Active Tectonics and Seismic Potential of Alaska

About this book

This multidisciplinary monograph provides the first modern integrative summary focused on the most spectacular active tectonic systems in North America.

Encompassing seismology, tectonics, geology, and geodesy, it includes papers that summarize the state of knowledge, including background material for those unfamiliar with the region; address global hypotheses using data from Alaska; and test important global hypotheses using data from this region.

It is organized around four major themes:
- subduction and great earthquakes at the Aleutian Arc,
- the transition from strike slip to accretion and subduction of the Yakutat microplate,
- the Denali fault and related structures and their role in accommodating permanent deformation of the overriding plate, and
- regional integration and large-scale models and the use of data from Alaska to address important global questions and hypotheses.

Active Tectonics and Seismic Potential of Alaska's publication near the beginning of the National Science Foundation's EarthScope project makes it especially timely because Alaska is perhaps the least understood area within the EarthScope footprint, and interest in the region can be expected to rise with time as more EarthScope data become available.

Contents

Preface
      Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Peter J. Haeussler, Rob Wesson, and Göran Ekström vii

Section I: Overviews
Active Deformation Processes in Alaska, Based on 15 Years of GPS Measurements
      Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Hilary Woodard, Steven C. Cohen, Ryan Cross, Julie Elliott, Christopher F. Larsen, Sigrún Hreinsdóttir, and Chris Zweck 1
Paleoseismicity and Neotectonics of the Aleutian Subduction Zone—An Overview
      Gary Carver and George Plafker 43
Neotectonics of the Yakutat Collision: Changes in Deformation Driven by Mass Redistribution
      James B. Chapman, Terry L. Pavlis, Sean Gulick, Aaron Berger, Lindsay Lowe, James Spotila, Ronald Bruhn, Michael Vorkink, Peter Koons, Adam Barker, Carlos Picornell, Ken Ridgway, Bernard Hallet, John Jaeger, and James McCalpin 65
An Overview of the Neotectonics of Interior Alaska: Far-Field Deformation From the Yakutat Microplate Collision
      Peter J. Haeussler 83
Active Tectonics of Interior Alaska: Seismicity, GPS Geodesy, and Local Geomorphology
      Natalia A. Ruppert, Kenneth D. Ridgway, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Ryan S. Cross, and Roger A. Hansen 109

Section II: The Alaska-Aleutian Subduction Zone
New Paleomagnetic Data From the Central Aleutian Arc: Evidence and Implications for Block Rotations
      Lena Krutikov, David B. Stone, and Pavel Minyuk 135
Exhumation in the Chugach-Kenai Mountain Belt Above the Aleutian Subduction Zone, Southern Alaska
      Jamie T. Buscher, Aaron L. Berger, and James A. Spotila 151
Active Faults on Northeastern Kodiak Island, Alaska
      G. Carver, J. Sauber, W. Lettis, R. Witter, and B. Whitney 167
Paleoseismological Records of Multiple Great Earthquakes in Southcentral Alaska: A 4000-Year Record at Girdwood
      Ian Shennan, Natasha Barlow, and Rod Combellick 185
Seismicity of the Prince William Sound Region and Its Relation to Plate Structure and the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake
      Diane I. Doser, Alejandro de la Peña, and Annette M. Veilleux 201

Section III: The Yakutat Collision Between the Subduction and Transform Boundaries
Geological and Geophysical Evaluation of the Mechanisms of the Great 1899 Yakutat Bay Earthquakes
      George Plafker and Wayne Thatcher 215
Yakataga Fold-and-Thrust Belt: Structural Geometry and Tectonic Implications of a Small Continental Collision Zone
      Wesley K. Wallace 237
Identifying Active Structures in the Kayak Island and Pamplona Zones: Implications for Offshore Tectonics of the Yakutat Microplate, Gulf of Alaska
      Lindsay L. Worthington, Sean P. S. Gulick, and Terry L. Pavlis 257

Section IV: Deformation Inboard of the Plate Boundary
Neogene Exhumation of the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska, and Correlations With Denali (Mount McKinley)
      Peter J. Haeussler, Paul O’Sullivan, Aaron L. Berger, and James A. Spotila 269
Does a Boundary of the Wrangell Block Extend Through Southern Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait, Alaska?
      Michael A. Fisher, Ray W. Sliter, and Florence L. Wong 287

Section V: Integrative Models, Stress Transfer, and Seismic Hazards
Tectonics, Dynamics, and Seismic Hazard in the Canada–Alaska Cordillera
      Stephane Mazzotti, Lucinda J. Leonard, Roy D. Hyndman, and John F. Cassidy 297
Contemporary Fault Mechanics in Southern Alaska
      James L. Kalbas, Andrew M. Freed, and Kenneth D. Ridgway 321
Orogenesis From Subducting Thick Crust and Evidence From Alaska
      Geoffrey A. Abers 337
Stress Map for Alaska From Earthquake Focal Mechanisms
      Natalia A. Ruppert 351
Rapid Ice Mass Loss: Does It Have an Influence on Earthquake Occurrence in Southern Alaska?
      Jeanne M. Sauber and Natalia A. Ruppert 369
Challenges in Making a Seismic Hazard Map for Alaska and the Aleutians
      Robert L. Wesson, Oliver S. Boyd, Charles S. Mueller, and Arthur D. Frankel 385
Toward a Time-Dependent Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis for Alaska
      Oliver S. Boyd, Yuehua Zeng, Charles G. Bufe, Robert L. Wesson, Fred Pollitz, and Jeanne L. Hardebeck 399
Fault Interaction in Alaska: Static Coulomb Stress Transfer
      Charles G. Bufe and Oliver S. Boy 417

Index 431

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