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Date Permissions Signed

4-10-2020

Date of Award

Spring 2020

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department or Program Affiliation

WWU Department of Geology

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geology

First Advisor

Amos, Colin B.

Second Advisor

Clark, Douglas H., 1961-

Third Advisor

Meigs, Andrew J.

Abstract

New cosmogenic 3He chronologies and surficial geologic mapping constrain the age of glacial deposits and slip rates of predominantly normal faults in the White Branch and Dilman Meadows fault zones in central Oregon, USA, over the last ca. ~80 kyr. Our mapping of glacial landforms and deposits distinguishes three primary episodes of glacial deposition in the White Branch fault zone. Twenty-two new cosmogenic 3He surface exposure dates indicate that the youngest glacial unit represents a last glacial maximum deposit (ca. 19.4 +10.1/-6.2 kyr). Mapping of outwash terrace surfaces and deposits in the Dilman Meadows fault zone, constrained by two new cosmogenic 3He depth profiles, identifies an older outwash deposit (75.0 +11.3/-9.2 kyr) associated with MIS 5b (~75 ka), as well as a younger last glacial maximum outwash surface (20.8 +0.04/-0.03 kyr). For the first time, glacial chronologies are linked across the Cascades, where west of the crest, where erosion and precipitation rates are high and vegetation cover is dense, and east of the crest, where precipitation and erosion rates are significantly lower and tree cover is sparse. We use offset measurements from fault scarps that show primarily dip-slip motion in combination with the depth profile ages to determine a summed slip rate across the Dilman Meadows fault zone of 0.1 – 0.4 mm/yr since ~75 ka. Surface faulting evident in the White Branch fault zone represents deformation strictly since the last glacial maximum (< 20.3 +6.2/-5.3 ka). Combining offset values from scarp profiles that show purely dip-slip displacement with the cosmogenic 3He surface ages yields a summed dip slip rate across the White Branch fault zone of 0.6 ± 0.5 mm/yr since the last glacial maximum. The White Branch and the Dilman Meadows fault zone both accommodate mostly extension in the Cascade arc and could be mechanisms of Siletzia rotation or volcanic upwelling.

Type

Text

Keywords

Tectonics, Cosmogenic exposure dating, Cascades, Oregon

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1155521762

Subject – LCSH

Surface fault ruptures--Oregon, Central; Faults (Geology)--Oregon, Central; Geomorphological mapping--Oregon, Central; Geological time; Geology, Structural--Oregon, Central

Geographic Coverage

Oregon

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

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.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Supplementary.pdf (231408 kB)

Included in

Geology Commons

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