High-resolution spatial rupture pattern of a multiphase flower structure, Rex Hills, Nevada: New insights on scarp evolution in complex topography based on 3-D laser scanning

Research Article| May 01, 2010 High-resolution spatial rupture pattern of a multiphase flower structure, Rex Hills, Nevada: New insights on scarp evolution in complex topography based on 3-D laser scanning Ramona Baran; Ramona Baran † Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany †E-mail: ramona.baran@iaag.geo.uni-muenchen.de Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Bernard Guest; Bernard Guest § Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany §Current address: Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive Northwest, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada, e-mail: bguest@ucalgary.ca Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Anke M. Friedrich Anke M. Friedrich # Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany #E-mail: friedrich@lmu.de Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Ramona Baran † Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany Bernard Guest § Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany Anke M. Friedrich # Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Luisenstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany †E-mail: ramona.baran@iaag.geo.uni-muenchen.de §Current address: Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive Northwest, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada, e-mail: bguest@ucalgary.ca #E-mail: friedrich@lmu.de Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 09 Sep 2008 Revision Received: 03 Jun 2009 Accepted: 05 Jun 2009 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 © 2010 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2010) 122 (5-6): 897–914. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26536.1 Article history Received: 09 Sep 2008 Revision Received: 03 Jun 2009 Accepted: 05 Jun 2009 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Ramona Baran, Bernard Guest, Anke M. Friedrich; High-resolution spatial rupture pattern of a multiphase flower structure, Rex Hills, Nevada: New insights on scarp evolution in complex topography based on 3-D laser scanning. GSA Bulletin 2010;; 122 (5-6): 897–914. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26536.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Fault scarps represent the most obvious expression of tectonic activity at the Earth's surface. Studies on scarp morphology place constraints on fault kinematics and scarp-degradation processes, and were often based on geomorphic dating techniques. Fault scarps exposed in areas of simple topography facilitate data acquisition and interpretation, whereas little work had been done where fault scarps are superimposed on complex, dissected topography. Fault scarps developed in complex topography are commonly observed along flower structures and at tips of strike-slip faults. Such structures are important elements for evaluating the evolution and linking of strike-slip fault systems, and appear to be scale-independent from several meters to hundreds of kilometers. We examined the detailed meter- to hundred meter–scale structure and surface expression of a flank of one fault scarp–bounded pressure ridge (Rex Hills flower structure) by combining field mapping with high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) analysis. Based on terrestrial laser scanning we generated a detailed DEM and extracted high-resolution topographic cross sections, which enabled us to identify fault scarps and to determine their relative ages and geometry. Our study site is located on the transpressional left-bend between the Pahrump and Amargosa segments of the dextral Stateline fault system. The topography is characterized by alternating valleys and ridges (each ∼100 m long, relief of ∼4 m). We observed the following: the southern Rex Hills slope exhibits three fault scarps related to three reverse fault branches; the basal scarp (scarp 1) is most continuous, and exhibits five segments, the upper two scarps (scarps 2 and 3) are less continuous. Furthermore, fault scarps exposed on ridge crests are more numerous (up to four to five scarps), and smaller (∼5 m high); valleys often exhibit single large (>10 m high), smoothed scarps. To easily detect differences between the scarps, we evaluated the height and slope angle of the scarps using topographic cross sections. Our analysis indicates that scarp shape is influenced by fault dip, lithology, and degradation processes resulting in large scatter and broad overlap in scarp-height–slope-angle space. The analysis further indicates that scarp degradation is stronger in the valleys, and that the preservation potential of small, individual fault scarps is therefore greater on the ridge crests. We compared our fault-scarp data with published, calibrated data yielding an age of ∼2 ka for the Rex Hills scarps consistent with an earlier finding. This suggests that the scarp shape mainly reflects progressive degradation since the most recent surface rupture. Our approach of analyzing high-resolution topographic data of closely spaced fault scarps is promising especially when combined with subsurface data as well as geochronological and paleoseismic data, and it provides a basic scheme for analyzing scarp populations in a complex topographic region. Despite the absence of subsurface data, our approach allowed the study of complex high-resolution fault-scarp morphologies across a flower structure for the first time. 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