Organizers: Pat Williams and Gordon Seitz

The earthquake history of the southernmost San Andreas fault (SSAF) has implications for the timing and magnitude of future ruptures of the fault, and for fundamental properties of this unusual section of the transform boundary.

The Salt Creek South paleoseismic project has proven potential to provide a continuous 6+ event record, which would be the longest and most complete record in the Coachella Valley. We invite all interested scientists to visit this SCEC project that includes an open trench, and observe the spectacular paleoseismic evidence.

In prior work Williams and Seitz (2005, in review) show that the time between ultimate and penultimate SSAF ruptures was approximately 200 years, while the current open time interval has been approximately 335 years (Sieh and Williams, 1990). This may indicate an increased seismic hazard, and the possibility that the fault's next rupture will produce a larger displacement than the two prior ruptures.

Lighting is difficult in the morning, thus we have selected 3:00 pm as the optimal time to meet just south the Salt Creek highway 111 bridge to walk ~300 meters to the trench. Latecomers will see the groups cars, and can easily find their way to the site, please follow the obvious path over the tracks and to the left, as shortcuts will send you into a badlands terrain. Mobile phone coverage is typically poor in the field area, our phones are:

Pat Williams: 508-274-9618, and Gordon Seitz: 925-980-4997.

If there is sufficient interest in a larger regional context and longer field trip, a one stop 2-mi (round trip) walk to Bat Cave Buttes field trip could depart the Hotel Lobby at noon. For this option to occur, we will expect interested people to contact us at least 1 day before the meeting by e-mail or phone. We urge you to bring water, and perhaps a lunch and stopping to eat at the Oasis Date farm to enjoy one of their famous Date Shakes, there is a snack bar with burgers etc. We will meet up with trench-only participants just south of the Salt Creek Bridge at 3pm.

Afterwards we'll reconvene in Palm Springs at the Rivera Resort for Dinner.

Directions: The site is located at the oval 111 sign below Ferrum on the map below. You'll cross Salt Creek at a Rail Road tressle, park along the tracks to the south next to our cars. The trench is a short walk to the east. We'll meet you at your car.

Overview of the Salt Creek Trench Viewing