Active Tectonics and Seismic Potential of Alaska

by Freymueller, Jeffrey T.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Wesson, Robert L.; Ekström, Göran

• ISBN13: 9780875904443
• ISBN10: 0875904440
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-14
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union

Summary

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 179.

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.

The book'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.

Author Biography

Jeffrey T. Freymueller is a professor of Geophysics Geophysical Institute University of Alaska, Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK.

Table of 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