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Data for Holocene fault reactivation in the eastern Cascades, WA

Metadata Updated: October 28, 2025

Significant uncertainty remains in how and where crustal shortening occurs throughout the eastern Cascade Range in Washington State. Using lidar imagery, we identified a ~5 km long lineament in Swakane canyon near Wenatchee, roughly coincident with a strand of the Entiat fault. Topographic profiles across the lineament reveal a southwest-side-up break in slope with an average of ~3 m of vertical separation of the hillslope surface. We consider a range of possible origins for this feature, including differential erosion across a fault-line scarp, slope failure (sackung or landslide), and surface deformation across an active fault strand. Based on trenching, radiocarbon and luminescence dating, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) across the lineament, we conclude that warped saprolite observed in the shallow subsurface is most consistent with southwest-side-up folding caused by blind reverse faulting at depth. Following this reasoning, dating of overlying colluvial deposits suggests at least one Holocene earthquake occurred on this strand of the southern Entiat fault with an approximate vertical separation of ≥1 m. GPR reveals up to 4 m of cumulative vertical separation of the saprolite, suggesting a history of multiple earthquakes on the structure. Taken in context with other potential fault-related lineaments along the Entiat fault, our interpretation of Holocene earthquakes in Swakane canyon could suggest reactivation of longer sections of the Entiat fault, as well as other bedrock faults in the eastern Cascades. Although active erosion and slow strain rates lead to a subdued geomorphic expression of recent deformation, we conclude that the reactivated Entiat fault represents a seismogenic structure that should be considered in regional seismic hazard analyses. The difficulty of recognizing low slip-rate structures in forested and mountainous terrain underscores the importance of additional lidar surveys and geological and geophysical studies for fully understanding seismic hazard in regions with infrequent but potentially large earthquakes.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 28, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date October 28, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-59f1e620e4b0220bbd9dd459
Data Last Modified 2020-08-18T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 54120a65-4b7a-45f6-bd76-e864fb826b65
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -180.0, -90.0, 180.0, 90.0
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 1d168116ea3011f9f3eac5d7ac6ba836b414c55825a8837e9968dfa316141523
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -180.0, -90.0, -180.0, 90.0, 180.0, 90.0, 180.0, -90.0, -180.0, -90.0}

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