Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling
Published on: August 5, 2016
Slip-rate measurements on the Karakorum Fault may imply secular variations in fault motion
M-L Chevalier1, F J Ryerson, P Tapponnier
1Laboratoire de Tectonique, Mécanique de la Lithosphère, Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7578, CNRS, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France.
Abstract:
Beryllium-10 surface exposure dating of offset moraines on one branch of the Karakorum Fault west of the Gar basin yields a long-term (140- to 20-thousand-year) right-lateral slip rate of approximately 10.7 +/- 0.7 millimeters per year. This rate is 10 times larger than that inferred from recent InSAR analyses ( approximately 1 +/- 3 millimeters per year) that span approximately 8 years and sample all branches of the fault. The difference in slip-rate determinations suggests that large rate fluctuations may exist over centennial or millennial time scales. Such fluctuations would be consistent with mechanical coupling between the seismogenic, brittle-creep, and ductile shear sections of faults that reach deep into the crust.
Related Concept Videos
Variation in Acceleration due to Gravity near the Earth's Surface
The difference between the true and apparent weights is proportional to the square of the Earth's angular speed. Since the...
Rolling With Slipping
An object's rolling motion is characterized by its rotation around its axis, while linear motion refers to the object's translational motion along a surface. Frictional forces can affect...
Measuring Acceleration Due to Gravity
A simple pendulum can be described as a point mass and a string. Meanwhile, a physical pendulum is any object whose oscillations are similar to a simple pendulum, but cannot be modeled as a point mass on a string because its mass is distributed over a larger area. The behavior of a physical pendulum can be modeled using the principles of...
Relative Motion Analysis - Acceleration
Fault Types
For line-to-line faults occurring between phases B and C, the...
Application of Rates of Change

