A Queryable Map-Based Web Interface to the SCEC Community Fault Model

Mei-Hui Su, Philip J. Maechling, Scott T. Marshall, Craig Nicholson, Andreas Plesch, John H. Shaw, Edric Pauk, Tran T. Huynh, & Elizabeth H. Hearn

Published August 15, 2019, SCEC Contribution #9787, 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #322

The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Community Fault Model (CFM) is an object-oriented, three-dimensional (3D) representation of active faults in southern California and adjacent offshore basins that includes 105 complex fault systems composed of more than 380 individually named fault representations. The model (including alternative representations) incorporates more than 820 fault objects, which are 3D triangulated representations (GOCAD t-surfs) of various fault surface components, as well as fault trace shapefiles, and associated metadata. The CFM 3D faults are defined based on mapped surface traces, seismicity, seismic reflection profiles, wells, geologic cross sections, and various other types of data and models. The latest released version of the CFM is version 5.2, which serves SCEC as a unified resource for physics-based fault systems modeling, strong ground-motion prediction, and probabilistic seismic hazards assessment. In past years, the SCEC CFM was distributed as a collection of data files in a single archive, which required the user to load and search for desired objects manually. To make the CFM more accessible and useful to researchers, we have developed a prototype interactive CFM website that provides a queryable map-based interface to the latest released version of preferred CFM faults. The system is based on a fault database which is very carefully linked to fault mesh and trace data. The new web interface enables users to search, view, and download the CFM faults using several criteria including keywords, geographic extent (latitude and longitude ranges), and several other criteria. The current site also allows users to download CFM fault geometry files in several selected formats/resolutions. Along with the web interface, we have also added new content to the evolving CFM homepage including fault trace maps, and a description of the GOCAD file format. SCEC’s science and software groups are developing the CFM viewer website using an iterative software development process in which SCEC scientists identify and prioritize desired capabilities, the SCEC software group rapidly prototypes new features, and SCEC researchers review the site capabilities to ensure they provide value and ease of access to the science community.

Citation
Su, M., Maechling, P. J., Marshall, S. T., Nicholson, C., Plesch, A., Shaw, J. H., Pauk, E., Huynh, T. T., & Hearn, E. H. (2019, 08). A Queryable Map-Based Web Interface to the SCEC Community Fault Model. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
SCEC Community Models (CXM)