Evidence for late Quaternary surface rupture along the Leech River fault near Victoria, British Columbia

New surficial and bedrock mapping and paleoseismic trenching of the Leech River fault provide the first evidence for Quaternary surface-rupturing earthquakes in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The Leech River fault extends ~60 km across southern Vancouver Island, from Victoria, British Columbia to the Pacific shoreline and is a terrane-bounding structure separating the Pacific Rim Terrane from basalts of the Eocene Crescent Terrane. The fault is not currently listed in the active fault catalogue for Canada, and post-Eocene-Oligocene slip had not been documented prior to this study. However, based on new field mapping aided by lidar topography, we identify >60 individual, sub-parallel, linear scarps, sags and swales occurring in semi-continuous, en echelon arrays that offset bedrock and late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits. Field observations of these scarps confirm that they are not the result of anthropogenic, glacial or landslide processes, and in several places the scarps are located above exposures of faulted bedrock with brittle fracture networks and gouge. At a site ~5 km west of Leechtown, British Columbia, we estimate ~6 m of dip-slip reverse displacement of a post-Last Glacial Maximum (<~15 ka) colluvial surface and ~4 m of displacement of intervening channels. Two paleoseismic trenches at this site reveal (1) Jurassic Leech River Schist in fault contact with latest Pleistocene loess and colluvium, and (2) latest Pleistocene till thrust over post-glacial colluvium. These trenches preserve a record of at least three, and possibly four, earthquakes since the Last Glacial Maximum, each with ~1 m vertical displacement. We interpret the active Leech River fault as a 500–1000 m-wide, steeply dipping fault zone that accommodates transpression across the northern Cascadia forearc. The onshore trace of the Leech River fault may continue offshore to the east, south of Victoria, and may be kinematically linked to active faults in western Washington (e.g., Devils Mountain and Southern Whidbey Island faults). The Leech River fault is likely one of several active crustal faults that should be considered in seismic hazard assessments for southern British Columbia and northwestern Washington

Seismicity relocation and fault structure near the Leech River Fault Zone, southern Vancouver Island

Relatively low rates of seismicity and fault loading have made it challenging to correlate microseismicity to mapped surface faults on the forearc of southern Vancouver Island. Here we use precise relocations of microsciesmicity integrated with existing geologic data, to present the first identification of subsurface seismogenic structures associated with the Leech River fault zone (LRFZ) on southern Vancouver Island. We used HypoDD double difference relocation method to relocate 1253 earthquakes reported by the Canadian National Seismograph Network (CNSN) catalog from 1985 to 2015. Our results reveal an ~8-10 km wide, NNE-dipping zone of seismicity representing a subsurface structure along the eastern 30 km of the terrestrial LRFZ and extending 20 km farther eastward offshore, where the fault bifurcates beneath the Juan de Fuca Strait. Using a clustering analysis we identify secondary structures within the NNE-dipping fault zone, many of which are sub-vertical and exhibit right-lateral strike-slip focal mechanisms. We suggest that the arrangement of these near-vertical dextral secondary structures within a more general NE-dipping fault zone, located well beneath (10-15 km) the Leech River fault (LRF) as imaged by LITHOPROBE, may be a consequence of the reactivation of this fault system as a right-lateral structure in the crust with pre-existing NNE-dipping foliations. Our results provide the first confirmation of active terrestrial crustal faults on Vancouver Island using a relocation method. We suggest that slowly slipping active crustal faults, especially in regions with pre-existing foliations, may result in microseismicity along fracture arrays rather than along single planar structures

Styles of underplating in the Marin Headlands Terrane, Franciscan Complex, California

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The Geological Society of America Special Papers following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: "Regalla, C., Rowe, C., Harrichhausen, N., Tarling, M. and Singh, J., 2018. Styles of underplating in the Marin Headlands Terrane, Franciscan Complex, California. GSA Special Publications no. 534" is available online at: http://rock.geosociety.org/Store/detail.aspx?id=spe534.Geophysical images and structural cross-sections of accretionary wedges are usually aligned orthogonal to the subduction trench axis. These sections often reveal underplated duplexes of subducted oceanic sediment and igneous crust that record trench-normal shortening and wedge thickening facilitated by down-stepping of the décollement. However, this approach may under-recognize trench-parallel strain and the effects of faulting associated with flexure of the downgoing plate. New mapping of a recently exposed transect across a portion of the Marin Headlands terrane, California, USA documents evidence for structural complexity over short spatio-temporal scales within an underplated system. We document the geometry, kinematics, vergence and internal architecture of faults and folds along ~2.5 km of section, and identify six previously unmapped intra-formational imbricate thrusts and thirteen high-angle faults that accommodate shortening and flattening of the underthrust section. Thrust faults occur within nearly every lithology without clear preference for any stratigraphic horizon, and fold vergence varies between imbricate sheets by ~10-40°. In our map area, imbricate bounding thrusts have relatively narrow damage zones (≤5-10 m), sharp, discrete fault cores, and lack veining, in contrast to the wide, highly-veined fault zones previously documented in the Marin Headlands terrane. The spacing of imbricate thrusts combined with paleo-convergence rates indicates relatively rapid generation of new fault surfaces on ~10-100 ka timescales, a process which may contribute to strain hardening and locking within the seismogenic zone. The structural and kinematic complexity documented in the Marin Headlands are an example of the short spatial and temporal scales of heterogeneity that may characterize regions of active underplating. Such features are smaller than the typical spatial resolution of geophysical data from active subduction thrusts, and may not be readily resolved, thus highlighting the need for cross-comparison of geophysical data with field analogues when evaluating the kinematic and mechanical processes of underplating

Slip inversion along inner fore-arc faults, eastern Tohoku, Japan

The kinematics of deformation in the overriding plate of convergent margins may vary across timescales ranging from a single seismic cycle to many millions of years. In Northeast Japan, a network of active faults has accommodated contraction across the arc since the Pliocene, but several faults located along the inner fore arc experienced extensional aftershocks following the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake, opposite that predicted from the geologic record. This observation suggests that fore-arc faults may be favorable for stress triggering and slip inversion, but the geometry and deformation history of these fault systems are poorly constrained. Here we document the Neogene kinematics and subsurface geometry of three prominent fore-arc faults in Tohoku, Japan. Geologic mapping and dating of growth strata provide evidence for a 5.6–2.2 Ma initiation of Plio-Quaternary contraction along the Oritsume, Noheji, and Futaba Faults and an earlier phase of Miocene extension from 25 to 15 Ma along the Oritsume and Futaba Faults associated with the opening of the Sea of Japan. Kinematic modeling indicates that these faults have listric geometries, with ramps that dip ~40–65°W and sole into subhorizontal detachments at 6–10 km depth. These fault systems can experience both normal and thrust sense slip if they are mechanically weak relative to the surrounding crust. We suggest that the inversion history of Northeast Japan primed the fore arc with a network of weak faults mechanically and geometrically favorable for slip inversion over geologic timescales and in response to secular variations in stress state associated with the megathrust seismic cycle.Funding was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation Tectonics Program grant EAR-0809939 to D.M.F. and E.K., Geologic Society of America Graduate Research Grants, and the P.D. Krynine Memorial Fund. The authors thank Gaku Kimura, Kyoko Tonegawa, Hiroko Watanabe, Jun Kameda, and Asuka Yamaguchi for scientific and logistical support, and Kristin Morell for comments on early versions of the manuscript. We also thank Yuzuru Yamamoto and Kohtaro Ujiie for their detailed reviews and suggestions for improvement to the manuscript. The authors acknowledge the use of the Move Software Suite granted by Midland Valley's Academic Software Initiative. Geologic, structural, stratigraphic, and chronologic data used herein are accessible in manuscript figures, and in the citations therein. Input geologic data for trishear kinematic modeling can be accessed in Table 1 and in the supporting information. (EAR-0809939 - National Science Foundation Tectonics Program grant; Geologic Society of America Graduate Research Grants; P.D. Krynine Memorial Fund

Quaternary rupture of a crustal fault beneath Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

The seismic potential of crustal faults within the forearc of the northern Cascadia subduction zone in British Columbia has remained elusive, despite the recognition of recent seismic activity on nearby fault systems within the Juan de Fuca Strait. In this paper, we present the first evidence for earthquake surface ruptures along the Leech River fault, a prominent crustal fault near Victoria, British Columbia. We use LiDAR and field data to identify >60 steeply dipping, semi-continuous linear scarps, sags, and swales that cut across both bedrock and Quaternary deposits along the Leech River fault. These features are part of an ~1-km-wide and up to >60-km-long steeply dipping fault zone that accommodates active forearc transpression together with structures in the Juan de Fuca Strait and the U.S. mainland. Reconstruction of fault slip across a deformed <15 ka colluvial surface near the center of the fault zone indicates ~6 m of vertical separation across the surface and ~4 m of vertical separation of channels incising the surface. These displacement data indicate that the Leech River fault has experienced at least two surface-rupturing earthquakes since the deglaciation following the last glacial maximum ca. 15 ka, and should therefore be incorporated as a distinct shallow seismic source in seismic hazard assessments for the region.This research was supported by an NSERC Discovery grant to KM and NSF EAR IRFP Grant #1349586 to CR

Bedrock and Surficial Geologic Map of the Red Rock 7.5’ Quadrangle, Beaverhead County, Southwestern Montana

The Red Rock 7.5 minute quadrangle, located in Beaverhead County, southwestern Montana, spans the Red Rock River Valley, an extensional graben formed between the Tendoy mountain front and the western flank of the Blacktail-Snowcrest uplift (Fig. 1). Notable landmarks within the quadrangle include the Clark Canyon Reservoir (Bureau of Reclamation dam number MT00569) located in the northwest area of the quadrangle and Interstate 15 which runs northwest-southeast through the quadrangle. The highest elevations in the map area are located within the Tendoy Mountains and the Red Rock Hills and are underlain by Paleozoic and Cenozoic bedrock. From these points, broad alluvial fans grade down to the Red Rock River Valley. The quadrangle contains about 3,000 ft of relief. Mapping of the Red Rock quadrangle was done at a scale of 1:12,000 and was compiled at a scale of 1:24,000. Field work was completed in the summer of 2005 in collaboration with the mapping of the adjacent Briggs Ranch and Kidd quadrangles (Figs. 1 and 2). This strategy allowed for the comparison of structure and stratigraphy across quadrangle boundaries and provided a regional context for the mapping of each quadrangle. This new mapping complements previous mapping of the Monument Hill quadrangle (Newton and others, 2005), Dixon Mountain quadrangle (Harkins and others, 2004b), Caboose Canyon quadrangle (Harkins and others, 2004a), and Dell quadrangle (Aschoff and Schmitt, 2005) and collectively provides new detailed mapping and analysis of a portion of the Red Rock River Valley from Lima to the Clark Canyon Dam (Figs. 1 and 2). This report includes a map and cross section for the Red Rock quadrangle as well as a discussion of the stratigraphy and structure of the map area

Structure and lithology of the Japan Trench subduction plate boundary fault

The 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-oki earthquake ruptured to the trench with maximum coseismic slip located on the shallow portion of the plate boundary fault. To investigate the conditions and physical processes that promoted slip to the trench, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343/343T sailed 1 year after the earthquake and drilled into the plate boundary ∼7 km landward of the trench, in the region of maximum slip. Core analyses show that the plate boundary décollement is localized onto an interval of smectite-rich, pelagic clay. Subsidiary structures are present in both the upper and lower plates, which define a fault zone ∼5–15m thick. Fault rocks recovered from within the clay-rich interval contain a pervasive scaly fabric defined by anastomosing, polished, and lineated surfaces with two predominant orientations. The scaly fabric is crosscut in several places by discrete contacts across which the scaly fabric is truncated and rotated, or different rocks are juxtaposed. These contacts are inferred to be faults. The plate boundary décollement therefore contains structures resulting from both distributed and localized deformation. We infer that the formation of both of these types of structures is controlled by the frictional properties of the clay: the distributed scaly fabric formed at low strain rates associated with velocity-strengthening frictional behavior, and the localized faults formed at high strain rates characterized by velocity-weakening behavior. The presence of multiple discrete faults resulting from seismic slip within the décollement suggests that rupture to the trench may be characteristic of this margin

Bathymetric Signatures of Submarine Forearc Deformation: A Case Study in the Nankai Accretionary Prism

Abstract Large earthquakes and tsunamis in subduction zone forearcs occur via slip on the shallow plate boundary and upper plate faults, but the locations, geometries, and slip histories of these faults can be difficult to constrain in regions with minimal subsurface geophysical and stratigraphic data. Here, we test a new approach to quantify the submarine seafloor geomorphic response to forearc deformation in order to identify structures that contribute to active deformation, to interpret their geometry and kinematics, and to evaluate their relative rates, magnitudes, and timing of deformation. We develop a workflow that uses filtered bathymetric digital elevation models, where long wavelength topography has been removed, to isolate the slope, relief, curvature, ridgelines, and trough lines associated with faults, fault‐related folds, and slope failures. We apply these methods to the Kumano region of the Nankai accretionary prism, southeastern Japan, where existing constraints on fault geometry, kinematics, and deformation history allow us to both evaluate the efficacy of our approach and to identify the lateral continuity of deformation processes. Our bathymetric analyses yield a high‐resolution tectono‐geomorphic map of active structures and reveal along strike variations in strain accumulation and out‐of‐sequence deformation. These metrics also demonstrate the importance of a strike‐slip fault system at the seaward edge of the Kumano Basin as a primary structure that accommodates deformation and partitions strain in the Nankai forearc. These results show the utility of using a submarine tectono‐geomorphic approach to evaluate active deformation in forearcs, particularly in regions with limited geophysical and core data