SCEC Award Number 10091 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Proposal (Data Gathering and Products)
Proposal Title Lake Cauhilla floods, synchronicity of cross fault rupture, and potential triggering of the San Andreas Fault
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Graham Kent University of Nevada, Reno Neal Driscoll University of California, San Diego
Other Participants Grad. Student, Annie Kell-Hills
SCEC Priorities A1, A6, A9 SCEC Groups Geology, SHRA, FARM
Report Due Date 02/28/2011 Date Report Submitted N/A
Project Abstract
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Intellectual Merit Our project highlights the important interplay between floods of ancient Lake Cauhilla, earthquakes on cross-faults beneath the Salton Sea, and potentially triggering of the southern San Andreas Fault. This research included within the Annual Report may help explain why the average recurrence interval of ~180 years has been greatly exceeded (i.e., ~300+ years) due to stress modulation by previous floods. Our conclusions also suggest future earthquakes on these cross faults should be considered as potential dangerous as they may trigger northerly propagating earthquakes on the southern San Andreas Fault.
Broader Impacts Our project has had considerable publicity given its relationship to large southern San Andreas earthquakes. Our recent Nature Geo article in early
July had hundreds of written, audio and video articles written and/or shot. PIs were involved in many of these journalistic endeavors, which helps highlight the hazards within southern California. Students, Post-Docs and journalists were involved with our field studies. This project also furthered the application of acoustic trenching and/or underwater paleoseismology.
Exemplary Figure N/A