Determining the Deformation History of a Newly Discovered Holocene Fault in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, Western Kentucky: Collaborative Research between the Kentucky Geological Survey and the University of Cincinnati

  • Counts, Ronald (PI)

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

This proposal requests funding to define the timing of late Quaternary deformation along a newly identified fault in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, the Uniontown Fault, which lies near the confluence of the Ohio and Wabash Rivers in western Kentucky. Abundant geomorphic evidence, shallow seismic reflection lines, and the morphology of a prominent scarp at the surface all support the interpretation that this is a young fault scarp. A trench excavated across the fault in October 2008 exposed folded Holocene alluvium, and radiocarbon ages indicate deformation is younger than 3,745 ±25 yr BP. We propose to investigate deeper into the subsurface using continuous sediment coring combined with various geophysical methods (seismic reflection, gamma logging, and electrical resistivity) to determine the Quaternary stratigraphic framework of the underlying deposits. Deformed sediments, paleosols, and/or surfaces within this framework will be dated using radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating methods to bracket the timing of older deformation and determine the history of displacement on this fault. This project will build upon our previous trenching project and is a collaboration between the University of Cincinnati (PI—Lewis Owen) and the Kentucky Geological Survey (PI—Ronald Counts). This work will be part of the dissertation of Ronald Counts, a full-time employee of the Kentucky Geological Survey and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Cincinnati, who is learning optically stimulated luminescence in the geochronology laboratories at the University of Cincinnati under the guidance of Lewis A. Owen. Furthermore, several undergraduate students will act as field and laboratory assistants and will be trained in paleoseismic methods, including field mapping, sedimentology, and optically stimulated luminescence dating, to aid in the efficient completion of the project and for the broader exchange of knowledge.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date12/1/104/30/12

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