Fault slip rates and interseismic deformation in the western Transverse Ranges, California

To better constrain fault slip rates and patterns of interseismic deformation in the western Transverse Ranges of southern California, we present results from analysis of GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data and three-dimensional mechanical and kinematic models of active faulting. Anthropogenic motions are detected in several localized zones but do not significantly affect the vast majority of continuous GPS site locations. GPS measures contraction rates across the Ventura Basin of ~7 mm/yr oriented west-northwest with rates decreasing to the west and east. The Santa Barbara channel is accommodating ~6.5 mm/yr in the east and ~2.5 mm/yr in the western portions of N/S contraction. Inversion of horizontal GPS velocities highlights a zone of localized fast contraction rates following the Ventura Basin. Using a mechanical model driven by geodetically calculated strain rates, we show that there are no significant discrepancies between short-term slip rates captured by geodesy and longer-term slip rates measured by geology. Mechanical models reproduce the first-order interseismic velocity and strain rate patterns but fail to reproduce strongly localized contraction in the Ventura Basin due to the inadequate homogeneous elastic properties of the model. Existing two-dimensional models match horizontal rates but predict significant uplift gradients that are not observed in the GPS data. Mechanical models predict zones of fast contraction in the Santa Barbara channel and offshore near Malibu, suggesting that offshore faults represent a significant seismic hazard to the region. Furthermore, many active faults throughout the region may produce little to no interseismic deformation, making accurate seismic hazard assessment challenging. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

[1]  T. Becker,et al.  Where is the real transform boundary in California? , 2010 .

[2]  B. E. Shaw,et al.  Slip-Length Scaling in Large Earthquakes: The Role of Deep-Penetrating Slip below the Seismogenic Layer , 2007 .

[3]  J. C. Savage,et al.  Accumulation of tectonic strain in California , 1970, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[4]  R. Yeats.  Converging more slowly , 1993, Nature.

[5]  R. Allmendinger,et al.  Structural Geology Algorithms: Vectors and Tensors , 2012 .

[6]  M. Cooke,et al.  San Andreas fault geometry through the San Gorgonio Pass, California , 2009 .

[7]  Gerald W. Bawden,et al.  Tectonic contraction across Los Angeles after removal of groundwater pumping effects , 2001, Nature.

[8]  Robert W. King,et al.  Estimating regional deformation from a combination of space and terrestrial geodetic data , 1998 .

[9]  Robert McCaffrey,et al.  Block kinematics of the Pacific-North America plate boundary in the southwestern United States from inversion of GPS, seismological, and geologic data , 2005 .

[10]  Bruce P. Luyendyk,et al.  Geometric model for Neogene crustal rotations in southern California , 1980 .

[11]  Thomas L. Pratt,et al.  Puente Hills Blind-Thrust System , 2003 .

[12]  T. Davis,et al.  Structural transect of the western Transverse Ranges, California: Implications for lithospheric kinematics and seismic risk evaluation , 1988 .

[13]  H. Zebker,et al.  Persistent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar for crustal deformation analysis, with application to Volcán Alcedo, Galápagos , 2007 .

[14]  D. Pollard,et al.  Stick, slip, and opening of wavy frictional faults: A numerical approach in two dimensions , 2012 .

[15]  H. Zebker,et al.  A new method for measuring deformation on volcanoes and other natural terrains using InSAR persistent scatterers , 2004 .

[16]  Thomas K. Rockwell.  Neotectonics of the San Cayetano fault, Transverse Ranges, California , 1988 .

[17]  Andrew Hooper,et al.  A multi‐temporal InSAR method incorporating both persistent scatterer and small baseline approaches , 2008 .

[18]  G. R. Keller,et al.  Fault systems of the 1971 San Fernando and 1994 Northridge earthquakes, southern California: Relocated aftershocks and seismic images from LARSE II , 2003 .

[19]  J. Jackson,et al.  Active faulting and block rotations in the Western Transverse Ranges, California , 1990 .

[20]  Eric J. Fielding,et al.  Deformation during the 12 November 1999 Duzce, Turkey, earthquake, from GPS and InSar Data , 2002 .

[21]  R. Yeats,et al.  Tectonic setting of the 1971 Sylmar and 1994 Northridge earthquakes in the San Fernando Valley, California , 1999, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[22]  R. Yeats,et al.  Convergence rates across a displacement transfer zone in the western Transverse Ranges, Ventura basin, California , 1995 .

[23]  S. Owen,et al.  Interseismic deformation associated with three‐dimensional faults in the greater Los Angeles region, California , 2009 .

[24]  R. Yeats,et al.  Late Cenozoic tectonics of the northern Los Angeles fault system, California , 2001 .

[25]  W. Menke.  Geophysical data analysis : discrete inverse theory , 1984 .

[26]  Robert S. Yeats,et al.  Late Quaternary slip rate on the Oak Ridge fault, Transverse Ranges, California: Implications for seismic risk , 1988 .

[27]  J. Dieterich,et al.  Nonplanar Faults: Mechanics of Slip and Off-fault Damage , 2009 .

[28]  Jerome A. Treiman,et al.  Community Fault Model (CFM) for Southern California , 2007 .

[29]  J. Dolan,et al.  Paleoseismologic Evidence for an Early to Mid-Holocene Age of the Most Recent Surface Rupture on the Hollywood Fault, Los Angeles, California , 2000 .

[30]  Brendan J. Meade,et al.  Block models of crustal motion in southern California constrained by GPS measurements , 2005 .

[31]  Rongjiang Wang,et al.  Erratum to: "Computation of deformation induced by earthquakes in a multi-layered elastic crust - FORTRAN programs EDGRN/EDCMP": [Computers & Geosciences, 29(2) (2003) 195-207] , 2006, Comput. Geosci..

[32]  Geodetic estimates of fault slip rates in the San Francisco Bay area , 1999 .

[33]  Bruce E. Shaw,et al.  Slip‐length scaling in large earthquakes: Observations and theory and implications for earthquake physics , 2001 .

[34]  Michele L. Cooke,et al.  Mechanical Validation of the Three-Dimensional Intersection Geometry between the Puente Hills Blind-Thrust System and the Whittier Fault, Los Angeles, California , 2004 .

[35]  S. Marshall,et al.  Mechanics, slip behavior, and seismic potential of corrugated dip‐slip faults , 2012 .

[36]  M. Dyson,et al.  Geologic versus geodetic deformation adjacent to the San Andreas fault, central California , 2011 .

[37]  Andrea Donnellan,et al.  Discrepancy between geological and geodetic deformation rates in the Ventura basin , 1993, Nature.

[38]  W. Griffith,et al.  Rough faults, distributed weakening, and off-fault deformation , 2009 .

[39]  WangRongjiang,et al.  Computation of deformation induced by earthquakes in a multi-layered elastic crust , 2003 .

[40]  B. Meade,et al.  Stress modulation on the San Andreas fault by interseismic fault system interactions , 2011 .

[41]  John Langbein,et al.  Estimating rate uncertainty with maximum likelihood: differences between power-law and flicker–random-walk models , 2012, Journal of Geodesy.

[42]  S. Lamb.  A simple method for estimating the horizontal velocity field in wide zones of active deformation—II. Examples from New Zealand, Central Asia and Chile , 1994 .

[43]  R. Yeats,et al.  Oak Ridge Fault, Ventura Fold Belt, and the Sisar Decollement, Ventura Basin, California , 1988 .

[44]  M. Cooke,et al.  Sensitivity of the Southern San Andreas Fault System to Tectonic Boundary Conditions and Fault Configurations , 2012 .

[45]  Ian Parsons,et al.  Surface deformation due to shear and tensile faults in a half-space , 1986 .

[46]  Haluk Ozener,et al.  Estimates of Seismic Potential in the Marmara Sea Region from Block Models of Secular Deformation Constrained by Global Positioning System Measurements , 2002 .

[47]  R. Yeats.  High Rates of Vertical Crustal Movement near Ventura, California , 1977, Science.

[48]  T. Rockwell,et al.  Chronology and rates of faulting of Ventura River terraces, California , 1984 .

[49]  L. B. Freund,et al.  A two-dimensional analysis of surface deformation due to dip-slip faulting , 1976 .

[50]  T. Dixon,et al.  Strain accumulation across the Carrizo segment of the San Andreas Fault, California : Impact of laterally varying crustal properties , 2006 .

[51]  K. Kelson,et al.  Late Quaternary Fold Deformation along the Northridge Hills Fault, Northridge, California: Deformation Coincident with Past Northridge Blind-Thrust Earthquakes and Other Nearby Structures? , 2000 .

[52]  R. Yeats,et al.  Geomorphic indicators of active fold growth: South Mountain-Oak Ridge anticline, Ventura basin, southern California , 2002 .

[53]  K. Sieh,et al.  Late Quaternary activity and seismic potential of the Santa Monica fault system, Los Angeles, California , 2000 .

[54]  Jeanne L. Hardebeck,et al.  Constraints on fault slip rates of the southern California plate boundary from GPS velocity and stress inversions , 2005 .

[55]  J. C. Savage,et al.  Viscoelastic coupling model of the San Andreas Fault along the Big Bend, southern California , 1998 .

[56]  William A. Bryant,et al.  Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for the state of California , 1996 .

[57]  Michael B. Heflin,et al.  Interseismic strain accumulation and anthropogenic motion in metropolitan Los Angeles , 2005 .

[58]  Robert W. Graves,et al.  The SCEC Southern California Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 2 , 2000 .

[59]  M. Cooke,et al.  Using Vertical Rock Uplift Patterns to Constrain the Three-Dimensional Fault Configuration in the Los Angeles Basin , 2008 .

[60]  A. Donnellan,et al.  The Magnitude 6.7 Northridge, California, Earthquake of January 17, 1994 , 1994 .

[61]  S. Owen,et al.  Effects of Nonplanar Fault Topology and Mechanical Interaction on Fault-Slip Distributions in the Ventura Basin, California , 2008 .

[62]  Richard W. Allmendinger,et al.  Strain and rotation rate from GPS in Tibet, Anatolia, and the Altiplano , 2007 .

[63]  Howard A. Zebker,et al.  Decorrelation in interferometric radar echoes , 1992, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[64]  Yehuda Bock,et al.  Spatiotemporal filtering using principal component analysis and Karhunen-Loeve expansion approaches for regional GPS network analysis , 2006 .

[65]  Monica D. Kohler,et al.  Mantle Heterogeneities and the SCEC Reference Three-Dimensional Seismic Velocity Model Version 3 , 2003 .

[66]  Andrea Donnellan,et al.  Geodetic measurement of deformation in the Ventura basin region , 1993 .

[67]  D. Pollard,et al.  Mechanical analysis of fault slip data: Implications for paleostress analysis , 2011 .

[68]  B. Meade,et al.  From decades to epochs: Spanning the gap between geodesy and structural geology of active mountain belts , 2009 .

[69]  M. Cooke,et al.  How Sensitive Are Fault-Slip Rates in the Los Angeles Basin to Tectonic Boundary Conditions? , 2005 .

[70]  John Langbein,et al.  Noise in two‐color electronic distance meter measurements revisited , 2004 .

[71]  D. Okaya,et al.  Crustal structure and tectonics from the Los Angeles basin to the Mojave Desert, southern California , 2001 .

[72]  M. Cooke,et al.  Fault slip rates from three‐dimensional models of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, California , 2006 .

[73]  Walter H. F. Smith,et al.  New, improved version of generic mapping tools released , 1998 .

[74]  David D. Jackson,et al.  Crustal deformation across and beyond the Los Angeles basin from geodetic measurements , 1996 .

[75]  J. C. Savage.  Displacement field for an edge dislocation in a layered half‐space , 1998 .

[76]  James F. Dolan,et al.  Long-range and long-term fault interactions in Southern California , 2004 .

[77]  E. Humphreys,et al.  Fault slip rates, effects of elastic heterogeneity on geodetic data, and the strength of the lower crust in the Salton Trough region, southern California , 2005 .

[78]  I. Çemen.  Near‐surface expression of the eastern part of the San Cayetano Fault: A potentially active thrust fault in the California Transverse Ranges , 1989 .

[79]  J. Dolan,et al.  High‐resolution seismic reflection profiling of the Santa Monica Fault Zone, west Los Angeles, California , 1997 .

[80]  R. Yeats,et al.  Deformation rates across the Placerita (Northridge Mw = 6.7 aftershock zone) and Hopper Canyon segments of the western transverse ranges deformation belt , 1996, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[81]  Romain Jolivet,et al.  Thin‐plate modeling of interseismic deformation and asymmetry across the Altyn Tagh fault zone , 2008 .

[82]  Kenneth W. Hudnut,et al.  Co-seismic displacements of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake , 1996, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[83]  Thomas H. Heaton,et al.  The slip history of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake determined from strong-motion, teleseismic, GPS, and leveling data , 1996, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

[84]  Thomas L. Davis,et al.  A balanced cross-section of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, southern California , 1994, Nature.

[85]  Rockwell,et al.  Evidence for large earthquakes in metropolitan los angeles , 1998, Science.

[86]  J. Suppe,et al.  Three-dimensional imaging of active structures using earthquake aftershocks: the Northridge thrust, California , 2002 .

[87]  R. Yeats.  Large‐scale Quaternary detachments in Ventura Basin, southern California , 1983 .

[88]  K. Sieh,et al.  Active tectonics, paleoseismology, and seismic hazards of the Hollywood fault, northern Los Angeles basin, California , 1997 .

[89]  Mark D. Petersen,et al.  Fault slip rates and earthquake histories for active faults in southern California , 1994 .

[90]  M. Cooke,et al.  Simulating the recent evolution of the southern big bend of the San Andreas fault, Southern California , 2011 .

[91]  J. Dolan,et al.  Paleoseismologic Evidence for a >8 Ka Age of the Most Recent Surface Rupture on the Eastern Sierra Madre Fault, Northern Los Angeles Metropolitan Region, California , 2001 .

[92]  Swaminathan Krishnan,et al.  Risk Analysis Using Rupture-to-Rafters Simulations : Inferring Probabilities of Scenario Earthquakes from the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast , 2015 .

[93]  Thomas L. Pratt,et al.  Puente Hills Blind-Thrust System, Los Angeles, California , 2002 .

[94]  Fabio Rocca,et al.  Permanent scatterers in SAR interferometry , 2001, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[95]  B. Luyendyk.  A model for Neogene crustal rotations, transtension, and transpression in southern California , 1991 .

[96]  Andrea Donnellan,et al.  Reconciling rapid strain accumulation with deep seismogenic fault planes in the Ventura Basin, California , 1999 .

[97]  Yukitoshi Fukahata,et al.  General expressions for internal deformation fields due to a dislocation source in a multilayered elastic half-space , 2005 .

[98]  Yuri Fialko,et al.  Interseismic strain accumulation and the earthquake potential on the southern San Andreas fault system , 2006, Nature.

[99]  K. Sieh,et al.  Prospects for Larger or More Frequent Earthquakes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region , 1995, Science.

[100]  J. C. Savage.  A dislocation model of strain accumulation and release at a subduction zone , 1983 .

[101]  J. C. Savage,et al.  Geodetic determination of relative plate motion in central California , 1973 .