No frictional heat along the San Gabriel fault, California: Evidence from fission-track thermochronology

Abstract

Research Article| June 01, 2003 No frictional heat along the San Gabriel fault, California: Evidence from fission-track thermochronology M.A. d'Alessio; M.A. d'Alessio 1Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar A.E. Blythe; A.E. Blythe 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0740, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar R. Bürgmann R. Bürgmann 3Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information M.A. d'Alessio 1Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA A.E. Blythe 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0740, USA R. Bürgmann 3Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 25 Nov 2002 Revision Received: 04 Mar 2003 Accepted: 05 Mar 2003 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2003) 31 (6): 541–544. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0541:NFHATS>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 25 Nov 2002 Revision Received: 04 Mar 2003 Accepted: 05 Mar 2003 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation M.A. d'Alessio, A.E. Blythe, R. Bürgmann; No frictional heat along the San Gabriel fault, California: Evidence from fission-track thermochronology. Geology 2003;; 31 (6): 541–544. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0541:NFHATS>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Large earthquakes generate frictional heat, and the magnitude of heating is related to the slip magnitude, the applied effective normal stress, and the frictional strength of the fault. We looked for evidence of this heating in apatite fission-track age and track-length distributions of samples from adjacent to and within the San Gabriel fault zone in southern California. The fault is thought to be an abandoned major trace of the San Andreas fault system active from 13 to 4 Ma and has since been exhumed from depths of 2–5 km. At our sample locality, as much as 40 km of total slip is thought to have accumulated along a localized ultracataclasite layer just 1–8 cm thick. We see no evidence of a localized thermal anomaly in either fission-track ages or track lengths—even in samples within just 2 cm of the ultracataclasite. Because of the absence of any measurable impact on fission tracks, we have been able to use forward modeling of heat generation, heat transport, and fission-track annealing to constrain the frictional properties of the fault. We find that either there has never been an earthquake with >4 m of slip at this locality, or the average apparent coefficient of friction must have been <0.4. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.