Structural Constraints and Earthquake Recurrence Estimates for the West Tahoe-Dollar Point Fault, Lake Tahoe Basin, California

Previous work in the Lake Tahoe Basin (LTB), California, identified the West Tahoe-Dollar Point Fault (WTDPF) as the most hazardous fault in the region. Onshore and offshore geophysical mapping delineated three segments of the WTDPF extending along the western margin of the LTB. The rupture patterns between the three WTDPF segments remain poorly understood. Fallen Leaf Lake (FLL), Cascade Lake, and Emerald Bay are three sub-basins of the LTB, located south of Lake Tahoe, that provide an opportunity to image primary earthquake deformation along the WTDPF and associated landslide deposits. We present results from recent (June 2011) high-resolution seismic CHIRP surveys in FLL and Cascade Lake, as well as complete multibeam swath bathymetry coverage of FLL. Radiocarbon dates obtained from the new piston cores acquired in FLL provide age constraints on the older FLL slide deposits and build on and complement previous work that dated the most recent event (MRE) in Fallen Leaf Lake at ~4.1-4.5 k.y. BP. The CHIRP data beneath FLL image slide deposits that appear to correlate with contemporaneous slide deposits in Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe. A major slide imaged in FLL CHIRP data is slightly younger than the Tsoyowata ash (7950-7730 cal yrs BP) identified in sediment cores and appears synchronous with a major Lake Tahoe slide deposit (7890-7190 cal yrs BP). The equivalent age of these slides suggests the penultimate earthquake on the WTDPF may have triggered them. If correct, we postulate a recurrence interval of ~3-4 k.y. These results suggest the FLL segment of the WTDPF is near its seismic recurrence cycle. Additionally, CHIRP profiles acquired in Cascade Lake image the WTDPF for the first time in this sub-basin, which is located near the transition zone between the FLL and Rubicon Point Sections of the WTDPF. We observe two fault-strands trending N45°W across southern Cascade Lake for ~450 m. The strands produce scarps of ~5 m and ~2.7 m, respectively, on the lake floor, but offset increases down-section to ~14 m and ~8 m at the acoustic basement. Studying the style and timing of earthquake deformation in Fallen Leaf Lake, Cascade Lake, Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe will help us to understand how strain is partitioned between adjacent segments and the potential rupture magnitude.