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Slip rate variations on faults in the Basin-and-Range Province caused by regression of Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan

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Abstract

Late Pleistocene regression of two large pluvial lakes—Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan—caused considerable lithospheric rebound in the Basin-and-Range Province, USA. Here, we use finite-element models to show how lake growth and regression affect the temporal and spatial slip evolution on faults near the former lakes. Our results show that fluctuations in the volume of Lake Bonneville caused along-strike slip variations on the Wasatch normal fault, with a pronounced slip rate increase on its northern and central parts during lake regression. The response of normal and strike-slip faults near the ring-shaped Lake Lahontan depends on their location within the rebound area. Faults located in the centre of rebound show a slip rate increase during lake regression, whereas strike-slip faults at the periphery decelerate. All slip rate variations are caused by differential stress changes owing to changing lake levels, regardless of the individual fault response.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. Reicherter for his constructive review and R. Hetzel for critical comments on a previous draft of the manuscript. Funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through a grant to A.H. (grant no. HA 3473/2-1) within the framework of the Emmy-Noether-Program is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Tobias Karow

    Present address: RWE Dea AG, G + G Application Support, GeoSupportCenter, Überseering 40, 22297, Hamburg, Germany

  2. Andrea Hampel

    Present address: Institut für Geologie, Leibniz-Universität Hannover, Callinstr. 30, 30167, Hannover, Germany

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  1. Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Geophysik, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany

    Tobias Karow & Andrea Hampel

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  1. Tobias Karow
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Correspondence to Andrea Hampel.

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Karow, T., Hampel, A. Slip rate variations on faults in the Basin-and-Range Province caused by regression of Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 99, 1941–1953 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-009-0496-3

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