[1] The Gibraltar Arc in the western Mediterranean consists of the Betic and Rif Alpine chains and the Alboran Sea Basin. Four types of stress indicators (wellbore breakouts, earthquake focal plane mechanisms, young geologic fault slip data, and hydraulic fracture orientations) indicate a regional NW–SE compressive stress field resulting from Africa-Eurasia plate convergence. In some particular...

We explore features of rupture dynamics that (1) lead to slip heterogeneity in earthquake ruptures and (2) maintain conditions that permit slip heterogeneity in subsequent events. Our 3-D finite-element simulations of magnitude 7 events on a vertical, planar strike-slip fault show that the conditions that lead to slip heterogeneity remain in place after large events when the initial shear stres...

Tectonic setting exerts fi rst-order control on basin formation as refl ected in basin subsidence history. While our approach ignores the effects of fl exural loading and eustatic sea-level change, consistency of backstripped subsidence histories (i.e., with local loading effects of sediment removed) suggests consistent tectonic driving mechanisms in each tectonic setting, with the possible exc...

[1] Vertical crustal motions at 15 sites along the northern Pacific-North America plate boundary are determined using relative sea level changes from tide gauge records. Our analysis is based on monthly mean sea levels, from which barometric pressure and seasonal effects are removed. The records are corrected for common-mode oceanographic variations. These records are statistically examined for...

Tectonic motion across the Los Angeles region is distributed across an intricate network of strike-slip and thrust faults that will be released in destructive earthquakes similar to or larger than the 1933 M6.4 Long Beach and 1994 M6.7 Northridge events. Here we show that Los Angeles regional thrust, strike-slip, and oblique faults are connected and move concurrently with measurable surface def...

Abstract Earthquakes on strike-slip faults are preserved in the geomorphic record by offset land-forms that span a range of displacements, from small offsets created most recent earthquake (MRE) to large cumulative slip multiple prior events. An exponential decay number has been observed many faults, and leading hypothesis is climate controls rate decay. We present measurements compiled 31 stud...