary, southern Alaska

We present results from a high-resolution seismic refraction analysis of the shallow (approximately 2 km) crustal structure along the 107-km-long Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect Chugach reflection line in southern Alaska and a comparison with laboratory measurements of field samples. The refraction analysis includes the two-dimensional interpretation of several thousand first- and secondary-arrival travel times digitized from 1024-channel split-spread common shot gathers. The velocity model derived from this analysis better defines the location and geometry of terrane boundaries than does the normal incidence reflection section and agrees well with surface mapping of lithologies. Furthermore, the model predicts travel times within 100 ms of the reflection times recorded from the base of the Quaternary on the Chugach reflection section. Thicknesses of Quaternary deposits, with velocities between 1.1 and 2.0 km/s, correlate inversely with the quantity of observed lower crustal reflections on the Chugach section, suggesting that the presence or absence of these sediments in sufficient thickness exerted primary control on the quality of the deeper portion of the section. There is a significant velocity contrast between crystalline rocks across the Border Ranges fault (5.0 versus 5.6 km/s), the major contact between the Chugach and Peninsular terranes, in agreement with laboratory measurements of field specimens. In the Peninsular terrane the modeling indicates that an unnamed fault delimiting the southern flank of the Copper River Basin dips steeply northward at 50° and has about 1300 m of vertical offset. Laboratory measurements document a maximum velocity anisotropy of 20% for phyllitic schists of the Valdez Group in the Chugach terrane. In agreement with the observed E-W strike and near-vertical dip of the Valdez Group, we determined a significant (14%) velocity anisotropy for ray paths oriented N-S versus NE-SW.

Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth↗

USGS2011

Seismic survey probes urban earthquake hazards in Pacific Northwest

A multidisciplinary seismic survey earlier this year in the Pacific Northwest is expected to reveal much new information about the earthquake threat to U.S. and Canadian urban areas there. A disastrous earthquake is a very real possibility in the region. The survey, known as the Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), engendered close cooperation among geologists, biologists, environmental groups, and government agencies. It also succeeded in striking a fine balance between the need to prepare for a great earthquake and the requirement to protect a coveted marine environment while operating a large airgun array.

Washington↗

USGS2009

A distal earthquake cluster concurrent with the 2006 explosive eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Clustered earthquakes located 25 km northeast of Augustine Volcano began about 6 months before and ceased soon after the volcano's 2006 explosive eruption. This distal seismicity formed a dense cluster less than 5 km across, in map view, and located in depth between 11 km and 16 km. This seismicity was contemporaneous with sharply increased shallow earthquake activity directly below the volcano's vent. Focal mechanisms for five events within the distal cluster show strike-slip fault movement. Cluster seismicity best defines a plane when it is projected onto a northeast–southwest cross section, suggesting that the seismogenic fault strikes northwest. However, two major structural trends intersect near Augustine Volcano, making it difficult to put the seismogenic fault into a regional-geologic context. Specifically, interpretation of marine multichannel seismic-reflection (MCS) data shows reverse faults, directly above the seismicity cluster, that trend northeast, parallel to the regional geologic strike but perpendicular to the fault suggested by the clustered seismicity. The seismogenic fault could be a reactivated basement structure.

Alaska↗

USGS2009

Recent developments in understanding the tectonic evolution of the Southern California offshore area: Implications for earthquake-hazard analysis

During late Mesozoic and Cenozoic time, three main tectonic episodes affected the Southern California offshore area. Each episode imposed its unique structural imprint such that early-formed structures controlled or at least influenced the location and development of later ones. This cascaded structural inheritance greatly complicates analysis of the extent, orientation, and activity of modern faults. These fault attributes play key roles in estimates of earthquake magnitude and recurrence interval. Hence, understanding the earthquake hazard posed by offshore and coastal faults requires an understanding of the history of structural inheritance and modifi-cation. In this report we review recent (mainly since 1987) findings about the tectonic development of the Southern California offshore area and use analog models of fault deformation as guides to comprehend the bewildering variety of offshore structures that developed over time. This report also provides a background in regional tectonics for other chapters in this section that deal with the threat from offshore geologic hazards in Southern California. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗

USGS2009

Submarine landslides of the Southern California Borderland

Conventional bathymetry, sidescan-sonar and seismic-reflection data, and recent, multibeam surveys of large parts of the Southern California Borderland disclose the presence of numerous submarine landslides. Most of these features are fairly small, with lateral dimensions less than ??2 km. In areas where multibeam surveys are available, only two large landslide complexes were identified on the mainland slope- Goleta slide in Santa Barbara Channel and Palos Verdes debris avalanche on the San Pedro Escarpment south of Palos Verdes Peninsula. Both of these complexes indicate repeated recurrences of catastrophic slope failure. Recurrence intervals are not well constrained but appear to be in the range of 7500 years for the Goleta slide. The most recent major activity of the Palos Verdes debris avalanche occurred roughly 7500 years ago. A small failure deposit in Santa Barbara Channel, the Gaviota mudflow, was perhaps caused by an 1812 earthquake. Most landslides in this region are probably triggered by earthquakes, although the larger failures were likely conditioned by other factors, such as oversteepening, development of shelf-edge deltas, and high fluid pressures. If a subsequent future landslide were to occur in the area of these large landslide complexes, a tsunami would probably result. Runup distances of 10 m over a 30-km-long stretch of the Santa Barbara coastline are predicted for a recurrence of the Goleta slide, and a runup of 3 m over a comparable stretch of the Los Angeles coastline is modeled for the Palos Verdes debris avalanche. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗

USGS2009

Potential earthquake faults offshore Southern California, from the eastern Santa Barbara Channel south to Dana Point

Urban areas in Southern California are at risk from major earthquakes, not only quakes generated by long-recognized onshore faults but also ones that occur along poorly understood offshore faults. We summarize recent research findings concerning these lesser known faults. Research by the U.S. Geological Survey during the past five years indicates that these faults from the eastern Santa Barbara Channel south to Dana Point pose a potential earthquake threat. Historical seismicity in this area indicates that, in general, offshore faults can unleash earthquakes having at least moderate (M 5-6) magnitude. Estimating the earthquake hazard in Southern California is complicated by strain partitioning and by inheritance of structures from early tectonic episodes. The three main episodes are Mesozoic through early Miocene subduction, early Miocene crustal extension coeval with rotation of the Western Transverse Ranges, and Pliocene and younger transpression related to plate-boundary motion along the San Andreas Fault. Additional complication in the analysis of earthquake hazards derives from the partitioning of tectonic strain into strike-slip and thrust components along separate but kinematically related faults. The eastern Santa Barbara Basin is deformed by large active reverse and thrust faults, and this area appears to be underlain regionally by the north-dipping Channel Islands thrust fault. These faults could produce moderate to strong earthquakes and destructive tsunamis. On the Malibu coast, earthquakes along offshore faults could have left-lateral-oblique focal mechanisms, and the Santa Monica Mountains thrust fault, which underlies the oblique faults, could give rise to large (M ??7) earthquakes. Offshore faults near Santa Monica Bay and the San Pedro shelf are likely to produce both strike-slip and thrust earthquakes along northwest-striking faults. In all areas, transverse structures, such as lateral ramps and tear faults, which crosscut the main faults, could segment earthquake rupture zones. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗

USGS2008

Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect and continental evolution involving subduction underplating and synchronous foreland thrusting

We investigate the crustal structure and tectonic evolution of the North American continent in Alaska, where the continent has grown through magmatism, accretion, and tectonic underplating. In the 1980s and early 1990s, we conducted a geological and geophysical investigation, known as the Trans-Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT), along a 1350-km-long corridor from the Aleutian Trench to the Arctic coast. The most distinctive crustal structures and the deepest Moho along the transect are located near the Pacific and Arctic margins. Near the Pacific margin, we infer a stack of tectonically underplated oceanic layers interpreted as remnants of the extinct Kula (or Resurrection) plate. Continental Moho just north of this underplated stack is more than 55 km deep. Near the Arctic margin, the Brooks Range is underlain by large-scale duplex structures that overlie a tectonic wedge of North Slope crust and mantle. There, the Moho has been depressed to nearly 50 km depth. In contrast, the Moho of central Alaska is on average 32 km deep. In the Paleogene, tectonic underplating of Kula (or Resurrection) plate fragments overlapped in time with duplexing in the Brooks Range. Possible tectonic models linking these two regions include flat-slab subduction and an orogenic-float model. In the Neogene, the tectonics of the accreting Yakutat terrane have differed across a newly interpreted tear in the subducting Pacific oceanic lithosphere. East of the tear, Pacific oceanic lithosphere subducts steeply and alone beneath the Wrangell volcanoes, because the overlying Yakutat terrane has been left behind as underplated rocks beneath the rising St. Elias Range, in the coastal region. West of the tear, the Yakutat terrane and Pacific oceanic lithosphere subduct together at a gentle angle, and this thickened package inhibits volcanism.

Alaska↗

USGS2007

Crustal structure of the Alaska Range orogen and Denali fault along the Richardson Highway

A suite of geophysical data obtained along the Richardson Highway crosses the eastern Alaska Range and Denali fault and reveals the crustal structure of the orogen. Strong seismic reflections from within the orogen north of the Denali fault dip as steeply as 25° north and extend downward to depths between 20 and 25 km. These reflections reveal what is probably a shear zone that transects most of the crust and is part of a crustal-scale duplex structure that probably formed during the Late Cretaceous. These structures, however, appear to be relict because over the past 20 years, they have produced little or no seismicity despite the nearby Mw = 7.9 Denali fault earthquake that struck in 2002. The Denali fault is nonreflective, but we interpret modeled magnetotelluric (MT), gravity, and magnetic data to propose that the fault dips steeply to vertically. Modeling of MT data shows that aftershocks of the 2002 Denali fault earthquake occurred above a rock body that has low electrical resistivity (>10 ohm-m), which might signify the presence of fluids in the middle and lower crust.

Special Paper of the Geological Society of America↗

USGS2006

Submarine landslides in the Santa Barbara Channel as potential tsunami sources

Recent investigations using the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institutes (MBARI) Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) "Ventana" and "Tiburon" and interpretation of MBARI's EM 300 30 kHz multibeam bathymetric data show that the northern flank of the Santa Barbara Basin has experienced massive slope failures. Of particular concern is the large (130 km2) Goleta landslide complex located off Coal Oil Point near the town of Goleta, that measures 14.6-km long extending from a depth of 90 m to nearly 574 m deep and is 10.5 km wide. We estimate that approximately 1.75 km3 has been displaced by this slide during the Holocene. This feature is a complex compound submarine landslide that contains both surfical slump blocks and mud flows in three distinct segments. Each segment is composed of a distinct head scarp, down-dropped head block and a slide debris lobe. The debris lobes exhibit hummocky topography in the central areas that appear to result from compression during down slope movement. The toes of the western and eastern lobes are well defined in the multibeam image, whereas the toe of the central lobe is less distinct. Continuous seismic reflection profiles show that many buried slide debris lobes exist and comparison of the deformed reflectors with ODP Drill Site 149, Hole 893 suggest that at least 200 000 years of failure have occurred in the area (Fisher et al., 2005a). Based on our interpretation of the multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles we modeled the potential tsunami that may have been produced from one of the three surfical lobes of the Goleta slide. This model shows that a 10 m high wave could have run ashore along the cliffs of the Goleta shoreline. Several other smaller (2 km2 and 4 km2) slides are located on the northern flank of the Santa Barbara Basin, both to the west and east of Goleta slide and on the Concepcion fan along the western flank of the basin. One slide, named the Gaviota slide, is 3.8 km2, 2.6 km long and 1.7 km wide. A distinct narrow scar extends from near the eastern head wall of this slide for over 2 km eastward toward the Goleta slide and may represent either an incipient failure or a remnant of a previous failure. Push cores collected within the main head scar of this slide consisted of hydrogen sulfide bearing mud, possibly suggesting active fluid seepage and a vibra-core penetrated ???50 cm of recent sediment overlying colluvium or landslide debris confirming the age of ???300 years as proposed by Lee et al. (2004). However, no seeps or indications of recent movement were observed during our ROV investigation within this narrow head scar indicating that seafloor in the scar is draped with mud. ?? 2006 Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences↗

USGS2006

Local thickening of the Cascadia forearc crust and the origin of seismic reflectors in the uppermost mantle

Seismic reflection profiles from three different surveys of the Cascadia forearc are interpreted using P wave velocities and relocated hypocentres, which were both derived from the first arrival travel time inversion of wide-angle seismic data and local earthquakes. The subduction decollement, which is characterized beneath the continental shelf by a reflection of 0.5 s duration, can be traced landward into a large duplex structure in the lower forearc crust near southern Vancouver Island. Beneath Vancouver Island, the roof thrust of the duplex is revealed by a 5–12 km thick zone, identified previously as the E reflectors, and the floor thrust is defined by a short duration reflection from a < 2-km-thick interface at the top of the subducting plate. We show that another zone of reflectors exists east of Vancouver Island that is approximately 8 km thick, and identified as the D reflectors. These overlie the E reflectors; together the two zones define the landward part of the duplex. The combined zones reach depths as great as 50 km. The duplex structure extends for more than 120 km perpendicular to the margin, has an along-strike extent of 80 km, and at depths between 30 km and 50 km the duplex structure correlates with a region of anomalously deep seismicity, where velocities are less than 7000 m s − 1 . We suggest that these relatively low velocities indicate the presence of either crustal rocks from the oceanic plate that have been underplated to the continent or crustal rocks from the forearc that have been transported downward by subduction erosion. The absence of seismicity from within the E reflectors implies that they are significantly weaker than the overlying crust, and the reflectors may be a zone of active ductile shear. In contrast, seismicity in parts of the D reflectors can be interpreted to mean that ductile shearing no longer occurs in the landward part of the duplex. Merging of the D and E reflectors at 42–46 km depth creates reflectivity in the uppermost mantle with a vertical thickness of at least 15 km. We suggest that pervasive reflectivity in the upper mantle elsewhere beneath Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia arises from similar shear zones.

Cascadia forearc↗

USGS2005

Geology and tsunamigenic potential of submarine landslides in Santa Barbara Channel, Southern California

A large submarine landslide complex and four small landslides developed under the Santa Barbara Channel, suggesting a potential hazard from landslide-generated tsunamis. We integrate offshore stratigraphy and geologic structure, multibeam bathymetric information, and several kinds of seismic-reflection data to understand how and when the submarine landslides formed. Seismic-reflection data show that mass failure along the slope began at least 200 ka ago. Landslides appear as zones of poor reflectivity having an irregular upper surface, and these zones alternate vertically with strong parallel reflections. The emplacement ages of two of the three main landslide lobes are well established at 8 and 10 ka. The source material for the youngest part of the landslide complex was sediment of probable late Pleistocene and Holocene age that accumulated in a shelf-edge delta. Directly under this delta, growth of faults and anticlines was particularly intense and tended to oversteepen the deltaic deposits. These active structures also formed migration pathways and reservoirs for aqueous and hydrocarbon fluids from the deep basin. Tsunami deposits have been described from a low-lying area near Santa Barbara, and numerical modeling of tsunamis generated by hypothetical landslides in Santa Barbara Channel indicates a moderate to severe threat [Borrero, J.C., Dolan, J.F. and Synolakis, C.E., 2001. Tsunamis within the eastern Santa Barbara Channel. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28(4): 643-646.], involving wave runups of 2-20 m, for a range of assumed landslide volumes. Inundation from these waves, however, is expected to be highly focused so that only narrow (???10-km) sections of the shoreline would be affected. Crown Copyright ?? 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Marine Geology↗

USGS2005

Neotectonics of the offshore Oak Ridge fault near Ventura, southern California

The Oak Ridge fault is a large-offset, south-dipping reverse fault that forms the south boundary of the Ventura Basin in southern California. Previous research indicates that the Oak Ridge fault south of the town of Ventura has been inactive since 200-400 ka ago and that the fault tip is buried by ??? 1 km of Quaternary sediment. However, very high-resolution and medium-resolution seismic reflection data presented here show a south-dipping fault, on strike with the Oak Ridge fault, that is truncated at 80 m depth by an unconformity that is probably at the base of late Pleistocene and Holocene sediment. Furthermore, if vertically aligned features in seismic reflection data are eroded remnants of fault scarps, then a subsidiary fault within the Oak Ridge system deforms the shallowest imaged sediment layers. We propose that this subsidiary fault has mainly left-slip offset. These observations of Holocene slip on the Oak Ridge fault system suggest that revision of the earthquake hazard for the densely populated Santa Clara River valley and the Oxnard coastal plain may be needed.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗

USGS2005

Recent deformation along the offshore Malibu Coast, Dume, and related faults west of Point Dume, southern California

Offshore faults west of Point Dume, southern California, are part of an important regional fault system that extends for about 206 km, from near the city of Los Angeles westward along the south flank of the Santa Monica Mountains and through the northern Channel Islands. This boundary fault system separates the western Transverse Ranges, on the north, from the California Continental Borderland, on the south. Previous research showed that the fault system includes many active fault strands; consequently, the entire system is considered a serious potential earthquake hazard to nearby Los Angeles. We present an integrated analysis of multichannel seismic- and high-resolution seismic-reflection data and multibeam-bathymetric information to focus on the central part of the fault system that lies west of Point Dume. We show that some of the main offshore faults have cumulative displacements of 3-5 km, and many faults are currently active because they deform the seafloor or very shallow sediment layers. The main offshore fault is the Dume fault, a large north-dipping reverse fault. In the eastern part of the study area, this fault offsets the seafloor, showing Holocene displacement. Onshore, the Malibu Coast fault dips steeply north, is active, and shows left-oblique slip. The probable offshore extension of this fault is a large fault that dips steeply in its upper part but flattens at depth. High-resolution seismic data show that this fault deforms shallow sediment making up the Hueneme fan complex, indicating Holocene activity. A structure near Sycamore knoll strikes transversely to the main faults and could be important to the analysis of the regional earthquake hazard because the structure might form a boundary between earthquake-rupture segments.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗