Variations in exhumation level and uplift rate along the obliqu-slip Alpine fault, central Southern Alps, New Zealand

Shear behavior of DFDP-1 borehole samples from the Alpine Fault, New Zealand, under a wide range of experimental conditions

“…This evidence suggests that the Alpine Fault is frictionally unstable throughout the shallow crust, a unique characteristic that distinguishes the Alpine Fault from other plate boundary fault zones which typically exhibit a creeping "aseismic" zone in the shallowest few km (e.g., Byrne et al 1988;Marone and Scholz 1988;Hyndman et al 1997). Rapid exhumation of high-grade metamorphic fault rock is an attractive explanation (Koons 1987;Little et al 2005).…”

Persistent long-term ( c. 24 Ma) exhumation in the Eastern Alaska Range constrained by stacked thermochronology

“…The question remains whether the limited spatial scope of the Fitzgerald et al (1993) study (restricted to Mt McKinley, with no samples dated from the vicinity of the Denali Fault) was sufficient to capture the full exhumation history of the region considering the large variation in exhumation patterns found in other major orogens (e.g. Little et al 2005;Yin 2006;Tricart et al 2007). …”

“…In addition, along-strike variations in the focus of exhumation are seen across the world (e.g. Little et al 2005;Yin 2006;Tricart et al 2007;Seeber et al 2010). Thus, orogen-scale interpretations of tectonic processes based on thermochronological analyses of a single vertical transect (Fitzgerald et al 1993;O'Sullivan & Currie 1996;Haeussler et al 2008) or a single rock sample (Richter et al 1990) may not capture the spatial and temporal variability inherent to broad-scale orogenesis.…”

Deep Fault Drilling Project—Alpine Fault, New Zealand

“…Rapid exhumation (~6-9 mm yr -1 ; Little et al, 2005) has also produced rapid cooling, indicated by decreasing metamorphic grade and increasing thermochronological age with distance from the fault (Koons, 1987;Batt et al, 2004;Little et al, 2005). It has produced a spectacular exposure of the crustal section from depths of as much as 20-30 km (Little et al, 2002;Norris and Cooper, 2003).…”