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James J. Lienkaemper

Publications and source records attributed to James J. Lienkaemper.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Logs and data from trenches across and near the Green Valley Fault at the Mason Road site, Fairfield, Solano County, California, 2006-2009

The primary purpose of this report is to provide drafted field logs of exploratory trenches excavated across the Green Valley Fault in 2007 and 2009 that show evidence for four surface rupturing earthquakes in the past one thousand years. The site location and site detail are shown on sheet 1. The trench logs are shown on sheets 1, 2, and 3. We also provide radiocarbon laboratory dates used for chronological modeling of the earthquake history. Sheets 4 and 5 show additional data obtained in 2006–2009 to document data obtained in our studies of the long-term geologic slip rate on the Green Valley Fault. However, that effort ultimately did not prove feasible and no slip rate estimate resulted.

California↗
USGS2011

Triggered surface slips in southern California associated with the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah, Baja California, Mexico, earthquake

The April 4, 2010 ( M w 7.2), El Mayor-Cucapah, Baja California, Mexico, earthquake is the strongest earthquake to shake the Salton Trough area since the 1992 ( M w 7.3) Landers earthquake. Similar to the Landers event, ground-surface fracturing occurred on multiple faults in the trough. However, the 2010 event triggered surface slip on more faults in the central Salton Trough than previous earthquakes, including multiple faults in the Yuha Desert area, the southwestern section of the Salton Trough. In the central Salton Trough, surface fracturing occurred along the southern San Andreas, Coyote Creek, Superstition Hills, Wienert, Kalin, and Imperial Faults and along the Brawley Fault Zone, all of which are known to have slipped in historical time, either in primary (tectonic) slip and/or in triggered slip. Surface slip in association with the El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake is at least the eighth time in the past 42 years that a local or regional earthquake has triggered slip along faults in the central Salton Trough. In the southwestern part of the Salton Trough, surface fractures (triggered slip) occurred in a broad area of the Yuha Desert. This is the first time that triggered slip has been observed in the southwestern Salton Trough. Triggered slip in the Yuha Desert area occurred along more than two dozen faults, only some of which were recognized before the April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. From east to northwest, slip occurred in seven general areas: (1) in the Northern Centinela Fault Zone (newly named), (2) along unnamed faults south of Pinto Wash, (3) along the Yuha Fault (newly named), (4) along both east and west branches of the Laguna Salada Fault, (5) along the Yuha Well Fault Zone (newly revised name) and related faults between it and the Yuha Fault, (6) along the Ocotillo Fault (newly named) and related faults to the north and south, and (7) along the southeasternmost section of the Elsinore Fault. Faults that slipped in the Yuha Desert area include northwest-trending right-lateral faults, northeast-trending left-lateral faults, and north-south faults, some of which had dominantly vertical offset. Triggered slip along the Ocotillo and Elsinore Faults appears to have occurred only in association with the June 14, 2010 ( M w 5.7), aftershock. This aftershock also resulted in slip along other faults near the town of Ocotillo. Triggered offset on faults in the Yuha Desert area was mostly less than 20 mm, with three significant exceptions, including slip of about 50–60 mm on the Yuha Fault, 40 mm on a fault south of Pinto Wash, and about 85 mm on the Ocotillo Fault. All triggered slips in the Yuha Desert area occurred along preexisting faults, whether previously recognized or not.

California↗
USGS2011

Cone penetration tests and soil borings at the Mason Road site in Green Valley, Solano County, California

In support of a study to investigate the history of the Green Valley Fault, 13 cone penetration test soundings and 3 auger borings were made at the Mason Road site in Green Valley, Solano County, California. Three borings were made at or near two of the cone penetration test soundings. The soils are mostly clayey with a few sandy layers or lenses. Fine-grained soils range from low plasticity sandy lean clay to very plastic fat clay. Lack of stratigraphic correlation in the subsurface prevented us from determining whether any channels had been offset at this site. Because the soils are generally very clayey and few sand layers or lenses are loose, the liquefaction potential at the site is very low.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

Recently active traces of the Bartlett Springs Fault, California: A digital database

The purpose of this map is to show the location of and evidence for recent movement on active fault traces within the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone, California. The location and recency of the mapped traces is primarily based on geomorphic expression of the fault as interpreted from large-scale aerial photography. In a few places, evidence of fault creep and offset Holocene strata in trenches and natural exposures have confirmed the activity of some of these traces. This publication is formatted both as a digital database for use within a geographic information system (GIS) and for broader public access as map images that may be browsed on-line or download a summary map. The report text describes the types of scientific observations used to make the map, gives references pertaining to the fault and the evidence of faulting, and provides guidance for use of and limitations of the map.

California↗
USGS2009

Data from theodolite measurements of creep rates on San Francisco Bay region faults, California

Introduction Our purpose is to annually update our creep-data archive on San Francisco Bay region active faults for use by the scientific research community. Earlier data (1979-2001) were reported in Galehouse (2002) and were analyzed and described in detail in a summary report (Galehouse and Lienkaemper, 2003). A complete analysis of our earlier results obtained on the Hayward Fault was presented in Lienkaemper, Galehouse and Simpson (2001) and updated in Lienkaemper and others (2012). Lienkaemper and others (2014) provide a new overview and analysis of fault creep along all sections of the northern San Andreas Fault system, from which they estimate by how much fault creep reduces the seismic hazard for each fault section. From 1979 until his retirement from the project in 2001, Jon Galehouse of San Francisco State University (SFSU) and many student research assistants measured creep (aseismic slip) rates on these faults. The creep measurement project, which was initiated by Galehouse, continued through the Geosciences Department at SFSU from 2001-2006 under the direction of Karen Grove and John Caskey (Grove and Caskey, 2005) and since 2006 under Caskey (2007). Forrest McFarland has managed most of the technical and logistical project operations, as well as data processing and compilation since 2001. Data from 2001-2007 are found in McFarland and others (2007). From 2009 onward, we have released the raw data annually using this report (OF2009-1119) as a permanent publication link, while publishing more detailed analyses of these data in the scientific literature, such as Lienkaemper and others (2014). We maintain a project Web site (http://funnel.sfsu.edu/creep/) that includes the following information: project description, project personnel, creep characteristics and measurement, map of creep-measurement sites, creep-measurement site information, and links to data plots for each measurement site. Our most current, annually updated results are, therefore, accessible to the scientific community and to the general public. Information about the project can currently be requested by the public by an email link ( fltcreep@sfsu.edu) found on our project Web site.

California↗
USGS2008

The Hayward Fault— Is it due for a repeat of the powerful 1868 earthquake?

On October 21, 1868, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the San Francisco Bay region. Although the region was then sparsely populated, this quake on the Hayward Fault was one of the most destructive in California's history. Recent studies show that such powerful Hayward Fault quakes have repeatedly jolted the region in the past. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists describe this fault as a tectonic time bomb, due anytime for another magnitude 6.8 to 7.0 earthquake. Because such a quake could cause hundreds of deaths, leave thousands homeless, and devastate the region's economy, the USGS and other organizations are working together with new urgency to help prepare Bay Area communities for this certain future quake.

California↗
USGS2007

Data from theodolite measurements of creep rates on San Francisco Bay region faults, California: 1979-2007

Introduction Our purpose is to update with six additional years of data, our creep data archive on San Francisco Bay region active faults for use by the scientific research community. Earlier data (1979-2001) were reported in Galehouse (2002) and were analyzed and described in detail in a summary report (Galehouse and Lienkaemper, 2003). A complete analysis of our earlier results obtained on the Hayward fault was presented in Lienkaemper, Galehouse and Simpson (2001). Jon Galehouse of San Francisco State University (SFSU) and many student research assistants measured creep (aseismic slip) rates on these faults from 1979 until his retirement from the project in 2001. The creep measurement project, which was initiated by Galehouse, has continued through the Geosciences Department at SFSU from 2001-2006 under the direction of Co-P.I.'s Karen Grove and John Caskey (Grove and Caskey, 2005), and by Caskey since 2006. Forrest McFarland has managed most of the technical and logistical project operations as well as data processing and compilation since 2001. We plan to publish detailed analyses of these updated creep data in future publications. We maintain a project web site (http://funnel.sfsu.edu/creep/) that includes the following information: project description, project personnel, creep characteristics and measurement, map of creep measurement sites, creep measurement site information, and data plots for each measurement site. Our most current, annually updated results are therefore accessible to the scientific community and to the general public. Information about the project can currently be requested by the public by an email link (fltcreep@sfsu.edu) found on our project website.

California↗
USGS2006

Digital database of recently active traces of the Hayward Fault, California

The purpose of this map is to show the location of and evidence for recent movement on active fault traces within the Hayward Fault Zone, California. The mapped traces represent the integration of the following three different types of data: (1) geomorphic expression, (2) creep (aseismic fault slip),and (3) trench exposures. This publication is a major revision of an earlier map (Lienkaemper, 1992), which both brings up to date the evidence for faulting and makes it available formatted both as a digital database for use within a geographic information system (GIS) and for broader public access interactively using widely available viewing software. The pamphlet describes in detail the types of scientific observations used to make the map, gives references pertaining to the fault and the evidence of faulting, and provides guidance for use of and limitations of the map. [Last revised Nov. 2008, a minor update for 2007 LiDAR and recent trench investigations; see version history below.]

California↗
USGS2005

Implications for prediction and hazard assessment from the 2004 Parkfield earthquake

Obtaining high-quality measurements close to a large earthquake is not easy: one has to be in the right place at the right time with the right instruments. Such a convergence happened, for the first time, when the 28 September 2004 Parkfield, California, earthquake occurred on the San Andreas fault in the middle of a dense network of instruments designed to record it. The resulting data reveal aspects of the earthquake process never before seen. Here we show what these data, when combined with data from earlier Parkfield earthquakes, tell us about earthquake physics and earthquake prediction. The 2004 Parkfield earthquake, with its lack of obvious precursors, demonstrates that reliable short-term earthquake prediction still is not achievable. To reduce the societal impact of earthquakes now, we should focus on developing the next generation of models that can provide better predictions of the strength and location of damaging ground shaking.

California↗
USGS2005

Log of Trench 04A across the Hayward Fault at Tyson's Lagoon (Tule Pond), Fremont, Alameda County, California

This publication makes available a detailed trench log (sheets 1 and 2) of a 110-m trench we excavated in 2004 across a tectonic sag pond in the Hayward fault zone. Also included are revised stratigraphic unit descriptions from this fifth field season of subsurface investigation of the Hayward fault at Tyson's Lagoon (Tule Pond). Preliminary findings based on fieldwork done in 2000 have been published (Lienkaemper and others: data archive, 2002a; report, 2002b), as were the logs and data for 2001-2003 (Lienkaemper and others, 2003, L03). A continuous exposure of the geologic section across the entire pond made in 2004 (Fig. 1, 04A) has revealed some critical miscorrelations of units made in the original on-line version of L03, hence users of these earlier trench data should only use the 2005 revised version 2.0 of L03 for correlation purposes. Lienkaemper, Williams, and Sickler interpreted the geology and logged the trenches. Fumal did most of the trench photography. The Hayward fault is recognized to be among the most hazardous in the United States (Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities, 2003). Establishing a chronology of prehistoric or paleoearthquakes is of immediate use in resolving the likelihood of future large earthquakes Hayward fault. This document makes available geologic evidence for historical and prehistoric surface-rupturing earthquakes preserved at the site. A second, formal report on our conclusions based on these data is in preparation.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

Surface rupture and slip distribution of the Denali and Totschunda faults in the 3 November 2002 M 7.9 earthquake, Alaska

The 3 November 2002 Denali fault, Alaska, earthquake resulted in 341 km of surface rupture on the Susitna Glacier, Denali, and Totschunda faults. The rupture proceeded from west to east and began with a 48-km-long break on the previously unknown Susitna Glacier thrust fault. Slip on this thrust averaged about 4 m (Crone et al. , 2004) . Next came the principal surface break, along 226 km of the Denali fault, with average right-lateral offsets of 4.5–5.1 m and a maximum offset of 8.8 m near its eastern end. The Denali fault trace is commonly left stepping and north side up. About 99 km of the fault ruptured through glacier ice, where the trace orientation was commonly influenced by local ice fabric. Finally, slip transferred southeastward onto the Totschunda fault and continued for another 66 km where dextral offsets average 1.6–1.8 m. The transition from the Denali fault to the Totschunda fault occurs over a complex 25-km-long transfer zone of right-slip and normal fault traces. Three methods of calculating average surface slip all yield a moment magnitude of M w 7.8, in very good agreement with the seismologically determined magnitude of M 7.9. A comparison of strong-motion inversions for moment release with our slip distribution shows they have a similar pattern. The locations of the two largest pulses of moment release correlate with the locations of increasing steps in the average values of observed slip. This suggests that slip-distribution data can be used to infer moment release along other active fault traces.

Alaska↗
USGS1997

Revised long-term creep rates on the Hayward Fault, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California

Although the Hayward fault is a source of major earthquakes, it also creeps or slips aseismically, and has done so steadily for several decades (certainly since 1921 and probably since 1869). Most of the fault creeps between 3 and 6 mm/yr, except for a 4- to 6-km-long segment near its south end that creeps at about 9 mm/yr. We present results of our recent surveys to recover angles and deflection lines established across the fault in the 1960s and 1970s, but unmonitored since. We have added data from more offset cultural features to the long-term creep rate data set and made substantial improvements to the analytical method used to compute offsets. The revised creep rate values improve our knowledge of spatial and temporal variation along the fault. The more accurate revised data has reduced the estimate of the average creep rate along most of the fault from 5.1 mm/yr to 4.6 mm/yr. Creep rates in the 9 mm/yr section near the south end have remained the same.

California↗
USGS1992

Hayward fault: Large earthquakes versus surface creep

The Hayward fault, thought a likely source of large earthquakes in the next few decades, has generated two large historic earthquakes (about magnitude 7), one in 1836 and another in 1868. We know little about the 1836 event, but the 1868 event had a surface rupture extending 41 km along the southern Hayward fault. Right-lateral surface slip occurred in 1868, but was not well measured. Witness accounts suggest coseismic right slip and afterslip of under a meter. We measured the spatial variation of the historic creep rate along the Hayward fault, deriving rates mainly from surveys of offset cultural features, (curbs, fences, and buildings). Creep occurs along at least 69 km of the fault's 82-km length (13 km is underwater). Creep rate seems nearly constant over many decades with short-term variations. The creep rate mostly ranges from 3.5 to 6.5 mm/yr, varying systemically along strike. The fastest creep is along a 4-km section near the south end. Here creep has been about 9mm/yr since 1921, and possibly since the 1868 event as indicated by offset railroad track rebuilt in 1869. This 9mm/yr slip rate may approach the long-term or deep slip rate related to the strain buildup that produces large earthquakes, a hypothesis supported by geoloic studies (Lienkaemper and Borchardt, 1992). If so, the potential for slip in large earthquakes which originate below the surficial creeping zone, may now be 1/1m along the southern (1868) segment and ≥1.4m along the northern (1836?) segment. Substracting surface creep rates from a long-term slip rate of 9mm/yr gives present potential for surface slip in large earthquakes of up to 0.8m. Our earthquake potential model which accounts for historic creep rate, microseismicity distribution, and geodetic data, suggests that enough strain may now be available for large magnitude earthquakes (magnitude 6.8 in the northern (1836?) segment, 6.7 in the southern (1868) segment, and 7.0 for both). Thus despite surficial creep, the fault may be ready for the recurrence of large earthquakes today. However, the timing (Williams, 1992) and size of future events may vary greatly due to uncertainties in the tectonophysical model assumed for the Hayward fault within the greater San Andreas fault system (Lisowski and Savage, 1992).

California↗
USGS1991

Factors affecting the recognition of faults exposed in exploratory trenches

Trenching-a widely used method for evaluating fault activity-has limitations that can mislead investigators. Some segments of fault strands in trench walls may not be visible, and this nonvisibility can lead to incorrect interpretations of time of most recent displacement and recurrence intervals on a fault. We examined the logs of 163 trench exposures and tabulated data on more than 1,200 fault strands to investigate three categories of nonvisibility: (1) strands with obscure (invisible or poorly visible) segments, (2) strands that die out upward, and (3) strands that die out downward. About 14 percent of all the strands have obscure segments. Of the 143 strands on which it is possible to recognize dieout up (limited to strands for which position of ground surface at time of faulting is known), 45 percent do die out upward, and the fraction exceeds 70 percent for strike-slip and reverse faults. Thus a fault strand overlain by an apparently undisturbed deposit is not necessarily older than the deposit. More than 30 percent of all the strands die out downward, providing more evidence that fault strands can end for reasons other than being covered by deposits younger than the fault. Analysis of trench-log data revealed various relations between geologic factors and nonvisibility of fault strands. For example, fault type affects the incidence of nonvisibility, which is generally most common on strike-slip faults, less common on reverse faults, and least common on normal fau Its. The type of material penetrated by the fault also influences nonvisibility, which tends to be more common in soil horizons and sand, and less common in gravel. Dieout down is weakly influenced by fault displacement, decreasing in frequency with increase in displacement; the frequencies of obscure segments and dieout up do not vary consistently with fault displacement. Frequency of obscure segments generally decreases with increase in length of obscure segments, and frequency of dieout up generally decreases with depth of dieout up. Length of obscure segments and depth of dieout up are typically less than the effective thickness of associated beds. On the basis of few data, obscure segments seem to be more common on faults with younger, rather than older, ages of latest displacement. Our study revealed additional relations not directly related to nonvisibility. For example, the median widths of faults crossed by the trenches vary by fault type, strike-slip faults being narrower than dip-slip faults. In the shallow and mostly unconsolidated materials cut by the trenches, fault widths show only an erratic and, at best, weak relationship to fault displacements. Hanging walls are deformed more frequently than footwalls in dip-slip faults, but both walls are deformed at more than 30 percent of the exposures. We tabulated several phenomena that may indicate faulting or provide evidence of prehistorical earthquakes. Rotation of pebbles was identified in 41 percent of the exposures having gravel in the fault zone; type of fault has no strong influence on the incidence of pebble rotation. Fissures were recorded at 52 percent of the exposures and were more common in strike-slip and normal faults than in reverse fau Its. Gouge was reported at 1 5 percent of the exposures; fault type has no significant influence on its frequency. Slickensides were noted at 10 percent of the exposures, and fault type has an unknown influence on their incidence. Slickensides in unconsolidated materials were restricted to clay, silt, and gouge. Other mechanical or hydrologic effects related to faulting or earthquakesrubble, breccia, mixing, crushing, polishing, water barriers, c;ind probable liquefaction effects-were reported at fewer than 1 0 percent of the exposures.

Bulletin↗