Southern California Earthquake Center Geologic Vertical Motion Database

Abstract

The Southern California Earthquake Center Geologic Vertical Motion Database (VMDB) integrates disparate sources of geologic uplift and subsidence data at 104‐ to 106‐year time scales into a single resource for investigations of crustal deformation in southern California. Over 1800 vertical deformation rate data points in southern California and northern Baja California populate the database. Four mature data sets are now represented: marine terraces, incised river terraces, thermochronologic ages, and stratigraphic surfaces. An innovative architecture and interface of the VMDB exposes distinct data sets and reference frames, permitting user exploration of this complex data set and allowing user control over the assumptions applied to convert geologic and geochronologic information into absolute uplift rates. Online exploration and download tools are available through all common web browsers, allowing the distribution of vertical motion results as HTML tables, tab‐delimited GIS‐compatible text files, or via a map interface through the Google Maps™ web service. The VMDB represents a mature product for research of fault activity and elastic deformation of southern California.