Constraining the earthquake recording threshold of intraslab earthquakes with turbidites in southcentral Alaska’s lakes and fjords
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Abstract
Strong ground motion from intraslab earthquakes, which do not produce primary paleoseismic evidence, may initiate gravity-driven turbidity flows in subaqueous basins. The resulting deposits (turbidites) can provide a paleoseismic proxy if the conditions that initiate these flows are known. To better constrain the initiating conditions, we use two recent intraslab earthquakes in southcentral Alaska, the M w 7.1 30 November 2018 Anchorage earthquake and the M w 7.1 24 January 2016 Iniskin earthquake, as calibration events. Through a multilake investigation, we document the occurrence, or the absence, of earthquake-generated turbidity flows from these two events. Both earthquakes are recorded by centimeter-scale turbidites that can be differentiated from climatically generated deposits, as well as other seismic sources based on deposit thickness, sedimentological properties, and deposit age. We show that a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of ∼V–V1/2 is the minimum shaking intensity required to generate localized sediment remobilization from deltaic slopes, and an MMI of ∼V1/2 is required to produce a deposit of sufficient thickness that a seismic origin can be confidently assigned. The documentation of seismically generated deposits in quick succession (∼2 years) with diagnostic features highlights the utility of using recent earthquakes as calibration events to investigate the subaqueous response to strong ground motion.
| Publication type | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Book Chapter |
| Title | Constraining the earthquake recording threshold of intraslab earthquakes with turbidites in southcentral Alaska’s lakes and fjords |
| Chapter | 14 |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781394195947.ch14 |
| Publication Date | December 13, 2024 |
| Year Published | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center |
| Description | 30 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Book |
| Larger Work Subtype | Monograph |
| Larger Work Title | Tectonics and seismic structure of Alaska and northwestern Canada: EarthScope and beyond |
| First page | 389 |
| Last page | 418 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |