Complex faulting structures in Eureka Valley, Death Valley National Park, CA

Michael J. Lawson, Steven G. Okubo, Tyanna M. Schlom, Ed J. Rhodes, Jeff Knott, & An Yin

Published August 15, 2018, SCEC Contribution #8701, 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #235

Eureka valley is a large basin in the northwest corner of Death Valley National Park. In 1993, a moment magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred within the valley but due to its remoteness limited mapping has occurred in the area. As part of my dissertation work, we mapped faults within the valley with the goal of understanding the potential for modern slip. Luminescent dating was utilized to derive a new scarp diffusivity constant (1.79 m2ka-1) that was applied to scarps where sampling was not possible. Fast static GPS mapping was subsequently used to model offset on scarp profiles at two locations in the field area representing two distinct fault systems: oblique- normal in the west and mostly normal in the east. In Hanging Rock Canyon, six scarps representing five strands of an oblique normal fault system were mapped and modeling suggests vertical slip rate of ~0.7 mm/yr. Thirty kilometers to the south at the Dedeckera Canyon site, eleven scarp profiles representing four fault strands were found to have ~ 2 mm/yr vertical slip. Within the main valley, a previously unmapped fault (proposed to be named the “Frankel fault” in memory of Dr. Kurt Frankel) will also be presented.

Key Words
geomorphology, tectonics, slip rate, luminescence

Citation
Lawson, M. J., Okubo, S. G., Schlom, T. M., Rhodes, E. J., Knott, J., & Yin, A. (2018, 08). Complex faulting structures in Eureka Valley, Death Valley National Park, CA. Poster Presentation at 2018 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Earthquake Geology