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Full-Text Articles in Geology
Shallow Rupture Propagation Of Pleistocene Earthquakes Along The Hurricane Fault, Ut, Revealed By Hematite (U-Th)/He Thermochronometry And Textures, Madison P. Taylor, Alexis K. Ault, Margaret L. Odlum, Dennis L. Newell
Shallow Rupture Propagation Of Pleistocene Earthquakes Along The Hurricane Fault, Ut, Revealed By Hematite (U-Th)/He Thermochronometry And Textures, Madison P. Taylor, Alexis K. Ault, Margaret L. Odlum, Dennis L. Newell
Geoscience Faculty Research
The material properties and distribution of faults above the seismogenic zone promote or inhibit earthquake rupture propagation. We document the depths and mechanics of fault slip along the seismically active Hurricane fault, UT, with scanning and transmission electron microscopy and hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry. Hematite occurs as mm-scale, striated patches on a >10 m2 thin, mirror-like silica fault surface. Hematite textures include bulbous aggregates and cataclasite, overlain by crystalline Fe-oxide nanorods and an amorphous silica layer at the slip interface. Textures reflect mechanical, fluid, and heat-assisted amorphization of hematite and silica-rich host rock that weaken the fault and promote rupture propagation. …