3D Constraints On Fault Architecture and Strain Distribution of the Newport-Inglewood Rose Canyon and San Onofre Trend Fault Systems

James J. Holmes, Neal W. Driscoll, & Graham M. Kent

Published August 15, 2017, SCEC Contribution #7867, 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #153

The Inner California Borderlands (ICB) is situated off the coast of southern California and northern Baja. The structural and geomorphic characteristics of the area record a middle Oligocene transition from subduction to microplate capture along the California coast. Marine stratigraphic evidence shows large-scale extension and rotation overprinted by modern strike-slip deformation. Geodetic and geologic observations indicate that approximately 6-8 mm/yr of Pacific-North American relative plate motion is accommodated by offshore strike-slip faulting in the ICB.

The farthest inshore fault system, the Newport-Inglewood Rose Canyon (NIRC) Fault is a dextral strike-slip system that is primarily offshore for approximately 120 km from San Diego to the San Joaquin Hills near Newport Beach, California. Based on trenching and well data, the NIRC Fault Holocene slip rate is 1.5-2.0 mm/yr to the south and 0.5-1.0 mm/yr along its northern extent. An earthquake rupturing the entire length of the system could produce an Mw 7.0 earthquake or larger.

West of the main segments of the NIRC Fault is the San Onofre Trend (SOT) along the continental slope. Previous work concluded that this is part of a strike-slip system that eventually merges with the NIRC Fault. Others have interpreted this system as deformation associated with the Oceanside Blind Thrust fault purported to underlie most of the region.

In late 2013, we acquired the first high-resolution 3D Parallel Cable (P-Cable) seismic surveys of the NIRC and SOT faults as part of the Southern California Regional Fault Mapping project.

Analysis of stratigraphy and 3D mapping of this new data has yielded a new kinematic fault model of the area that provides new insight on deformation caused by segment interactions between both NIRC and SOT systems. For the first time, we can reconstruct this fault interaction and investigate how strain is distributed through time along a typical strike-slip margin using 3D constraints on fault architecture. We report on our observations of the geomorphology and subsurface structure that results from these tectonic interactions.

Key Words
paleoseismology,california,san onofre,tectonics,duplex faulting,3D,inner california borderlands,strike-slip faults,geomorphology,structural geology

Citation
Holmes, J. J., Driscoll, N. W., & Kent, G. M. (2017, 08). 3D Constraints On Fault Architecture and Strain Distribution of the Newport-Inglewood Rose Canyon and San Onofre Trend Fault Systems. Poster Presentation at 2017 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Earthquake Geology