The Mojave section of the San Andreas fault (California), 1: Shaping the terrace stratigraphy of Littlerock Creek through the competition between rapid strike-slip faulting and lateral stream erosion over the last 40ka.

Abstract

To determine the post-40 ka slip-rate along the Mojave section of the San Andreas Fault (MSAF) we re-analyze the sedimentary record preserved where Little Rock (LR) Creek flows across the fault. At this location, interaction between the northeast-flowing stream and right-lateral fault has resulted in the abandonment and preservation of 11 strath terraces and one paleo-floodplain in the downstream trailing corner of the river, two of which are also preserved upstream to provide cross-fault matches. A new model of fault-induced river deflection, together with standard terrace riser restoration, yields strike-slip displacements of 1,140 ± 160 m for the older terrace and 360 ± 70 m for the younger one. When combined with new 10 Be dating and reinterpretation of prior measurements the displaced terraces yield right-lateral slip-rates of 27.7 +6.9/−3.5 and 26.8 +3.4/−3.0 mm/yr over the last 23 k.y. and last 40 k.y., where uncertainties are at 95% credible intervals. These new rate determinations are consistent with independent late Holocene estimates, indicating that the long-term rate of strain accumulation along the MSAF is relatively fast and does not vary significantly when averaged over timescales of 15–20 k.y. Using our new model of stream deflection, we find that the fluvial sequence was emplaced in two distinct periods, each characterized by a temporally stable but markedly different deflected river geometry. Each period coincides with a distinct stage of erosive power along LR Creek determined from independent paleoclimate proxies. Importantly, application of the new river-deflection model allows strike-slip displacements to be determined in the absence of upstream piercing points.