Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Date
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Earth Sciences
Committee Chair
Randel Cox
Committee Member
Roy B VanArsdale
Committee Member
Christine A Powell
Abstract
The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (ETSZ) is the second most active seismic zone in the eastern half of the United States, but little surface mapping of seismogenic faults has been done. The ETSZ extends SW to NE from northeastern Alabama and Georgia, through Tennessee, to southern Kentucky, and the most abundant seismic activity exists within east Tennessee. 3-D modeling of earthquake hypocenters recorded within the ETSZ was conducted to predict where surface expressions of active faulting are most likely to occur. Subsequent landscape LiDAR analyses and field investigation of Quaternary sediments above earthquake hypocenter trends revealed evidence of recent faulting. 3-D modeling of earthquake hypocenter data combined with a fracture analysis of the ETSZ suggests field evidence exists for post- Appalachian orogen seismic activity which is likely Quaternary in origin. Comparison of the 3- D earthquake hypocenter locations with fracture locations within the ETSZ determined that a correlation between earthquake modeling and fractures can be used to determine potential locations for field evidence of earthquakes in the ETSZ. This correlation is useful in a larger framework for examining fault trends and earthquake magnitude fluctuations over Quaternary geologic history to present.
Library Comment
Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.
Notes
Open access
Recommended Citation
Parton, Michael, "Assessment of a technique to predict surface traces of active faults using 3-D fault plane modeling of earthquake hypocenters and LiDAR-based fracture analysis in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3375.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/3375
Comments
Data is provided by the student.