Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2010
Keywords
Alkaline earth metals, Kern Canyon fault, Neotectonics, Geochronology
Abstract
The Kern Canyon fault represents a major tectonic and physiographic boundary in the southern Sierra Nevada of east-central California. Previous investigations of the Kern Canyon fault underscore its importance as a Late Cretaceous and Neogene shear zone in the tectonic development of the southern Sierra Nevada. Study of the late Quaternary history of activity, however, has been confounded by the remote nature of the Kern Canyon fault and deep along-strike exhumation within the northern Kern River drainage, driven by focused fluvial and glacial erosion. Recent acquisition of airborne lidar (light detection and ranging) topography along the ∼140 km length of the Kern Canyon fault provides a comprehensive view of the active surface trace. High-resolution, lidar-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) for the northern Kern Canyon fault enable identification of previously unrecognized offsets of late Quaternary moraines near Soda Spring (36.345°N, 118.408°W). Predominately north-striking fault scarps developed on the Soda Spring moraines display west-side-up displacement and lack a significant sense of strike-slip separation, consistent with detailed mapping and trenching along the entire Kern Canyon fault. Scarp-normal topographic profiling derived from the lidar DEMs suggests normal displacement of at least 2.8 +0.6/–0.5 m of the Tioga terminal moraine crest. Cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating of Tioga moraine boulders yields a tight age cluster centered around 18.1 ± 0.5 ka (n = 6), indicating a minimum normal-sense fault slip rate of ∼0.1–0.2 mm/yr over this period. Taken together, these results provide the first clear documentation of late Quaternary activity on the Kern Canyon fault and highlight its role in accommodating internal deformation of the southern Sierra Nevada.
Publication Title
Lithosphere
Volume
2
Issue
6
First Page
411
Last Page
417
DOI
10.1130/L100.1
Required Publisher's Statement
Published Open Access
Link to published version: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/lithosphere/article/2/6/411/145566/Late-Quaternary-slip-rate-on-the-Kern-Canyon-fault
Recommended Citation
Amos, Colin B.; Kelson, Keith I.; Rood, Dylan H.; Simpson, David T.; and Rose, Ronn S., "Late Quaternary slip rate on the Kern Canyon fault at Soda Spring, Tulare County, California" (2010). Geology Faculty Publications. 95.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/geology_facpubs/95
Subjects - Topical (LCSH)
Geology, Stratigraphic--Quaternary; Faults (Geology)--California--Soda Springs; Optical radar--California--Soda Springs--Data processing
Geographic Coverage
Soda Springs (Calif.)
Genre/Form
articles
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Language
English
Format
application/pdf