Application of high-resolution, interferometric DEMs to geomorphic studies of fault scarps, Fish Lake Valley, Nevada-California, USA

Recent developments in interferometric radar remote sensing provide a method for deriving detailed topographic and slope information for fault-scarp detection. In October 1996, the airborne TOPSAR instrument [IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 30 (1992) 933] was flown over southwest Nevada and east-central California. Topography calculated from TOPSAR data are in the form of a high-resolution (5-mi spatial grid) digital elevation model (DEM). In this study, we focus upon the large, steep fault scarps that cut alluvium and alluvial fans, in Fish Lake Valley, east of the White Mountains of Nevada- California. A series of topographic profiles extracted from the DEM reveal that the larger fault scarps are greater than 40 in in height and that the average midsection slope angle for all measured scarps is approximately 23degrees. These large scarps are the product of multiple offsets rather than a single event. Other relevant geomorphic features present in the digital topography include splays and benches along the main fault, levees, cutbanks, gullies incising fault scarp slopes, shutterridges, offset drainage, and small normal faults with scarp heights of only 4-6 m. Field work corroborated general geomorphologic landforms, confirmed fault-scarp morphometry, and aided the evaluation of the accuracy of the DEM. We are also able to assess fault segmentation models that divide the Fish Lake Valley fault zone (FLVFZ) into discrete segments based upon surface-rupture characteristics. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.