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GSA Bulletin: Late Quaternary Strike Slip on the Eastern Part of The Late Quaternary strike slip on the eastern part of the Awatere fault, South Island, New Zealand T. A. Little Victoria University of Wellington, Research School of Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 600,Wellington, R. Grapes } New Zealand G. W. Berger Desert Research Institute, Quaternary Sciences Center, Reno, Nevada 89506-0220 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION AND REGIONAL nary strike-slip rates at several sites along the CONTEXT fault; (3) to compare the degree of “partitioning” New Zealand straddles the obliquely con- of oblique slip at different locations along the vergent boundary between the Pacific and In the northeastern part of South Island, New fault; and (4) to identify and discuss the last ma- Australian plates. In central South Island, Zealand, obliquely convergent motion between jor surface rupture along the fault. We also pre- plate motion is accommodated by oblique col- Pacific and Australian plates is accommodated sent new data on the age of late Quaternary ter- lision of continental crust along the Alpine across the ~150-km-wide Marlborough fault sys- races in the Awatere Valley. fault in the Southern Alps, and in North Island tem (Fig. 1). The Marlborough fault system is a Near Blenheim, the Nuvel–1a plate model by subduction of oceanic crust beneath the transition zone linking the Hikurangi subduction predicts 39 mm/yr of motion of the Pacific plate continental Hikurangi margin. Between these margin offshore of the North Island (Lewis and relative to the Australian plate (DeMets et al., two zones, oblique convergence is accommo- Pettinga, 1993) to the continental collision zone 1990, 1994) (Fig. 1). At 258°, this vector re- dated across the ~150-km-wide Marlborough of the Southern Alps in the South Island (Norris solves into 36 mm/yr of dextral slip parallel to a fault system, which is transitional between the et al., 1990). The Awatere fault is one of the four mean strike of ~055°, and 15 mm/yr of shorten- two different styles of margins. Dextral slip in principal dextral-slip faults in the Marlborough ing orthogonal to that direction. Dextral-slip the Marlborough fault system is partitioned fault system, but its neotectonic features have faults of the Marlborough fault system are among four principal faults, of which the Awa- been little studied relative to other active strike- spaced 30–40 km apart and are ~20–40 km tere fault is one. Our data on the eastern part slip faults in New Zealand (e.g., Lensen, 1968; above a subduction interface that dips northwest of the Awatere fault provide insight into styles Kieckhefer, 1979; Grapes and Wellman, 1988; (Anderson et al., 1993). Strongly coupled in the of surface faulting and active deformation in Berryman, 1990; Cowan, 1990; Knuepfer, 1992; southern North Island, this interface becomes continental transpression zones. We (1) docu- Wood et al., 1994; Van Dissen and Berryman, locked beneath the Marlborough faults in the ment the segmentation and kinematics of 1996). The Awatere fault extends offshore into northeast South Island, as indicated by changing oblique slip on the fault, including a dis- Cook Strait (Uruski, 1992; Henrys et al., 1995), patterns of geodetic strain, seismicity, and trench crepency between long-term and short-term and may link with the Wellington fault (Carter et fill (Bibby, 1981; Reyners et al., 1998; Collot et accumulation of vertical motion; (2) describe al., 1988); thus data on late Quaternary slip on the al., 1996). Subduction terminates ~50–90 km an along-strike gradient in the degree of slip Awatere fault are important for seismic hazard southwest of Kaikoura (Reyners and Cowan, partitioning of oblique plate motion; (3) mea- evaluation. Although the stratigraphy of Quater- 1993; Anderson et al., 1993). Offshore of the sure late Quaternary strike-slip rates of 6–8 nary loess deposits covering extensive alluvial Marlborough fault system, oblique thrusts ac- mm/yr at several sites along the fault, rates terraces in the Awatere Valley is well known complish minor accretion; these become land- that decrease eastward to <1.5 mm/yr into a (Eden 1989), slip rates on the Awatere fault are ward vergent on the Canterbury shelf (Lewis and clockwise-rotating domain near the coast; (4) poorly constrained, due largely to lack of precise Pettinga, 1993; Barnes, 1996). present data on the timing and magnitude of age data for these terraces. The South Island is remarkable for the oblique- the fault’s last major surface rupture, in 1848, After discussing the slip kinematics of the slip character of its active faults. In the Marlbor- which resulted in a probable ~100+-km-long Awatere fault, we present neotectonic data from ough fault system, “partitioning” of slip into dis- rupture and strike slip of 6–8 m; and (5) pre- three detailed study regions along the eastern part crete belts of inland strike-slip faulting and sent new data on the age of late Quaternary of its trace (Fig. 2). As a case study, the paper pro- seaward reverse-slip faulting is, at best, imper- terraces in the Awatere Valley. vides insight into styles of surface faulting and fectly developed (Bibby, 1981; Anderson et al., active deformation in zones of continental trans- 1993; Braun and Beaumont, 1995). In the central pression. Our objectives are (1) to document the Southern Alps, it is apparently absent (Norris et al., *e-mail: [email protected] kinematics of slip on this active oblique-slip fault 1990). In northeast Marlborough the average fault system; (2) to measure and compare late Quater- strike is, at ~055°, about 23° from the relative plate Data Repository item 9803 contains additional material related to this article. GSA Bulletin; February 1998; v. 110; no. 2; p. 127–148; 14 figures; 3 tables. 127 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/110/2/127/3382870/i0016-7606-110-2-127.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 LITTLE ET AL. Blenheim NN 0 25 Cook Strait km Wairau fault ° 39 mm/yr (3.5-6) ±2 Australliian Area of 065 Pllate Figure 2 e g Saxton s as n ra ur a River u o 42°S l eastern sectionko ik Molesworth e ° ai a Late Miocene- M K K Kekerengu section 072. nd Early Pliocene d Inla fault H f. k Barefell's Awatere basin s re Pass wate E Seaward Jordan Stream A fault (3-9) ° f. Kaikoura 080 lt (3-8) pe u Ho fa ne pi Clarence f. (20-25) Al Hikurangi TroughPaciifiic 173°E Pllate Figure 1. Simplified tectonic map of northeastern South Island, New Zealand, showing principal elements of the Marlborough fault system and location of the late Miocene–early Pliocene Awatere basin. Bold arrows are Nuvel–1a plate motion vectors for Australian-Pacific relative plate mo- tion calculated from rotation pole of DeMets et al. (1990, 1994). Labeled half-arrows are local azimuths of fault displacement on the eastern part of Awatere fault (this study), the central (Molesworth) section of the Awatere fault (McCalpin, 1996), and on the central Alpine fault (Norris et al., 1990; Norris and Cooper, 1995). Numbers in parentheses indicate ranges of available late Quaternary dextral-slip rates (in mm/yr) obtained for strands of the Marlborough fault system. Compiled from Van Dissen and Yeats (1991), Knuepfer (1992), and Lensen (1963). motion vector. Long-term oblique-reverse slip on blocks has been an important mode of plate presented stratigraphic, geomorphic, and paleo- the Awatere, Clarence, and Hope-Kekerengu faults boundary deformation since the Miocene (e.g., seismological data relating to the Molesworth is well expressed by mountainous topography on Roberts, 1992; Little and Roberts, 1997). section of the Awatere fault. the northwest side of each fault, whereas shorter Offset of metamorphic isograds near the term displacement vectors based on offset Quater- PREVIOUS WORK western end of the fault led Suggate et al. (1961) nary features are often variable in sense and more to infer 7–8 km of dextral slip, a figure in- nearly pure strike-slip (e.g., horizontal/vertical slip Early investigations of the Awatere fault in- creased to ~13 km by McClean (1986). Using a ratios of >10) (Lensen, 1968; Berryman, 1979; clude those by McKay (1886), King (1934), and Late Miocene facies boundary in the Awatere Kieckhefer, 1979; Kneupfer, 1992). Net oblique- Lensen (1963). Terrace offsets across the fault at basin (Fig. 1), Little and Jones (1998) infer a reverse slip on the Clarence fault is driving uplift the Grey and Saxton Rivers were reported by minimum finite dextral slip of 34 ± 10 km of the Seaward Kaikoura Ranges at ~10 mm/yr Lensen (1964a, 1973). Following Cotton (1947a, across the eastern Awatere fault system. They (Wellman, 1979; Van Dissen and Yeats, 1991). 1947b), Lensen (1964a) inferred a reversal in also discuss the kinematics, timing, and magni- Cumulative fault-slip rates across the Marlbor- sense of throw on the fault during the Holocene. tude of Neogene slip on the several active and ough fault system suggest that its four principal Knuepfer (1988, 1992) used pebble weathering inactive strands that compose this system. Little strands accommodate most of the relative plate rind and soil morphology dating to calculate late (1995, 1996) examined populations of faults motion during periodic large earthquakes Quaternary dextral-slip rates at the above two and extension fractures within ~3 km of the (Knuepfer, 1992; Holt and Haines, 1995). Focal sites. Eden (1983, 1989) determined a late Qua- Awatere fault, measured bulk displacement gra- mechanisms of large events (Ms >5.8) are dextral ternary stratigraphy of the Awatere Valley based dients related to this brittle deformation, and reverse or oblique reverse on northeast-striking on loess deposits and tephras, mapped the allu- concluded that regional deformation has ac- nodal planes (Anderson et al., 1993).
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