At decadal time scales GPS velocity fields derived from both continuous and campaign data indicate mostly westward extension across the Wasatch Fault at rates of 1-3 ± 1 mm/yr. Nonlinear inversion of the velocity field (Chang et al., 2000) predicts that the southern Wasatch Fault dips west at around 40°, has a dip-slip loading rate of 4.2 mm/yr., and is locked at a depth of around 17 km. The meaning of the GPS velocity field, in terms of deformational mechanisms, remains controversial.

At a time scale of thousands of years 15-40 m offsets of Lake Bonneville terraces indicate dip-slip rates of 1.0-2.8 mm/yr. over the past 17 ka. However, pre-Bonneville alluvial fans may show maximum displacements of 200 m at time scales of 600 ka (<0.3 mm/yr).

Differences between short- and long-term rates at temporal scales of 105 years are manifest in the pattern of faceted spurs along the southern Wasatch Fault. Most facets show 250-350 m of nearly continuous slip interrupted by intervals of pediment development with little to no slip. The youngest facets mostly dip around 39° regardless of rock type, and are separated from the next oldest facet by pediments up to 100 m wide. The facets may indicate more or less continuous fault active for periods of around 100-200 ka that is interrupted by intervals of quiescence of unknown duration. Differences between loading rates indicated by GPS and slip rates inferred from paleo-seismic studies are reduced when calculated using a low fault dip angle (40°).

Measurements of footwall fault scarps, fault drag and the lowest faceted spurs along the Wasatch Fault indicate an average dip of the fault plane of around 40° west. Some fault planes show flat-ramp geometries, adjacent basins with shallow graben fill (<4 km), and wide zones of hanging-wall deformation. Gravity models of the fault (UGS) also predict fault dips of <40° with possible abrupt step structures. Low-angle fault dip may be explained by tectonic exhumation of deeper parts of a listric fault, and by reactivation of pre-existing structure as hypothesized by Smith and Bruhn (1984).