Global Positioning System Tracking of Slip Rates along Faults within the Bakersfield Transect

Event Center BC

The purpose of this study was to estimate fault slip rates faults within a transect crossing the Pacific-North American plate boundary near Bakersfield, California, by inputting a set of geodetic data into an elastic model. The San Andreas Fault (SAF) slip rate estimated in this study ranges from a high of 34 mm/ yr to a low of 30 mm/yr. The value obtained for SAF in the best-fitting model is 32 mm/yr. Owens Valley Fault is slipping at 2 mm/yr. The Hosgri Fault yielded a slip rate of 2 mm/yr. The Southern Sierra Nevada Fault is slipping at 9 mm/yr. The Hunter Mountain Fault is not slipping at all right now, and the Death Valley Fault is currently slipping at 5 mm/yr. The aforementioned slip rates yielded the lowest χ2 per degree of freedom. This information is useful because it can constrain the seismic hazard on faults in this area.