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Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 1–4, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2007–2009)

February 27, 2014

The Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site is located at the northwest end of the Mojave section of the San Andreas Fault, in a small, closed depression at the base of Frazier Mountain near Tejon Pass, California (lat 34.8122° N., long 118.9034° W.). The site was known to contain a good record of earthquakes due to previous excavations by Lindvall and others (2002). This report provides data resulting from four nested excavations, or cuts, along trench 1 (T1) in 2007 and 2009 at the Frazier Mountain site. The four cuts were excavated progressively deeper and wider in an orientation perpendicular to the San Andreas Fault, exposing distal fan and marsh sediments deposited since ca. A.D. 1200. The results of the trenching show that earthquakes that ruptured the site have repeatedly produced a small depression or sag on the surface, which is subsequently infilled with sand and silt deposits. This report provides high-resolution photomosaics and logs for the T1 cuts, a detailed stratigraphic column for the deposits, and a table summarizing all of the evidence for ground rupturing paleoearthquakes logged in the trenches.

Publication Year 2014
Title Photomosaics and event evidence from the Frazier Mountain paleoseismic site, trench 1, cuts 1–4, San Andreas Fault Zone, southern California (2007–2009)
DOI 10.3133/ofr20141002
Authors Katherine M. Scharer, Tom E. Fumal, Ray J. Weldon, Ashley R. Streig
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2014-1002
Index ID ofr20141002
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earthquake Science Center