Is the Wairarapa Fault Slip Rate Decreasing to the North? GNS Science Consultancy Report 2008/170
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CONFIDENTIAL This report has been prepared by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS Science) exclusively for and under contract to the Earthquake Commission. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, all liability of GNS Science to any other party other than the Earthquake Commission in respect of the report is expressly excluded. The data presented in this Report are available to GNS Science for other use from July 2008 BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE Villamor, P.; Langridge, R. M.; Ries, W.; Carne, R.; Wilson, K.; Seebeck, H.; Cowan, L. 2008. It’s Our Fault – Wairarapa Fault Slip Rate Investigations Task: Completion Report – Is the Wairarapa Fault slip rate decreasing to the north? GNS Science Consultancy Report 2008/170. 58p. Project Number: 430W3110 Confidential 2008 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................IV 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................1 2.0 SCOPE OF WORK.......................................................................................................2 3.0 THE WAIRARAPA FAULT: AGES OF DISPLACED GEOLOGIC FEATURES FAULT, SLIP RATE, AND SINGLE EVENT DISPLACEMENT...................................2 3.1 Ages of displaced geomorphic features ........................................................................ 2 3.2 Fault slip rate.................................................................................................................3 3.3 Right-lateral displacements along the Wairarapa Fault ................................................ 3 4.0 RE-ASSESSMENT OF DISPLACEMENTS ALONG THE NORTHERN SECTOR OF THE WAIRARAPA FAULT ....................................................................4 5.0 NEW SLIP RATE ESTIMATES ALONG THE NORTHERN SECTOR OF THE WAIRARAPA FAULT ..................................................................................................5 5.1 Kopuaranga site ............................................................................................................ 5 5.2 Ruamahanga site .......................................................................................................... 7 6.0 DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................................9 6.1 Is fault slip rate decreasing to the north? ...................................................................... 9 6.2 Are lateral displacement values along the Wairarapa Fault diminishing to the north? ..........................................................................................................................10 6.3 Is single event displacement associated with the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake surface rupture diminishing north?.............................................................................. 11 6.4 How can slip rate decrease northwards? .................................................................... 11 6.5 Where does the Wairarapa Fault slip rate decreases and why? ................................ 12 7.0 CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................................13 8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ..............................................................................................14 9.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................14 10.0 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................15 TABLES Table 1 Lateral and vertical displacement and slip rate values at Ruamahanga and Kopuaranga sites..................................................................................................................17 Table 2 Radiocarbon ages.................................................................................................................18 Table 3 OSL ages..............................................................................................................................18 Table 4 Future study sites .................................................................................................................18 Table A1 OSL samples collected .........................................................................................................42 Table A2 Radiocarbon samples collected ............................................................................................43 Table1-Appendix 4 Doserate contribution of cosmic radiation.............................................................................46 Table2-Appendix 4 Radionuclide and water contents..........................................................................................46 Table3-Appendix 4 Measured a-value and equivalent dose, doserate and luminescence age ...........................46 GNS Science Consultancy Report 2008/170 i Confidential 2008 FIGURES Figure 1 Active faults in the Wellington region from GNS Active Fault database (http://data.gns.cri.nz/af/). Stars are main towns. Numbers are previously published slip rate values in mm/yr from Van Dissen and Berryman (1996; Tea Creek site), Schermer et al, (2004; Alfredton trench site), Wellman (1972; Waiohine site), Wang and Grapes (2007; Waiohine site) and Little et al. (in prep; Waiohine site). Insert: tectonic setting of New Zealand. Plate motion directions and rate according to DeMets et al. (1994). Coordinates are New Zealand Map Grid. ...........................................19 Figure 2 Simplified geology map showing relationships between Wairarapa Fault (bold red line) and greywacke-dominated basement rocks, overlaying Tertiary sediments and Quaternary alluvial terraces and fans. Mapping and ages of quaternary alluvial terraces and fans from Begg & Johnston (2000) and Lee & Begg (2002). Faults from GNS active fault database (http://data.gns.cri.nz/af/)............................................................20 Figure 3 Plot of displacement values along the fault trace from published literature and this study (coloured by source). For more details on displacements see Appendix 1. Digital Elevation Model from LINZ. .......................................................................................21 Figure 4-A & B Plots of horizontal displacement data available along the Wairarapa Fault. Displacement data classified by author (both plots contain same data but are plotted with different scales). See also Appendix 1. .........................................................................22 Figure 4-C & D Plots of available horizontal displacement data along the Wairarapa Fault. Selected displacement data for all geomorphic features classified by age (both plots contain same data but are plotted with different scales). Ages assigned to displacements are taken from existing mapping, most of which have not being verified with absolute ages. See also Appendix 1. ..................................................................................................23 Figure 4-E & F Plots of available horizontal displacement data along the Wairarapa Fault. Selected displacement data for streams and channels classified by age (both plots contain same data but are plotted with different scales). Ages assigned to displacements are taken from existing mapping, most of which have not been verified with absolute ages. See also Appendix 1. ..................................................................................................24 Figure 5 Kopuaranga site: A, Quaternary geology (based on Townsend et al., 2002) laid over aerial photo (NZ Aerial Mapping).Labels in brackets and italics indicate newly assigned terrace ages from this study. White circle is location of stratigraphic column in Figure 6. B, Digital terrain model for the Kopuaranga site with location of channels, piercing points (maximum and minimum estimates shown by white lines), and assessed lateral displacements for channel 1 and 2 (yellow and pink arrows, respectively). Trenches are shown with black rectangles. ....................................................25 Figure 6 Stratigraphy of the main terrace at Kopuaranga (Penn) site. Composite stratigraphic column of the terrace exposure at the man made canal. Upper 5.5 m consists of loess deposits. These are not exposed in the canal but inferred from stratigraphy in trenches. Elevations of channel units exposed in different trenches are shown. Elevation for “channel axis bottom” indicates depth of incision of channel into the terrace loess cover. ..............................................................................................................26 Figure 7-A Kopuaranga site trenches. Penn 1 trench log. See Figure 5 for location and Appendix 2 for unit descriptions............................................................................................................27 Figure 7-B Kopuaranga site trenches. Penn 2 trench log. See Figure 5 for location and Appendix 2 for unit descriptions............................................................................................................28 Figure 8 Ruamahanga site: A, Quaternary geology of the area (based on Townsend et al 2002) laid over aerial photo (NZ Aerial Mapping). Labels in brackets and italics indicate newly assigned terrace ages from this study (see Appendix 5 for details). B, Digital terrain model for the Kopuaranga site with location of channels; piercing points (small line across fault indicate maximum and