This CD contains a 33 page report, appendix, and plate. This study presents the results of fault-trench excavations near Santaquin, Utah, and includes discussion of (1) previous paleoseismic investigations on the Nephi segment, (2) the geology of the Santaquin trench site and excavations (3) paleoseismic results, including the timing of the most recent surface-faulting earthquake, fault displacement and slip rate, and surface-faulting earthquake recurrence and (4) implications for the segmentation of the southern Wasatch fault zone.
This 43-page report presents new data from the Willow Creek site that provides well-defined and narrow bounds on the times of the three youngest earthquakes on the southern strand of the Nephi segment, Wasatch Fault zone, and refines the time of the youngest earthquake to about 200 years ago. This is the youngest surface rupture on the entire Wasatch fault zone, which occurred about a century or less before European settles arrived in Utah. Two trenches at the Willow Creek site exposed three scarp-derived colluvial wedges that are evidence of three paleoearthquakes. OxCal modeling of ages from Willow Creek indicate that paleoearthquake WC1 occurred at 0.2 ± 0.1 ka, WC2 occurred at 1.2 ± 0.1 ka, and WC3 occurred at 1.9 ± 0.6 ka. Stratigraphic constraints on the time of paleoearthquake WC4 are extremely poor, so OxCal modeling only yields a broadly constrained age of 4.7 ± 1.8 ka. Results from the Willow Creek site significantly refine the times of late Holocene earthquakes on the Southern strand of the Nephi segment, and this result, when combined with a reanalysis of the stratigraphic and chronologic information from previous investigations at North Creek and Red Canyon, yield a stronger basis of correlating individual earthquakes between all three sites.
This report presents the results of the Utah Quaternary Fault Parameters Working Group (hereafter referred to as the Working Group) review and evaluation of Utah’s Quaternary fault paleoseismic-trenching data. The purpose of the review was to (1) critically evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the paleoseismictrenching data, particularly regarding earthquake timing and displacement, (2) where the data permit, assign consensus, preferred recurrence-interval (RI) and vertical slip-rate (VSR) estimates with appropriate confidence limits to the faults/fault sections under review, and (3) identify critical gaps in the paleoseismic data and recommend where and what kinds of additional paleoseismic studies should be performed to ensure that Utah’s earthquake hazard is adequately documented and understood. It is important to note that, with the exception of the Great Salt Lake fault zone, the Working Group’s review was limited to faults/fault sections having paleoseismic-trenching data. Most Quaternary faults/fault sections in Utah have not been trenched, but many have RI and VSR estimates based on tectonic geomorphology or other non-trench-derived studies. Black and others compiled the RI and VSR data for Utah’s Quaternary faults, both those with and without trenches.
This publication presents probabilistic earthquake forecasts developed by the Working Group on Utah Earthquake Probabilities which developed 30,50, and 100 year forecasts that include combined time dependent probabilities of large earthquakes for the five central segments of the Wasatch Fault Zone.
"Rough-Hewn Land tells the geologic story of the American West--the story of its rocks, rivers, mountains, earthquakes, and mineral wealth, including gold. It tells it by taking you on a 1000-mile-long field trip across the rough side of the continent from the California coast to the Rocky Mountains. This book puts you on the outcrop, geologic hammer in hand, to explore the evidence for how the spectacular, rough-hewn lands of the West came to be. When North America broke free from Eurasia and Africa some 200 million years ago, it triggered a cascade of violent geologic events that shaped the West we see today. As the west-moving continent crunched across the seabed of the ancient Pacific, islands and assorted pieces of ocean floor collected against its prow to build California--and plant gold there too. Meanwhile, mountains squeezed upward from California to Colorado, and vast quantities of molten rock seeded the crust with precious metals while spewing volcanic fire across the land. Later, the land stretched like an accordion to form the washboard-like Basin and Range province and Great Basin within it, while California began to crackle along the San Andreas fault. Throughout the West today, a near-constant drumroll of earthquakes testifies to a world still reshaping itself in response to the ceaseless movements of the Earth's tectonic plates. Rough-Hewn Land weaves these stories into the human history of the West. As we follow the adventures of John C. Frémont, Mark Twain, the Donner party, and other historic characters, we see how geologic forces have shaped human experience, just as they direct the fate of the West today"--
The South Fork Dry Creek and Dry Gulch sites lie within a few hundred meters of each other in the southeastern part of the Salt Lake Valley, and together provide the only location on the heavily urbanized Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone where it is possible to develop a complete surface-faulting chronology for the segment since middle Holocene time (the past 6,000 years). Investigations at the two sites took place intermittently between 1985 and 1995 as permission was obtained to trench more and more of the scarps within the broad fault zone. The new information reported here on the size, timing, and especially recurrence of surface-faulting earthquakes on the Salt Lake City segment shows that the earthquake hazard presented by this segment of the Wasatch fault is greater than previously thought. Such information is vital to public officials, planners, and others making decisions regarding earthquake-hazard mitigation. 22 pages + 1 plate
