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History of vertical displacement of Kerepehi Fault at Kopouatai bog, Hauraki Lowlands, New Zealand, since c. 10 700 years ago
Abstract
Thirteen tephra layers interbedded with peat, and a basal peathorizon, in four pairs of cores provide radiocarbon-dated reference horizons that indicate vertical displacement on the Kerepehi Fault at Kopouatai bog, Hauraki Lowlands. Progressive offset of the horizons with time shows that vertical fault movement, downthrown to the west, has been occurring for the past c. 10 700 radiocarbon years at an approximately uniform rate of c. 0.13 mm/yr. Step functions indicate faulting events earthquakes at c. 1400, c. 5600, c. 6800, and C. 9000 years ago, a mean recurrence interval of c. 2500 years. These findings support geophysical and geological evidence that the Hauraki Depression is an active rift, and show that active faulting occurs along the northern as well as southern extensions of the Kerepehi Fault.
If such earthquakes occur randomly in time, and based on the return period of 2500 years, there are 2%, 18%, and 33% probabilities of a major earthquake affecting the Kerepehi Fault at Kopouatai bog in the next 50, 500, and 1000 years, respectively.
Type
Journal Article
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
de Lange, P.J. & Lowe, D.J. (1990). History of vertical displacement of Kerepehi Fault at Kopouatai bog, Hauraki Lowlands, New Zealand, since c. 10 700 years ago. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 33(2), 277-283.
Date
1990
Publisher
Degree
Supervisors
Rights
This article has been published in the journal: New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. © Crown copyright 1990. Used with permission.