29 Cenozoic Tectonics in Asia and North America: Linking Processes Across Scales
This session invites research integrating geologic, geomorphic, and paleoclimate data to advance understanding on orogenesis, seismic hazards, and global change.
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Alvarado A
Quantifying Fault Offset Uncertainty from Displaced Landforms: Case Studies from Western North America
Paper number: 29-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM
Authors
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Michael OskinUniversity of California, Davis, Davis, California
Abstract
Slip rate analyses are crucial for assessing seismic hazard along active faults. However, a lack of methodological consistency in calculating offset uncertainty has hindered progress in creating unified models of fault activity rates through time. We present a methodology for calculating three-dimensional fault displacement and uncertainty using a principal component-based approach. We apply our methods to sites along faults with different kinematics to demonstrate consistency of our approach with previously published displacement estimates. At the Wallace Creek site along the strike-slip San Andreas fault in southern California, we determine an offset of 129.6 +/- 6.9 m, within uncertainty of prior displacement estimates at this site. At the Taggart Lake site along the Teton normal fault in northern Wyoming, we determine a minimum offset of 14.1 +/- 3.1 m. Our preferred offset at Taggart Lake is less than previously reported estimates due to differences in the selected footwall piercing line among studies. Our methods provide a straightforward assignment of three-dimensional offset and uncertainty based solely on variation of landform morphology that can be readily integrated into seismic hazard assessments.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 4
doi: 10.1130/abs/2026RM-410566
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