Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data

Nature Geoscience volume 2, pages 581–584 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Oblique extension across strike-slip faults causes subsidence and leads to the formation of pull-apart basins such as the Salton Sea in southern California. The formation of these basins has generally been studied using laboratory experiments or numerical models1,2,3,4. Here we combine seismic reflection data and geological observations from the Salton Sea to understand the evolution of this nascent pull-apart basin. Our data reveal the presence of a northeast-trending hinge zone that separates the sea into northern and southern sub-basins. Differential subsidence (>10 mm yr−1) in the southern sub-basin suggests the existence of northwest-dipping basin-bounding faults near the southern shoreline, which may control the spatial distribution of young volcanism. Rotated and truncated strata north of the hinge zone suggest that the onset of extension associated with this pull-apart basin began after ∼0.5 million years ago. We suggest that slip is partitioned spatially and temporally into vertical and horizontal domains in the Salton Sea. In contrast to previous models based on historical seismicity patterns5, the rapid subsidence and fault architecture that we document in the southern part of the sea are consistent with experimental models for pull-apart basins1.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Map of the Salton Sea region.
Figure 2: Salton Sea long-axis seismic reflection profile.
Figure 3: Map-view models for the tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Basile, C. & Brun, J. P. Transtensional faulting patterns ranging from pull-apart basins to transform continental margins: An experimental investigation. J. Struct. Geol. 21, 23–37 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wu, J. E., McClay, K., Whitehouse, P. & Dooley, T. 4D analogue modelling of transtensional pull-apart basins. Mar. Petrol. Geol. (in the press).

  3. McClay, K. & Dooley, T. Analog models of pull-apart basins. Geology 23, 711–714 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Katzman, R., ten Brink, U. S. & Lin, J. A. 3-Dimensional modeling of pull-apart basins—implications for the tectonics of the dead-sea basin. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 6295–6312 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Nicholson, C., Seeber, L., Williams, P. & Sykes, L. R. Seismic evidence for conjugate slip and block rotation within the San-Andreas Fault System, Southern California. Tectonics 5, 629–648 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Seeber, L. et al. Rapid subsidence and sedimentation from oblique slip near a bend on the North Anatolian transform fault in the Marmara Sea, Turkey. Geology 34, 933–936 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Elders, W. A., Biehler, S., Rex, R. W., Robinson, P. T. & Meidav, T. Crustal spreading in Southern California. Science 178, 15–24 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Fuis, G. S., Mooney, W. D., Healy, J. H., Mcmechan, G. A. & Lutter, W. J. A seismic refraction survey of the Imperial-Valley Region, California. J. Geophys. Res. 89, 1165–1189 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hudnut, K. et al. Surface ruptures on cross-faults in the 24 November 1987 Superstition Hills, California, earthquake sequence. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 79, 282–296 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hardebeck, J. L. & Shearer, P. M. Using S/P amplitude ratios to constrain the focal mechanisms of small earthquakes. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 93, 2434–2444 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lin, G. Q., Shearer, P. M. & Hauksson, E. Applying a three-dimensional velocity model, waveform cross correlation, and cluster analysis to locate southern California seismicity from 1981 to 2005. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B12309 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Newmark, R. L., Kasameyer, P. W. & Younker, L. W. Shallow drilling in the Salton-Sea Region—the thermal anomaly. J. Geophys. Res. 93, 13005–13023 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Schmitt, A. K. & Vazquez, J. A. Alteration and remelting of nascent oceanic crust during continental rupture: Evidence from zircon geochemistry of rhyolites and xenoliths from the Salton Trough, California. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 252, 260–274 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Waters, M. R. Late holocene lacustrine chronology and archaeology of ancient Lake Cahuilla, California. Quat. Res. 19, 373–387 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Philibosian, B. Paleoseismology of the San Andreas Fault at Coachella, California. Master’s thesis, Univ. Oregon (2007).

  16. Kirby, S. M. et al. Pleistocene brawley and ocotillo formations: Evidence for initial strike-slip deformation along the San Felipe and San Jacinto fault zones, southern California. J. Geol. 115, 42–62 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hudnut, K. W., Seeber, L. & Pacheco, J. Cross-fault triggering in the November 1987 Superstition Hills earthquake sequence, Southern California. Geophys. Res. Lett. 16, 199–202 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Burgmann, R. Transpression along the Southern San-Andreas Fault, Durmid Hill, California. Tectonics 10, 1152–1163 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Larsen, S. & Reilinger, R. Age constraints for the present fault configuration in the Imperial Valley, California—evidence for Northwestward propagation of the Gulf of California Rift System. J. Geophys. Res. 96, 10339–10346 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Johnson, C. E. & Hadley, D. M. Tectonic implications of the Brawley Earthquake Swarm, Imperial Valley, California, January 1975. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 66, 1133–1144 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  21. Behr, W. et al. SCEC Annual Meeting, Proceedings and Abstracts Vol. 17, 87 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Meade, B. J. & Hager, B. H. Block models of crustal motion in southern California constrained by GPS measurements. J. Geophys. Res. 110, B04402 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hudnut, K. W., Seeber, L. & Rockwell, T. Slip on the Elmore Ranch Fault during the past 330 years and its relation to slip on the Superstition Hills Fault. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 79, 330–341 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Lohman, R. B. & McGuire, J. J. Earthquake swarms driven by aseismic creep in the Salton Trough, California. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B04405 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Aydin, A. & Nur, A. Evolution of pull apart basins and their scale independence. Tectonics 1, 91–105 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Steely, A. N., Janecke, S. U., Dorsey, R. J. & Axen, G. J. Early Pleistocene initiation of the San Felipe fault zone, SW Salton Trough, during reorganization of the San Andreas fault system. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 121, 663–687 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lutz, A. T., Dorsey, R. J., Housen, B. A. & Janecke, S. U. Stratigraphic record of Pleistocene faulting and basin evolution in the Borrego Badlands, San Jacinto fault zone, Southern California. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 118, 1377–1397 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. URS. Preliminary in-sea geotechnical investigation, Salton Sea Restoration Project Report (Riverside and Imperial Counties, 2004).

  29. Meltzner, A. J., Rockwell, T. K. & Owen, L. A. Recent and long-term behavior of the Brawley Fault Zone, Imperial Valley, California: An escalation in slip rate? Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 96, 2304–2328 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kreemer, C., Holt, W. E. & Haines, A. J. An integrated global model of present-day plate motions and plate boundary deformation. Geophys. J. Int. 154, 8–34 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding for this work was provided by the California Department of Water Resources, California Department of Fish and Game, UCSD Academic Senate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, National Science Foundation (grants OCE-0112058 and EAR-0545250) and Southern California Earthquake Center (grant 2008-08127). We would like to thank B. Philibosian, D. Sandwell and D. Kilb for discussions, and V. Langenheim for a review.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500, Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA

    D. S. Brothers, N. W. Driscoll, G. M. Kent, A. J. Harding & J. M. Babcock

  2. United States Geological Survey, 2329 West Orton Circle, West Valley City, Utah 84119, USA

    R. L. Baskin

Authors
  1. D. S. Brothers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. W. Driscoll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. M. Kent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. J. Harding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. M. Babcock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. R. L. Baskin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

D.S.B. planned field surveys, collected, analysed and interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. N.W.D. and G.M.K. planned field surveys, collected and interpreted the data and provided extensive feedback on the manuscript. A.J.H., J.M.B. and R.L.B. collected data and provided feedback on the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. S. Brothers.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 860 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brothers, D., Driscoll, N., Kent, G. et al. Tectonic evolution of the Salton Sea inferred from seismic reflection data. Nature Geosci 2, 581–584 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo590

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo590

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing