Utah Geological Survey Special Study
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Paleoseismology of Utah, Volume 16 PALEOSEISMIC RECONNAISSANCE OF THE SEVIER FAULT, KANE AND GARFIELD COUNTIES, UTAH by William R. Lund, Tyler R. Knudsen, and Garrett S. Vice SPECIAL STUDY 122 UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY a division of Utah Department of Natural Resources 2008 Paleoseismology of Utah, Volume 16 PALEOSEISMIC RECONNAISSANCE OF THE SEVIER FAULT, KANE AND GARFIELD COUNTIES, UTAH by William R. Lund, Tyler R. Knudsen, and Garrett S. Vice Cover Photo: Sevier fault in the Navajo Sandstone near Mt. Carmel Junction, Utah. View is to the northeast. ISBN 1-55791-787-6 SPECIAL STUDY 122 UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY a division of Utah8 Department of Natural Resources 200 STATE OF UTAH Jon Huntsman, Jr., Governor DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Michael Styler, Executive Director UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Richard G. Allis, Director PUBLICATIONS contact Natural Resources Map & Bookstore 1594 W. North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 telephone: 801-537-3320 toll free: 1-888-UTAH MAP Web site: mapstore.utah.gov email: [email protected] UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY contact 1594 W. North Temple, Suite 3110 Salt Lake City, Utah 84116 telephone: 801-537-3300 fax: 801-537-3400 Web site: geology.utah.gov Although this product represents the work of professional scientists, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological Survey, makes no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding its suitability for any particular use. The Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological Sur- vey, shall not be liable under any circumstances for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages with respect to claims by users of this product. The Utah Department of Natural Resources receives federal aid and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability. For information or complaints regarding discrimination, contact Executive Director, Utah Department of Natural Resources, 1594 West North Temple #3710, Box 145610, Salt Lake City, UT 84116-5610 or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1801 L. Street, NW, Washing- ton DC 20507. FOREWORD This Utah Geological Survey Special Study, Paleoseismic Reconnaissance of the Sevier Fault, Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah, is the sixteenth report in the Paleoseismology of Utah series. This series makes the results of paleoseismic investigations in Utah available to geoscientists, engineers, planners, public officials, and the general public. These studies provide critical information regarding paleoearthquake parameters such as earthquake timing, recurrence, displacement, slip rate, and fault geometry, which can be used to characterize potential seismic sources and evaluate the long-term seismic hazard presented by Utah’s Quaternary faults. This report presents the results of a study partially funded through the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program to characterize the relative level of activity of the Sevier fault in southwestern Utah. The Sevier/Toroweap fault trends generally north-south through southwestern Utah and northern Arizona; by convention the fault is known as the Sevier fault in Utah and the Toroweap fault in Arizona. Approximately 108 kilometers of the 250-kilometer-long fault are in Utah. This study focused on the Utah portion of the fault and involved aerial-photograph analysis, field reconnaissance, detailed mapping of selected areas along the fault, and new major- and trace-element geochemical analyses and 40Ar/39Ar radiometric ages for volcanic rocks dis- placed by the fault. Determining paleoseismic parameters for the Sevier fault is important because they help the Utah Geolog- ical Survey assess the level of seismic hazard presented by the fault to southwestern Utah, and assist the U.S. Geological Sur- vey in updating the Quaternary Fault and Fold Database of the United States and evaluating the Sevier fault’s significance to the National Seismic Hazard Maps. Paleoseismic results of this study include estimates of geologic (average vertical) slip rates and surface-faulting recurrence intervals at two critical locations along the fault in Utah, and identification of two new possible seismogenic segment boundaries along the Utah portion of the fault. William R. Lund, Editor Paleoseismology of Utah Series CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION . .1 OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................2 PREVIOUS WORK . .5 SEISMICITY . .6 PALEOSEISMIC RECONNAISSANCE . .6 Sevier Fault Main Trace . .6 Northern Toroweap Section . .6 ClayFlat ........................................................................................8 Sevier Section . .9 Black Mountain . .9 RedCanyon..................................................................................11 Sevier Valley (Hills near Panguitch) Faults and Folds . .17 Sevier Valley (North of Panguitch) Faults . .17 DISCUSSION . .20 Paleoearthquake Timing and Displacement . .20 Vertical Slip Rate and Average Recurrence Interval . .20 Segmentation . .20 ClayFlat .......................................................................................22 AltonGap ......................................................................................22 Hillsdale Canyon . .23 Summary.......................................................................................23 RESULTS ...........................................................................................24 CONCLUSIONS . .25 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . .25 REFERENCES . .26 FIGURES Figure 1. The Sevier/Toroweap fault and other major faults in the Basin and Range – Colorado Plateau transition zone . .2 Figure 2. The Sevier fault in Utah . .3 Figure 3. Sevier fault in the Navajo Sandstone near Mt. Carmel Junction, Utah . .4 Figure 4. Obsequent fault-line scarp formed on the Sevier fault northwest of Alton, Utah . .5 Figure 5. Earthquake epicenters along the Sevier fault in Utah . .7 Figure 6. Clay Flat closed-basin depocenter formed in the Yellowjacket drainage basin . .8 Figure 7. Black Mountain and vicinity showing the trace of the Sevier fault as mapped by Cashion (1961, 1967) and Schiefelbein (2002) . .9 Figure 8. Sevier fault at the mouth of Red Canyon . .11 Figure 9. Photogeologic map of the mouth of Red Canyon . .12 Figure 10. Photogeologic map of Red Canyon and vicinity . .13 Figure 11. Outcrop of early Pliocene volcanic rocks in the footwall of the Sevier fault . .14 Figure 12. Outcrop of the conglomerate at Boat Mesa beneath volcanic rocks in the footwall of the Sevier fault at the mouth of Red Canyon . .16 Figure 13. Volcanic flow exposed in a road cut along U.S. Hwy 89 . .16 Figure 14. Faults and folds formed on middle to late Pleistocene alluvial deposits in the Sevier fault hanging wall near Panguitch, Utah . .18 Figure 15. Low, gentle scarp formed on a late Pleistocene alluvial surface a few meters above the present Sevier River flood plain . .18 Figure 16. Sanford Creek fault zone and horst northeast of Panguitch . .19 Figure 17. Relation of the Paunsaugunt thrust system to the Sevier normal-slip fault . .24 TABLES Table 1. 40Ar/39Ar radiometric age analyses of mafic volcanic rocks that cropout in the footwall and hanging wall of the Sevier fault at Red Canyon, Garfield County, Utah . .15 Table 2. Vertical slip rate and surface-faulting recurrence-interval information for the Sevier fault in Utah and northern Arizona .........................................................................................21 Table 3. Quality ratings for earthquake hypocenter locations along the Sevier fault in Utah . .23 APPENDICES Appendix A. Geochemical analyses of mafic volcanic rocks displaced by the Sevier fault at Black Mountain, Kane County and Red Canyon, Garfield County, Utah . .28 Appendix B. Variation diagrams for mafic volcanic rocks at Black Mountain, Kane County, and Red Canyon, Garfield County, Utah . .29 Paleoseismology of Utah, Volume 16 PALEOSEISMIC RECONNAISSANCE OF THE SEVIER FAULT, KANE AND GARFIELD COUNTIES, UTAH by William R. Lund, Tyler R. Knudsen, and Garrett S. Vice ABSTRACT mates of 0.38-0.44 mm/yr, and 0.05-0.07 mm/yr, respect- ively. Seismic reflection data show about 900 m of dis- The Utah Geological Survey conducted a paleoseismic placement in basement rocks at Red Canyon. Using the first- reconnaissance of the Sevier fault in southwestern Utah to order age estimate for the Sevier fault of 12-15 Ma, we cal- develop information on earthquake timing and recurrence, culated a middle.