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Detailed Reference Information |
Dixon, T., Decaix, J., Farina, F., Furlong, K., Malservisi, R., Bennett, R., Suarez-Vidal, F., Fletcher, J. and Lee, J. (2002). Seismic cycle and rheological effects on estimation of present-day slip rates for the Agua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults, northern Baja California, Mexico. Journal of Geophysical Research 107: doi: 10.1029/2000JB000099. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Geodesy can be used to infer long-term fault slip rates, assuming a model for crust and upper mantle rheology. We examine the sensitivity of fault slip rate estimates to assumed rheology for the Agua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults in northern Baja California, Mexico, part of the Pacific--North America plate boundary zone. The Agua Blanca fault is seismically quiet, but offset alluvial fans indicate young activity. Current seismicity is confined to the nearby San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, a small offset fault better aligned with plate motion. GPS measurements between 1993 and 1998 suggest that both faults are active, with a combined slip rate of 4--8 mm yr-1 regardless of rheological model. However, slip rate estimates for the individual faults are sensitive to assumed rheology. Elastic half-space models yield 2--3 mm yr-1 for the Agua Blanca fault, and somewhat faster rates for the San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, 2--4 mm yr-1, with uncertainties of about 1 mm yr-1. Models incorporating viscoelastic rheology and seismic cycle effects suggest a faster slip rate for the Agua Blanca fault, 6 ¿ 1 mm yr-1, and a slower rate for the San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, 1 ¿ 1 mm yr-1, in better agreement with geological data, but these rates are sensitive to assumed rheology. Numerical simulations with a finite element model suggest that for similar rheological and friction conditions, slip on the San Miguel-Vallecitos fault should be favored due to better alignment with plate motion. Long-term faulting processes in the larger offset Agua Blanca fault may have lowered slip resistance, allowing accommodation of motion despite misalignment with plate motion. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Geodesy and Gravity, Crustal movements--interplate, Geodesy and Gravity, Rheology of the lithosphere and mantle, Tectonophysics, Continental neotectonics |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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