Patterns of displacement along the Wasatch fault

Abstract

Patterns of recurrent movement along the Wasatch fault are indicated by the size and spacing of pediment remnants preserved at the apices of successive generations of faceted spurs. A preliminary study suggests that movement occurred along the fault until 200 to 300 m of vertical displacement were produced; this movement was followed by a period of quiescence. For the southern part of the fault, eight periods of nearly continuous movement were apparently separated by relatively short periods of stability. Northward, the pattern changes to one with fewer periods of active displacement separated by longer periods of quiescence during which little or no displacement occurred. The results suggest that during late Cenozoic time the Wasatch fault has experienced a history of recurrent displacement.