Abstract
The Queen Charlotte Fault Zone (QCFZ) off western Canada is the northern equivalent to the San Andreas Fault Zone, the Pacific–North American plate boundary. Geomorphologic expression and surface processes associated with the QCFZ system have been revealed in unprecedented detail by recent seabed mapping surveys. Convergence of the Pacific and North American plates along northern British Columbia is well known, but how the QCFZ accommodates this convergence is still a subject of controversy. The multibeam sonar bathymetry data reveal, for the first time, evidence of a fault valley with small depressions on the upper slope, offshore central Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). The depressions form where strike-slip right-step offsets have realigned the fault due to oblique convergence. Core stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating of sediments within the fault valley and small depressions suggest that these features are recent in origin. In addition, the development of the fault valley and dislocation of submarine canyons control sediment migration from the continental shelf through to the lower slope. This interpretation of the geomorphic expression of major plate tectonic processes along the QCFZ can now be tested with new surveys subsequent to the October 2012 magnitude 7.7 earthquake.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arrowsmith JR, Zielke O (2009) Tectonic geomorphology of the San Andreas Fault zone from high resolution topography: an example from the Cholame segment. Geomorphology 113:70–81
Barrie JV, Conway KW (1999) Late Quaternary glaciation and postglacial stratigraphy of the northern Pacific margin of Canada. Quat Res 51:113–123
Barrie JV, Conway KW (2002) Rapid sea level changes and coastal evolution on the Pacific margin of Canada. J Sed Geol 150:171–183
Blaise B, Clague JJ, Mathewes RW (1990) Time of maximum Late Wisconsin glaciation, west coast of Canada. Quat Res 34:282–295
Bostwick TK (1984) A re-examination of the 1949 Queen Charlotte earthquake. Dissertation, University of British Columbia
Bufe CG (2005) Stress distribution along the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte transform fault system. Bull Seismol Soc Am 95:2001–2008
Bustin AMM, Hyndman RD, Kao H, Cassidy JF (2007) Evidence for underthrusting beneath the Queen Charlotte Margin, British Columbia, from teleseismic receiver function analysis. Geophys J Int 171:1198–1211
Carlson PR, Bruns TR, Plafker G (1988) Late Cenozoic offsets on the offshore connection between the Fairweather and Queen Charlotte Faults off Southeast Alaska. Mar Geol 85:89–97
Gökaşan E, Görüm T, Tur H, Batuk F (2012) Morpho-tectonic evolution of the Çanakkale Basin (NW Anatolia): evidence for a recent tectonic inversion from transpression to transtension. Geo-Mar Lett 32(3):227–239. doi:10.1007/s00367-011-0262-y
Greene HG, Maher NM, Paull CK (2002) Physiography of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and implications about continental margin development. Mar Geol 181:55–82
Hanson KL, Lettis WR, McLaren MK, Savage WU, Hall T (2004) Style and rate of Quaternary deformation of the Hosgri Fault Zone, offshore south-central California. In: Keller A (ed) Evolution of sedimentary basins/offshore oil and gas investigations - Santa Maria Province. US Geol Surv Bull 1995-BB
Hetherington R, Barrie JV (2004) Interaction between local tectonics and glacial unloading on the Pacific margin of Canada. Quat Int 120:65–77
Hyndman RD, Ellis RM (1981) Queen Charlotte fault zone: microearthquakes from a temporary array of land stations and ocean bottom seismographs. Can J Earth Sci 18:776–788
Hyndman RD, Hamilton TS (1993) Queen Charlotte area Cenozoic tectonics and volcanism and their association with relative plate motions along the northeastern Pacific margin. J Geophys Res 98:14257–14277
İşcan Y, Tur H, Gökaşan E (2013) Morphologic and seismic features of the Gulf of Gökova, SW Anatolia: evidence of strike-slip faulting with compression in the Aegean extensional regime. Geo-Mar Lett 33(1):31–48. doi:10.1007/s00367-012-0307-x
Johnson SY, Watt JT (2012) Influence of fault trend, bends and convergence on shallow structure and geomorphology of the Hosgri strike-slip fault, offshore central California. Geosphere 8:1632–1656
Mazzotti S, Hyndman RD, Fluck P, Smith AJ, Schmidt M (2003) Distribution of the Pacific-North America motion in the Queen Charlotte Islands-S. Alaska plate boundary zone. Geophys Res Lett 30:1762
Plafker G, Hudson T, Bruns T, Rubin M (1978) Late Quaternary offsets along the Fairweather fault and crustal plate interactions in southern Alaska. Can J Earth Sci 15:805–816
Prims J, Furlong KP, Rohr KMM, Govers R (1997) Lithospheric structure along the Queen Charlotte margin in western Canada: constraints from flexural modeling. Geo-Mar Lett 17(1):94–99. doi:10.1007/s003670050013
Rogers GC (1986) Seismic gaps along the Queen Charlotte Fault. Earthq Prediction Res 4:1–11
Rohr KMM, Tryon AJ (2010) Pacific-North America plate boundary reorganization in response to a change in relative plate motion: offshore Canada. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 11, Q06007. doi:10.1029/2009GC003019
Rohr KMM, Scheidhauer M, Trehu AM (2000) Transpression between two warm mafic plates: the Queen Charlotte Fault revisited. J Geophys Res 105:8147–8172
Shepard FP (1949) Terrestrial topography of submarine canyons revealed by diving. Geol Soc Am Bull 60:1597–1612
Smith AJ, Hyndman RD, Wang K, Cassidy JF (1993) Structure, seismicity, and thermal regime of the Queen Charlotte transform margin. J Geophys Res 108:1–12. doi:10.1029/202JB002247
Szelica W (2013) 2012 Haida Gwaii quake: insight into Cascadia’s subduction extent. Eos 94:85–86
Wentworth CK (1922) A scale of grade and class terms for clastic sediments. J Geol 30:377–392
Acknowledgments
Multibeam bathymetry was collected by the Canadian Hydrographic Service in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Canada. This paper was supported in part by a collaborative agreement between Geoscience Australia and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). PTH publishes with the permission of the Chief Executive Officer, Geoscience Australia. Gary Greene, Kristin Rohr, Roy Hyndman and the editors of Geo-Marine Letters provided valuable discussion on the findings of this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barrie, J.V., Conway, K.W. & Harris, P.T. The Queen Charlotte Fault, British Columbia: seafloor anatomy of a transform fault and its influence on sediment processes. Geo-Mar Lett 33, 311–318 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-013-0333-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-013-0333-3