Determination of slip rate by optical dating of fluvial deposits from the Wangsan fault, SE Korea

Abstract

The time-integrated slip rate in fault zones can be determined if the deformed deposits are reliably dated. Here, we report optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits cut by the Wangsan fault, southeastern Korea, which displaces a hanging wall block of about 28 m. Five sandy samples of the deformed Quaternary deposits were dated by quartz OSL using the single aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. Three samples taken from the footwall block show stratigraphically consistent OSL ages of 54±7, 76±5 and 90±6 ka, from top to bottom. Two samples collected from the same layer in the hanging wall block show reproducible OSL ages of 81±5 and 82±5 ka, which are also in good agreement with the stratigraphic relationships. Our OSL ages yield an average sedimentation rate of the Quaternary deposits as around 0.04 mm a −1, and a minimum value of time-integrated slip rate as 0.52 mm a −1. This minimum slip rate is considerably higher than those reported earlier for Quaternary faults in southeastern Korea. The youngest OSL age (54±7 ka) constrains the maximum value of the recurrence interval of the fault movement.