HR: 0800h
AN: S21A-0239 [Abstracts]
TI: Segmentation of the Calaveras-Hayward Fault System Based on 3-D Geometry and Geology at Large-Earthquake Depth
AU: * Graymer, R W
EM: rgraymer@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Simpson, R W
EM: simpson@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Jachens, R C
EM: jachens@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Ponce, D A
EM: ponce@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Phelps, G A
EM: gphelps@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Watt, J T
EM: jwatt@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AU: Wentworth, C M
EM: cwent@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025, United States
AB:
For the purpose of estimating seismic hazard, the Calaveras and Hayward Faults have been considered as
separate structures and analyzed and segmented based largely on their surface-trace geometry and the extent of
the 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake. Recent relocations of earthquakes and 3-D geologic mapping have shown,
however, that at depths associated with large earthquakes (>5 km) the fault geology and geometry is quite
different than that at the surface. Using deep fault geometry inferred from these studies we treat the Hayward and
Calaveras Faults as a single system and divide the system into segments that differ from the previously
accepted segments as follows:
1. The Hayward Fault connects directly to the central Calaveras Fault at depth, as opposed to the 5 km wide
restraining stepover zone of multiple imbricate oblique right-lateral reverse faults at the surface east of Fremont
and San Jose (between about 37.25°-37.6°N).
2. The segment boundary between the Hayward, central Calaveras, and northern Calaveras is based on their Y-
shaped intersection at depth near 37.40°N, 121.76°W (Cherry Flat Reservoir), about 8 km south of the
previously accepted central-northern Calaveras Fault segment boundary.
3. The central Calaveras Fault is divided near 37.14°N, 121.56°W (southern end of Anderson Lake)
into two subsegments based on a large discontinuity at depth seen in relocated seismicity.
4. The Hayward Fault is divided near 37.85°N, 122.23°W (Lake Temescal) into two segments based
on a large contrast in fault face geology. This segmentation is similar to that based on the extent of 1868 fault
rupture, but is now related to an underlying geologic cause.
The direct connection of the Hayward and central Calaveras Faults at depth suggests that earthquakes larger
than those previously modeled should be considered (~M6.9 for the southern Hayward, ~M7.2 for the
southern Hayward plus northern central Calaveras). A NEHRP study by Witter and others (2003; NEHRP
03HQGR0098) suggested evidence for large surface ruptures on the northern central Calaveras, but that work is
not peer-reviewed and there is little or no other paleoseismic or geodetic data from the stepover zone or northern
central Calaveras Fault (all commonly cited data are from the southern central Calaveras Fault), so the sparse
surface data neither demands nor precludes our interpretation. The additional segmentation of the central
Calaveras Fault proposed here may explain the observation that this segment seems to generate characteristic
moderate (~M6.0-6.5) earthquakes rather than the larger ~M6.9 earthquakes that could be generated
by rupture of the previously defined longer central Calaveras segment. Better information regarding fault plane
geometry and 3-D distribution of rock properties adjacent to the faults at seismogenic depths should help us
revise proposed segmentation models of other faults for seismic hazard analyses.
DE: 7223 Earthquake interaction, forecasting, and prediction (1217, 1242)
DE: 7230 Seismicity and tectonics (1207, 1217, 1240, 1242)
DE: 8002 Continental neotectonics (8107)
DE: 8038 Regional crustal structure
SC: Seismology [S]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting