Serial reverse and strike slip on imbricate faults: The Coastal Range of east Taiwan

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Holocene marine chronologies for three segments of the Coastal Range of east Taiwan indicate that there has been broadly uniform uplift of about 3–5 mm/yr during the past 8000 yr. Previous reports have cited local Holocene uplift rates as high as 14 mm/yr, and geodetic measurements indicate uplift of as much as 20 mm/yr. Furthermore, the seismic record reflects contraction of 26–54 mm/yr, whereas the Luzon volcanic arc is here being subducted beneath Eurasia at an average rate of 68 mm/yr. We attribute the discrepancies in both uplift and contractional measurements to distributed deformation between upthrust imbricate slices of an accreted sediment prism, the vertical component being taken up by serial reverse slip on the thrusts that bound the slices and the horizontal component being taken up by serial strike slip along the thrusts.