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Late Cenozoic tectonic reconstructions of southern California (United States) have been hindered for decades by disagreement over the total displacement on the southern San Andreas fault; disparate estimates of dextral offset range from 160 km to 240 km. Prior estimates were based on purely translational models that neglect the effects of transrotational strain on the orientation and distribution of key geologic markers. We present a new reconstruction that integrates published lithologic, structural, and paleocurrent data with the effects of clockwise rotation in the eastern Transverse Ranges (ETR). This model yields 200 ± 14 km of cumulative offset on the southern San Andreas fault system in the Salton Trough. The disparity between our estimate and a lower estimate of 160 km for the Mojave segment can be explained by a combination of transtensional elongation along the southwest boundary of the ETR, transfer of strain to the eastern California shear zone, and diffuse crustal shortening in the Big Bend region. This reconstruction reconciles previously incompatible and long-debated models, and places an important new constraint on the tectonic evolution of the Pacific-North America plate boundary in southern California. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The San Andreas Fault zone in central California accommodates tectonic strain by stable slip and microseismic activity. We study microstructural controls of strength and deformation in the fault using core samples provided by the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) including gouge corresponding to presently active shearing intervals in the main borehole. The methods of study include high-resolution optical and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping, X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, white light interferometry, and image processing. The fault zone at the SAFOD site consists of a strongly deformed and foliated core zone that includes 2–3 m thick active shear zones, surrounded by less deformed rocks. Results suggest deformation and foliation of the core zone outside the active shear zones by alternating cataclasis and pressure solution mechanisms. The active shear zones, considered zones of large-scale shear localization, appear to be associated with an abundance of weak phases including smectite clays, serpentinite alteration products, and amorphous material. We suggest that deformation along the active shear zones is by a granular-type flow mechanism that involves frictional sliding of microlithons along phyllosilicate-rich Riedel shear surfaces as well as stress-driven diffusive mass transfer. The microstructural data may be interpreted to suggest that deformation in the active shear zones is strongly displacement-weakening. The fault creeps because the velocity strengthening weak gouge in the active shear zones is being sheared without strong restrengthening mechanisms such as cementation or fracture sealing. Possible mechanisms for the observed microseismicity in the creeping segment of the SAF include local high fluid pressure build-ups, hard asperity development by fracture-and-seal cycles, and stress build-up due to slip zone undulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the late Miocene to early Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the Fish Creek-Vallecito basin in southern California that records late Cenozoic subsidence and basin filling due to deformation in the San Andreas fault system. Data reportedly show that the section ranges in age from circa 8.0-0.4 million years (Ma). The article states that the onset of sedimentation at circa 8.0-0.4 million years (Ma) preserves the earliest extension or transtension in the area.

Fault strength is a fundamental property of seismogenic zones, and its temporal changes can increase or decrease the likelihood of failure and the ultimate triggering of seismic events. Although changes in fault strength have been suggested to explain various phenomena, such as the remote triggering of seismicity, there has been no means of actually monitoring this important property in situ. Here we argue that ∼20 years of observation (1987–2008) of the Parkfield area at the San Andreas fault have revealed a means of monitoring fault strength. We have identified two occasions where long-term changes in fault strength have been most probably induced remotely by large seismic events, namely the 2004 magnitude (M) 9.1 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake and the earlier 1992 M = 7.3 Landers earthquake. In both cases, the change possessed two manifestations: temporal variations in the properties of seismic scatterers—probably reflecting the stress-induced migration of fluids—and systematic temporal variations in the characteristics of repeating-earthquake sequences that are most consistent with changes in fault strength. In the case of the 1992 Landers earthquake, a period of reduced strength probably triggered the 1993 Parkfield aseismic transient as well as the accompanying cluster of four M > 4 earthquakes at Parkfield. The fault-strength changes produced by the distant 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake are especially important, as they suggest that the very largest earthquakes may have a global influence on the strength of the Earth’s fault systems. As such a perturbation would bring many fault zones closer to failure, it should lead to temporal clustering of global seismicity. This hypothesis seems to be supported by the unusually high number of M ≥ 8 earthquakes occurring in the few years following the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural and stratigraphic analyses along the western margin of the Salton Trough show that the San Andreas fault system was reorganized in early Pleistocene time from a system dominated by two fault zones (the San Andreas fault and the West Salton detachment fault) to a network of dextral faults that include the San Andreas and at least four dextral faults to the southwest. The San Felipe fault zone, one of these dextral faults, has ~5.8 ± 2.8 km of right separation and consists of three principal faults in the Peninsular Ranges. These are the San Felipe fault in the WNW, Sunset fault in the middle, and Fish Creek Mountains fault in the ESE. They form a left-stepping array and bound domains in which the Sunset Conglomerate, the older West Salton detachment fault, and Cretaceous mylonitic rocks below the detachment are folded about WNW-trending folds. A complex flower structure within the left-stepovers probably produced this fault-parallel folding. Because all the rocks within stepovers of the San Felipe fault zone, from Cretaceous to Pleistocene, are deformed about WNW-trending folds and record broadly similar shortening strains, we infer a Quaternary age of deformation. Parts of the San Felipe fault zone cut latest Pleistocene to Holocene surficial deposits, and the fault zone is likely active. Evidence for early Pleistocene initiation of the San Felipe fault zone is preserved in conglomerate NE of the Sunset fault. Poorly sorted angular boulder conglomerate and pebbly sandstone of the Sunset Conglomerate are ~600 m thick and lie in angular unconformity on the Pliocene Palm Spring Group. The conglomerate coarsens upward and toward the fault, and is dominated by plutonic clasts derived from SW of it. Conglomerate beds contain up to 10% sandstone clasts recycled from older basin fill and accumulated in proximal to medial alluvial fans that were shed to the NE from uplifted rocks along the then-active Sunset fault. Based on lithologic, stratigraphic, structural, and compositional similarities, we correlate the Sunset Conglomerate to the Pleistocene Ocotillo Formation. Clasts of recycled sandstone record erosion of detachment-related basin fill that predates the San Felipe fault and once covered the Vallecito and Fish Creek mountains. These crystalline-cored mountain ranges first emerged from beneath basin fill during early slip above the nascent San Felipe fault ca. 1.1-1.3 Ma. Later, the San Felipe fault zone cut upward, folded, cut across, and deactivated the West Salton detachment fault within a ~9-km-wide contractional bend and pair of left-steps. Areas that accumulated sediment within this step-over zone between ca. 1.1 and ca. 0.6 Ma are currently being inverted and folded. Initiation of the San Felipe fault in early Pleistocene time was a significant event in the reorganization of the southern San Andreas fault system. The Quaternary dextral faults broadened the plate boundary zone southwestward from roughly 25 km (during coeval slip on the San Andreas fault and West Salton detachment fault) to 50-70 km, and mark a change in the dominant structural style from transtension to distributed dextral faulting south of the Big Bend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise tectonic role of the left-lateral Garlock fault in southern California has been controversial. Three proposed tectonic models yield significantly different predictions for the slip rate, history, orientation, and total bedrock offset as a function of distance along strike. In an effort to test these models, we present the first slip-rate estimate for the western Garlock fault that is constrained by radiocarbon dating. A channel (referred to here as Clark Wash) incised into a Latest Pleistocene alluvial fan has been left-laterally offset at least 66 ± 6 m and no more than 100 m across the western Garlock fault, indicating a left-lateral slip rate of 7.6 mm/ yr (95% confidence interval of 5.3-10.7 mm/ yr) using dendrochronologically calibrated radiocarbon dates. The timing of aggradational events on the Clark Wash fan corresponds closely to what has been documented elsewhere in the Mojave Desert, suggesting that much of this activity has been climatically controlled. The range-front fault, located a few hundred meters northwest of the Garlock fault, has probably acted primarily as a normal fault, with a Holocene rate of dip-slip of 0.4-0.7 mm/yr. The record of prehistoric earthquakes on the Garlock fault at this site, though quite possibly incomplete, suggests a longer interseismic interval (1200-2700 yr) for the western Garlock fault than for the central Garlock fault. The relatively high slip rate determined here indicates that the western and central segments of the Garlock fault show similar rates of movement that are somewhat faster than rates inferred from geodetic data. The high rate of motion on the western Garlock fault is most consistent with a model in which the western Garlock fault acts as a conjugate shear to the San Andreas fault. Other mechanisms, involving extension north of the Garlock fault and block rotation at the eastern end of the fault may be relevant to the central and eastern sections of the fault, but they cannot explain a high rate of slip on the western Garlock fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic velocity changes and nonvolcanic tremor activity in the Parkfield area in California reveal that large earthquakes induce long-term perturbations of crustal properties in the San Andreas fault zone. The 2003 San Simeon and 2004 Parkfield earthquakes both reduced seismic velocities that were measured from correlations of the ambient seismic noise and induced an increased nonvolcanic tremor activity along the San Andreas fault. After the Parkfield earthquake, velocity reduction and nonvolcanic tremor activity remained elevated for more than 3 years and decayed over time, similarly to afterslip derived from GPS (Global Positioning System) measurements. These observations suggest that the seismic velocity changes are related to co-seismic damage in the shallow layers and to deep co-seismic stress change and postseismic stress relaxation within the San Andreas fault zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new three-dimensional model of the major fault systems in southern California. The model describes the San Andreas fault and associated strikeslip 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 comprehensive 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The San Andreas Fault (SAF) is the Pacific-North American plate boundary, yet in southern California a significant portion of the relative plate motion is accommodated by the San Jacinto Fault (SJF). Here we investigate the initiation of the SJF and its interaction with the SAF in a three-dimensional visco-elasto-plastic finite-element model. The model results show that the restraining bend of the southern SAF causes strain localization along the SJF, thus may have contributed to its initiation. Slip on the SJF tends to reduce slip rate on the SAF and enhance deformation in the Eastern California Shear Zone. The initiation of the SJF and its interaction with the SAF reflect the evolving plate boundary zone as it continuously seeks the most efficient way to accommodate the relative plate motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of microstructures in unlithified near-surface sediments provides promising results for differentiating between earthquake rupture-related (coseismic) and creep-related (aseismic) structures formed by the San Andreas fault. Paleoseismic trenches excavated at two sites, Flook Ranch on the creeping section, and Alder Creek on the 1906 rupture trace, show contrasting fault-zone structures and microstructures in near-surface, late Holocene sand. At Alder Creek, the 1–2-m-wide fault zone consists of both faults and 2-10-mm-thick deformation bands. Deformation bands have preferred grain orientations ∼30° counterclockwise from the fault (viewed in the slip-parallel direction), broken and disaggregated grains, smaller than average grain size, and lower porosity than control samples. In contrast, at Flook Ranch, two 4–6-m-wide fault zones consist of multiple faults but lack deformation bands. Silty sand in the fault zone at Flook Ranch has preferred grain orientations ∼10° clockwise from the fault, lacks broken grains, and has comparable grain size but lower porosity than control samples. These microstructures record different deformation mechanisms in near-surface sediment: cataclasis at Alder Creek, and distributed deformation at Flook Ranch. Deformation bands on the 1906 rupture trace of the San Andreas fault at Alder Creek demonstrate that these structures, with their grain rotation, grain breakage, and localized porosity variations, can form coseismically in unlithified sediment. The grain bridge model accounts for fundamental microstructural characteristics of Alder Creek deformation bands, and it provides a connection between these microstructures and laboratory studies of stickslip instability. Deformation bands are easily recognizable in field and trench exposures and may be a useful indicator of coseismic slip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Deformation associated with the Rinconada fault, one of the major strands of the San Andreas fault system in central California, is accommodated by both discrete fault offset (∼18km) and distributed off-fault deformation. En echelon folds adjacent to the Rinconada fault were studied in detail at two locations, near Williams Hill and Lake San Antonio, to characterize the magnitude and style of distributed deformation. The obliquity between fold hinges and the local strike of the fault was 27° and 14° at these two sites, respectively. Systematic outcrop-scale fault displacement measurements along roadcuts indicate that the maximum horizontal elongation occurs parallel to local fold hinges and ranges from 4 to 9%. We used the orientation and stretch of fold hinges to construct a transpressional kinematic model for distributed deformation. This modeling suggests a 20–50° angle of oblique convergence, 5km of fault-parallel wrench deformation, and 2–4km of fault-perpendicular shortening. Between 3° and 16° of clockwise rotation is also predicted by our model. This rotation is independently confirmed by a 14±7° vertical axis rotation from regional paleomagnetic analyses. Integrating the regional discrete and distributed components of deformation suggests that the Rinconada fault system is 80% strike-slip partitioned. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

New continuous and differential global positioning system (GPS) measurements of recent slip rates and 30 yr alignment-array offsets from the central creeping segment of the San Andreas fault yield a maximum right-lateral slip rate of 25 ± 1 mm/yr. This slip rate is 20% slower than the 30 mm/yr slip rate accepted for this segment of the fault and 35% slower than the 39 mm/yr slip rate predicted between the Sierra Nevada-Great Valley block and the Pacific plate. New continuous GPS measurements between pairs of sites that flank the creeping segment at intersite distances of 1.0 km and 70 km give relative fault-parallel slip rates of 28 ± 2 and 30 ± 2 mm/yr, respectively. These observations indicate that right-lateral deformation rates increase with distance from the fault. Possible explanations for the gradient observed in the geodetic data are elastic strain accumulation along the creeping segment or significant distributed deformation on off-fault structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the tectonic motion across the Coast Ranges and San Andreas fault system in central California. Use of the assumption of the rigidity of plate interiors, a velocity model of plates and sites based on very long baseline interferometry; Observed strike of the faults; Testing of the hypothesis that stable sliding occurs along the San Andreas fault and other northwest-strikign strike-slip faults.

Examines the changes in the tectonic regime from subduction to strike-slip in the Mendocino triple junction. Structure of the San Andreas Fault system; Changes in the asthenospheric mantle; Penetration of strike-slip faults through the entire crust to the upper mantle.

Studies the tectonic and depositional history of the California continental margin as it change from a convergent tectonic regime to a translational regime during the evolution of the San Andreas transform fault systems. New evidence from the Gualala and Point Arenas basins.

Gives information on research findings of why the San Andreas Fault is weak. What geochemists have found; Comments from Mack Kennedy, a member of the Earth Sciences division of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Description of two models that explains the origin of high pressure fluids in fault zones.

This article discusses how research facilitating the increased understanding of slow earthquakes may provide a more complete understanding of the processes associated with ordinary earthquakes. The term slow earthquake encompasses a number of phenomena, including slow-slip events and very-low-frequency earthquakes. Slow earthquakes are typically accompanied by deep tremor and occur as shear slip events of tectonic plates. These tremors can be sensitive to small variations in geophysical stress, as they have been triggered by lunar tides. Monitoring of tremor phenomena via seismic stations is discussed, and peculiarities associated with the San Andreas Fault are elucidated.

The article focuses on the study headed by Sue Cashman concerning the rock deformation of unconsolidated and nolithified deposits. This assesses the factors that inhibit the deformation of the deposits, how these materials in the near-surface regime deforms and how the impact of this deformation may be felt in a variety of settings. The study primarily examines the exhumed fault-related rocks along the San Andreas fault and other faults for over 70 years, highlighting on the exhumed fault rock in bedrock. Moreover, it measures the processes at seismogenic depths where seismic energy is radiated. It also addresses two emerging issues such as the deformation in faults at the surface and the deformation process in poorly lithified deposits prior to burial and diagenesis.

An interview with seismologist Amanda Thomas is presented. Thomas' team at the University of California, Berkeley said to have reported that non-volcanic tremors experienced in San Andreas fault in California is due, in part, to the small stresses induced by tides. According to Thomas, such findings could be beneficial in understanding the how things work at the roots of the faults.

The article reports on the retrieval and examination of rocks taken from an active fault in San Andreas Fault in California. According to scientists, the rocks will be dissected and examined as to how and why faults rupture in quakes. The drilling for the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) began in 2004 and retrieved 44 meters of rock core and is said to be worth $24.6 million, funded by the National Science Foundation. Drillers found that the rock contains slippery mineral talc and bits of serpentine. The organization is unable to continue its project due to lack of funding.