Rufus Catchings

The Whittier Narrows earthquake of 1987 and the Northridge earthquake of 1991 highlighted the earthquake hazards associated with buried faults in the Los Angeles region. A more thorough knowledge of the subsurface structure of southern California is needed to reveal these and other buried faults and to aid us in understanding how the earthquake-producing machinery works in this region.

The New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) is the most active seismic zone in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Frequency-magnitude relationships show that an earthquake magnitude of 6.3 or greater can be expected in this area about once every 100 years, on average [Johnston and Nava, 1985]. During the winter of 1811-1812, three earthquakes of moment magnitude near 8 devastated New Madrid, Mo., and the surrounding region. Today, if an earthquake in the magnitude 6-7 range were to strike, in addition to loss of life and injuries, residents would suffer about $3.6 billion in immediate property losses [Algermissen, 1991] and feel the pinch of a long-term economic impact.

... CC Tsai * RD Catchings, MR Goldman, and MJ Rymer ... Right-lateral movement apparently continues near the southern end of the Banning fault and was the source of the 1986 M 5.9 North Palm Springs earthquake (Jones et al., 1986; Sharp et al., 1986; Nicholson, 1996), but ...

To better understand the velocities and structures of the crust and upper mantle in the San Francisco Bay area, we developed 2-D tomographic velocity models along four seismic refraction profiles acquired along and across the bay area in the early 1990's. The four profiles extended from (1) Hollister to Inverness along the San Francisco and Marin Peninsulas (~200 km long), (2) Hollister to Santa Rosa along the East Bay (~220 km long), (3) the Pacific Ocean to Livermore crossing the bay (~100 km long), and (4) the Pacific Ocean to the western Santa Clara Valley (~25 km long), centered on the epicenter of the1989 M. 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. Velocity models were not previously developed for three of the seismic profiles, and the previously developed model for the fourth profile (Catchings and Kohler, 1996) did not include some of the currently available seismic data. The profiles along the bay image structures from the near surface to about 25 km depth, and they show velocity anomalies associated with the major faults (San Andreas, Hayward, Rodgers Creek, Calaveras) and basins along the profile. Velocities range from about 2 km/s in the basins to about 7 km/s at the Moho, which dips southward along both sides of the bay. The cross bay profile shows velocity anomalies associated with six fault zones between the Pacific Ocean and the Livermore Valley and higher upper-crustal velocities (~6.2 km/s) between the San Andreas and Hayward faults than to the southwest (~5 km/s) or northeast (~4 km/s) of those faults. The Loma Prieta profile shows velocities ranging from 2 km/s to 6 km/s in the upper 5 km, with the highest velocities in the epicentral region of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A pronounced, northeast-dipping, low-velocity zone is located beneath the surface expression of the San Andreas fault zone, but other fault zones along the profile show high-velocity anomalies beneath their surface expressions. Collectively, the velocity images show the complexity of the crustal structure and provide constraints for 3-D tomographic models developed for the San Francisco Bay area.

We acquired three high-resolution (2.5-m CDP spacing) seismic reflection and refraction profiles across the SAFOD site in 1998 and 2003. In 1998, we acquired a 5-km-long, high-resolution seismic reflection and refraction profile from ~2 km southwest of the SAFOD drill site to about 1.5 km northeast of the surface trace of the San Andreas fault. In 2003, we acquired two additional high-resolution seismic reflection and refraction profiles that were centered on the SAFOD drill site. All three profiles provide velocity images to maximum depths of 800 m and reflection images to maximum depths of 5 km, which correlate with structures and lithologies observed in the SAFOD borehole. Our seismic images show that the San Andreas fault is located within an approximately 1.7-km-wide, southwest-dipping low-velocity zone at about 1 km depth. On the basis of velocity data, we previously interpreted traces of the San Andreas fault to lie within a wedge of sediments (Catchings et al., 2002; BSSA), a result that was confirmed by SAFOD borehole data. Small repeating earthquakes that were the principal target events for SAFOD drilling reside within the wedge of sediments and are probably related to low-strength sedimentary rocks. However, our reflection images show that additional strands of the San Andreas fault extend into more competent rock, well northeast of the SAFOD target faults. The relatively wide fault zone, inferred from our observations of numerous fault strands on seismic reflection images, suggests that SAFOD sampled only part of the San Andreas fault zone, which is wider and more structurally complex than previous believed.

... We interpret these linear, subparallel, low-velocity zones imaged adjacent to anticlines of the Yakima Fold Belt to be brecciated fault zones. These fault zones dip to the south at angles between 15 to 45 degrees. This record provided courtesy of AGI/GeoRef. ...

ABSTRACT Clear subsurface seismic images have been obtained at low cost on the Columbia Plateau, Washington. The Columbia Plateau is perhaps the most notorious of all bad-data'' areas because large impedance contrasts in surface flood basalts severely degrade the seismic wavefield. This degradation was mitigated in this study via a large-explosive source, wide-recording aperture shooting method. The shooting method emphasizes the wide-angle portion of the wavefield, where Fermat's principle guarantees reverberation will not interfere with the seismic manifestations of crucial geologic interfaces. The basalt diving wave, normally discarded in standard common midpoint (CMP) seismic profiling, can be used to image basalt velocity structure via travel-time inversion. Maximum depth-penetration of the diving wave tightly constrains basalt-sediment interface depth. An arrival observed only at shot-receiver offsets greater than 15 km can be used to determine the velocity and geometry of basement via simultaneous inversion. The results from this study suggest that previous geologic hypotheses and hydrocarbon play concepts for the Columbia Plateau may have been in error.

The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) and coordinated projects will acquire seismic data in and across the Salton Trough in southern California and northern Mexico, including the Coachella, Imperial, and Mexicali Valleys. These projects address both rifting processes at the northern end of the Gulf of California extensional province and earthquake hazards at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault system. In the central Salton Trough, North American lithosphere appears to have been rifted completely apart. Based primarily on a 1979 seismic refraction project, the 20-22 km thick crust is apparently composed entirely of new crust added by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. The new data will constrain the style of continental breakup, the role and mode of magmatism, the effects of rapid Colorado River sedimentation upon extension and magmatism, and the partitioning of oblique extension. The southernmost San Andreas Fault is considered at high risk of producing a large damaging earthquake, yet structures of the fault and adjacent basins are poorly constrained. To improve hazard models, SSIP will image the geometry of the San Andreas and Imperial Faults, structure of sedimentary basins in the Salton Trough, and three-dimensional seismic velocity of the crust and uppermost mantle. SSIP and collaborating projects have been funded by several different programs at NSF and the USGS. These projects include seven lines of land refraction and low-fold reflection data, airguns and OBS data in the Salton Sea, coordinated fieldwork for onshore-offshore and 3-D data, and a densely sampled line of broadband stations across the trough. Fieldwork is tentatively scheduled for 2010. Preliminary work in 2009 included calibration shots in the Imperial Valley that quantified strong ground motion and proved lack of harm to agricultural irrigation tile drains from explosive shots. Piggyback and complementary studies are encouraged.

Near-vertical and wide-angle seismic reflection data provide evidence for the presence of a magma body at the base of the crust beneath Buena Vista Valley in northwestern Nevada. The seismic response of this hypothesized magma body is characterized by high-amplitude, near-vertical P wave reflections and a comparably strong P-to-S converted phase. The magma body, referred to here as the Buena Vista Magma Body, is probably a single sill with thickness no greater than 200 m and length no greater than 1.8 km. The melt fraction in the sill is undoubtedly greater than 20-30%, and probably exceeds 50%. Melt composition is unconstrained. Although the age of the Buena Vista Magma Body is difficult to determine precisely, it is probably no older than 500,000 years. This suggests that magmatism in the Basin and Range Province is an ongoing process, despite the relative paucity of volcanic rocks erupted at the surface during the last 6 m.y.

In 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a seismic refraction survey of northeastern California designed to characterize the structure in four geologic provinces: the Klamath Mountains, Cascade Range, Modoc Plateau, and Basin and Range provinces. The survey consisted of north-south lines in the Klamath Mountains and Modoc Plateau provinces, northwest-southeast lines centered on Mount Shasta and Medicine Lake volcano, and an east-west line linking all the profiles. All lines except the east-west line ranged in length from 125 to 140 km, contained three shot points, and were recorded by 100 instruments. The east-west line was 260 km long, contained six shot points, and was recorded by 200 instruments. The Klamath and Modoc lines yielded the simplest models. The Klamath model is finely layered from the surface to at least 14-km depth, consisting of a series of high-velocity layers (6.1-6.7 km/s), ranging in thickness from 1 to 4 km, with alternating positive and negative velocity gradients. A layer with an unreversed velocity of 7.0 km/s extends from 14 km downward to an unknown depth. The Modoc model, in contrast, is thickly layered and has lower velocity at all depths down to 25 km. The uppermost layer, 4.5 km thick, consists of low-velocity material (2-4.5 km/s). Velocity beneath this layer is much higher (6.2 km/s) and increases slowly with depth. A small velocity step (to 6.4 km/s) is seen at 11 km, and a larger step (to 7.0 km/s) is seen at 25 km depth. Moho is probably 38-45 km deep under the Modoc Plateau, but its depth is unknown under the Klamath Mountains. Models for the Shasta and Medicine Lake lines show special features including low velocity (less than 3.5 km/s) in the edifice of Mount Shasta but high velocity (5.6 km/s) at shallow depth (1-2 km) under the summit of Medicine Lake volcano. The model for the east-west line consists of a western part similar to the Klamath model, an eastern part similar to the Modoc model, and laterally changing velocity structure in between, underlying the Cascade Range. This model was converted to a density model, and observed Bouguer gravity data were matched. A general decrease in Bouguer gravity values eastward may be explained by a general decrease in the density of crustal layers and does not require a change in crustal thickness. Beneath the 4.5-km-thick surficial layer, the velocity model for the Modoc Plateau is similar to that determined by other researchers for a refraction line in the Sierra Nevada. It is unlike velocity models for rift areas, to which the Modoc Plateau has been likened by some authors. We theorize that beneath its surficial volcanic and sedimentary rocks, the Modoc Plateau is underlain by a basement of granitic and metamorphic rocks that are the roots of ancient magmatic arc(s). The fine layering in the Klamath model is consistent with the imbricate structure of the Klamath Mountains. Independent modeling of aeromagnetic data indicates that the base of the Trinity ultramafic sheet corresponds to a velocity step from 6.5 to 6.7 km/s at 7-km depth in our model. The 6.7 km/s layer beneath the Trinity ultramafic sheet apparently corresponds to rocks of the central metamorphic belt, mostly amphibole schists, which crop out west of the Trinity ultramafic sheet. Deeper velocity layers can likewise be correlated to terranes that crop out farther west. In our geologic cross section of northeastern California, derived from our velocity-density model for the east-west line, the Klamath Mountains are underlain by folded and thrust-faulted slices of oceanic crust. The Modoc Plateau and westernmost Basin and Range province are underlain by a section of volcanic and sedimentary rocks overlying granitic and metamorphic rocks, all tilted westward between an inferred fault under Medicine Lake volcano and the Surprise Valley fault. In the Cascade Range, geologic units appear to be discontinuous, and structures include horsts, grabens, and a 10-km step downward to the east in the 7 km/s layer. The latter step may represent a fault, fold, intrusion, or a combination of any of the three. Apparently, the Cascade Range, a modern magmatic arc, is developed across the suture region between the stack of oceanic rock layers underlying the Klamath Mountains and the inferred roots of magmatic arc(s) underlying the Modoc Plateau.

The region of the northwestern United States between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range, which is about 1000 km in length and is between 400 and 700 km in width was examined. The western edge of the study area occupies a position approximately 250 km east of the subduction zone between the Juan De Fuca and North American lithospheric plate and is immediately east of the active Cascade Range volcanic arc. Four of the first detailed investigations of the crustal structure of the area north of Nevada and west of the Snake River Plain are represented. One of the most important contributions may be that crustal models now exist for the region as a whole which are based on seismic measurement within the region. These crustal models are in agreement with the regional geology and extensional tectonics of the back-arc setting. These data provide an opportunity to examine the deep crustal structure in extensional terranes and provide insights into the processes associated with continental extension and growth. Some of the surprising facts include the discovery of a subvolcanic continental rift between the Columbia Plateau, possibly a second continental rift within northwestern Nevada, and the observation that although the crust has greatly extended beneath much of this area, it remains nearly 40 km thick throughout the area.