Geomorphic evidence of late Quaternary faulting along the M7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake rupture
Abstract
The M7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence ruptured across the China Lake Basin (Indian Wells Valley), northward into the Coso volcanic field, and southward into Salt Wells and Searles valleys in southern California. This event, mapped by the 2019 Ridgecrest Rupture Mapping Group (Kendrick et al., 2019, SCEC), produced peak lateral offsets >4 m. Late Quaternary alluvial fans and lava flows in the region provide geomorphic markers to assess faulting prior to the recent earthquake sequence. New mapping on high-resolution 2-m digital elevation models and 0.5- to 1-m optical imagery, integrated with field observations near the recent rupture, reveals a number of previously unmapped scarps and lineaments that coincide with or are located near the M7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake rupture. These new scarps and lineaments displaced alluvial fans, channels, and lacustrine/playa deposits interpreted to be of late Quaternary age. Our new geomorphic mapping explores whether the fault zone has been active during the late Quaternary.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.S34C..06T
- Keywords:
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- 7299 General or miscellaneous;
- SEISMOLOGY