Slip rates for the Hyde and Dunstan Faults, southern New Zealand, revealed by cosmogenic radionuclide dating
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Date
2021-11-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Abstract
Reverse faulting in Otago, southern New Zealand, accommodates distributed tectonic convergence on the eastern side of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary. Paleoearthquake records from some of the faults in the region show highly variable earthquake recurrence times, and this work is focused on providing longer term context to these records. We use 10Be cosmogenic radionuclide dating of alluvial fan surfaces to characterise late Quaternary slip rates on two significant faults within the system, the Hyde and Dunstan faults. We determine a slip rate of 0.29 mm/yr (0.24 – 0.37 mm/yr at 95% confidence) for the Hyde Fault since 115 ka and a slip rate of 0.17 mm/yr (0.15 – 0.23 mm/yr 95% confidence) for the Dunstan fault since 320 ka. The lower rate for the Dunstan Fault, which has greater total displacement and is closer to the plate boundary, supports a hypothesis of migration of the deformation front eastward from the plate boundary. Both faults show deviations from a constant linear slip rate through time, with slip rates varying by a factor of 2 – 4 over timescales of 15 – 80 kyr. Increases in slip rate are out of phase on the two faults, supporting a hypothesis that strain is shared within the fault system over timescales on the order of 10s – 100s kyr; however, neither fault shows evidence for long periods of seismic quiescence. © The Authors
Description
Keywords
Slip, Slip velocity, Geologic faults, Earthquakes, New Zealand, Australia, Radioisotopes, Quaternary period, Age estimation, Plate tectonics
Citation
Griffin, J., Stirling, M., Wilcken, K., Barrell, D., & Simon, K. (2021). Slip rates for the Hyde and Dunstan Faults, southern New Zealand, revealed by cosmogenic radionuclide dating. Paper presented to the 15th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, ANSTO Sydney, Australia, November 15th – 19th, 2021. (pp. 98). Retrieved from: https://ams15sydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AMS-15-Full-Program-and-Abstract-Book-R-1.pdf