Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T07:18:25.234Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Dating Quaternary Fault Scarps Formed in Alluvium Using Morphologic Parameters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Larry Mayer*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056

Abstract

Ages of fault scarps, as well as those other types of transport-limited slopes, can be estimated by comparing their morphology with the morphology of scarps of known age. Age estimates are derived by fitting the scarp profiles to synthetic profiles generated using a diffusion equation or, alternatively, by classification using a linear discriminant function. The usefulness of morphology-derived age estimates depends on the relative importance of non-age-related morphologic variation. Data from more than 200 scarp profiles demonstrate that morphologic variation not related to scarp age can introduce significant uncertainties into morphology-derived age estimates.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T.W. (1958). An Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis Wiley New York Google Scholar
Bucknam, R.C. Anderson, R.E. (1979). Estimation of fault-scarp ages from a scarp-height-slope-angle relationship Geology 7 11 14 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvo, S.S. Pearthree, P.A. (1981). Tectonic geomorphology of Quaternary fault scarps, Santa Rita mountains southeastern Arizona Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 13 47 Google Scholar
Carslaw, M.A. Jaeger, J.C. (1959). Conduction of Heat in Solids Oxford Univ. Press Oxford Google Scholar
Colman, S.M. Machette, M. (1981). Application of a diffusion-equation model of fault-scarp degradation to late Quaternary fault scarps in Colorado and New Mexico Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 13 429 Google Scholar
Colman, S.M. Watson, K. (1983). Ages estimated from a diffusion-equation model for scarp degradation Science (Washington, D.C.) 221 263 265 Google Scholar
Cooke, R.V. Warren, A. (1973). Geomorphology in Deserts Univ. of California Press Los Angeles Google Scholar
Culling, W.E.H. (1960). Analytical theory of erosion Journal of Geology 68 336 344 Google Scholar
Devdariani, A.S. (1967). A plane mathematical model of the growth and erosion of an uplift Soviet Geology and Geophysics. (English Translation) 8 183 198 Google Scholar
Dodge, R.L. Grose, L.T. (1980). Tectonic Geomorphologic Evolution of the Black Rock Fault, Northwestern Nevada United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 80-801Google Scholar
Dubois, S.M. Smith, A.W. (1980). The 1887 Earthquake in San Bernardino Valley, Sonora: Historical Accounts and Intensity Patterns in Arizona 3 Arizona Bureau of Mines and Mineral Technology Special PaperGoogle Scholar
Feth, J.H. (1966). Lake Bonneville—Geology and Hydrology of the Weber Delta District, Including Ogden, Utah 518 United States Geological Survey Professional PaperGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, G.K. (1928). Studies of Basin and Range Structure 153 United States Geological Survey Professional PaperGoogle Scholar
Gile, L.H. Peterson, F.F. Grossman, R.B. (1965). The K-horizon: A master soil horizon of carbonate accumulation Soil Science 99 74 82 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, L. (1982a Constraints on morphologic age estimation of Quaternary fault scarps based on statistical analysis of scarps in the basin and range province—Arizona and northeastern Sonora, Mexico Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 14 213 Google Scholar
Mayer, L. (1982b Quantitative Tectonic Geomorphology with Applications to Neotectonics of Northwestern Arizona Ph.D. dissertation University of Arizona Tucson Google Scholar
Nash, D.B. (1980). Morphologic dating of degraded normal fault scarps Journal of Geology 88 353 360 Google Scholar
Nash, D.B. (1981). Fault—A Fortran program for modeling for degradation of active normal fault scarps Computers and Geosciences 7 249 266 Google Scholar
Scheidegger, A.E. (1961). Mathematical models of slope development Geological Society of America Bulletin 72 37 50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, W.E. McCoy, W.D. Shroba, R.R. Rubin, M. (1983). Reinterpretation of the exposed record of the last two cycles of Lake Bonneville, western United States Quaternary Research 20 261 285 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellers, W.D. Hill, R.H. (1974). Arizona Climate 1931–1973 Univ. of Arizona Press Tucson Google Scholar
Wallace, R.E. (1977). Profiles and ages of fault scarps, north central Nevada Geological Society of America Bulletin 88 1267 1281 Google Scholar