The Landers earthquake, which had a moment magnitude (M(w)) of 7.3, was the largest earthquake to strike the contiguous United States in 40 years. This earthquake resulted from the rupture of five major and many minor right-lateral faults near the southern end of the eastern California shear zone, just north of the San Andreas fault. Its M(w) 6.1 preshock and M(w) 6.2 aftershock had their own aftershocks and foreshocks. Surficial geological observations are consistent with local and far-field seismologic observations of the earthquake. Large surficial offsets (as great as 6 meters) and a relatively short rupture length (85 kilometers) are consistent with seismological calculations of a high stress drop (200 bars), which is in turn consistent with an apparently long recurrence interval for these faults.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

We use unique fl uvial gravel deposits preserved atop a regional drainage divide to confi rm the role of stream capture in driving ~250 m of incision in the transient Roanoke River basin of the Appalachian Mountains (United States). Gravel provenance constrains the pre-capture position of the divide, indicating that ~225 km 2 of basin area were abruptly connected to the base level of the capturing stream. The resulting wave of incision is currently manifest as major knickzones separating adjusting reaches from relict headwaters resembling streams of the New River basin, from which the Roanoke River was captured. The unusual preservation of the unconsolidated gravels on small relict surfaces adjacent to bedrock gorges indicates extreme spatial variability in erosion rates within the Roanoke basin, which is the fi rst documented example of a transient passive margin basin connected to a capture event by stranded fl uvial debris. Our results show the potential for stream capture across an asymmetric drainage divide to drive major transient incision independent of external forcings, such as climate change or tectonic uplift. A continuation of this process will lead to eventual capture of ~7000 km 2 of the New River basin in the relatively near geologic future.

No abstract

Ma) from the higher San Gorgonio block to the south suggests that its crest was once contiguous with that of the Big Bear block and that its greater elevation represents a localized uplift that the Big Bear plateau did not experience. The structure of the San Gorgonio block appears to be a gentle antiform, based on the geometry of helium isochrons and geologic constraints. Young ages (0.7-1.6 Ma) from crustal slices within the San Andreas fault zone indicate uplift of a greater magnitude than blocks to the north. These smaller blocks probably experienced >_3-4 km of uplift at rates >_1.5 mm/yr in the past few Myr and would stand >_2.5 km higher than the Big Bear plateau if erosion had not occurred. The greater uplift of tectonic blocks adjacent to and within the San Andreas fault zone is more likely the result of oblique displacement along high-angle faults than motion along the thrust fault that bounds the north side of the range. We speculate that this uplift is the result of convergence and slip partitioning associated with local geometric complexities along this strike-slip system. Transpression thus appears to have been accommodated by both vertical displacement within the San Andreas fault zone and thrusting on adjacent structures.