High-resolution Geophysical Mapping of California Continental Borderland Faults and Landslides
Hernan Guerrero
BS Candidate
Advisor: Dr. Jillian Maloney
Friday, May 5, 2023
10:30 am in CSL 422
watch Hernan’s talk
Abstract
Cortes Basin, located in the southern California Continental Borderlands, United States, is traversed by two active submerged fault systems that are part of the broader North America- Pacific plate boundary. Faults in the California Continental Borderlands accommodate 20% of the plate motion and include continuous fault zones that can generate M7+ earthquakes causing hazards to dense coastal populations. Subbottom CHIRP reflection data collected in February 2023 show Cortes Basins’ fault zones and numerous landslide deposits at high-resolution. We identified and mapped a landslide deposit thought to have occurred ~340 thousand years ago. This landslide, and several others in the basin, may have been triggered by events of the active submerged fault system and could be useful for reconstructing the earthquake record of the basin. Furthermore, understanding the extent and volume of the deposit could have implications for past tsunami generation from offshore landslides.