Open AccessGeologic and structural controls on rupture zone fabric: A field-based study of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake surface rupture
Author(s) -
Orlando J. Teran,
J. M. Fletcher,
M. E. Oskin,
T. Rockwell,
K. W. Hudnut,
Ronald M. Spelz,
S. O. Akciz,
Ana Paula Hernandez-Flores,
A. E. Morelan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geosphere
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.879
H-Index - 58
ISSN - 1553-040X
DOI - 10.1130/ges01078.1
Subject(s) - fault scarp , geology , seismology , slip (aerodynamics) , echelon formation , surface rupture , transect , fault (geology) , lithology , shearing (physics) , oblique case , geodesy , petrology , geotechnical engineering , linguistics , oceanography , physics , philosophy , thermodynamics
We systematically mapped (scales >1:500) the surface rupture of the 4 April 2010 Mw (moment magnitude) 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake through the Sierra Cucapah (Baja California, northwestern Mexico) to understand how faults with similar structural and lithologic characteristics control rupture zone fabric, which is here defined by the thickness, distribution, and internal configuration of shearing in a rupture zone. Fault zone thickness and master fault dip are strongly correlated with many parameters of rupture zone fabric. Wider fault zones produce progressively wider rupture zones and both of these parameters increase systematically with decreasing dip of master faults, which varies from 20° to 90° in our dataset. Principal scarps that accommodate more than 90% of the total coseismic slip in a given transect are only observed in fault sections with narrow rupture zones (
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