Strike-slip ground-surface rupture (Greendale Fault) associated with the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake, Canterbury, New Zealand

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J.A. Barrell ◽  
N.J. Litchfield ◽  
D.B. Townsend ◽  
M. Quigley ◽  
R.J. Van Dissen ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
M. Quigley ◽  
R. Van Dissen ◽  
P. Villamor ◽  
N. Litchfield ◽  
D. Barrell ◽  
...  

The Mw 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake of 4 September 2010 (NZST) was the first earthquake in New Zealand to produce ground-surface fault rupture since the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake. Surface rupture of the previously unrecognised Greendale Fault during the Darfield earthquake extends for at least 29.5 km and comprises an en echelon series of east-west striking, left-stepping traces. Displacement is predominantly dextral strike-slip, averaging ~2.5 m, with maxima of ~5 m along the central part of the rupture. Maximum vertical displacement is ~1.5 m, but generally < 0.75 m. The south side of the fault has been uplifted relative to the north for ~80% of the rupture length, except at the eastern end where the north side is up. The zone of surface rupture deformation ranges in width from ~30 to 300 m, and comprises discrete shears, localised bulges and, primarily, horizontal dextral flexure. At least a dozen buildings were affected by surface rupture, but none collapsed, largely because most of the buildings were relatively flexible and robust timber-framed structures and because deformation was distributed over tens to hundreds of metres width. Many linear features, such as roads, fences, power lines, and irrigation ditches were offset or deformed by fault rupture, providing markers for accurate determinations of displacement.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jesse Kearse

<p>During the 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake the Kekerengu fault ruptured the ground surface producing a maximum of ~12 m of net displacement (dextral-slip with minor reverse- slip), one of the largest five co-seismic surface rupture displacements so far observed globally. This thesis presents the first combined onshore to offshore dataset of co-seismic ground-surface and vertical seabed displacements along a near-continuous ~83 km long strike-slip dominated earthquake surface rupture of large slip magnitude. Onshore on the Kekerengu, Jordan Thrust, Upper Kowhai, and Manakau faults, we measured the displacement of 117 cultural and natural markers in the field and using airborne LiDAR data. Offshore on the dextral-reverse Needles fault, multibeam bathymetric and high-resolution seismic reflection data image a throw of the seabed of up to 3.5±0.2 m. Mean net slip on the total ~83 km rupture was 5.5±1 m, this is an unusually large mean slip for the rupture length compared to global strike-slip surface ruptures. Surveyed linear features that extend across the entire surface rupture zone show that it varies in width from 13 to 122 m. These cultural features also reveal the across-strike distribution of lateral displacement, 80% of which is, on average, concentrated within the central 43% of the rupture zone. Combining the near-field measurements of fault offset with published, far-field InSAR, continuous GPS, and coastal deformation data, suggests partitioning of oblique plate convergence, with a significant portion of co-seismic contractional deformation (and uplift) being accommodated off-fault in the hanging-wall crust to the northwest of the main rupturing faults.  This thesis also documents in detail the onshore extent of surface fault rupture on the Kekerengu, Jordan Thrust, Upper Kowhai and Manakau faults. I present large-scale maps (up to 1:3,000) and documentary field photographs of this 53 km-long onshore surface rupture zone utilizing field data, post-earthquake LiDAR-derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and post-earthquake ortho-rectified aerial photography. Ground deformation data is most detailed near the Marlborough coast where the 2016 rupture trace is well-exposed on agricultural grassland on the Kekerengu fault. In the southwest, where surface fault rupture traversed the alpine slopes of the Seaward Kaikoura ranges, fault mapping relied heavily on the LiDAR-derived DEMs.   At 24 sites along the Kekerengu fault, I document co-seismic wear striae that were formed during the earthquake and were preserved on free face fault exposures. Nearly all of these striae were distinctly curved along their length, demonstrating that the direction of near-surface fault slip changed with time during rupture of the Kekerengu fault. Co-seismic displacement on the Kekerengu fault initiated as oblique-dextral (mainly dextral-reverse), and subsequently rotated to become nearly-pure dextral slip. These slip trajectories agree with directions of net displacements derived from offset linear features at nearby sites. Temporal rotation of the slip direction may suggest a state of low shear stress on the Kekerengu fault before the earthquake, and a near-complete reduction in stress during the earthquake, as has been inferred for other historic earthquakes that show evidence for changing slip direction with time.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jesse Kearse

<p>During the 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake the Kekerengu fault ruptured the ground surface producing a maximum of ~12 m of net displacement (dextral-slip with minor reverse- slip), one of the largest five co-seismic surface rupture displacements so far observed globally. This thesis presents the first combined onshore to offshore dataset of co-seismic ground-surface and vertical seabed displacements along a near-continuous ~83 km long strike-slip dominated earthquake surface rupture of large slip magnitude. Onshore on the Kekerengu, Jordan Thrust, Upper Kowhai, and Manakau faults, we measured the displacement of 117 cultural and natural markers in the field and using airborne LiDAR data. Offshore on the dextral-reverse Needles fault, multibeam bathymetric and high-resolution seismic reflection data image a throw of the seabed of up to 3.5±0.2 m. Mean net slip on the total ~83 km rupture was 5.5±1 m, this is an unusually large mean slip for the rupture length compared to global strike-slip surface ruptures. Surveyed linear features that extend across the entire surface rupture zone show that it varies in width from 13 to 122 m. These cultural features also reveal the across-strike distribution of lateral displacement, 80% of which is, on average, concentrated within the central 43% of the rupture zone. Combining the near-field measurements of fault offset with published, far-field InSAR, continuous GPS, and coastal deformation data, suggests partitioning of oblique plate convergence, with a significant portion of co-seismic contractional deformation (and uplift) being accommodated off-fault in the hanging-wall crust to the northwest of the main rupturing faults.  This thesis also documents in detail the onshore extent of surface fault rupture on the Kekerengu, Jordan Thrust, Upper Kowhai and Manakau faults. I present large-scale maps (up to 1:3,000) and documentary field photographs of this 53 km-long onshore surface rupture zone utilizing field data, post-earthquake LiDAR-derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), and post-earthquake ortho-rectified aerial photography. Ground deformation data is most detailed near the Marlborough coast where the 2016 rupture trace is well-exposed on agricultural grassland on the Kekerengu fault. In the southwest, where surface fault rupture traversed the alpine slopes of the Seaward Kaikoura ranges, fault mapping relied heavily on the LiDAR-derived DEMs.   At 24 sites along the Kekerengu fault, I document co-seismic wear striae that were formed during the earthquake and were preserved on free face fault exposures. Nearly all of these striae were distinctly curved along their length, demonstrating that the direction of near-surface fault slip changed with time during rupture of the Kekerengu fault. Co-seismic displacement on the Kekerengu fault initiated as oblique-dextral (mainly dextral-reverse), and subsequently rotated to become nearly-pure dextral slip. These slip trajectories agree with directions of net displacements derived from offset linear features at nearby sites. Temporal rotation of the slip direction may suggest a state of low shear stress on the Kekerengu fault before the earthquake, and a near-complete reduction in stress during the earthquake, as has been inferred for other historic earthquakes that show evidence for changing slip direction with time.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 685
Author(s):  
Marco Polcari ◽  
Mimmo Palano ◽  
Marco Moro

We evaluated the performances of different SAR-based techniques by analyzing the surface coseismic displacement related to the 2019 Ridgecrest seismic sequence (an Mw 6.4 foreshock on July 4th and an Mw 7.1 mainshock on July 6th) in the tectonic framework of the eastern California shear zone (Southern California, USA). To this end, we compared and validated the retrieved SAR-based coseismic displacement with the one estimated by a dense GNSS network, extensively covering the study area. All the SAR-based techniques constrained the surface fault rupture well; however, in comparison with the GNSS-based coseismic displacement, some significant differences were observed. InSAR data showed better performance than MAI and POT data by factors of about two and three, respectively, therefore confirming that InSAR is the most consolidated technique to map surface coseismic displacements. However, MAI and POT data made it possible to better constrain the azimuth displacement and to retrieve the surface rupture trace. Therefore, for cases of strike-slip earthquakes, all the techniques should be exploited to achieve a full synoptic view of the coseismic displacement field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duna Roda-Boluda ◽  
Taylor Schildgen ◽  
Hella Wittmann-Oelze ◽  
Stefanie Tofelde ◽  
Aaron Bufe ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;The Southern Alps of New Zealand are the expression of the oblique convergence between the Pacific and Australian plates, which move at a relative velocity of nearly 40 mm/yr. This convergence is accommodated by the range-bounding Alpine Fault, with a strike-slip component of ~30-40 mm/yr, and a shortening component normal to the fault of ~8-10 mm/yr. While strike-slip rates seem to be fairly constant along the Alpine Fault, throw rates appear to vary considerably, and whether the locus of maximum exhumation is located near the fault, at the main drainage divide, or part-way between, is still debated. These uncertainties stem from very limited data characterizing vertical deformation rates along and across the Southern Alps. Thermochronology has constrained the Southern Alps exhumation history since the Miocene, but Quaternary exhumation is hard to resolve precisely due to the very high exhumation rates. Likewise, GPS surveys estimate a vertical uplift of ~5 mm/yr, but integrate only over ~10 yr timescales and are restricted to one transect across the range.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To obtain insights into the Quaternary distribution and rates of exhumation of the western Southern Alps, we use new &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates from 20 catchments along the western side of the range. Catchment-averaged erosion rates span an order of magnitude, between ~0.8 and &gt;10 mm/yr, but we find that erosion rates of &gt;10 mm/yr, a value often quoted in the literature as representative for the entire range, are very localized. Moreover, erosion rates decrease sharply north of the intersection with the Marlborough Fault System, suggesting substantial slip partitioning. These &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates integrate, on average, over the last ~300 yrs. Considering that the last earthquake on the Alpine Fault was in 1717, these rates are representative of inter-seismic erosion. Lake sedimentation rates and coseismic landslide modelling suggest that long-term (~10&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; yrs) erosion rates over a full seismic cycle could be ~40% greater than our inter-seismic erosion rates. If we assume steady state topography, such a scaling of our &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be erosion rate estimates can be used to estimate rock uplift rates in the Southern Alps. Finally, we find that erosion, and hence potentially exhumation, does not seem to be localized at a particular distance from the fault, as some tectonic and provenance studies have suggested. Instead, we find that superimposed on the primary tectonic control, there is an elevation/temperature control on erosion rates, which is probably transient and related to frost-cracking and glacial retreat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our results highlight the potential for &lt;sup&gt;10&lt;/sup&gt;Be catchment-averaged erosion rates to provide insights into the magnitude and distribution of tectonic deformation rates, and the limitations that arise from transient erosion controls related to the seismic cycle and climate-modulated surface processes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
R. Van Dissen ◽  
J. Begg ◽  
Y. Awata

Approximately one year after the Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake, two New Zealand geologists were invited to help with the Geological Survey of Japan's paleoearthquake/active fault studies in the Kobe/Awaji area. Trenches excavated across the Nojima fault, which ruptured during the Great Hanshin Earthquake, showed evidence of past surface rupture earthquakes, with the age of the penultimate earthquake estimated at approximately 2000 years. A trench across the Higashiura fault, located 3-4 km southeast of the Nojima fault, revealed at least two past surface rupture earthquakes. The timing of the older earthquakes is not yet known, but pottery fragments found in the trench constrain the timing of the most recent earthquake at less than 500-600 years. Historical records for this part of Japan suggest that within the last 700 years there has been only one regionally felt earthquake prior to the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, and this was the AD 1596 Keicho Earthquake. It thus seems reasonable to suggest that the Higashiura fault was, at least in part, the source of the AD 1596 Keicho Earthquake.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document