Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:26:29.151Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Insights into Wasatch fault vertical slip rates using the age of sediments in Timpanogos Cave, Utah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Alan L. Mayo ,
Jiri Bruthans ,
David Tingey ,
Jaroslav Kadlec  and
Steve Nelson
Alan L. Mayo*
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Department of Geosciences, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jiri Bruthans
Affiliation:
Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Albertov 6, 128 43 Praha 2, Czech Republic
David Tingey
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Department of Geosciences, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jaroslav Kadlec
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Rozvojova 269, 165 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
Steve Nelson
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Department of Geosciences, Provo, UT 84602, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author.

E-mail address:[email protected] (A.L. Mayo).

Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Timpanogos Cave, located near the Wasatch fault, is about 357 m above the American Fork River. Fluvial cave sediments and an interbedded carbonate flowstone yield a paleomagnetic and U–Th depositional age of 350 to 780 ka. Fault vertical slip rates, inferred from calculated river downcutting rates, range between 1.02 and 0.46 mm yr− 1. These slip rates are in the range of the 0–12 Ma Wasatch Range exhumation rate (∼ 0.5–0.7 mm yr− 1), suggesting that the long-term vertical slip rate remained stable through mid-Pleistocene time. However, the late Pleistocene (0–250 ka) decelerated slip rate (∼ 0.2–0.3 mm yr− 1) and the accelerated Holocene slip rate (∼ 1.2 mm yr− 1) are consistent with episodic fault activity. Assuming that the late Pleistocene vertical slip rate represents an episodic slowing of fault movement and the long-term (0–12 Ma) average vertical slip rate, including the late Pleistocene and Holocene, should be ∼ 0.6 mm yr− 1, there is a net late Pleistocene vertical slip deficit of ∼ 50–75 m. The Holocene and late Pleistocene slip rates may be typical for episodes of accelerated and slowed fault movement, respectively. The calculated late Pleistocene slip deficit may mean that the current accelerated Wasatch fault slip rate will extend well into the future.

Keywords

NeotectonicsWasatch fault slip rateCave sedimentsPaleomagnetismU-series datingTimpanogos Cave
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , September 2009 , pp. 275 - 283
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrew, R.F., Smart, P.L., Whitaker, F.F., and Tarling, D.H. Long-term Quaternary uplift rates inferred from limestone cave in Sarawak, Malaysia. Geology 23, 4 (1995). 357–360.Google Scholar
Anthony, D.M., and Granger, D.E. A new chronology for the age of Appalachian erosional surface determined by cosmogenic nuclides in cave sediments. Earth and Surface Process Landforms 32, 6 (2007). 874–887.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P.A., Ehlers, T.A., Kamp, P.J.J., Farley, K.A., and Chapman, D.S. Tracking changes in exhumation rates using low-temperature thermochronometry; an example from the Wasatch Mountains Utah (US). Fission Track 2000: 9th International Conference on Fission Track Dating and Thermochronology. Abstract, Geological Society of Australia 58, (2000). 5–7.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P.A., Ehlers, T.A., Chapman, D.S., Farley, K.A., and Kamp, P.J.J., (2003). Exhumation of the central Wasatch Mountains, Utah: 1. Patterns and timing of exhumation deducted from low-temperature thermochronology data.: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 108, n. B3, 2172, doi:10.1029/2001JB001708.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P.A., Taylor, A.R., and Todd, A.E. Is the Wasatch fault footwall (Utah, United States) segmented over million-year time scales?. Geology 32, 5 (2004). 385–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosak, P., Hercman, H., Mihevc, A., and Pruner, P. High-resolution magnetostratigraphy of speleothems from Snezna Jama, Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Slovenia. Acta Carsologica 31, 3 (2002). 15–32.Google Scholar
Bosak, P., Pruner, P., and Kadlec, J. Magnetostratigraphy of cave sediments; applications and limits. Studia Geophysica et Geodetica 47, 2 (2003). 301–330.Google Scholar
Bryant, B., Naeser, C.W., Marvin, R.F., and Mehnert, H.H., (1989). Ages of late paleogene and neogene tuffs and the beginning of rapid regional extension, eastern boundary of the Basin and Range Province near Salt Lake City. Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1787, Chapter K, 12 p.Google Scholar
Cande, S.C., and Kent, D.V. revised calibration of the geomagnetic polarity time scale for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Journal of Geophysical Research 100, (1995). 6093–6095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chadima, M., and Hrouda, F. Remasoft 3.0 — a user-friendly paleomagnetic data browser and analyzer. — 10th Castle Meeting on New Trends in Geomagnetism Abstracts. Geophysical Institute AVČR (2006). 20–21.Google Scholar
Chang, W.L., and Smith, R.B. Integrated seismic-hazard analysis of the Wasatch Front, Utah. Bulletin. Seismological Society of America 92, (2002). 1904–1922.Google Scholar
Chang, W-L, Smith, R.B., Meertens, C.M., and Harris, R.A., (2006). Contemporary deformation of the Wasatch fault, Utah, from GPS measurements with implications for interseismic fault behavior and earthquake hazard: observations with kinematic analysis.: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 111, B11405, doi:10.1029/2006JB004326.Google Scholar
DuRoss, C.B., Mcdonald, G.N., and Lund, W.R. Paleoseismic investigation of the northern strand of the Nephi segment of the Wasatch fault zone at Santaquin, Utah. Paleoseismology of Utah 17, (2008). 33 (Utah Geological Survey, Special Study 124) Google Scholar
Eberhard, R. Age constraints for clastic sediments from two cave in the Junee-Florentine karst, Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 131, (1997). 67–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehlers, T.A., Armstrong, P.A., and Chapman, D.S. Normal fault thermal regimes and the interpretation of low temperature thermochronometers. Thermal Studies of the Earth's Structure and Geodynamics. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 1262, n. -1, (2001). 179–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehlers, T.A., Willett, S.D., Armstrong, P.A., and Chapman, D.S. Exhumation of the central Wasatch Mountains, Utah: 2. Thermokinematic model of exhumation, erosion and thermochronometer interpretation. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, B3 (2003). 2173 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldridge, S.N., and Clarke, V. The Wasatch fault. Utah Geological Survey Pubic Information Series 40, (1996). 17 Google Scholar
Evans, S.H., Parry, W.T., and Bruhn, R.L. Thermal, mechanical, and chemical history of Wasatch fault cataclasite and phyllonite, Traverse Mountains area, Salt Lake City, Utah: age and uplift rates from K/Ar and fission track measurements. U. S. Geological Survey Open File Report OFR 86–31, (1985). 400–414.Google Scholar
Farrant, A.R., Smart, P.L., Whitaker, F.F., and Tarling, D.H. Long-term Quaternary uplift rates inferred from limestone caves in Sarawak, Malaysia. Geology 23, 4 (1995). 357–360.Google Scholar
Faure, G., and Mensing, T.M. Isotope — Principles and Applications. 3rd ed (2005). John Wile and Sons, New Jersey. 896 Google Scholar
Friedrich, A.M., Wernicke, B.P., Niemi, N.A., Bennett, R.A., and Davis, J.L. Comparison of geodetic and geologic data from the Wasatch region, Utah, and implications for the spectral character of Earth deformation at periods of 10 to 10 million years. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, B4 (2003). 2199 Google Scholar
Fisher, R. Dispersion on a sphere. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A 217, (1953). 295–305.Google Scholar
Granger, D.E., Favel, D., and Palmer, A.N. Pliocene–Pleistocene incision of the Green River, Kentucky, determined from radioactive decay of cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be in Mammoth Cave Sediments. Geological Society of America Bulletin 113, 7 (2001). 825–836.Google Scholar
Haeuselmann, P., Granger, D.E., Jeannin, P.-Y., and Lauritzen, S.-E. Abrupt glacial valley incision at 0.8 Ma dated from cave deposits in Switzerland. Geology 35, 2 (2007). 143–146.Google Scholar
Hamblin, W.K. Patterns of displacement along the Wasatch fault. Geology 4, (1976). 619–622.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamblin, W.K., and Best, M.G. Patterns and rates of recurrent movement along the Wasatch-Hurricane-Sevier fault zone, Utah during late Cenozoic time. U.S. Geologic survey Open-File Report 80–801, (1980). 601–633.Google Scholar
Herron, D.C., (1997). Origin and geologic history of the Timpanogos Cave system, Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Utah County, Utah: Provo, Brigham Young University, unpublished M.S. thesis, 115 p.Google Scholar
Hetzel, R., and Hampel, A. Slip rate variations on normal faults during glacial–interglacial changes in surface loads. Nature 435, (2005). 81–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huntley, D.J., Godfrey-Smith, D.J., and Thewalt, M.L.W. Optical dating of sediments. Nature 313, (1985). 105–107.Google Scholar
John, D.A. Geologic setting, depths of emplacement, and regional distribution of fluid inclusion in intrusions of the central Wasatch Mountains, Utah. Economic Geology 84, (1989). 386–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kagan, E.J., Agnon, A., Matthew, M.B., and Ayalon, A. Dating large infrequent earthquakes by damaged cave deposits. Geology 33, (2005). 261–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirschvink, J.L. The least-squares line and plane and the analysis of palaeomagnetic data. Geophysical Journal Royal Astronomical Society 62, (1980). 699–718.Google Scholar
Kowallis, B.J., Fertuson, J., and Jorgensen, G.J. Uplift along the Salt lake segment of the Wasatch fault form apatite and zircon fission track dating in the Little Cottonwood Stock. Proceedings of the 6th International Fission Track Dating Workshop. Nuclear Tracks and Radiation Measurements 17, n. 3, (1990). 325–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lund, W.R. Consensus preferred recurrence-interval and vertical slip-rate estimates: Review of Utah paleoseismic-trenching data by the Utah Quaternary Fault parameters Working Group. Utah Geological Survey, Bulletin 134, (2005). 26 Google Scholar
Machette, M.N., Personius, S.F., Nelson, A.R., Schwartz, D.P., and Lund, W.R. The Wasatch fault zone, Utah — Segmentation and history of Holocene earthquakes. Journal of Structural Geology 13, (1991). 137–149.Google Scholar
Machette, M.N., Personius, S.F., and Nelson, A.R. Paleoseismology of the Wasatch fault zone — A summary of recent investigations, conclusions, and interpretations. Assessing Regional Earthquake Hazards and Risk along the Wasatch Front. U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1500, (1992). A1–A72.Google Scholar
Mattson, A., and Bruhn, R.L. Fault slip rate and initiation age based on diffusion equation modeling: Wasatch Fault Zone and eastern Great Basin. Journal of Geophysical Research 106, B7 (2001). 13739–13750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayo, A.L., Heron, D., Nelson, S.T., Tingey, D., and Tranel, M.J. Geology and hydrogeology of Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah in Geology of Utah's Parks and Monuments. Utah Geological Association Publication 28, (2000). 263–276.Google Scholar
Milligan, M.R., and Chan, M.A. Coarse-grained Gilbert Deltas; facies, sequence stratigraphy and relationship to Pleistocene climate at the eastern margin of the Lake Bonneville, northern Utah in Relative role of eustasy, climate, and tectonism in continental rocks. Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publication 59, (1998). 177–189.Google Scholar
Naeser, C.W., Bryant, V., Crittenden, M.D.J., and Sorenson, M.L. Fission-track ages of apatite in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah: An uplift study. Memoirs Geological. Society of America 157 (1983). 29–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parry, W.T., and Bruhn, R.L. Fluid inclusion evidence for minimum 11 km vertical offset on the Wasatch fault, Utah. Geology 15, 1 (1987). 67–70.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selfridge, R.J., and Schmidt, V.A. Magnetostratigraphic dating of cave sediments applied to the establishment of downcutting rates for the Greenbrier River W.V. American Geophysical Union: EOS, Transactions 67, 16 (1986). 264 Google Scholar
Schmidt, V.A., Jennings, J.N., and Haosheng, B. Dating of cave sediments at Wee Jasper, New South Wales, by magnetostratigraphy. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 31, 4 (1984). 361–370.Google Scholar
Stock, G.M., Anderson, R.S., and Finkel, R.C. Pace of landscape evolution in the Sierra Nevada, California, revealed by cosmogenic dating of cave sediments. Geology 32, 3 (2004). 193–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stock, G.M., Granger, D.E., Sasowsky, I.D., Anderson, R.S., and Finkel, R.C. Comparison U–Th, paleomagnetism, and cosmogenic burial methods for dating cave; implications for landscape evolution studies. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 236, 1–2 (2005). 388–403.Google Scholar
Winograd, I.J., Landwehr, J.M., Ludwig, K.R., Coplen, T.B., and Riggs, A.C. Duration and structure of the past four interglaciations. Quaternary Research 48, (1997). 141–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wintle, A., and Murray, M. A review of quartz optically stimulated luminescence and their relevance in sing-aliquot regeneration dating protocols. Radiation Measurements 41, (2006). 369–391.Google Scholar