Late Holocene Deformation near the Southern Limits of the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone of Kentucky and Indiana, Central United States, with Seismic Implications (original) (raw)

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 2021

Abstract

The Wabash Valley seismic zone (WVSZ) is a region of diffuse, modern intraplate seismicity in the central United States with a history of strong, late Quaternary and Holocene seismicity as determined through paleoliquefaction studies. Yet, there are no specific faults linked to these strong WVSZ paleoearthquakes, some of which were as large as Mw 7.2–7.5. A multidisciplinary investigation of a linear, 5-kilometer-long and ∼3-meter-high scarp on the Ohio River floodplain in the southernmost WVSZ in western Kentucky evaluated whether the scarp is a fluvial landform or a tectonic feature. Geomorphic mapping and optically stimulated luminescence geochronology show that the age and orientation of the scarp are inconsistent with surrounding fluvial landforms. Trenching, core drilling, seismic reflection, electrical resistivity profiling, and cross sections of petroleum well logs all indicate a blind fault directly underlies the scarp. The scarp is interpreted to be the fold axis of a down...

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