The Teton fault is a normal fault located in northwestern Wyoming . The fault has a length of 44 miles (70 km) and runs along the eastern base of the Teton Range . Vertical movement on the fault has caused the dramatic topography of the Teton Range.
17-604: The Teton fault is located in a unique geologic setting. The fault is on the boundary of four major geologic provinces : the Basin and Range, Idaho-Wyoming Thrust belt, Rocky Mountain Foreland, and the Yellowstone volcanic plateau. The Basin and Range province is a region of east–west crustal extension. This province adds tension perpendicular to the fault line causing the fault blocks to move apart. The Idaho-Wyoming Thrust belt
34-479: A 7.5 magnitude earthquake. An earthquake this large would cause severe ground shaking and potential liquefaction in the valley of Jackson Hole. This would damage or destroy infrastructure and buildings not built to seismic standards. An earthquake could cause the valley of Jackson Hole to tilt slightly to the west altering stream and river channels as well as changing groundwater levels. This could cause flooding in some low-lying areas. A large earthquake would also have
51-530: A consensus that most of the movement on the fault occurred within the last 2 million years. Rates of movement on the fault have changed throughout time. At the end of the Pinedale glaciation 16,000 to 14,000 years ago, slip on the fault increased. This was likely due to changing stresses on the fault as glaciers melted. The largest known earthquakes on the fault in recent history occurred around 4800 and 8000 years ago. The long intervals between large earthquakes on
68-576: A particularly large number of provinces identified worldwide for petroleum and other mineral fuels , such as the Niger Delta petroleum province . This geology article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Liquefaction In materials science , liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics . It occurs both naturally and artificially . As an example of
85-465: A solid by mixing , grinding or blending with a liquid. In kitchen or laboratory settings, solids may be chopped into smaller parts sometimes in combination with a liquid, for example in food preparation or laboratory use. This may be done with a blender, or liquidiser in British English. Liquefaction of silica and silicate glasses occurs on electron beam irradiation of nanosized samples in
102-563: A substance that acts like a liquid, often in an earthquake. Soil liquefaction was blamed for building collapses in the city of Palu, Indonesia in October 2018. In a related phenomenon, liquefaction of bulk materials in cargo ships may cause a dangerous shift in the load. In physics and chemistry , the phase transitions from solid and gas to liquid ( melting and condensation , respectively) may be referred to as liquefaction. The melting point (sometimes called liquefaction point)
119-513: Is located south of the Teton fault and is a region of thick and deformed crust that prevents the fault from extending farther south. The Rocky Mountain Foreland is located east of the Teton fault and is a region of thicker crust. This section of crust is heavier and adds to the vertical downward force on the hanging wall of fault. The Yellowstone volcanic plateau is a region of uplift and expansion that influences both vertical and horizontal forces on
136-419: Is the temperature and pressure at which a solid becomes a liquid. In commercial and industrial situations, the process of condensing a gas to liquid is sometimes referred to as liquefaction of gases . Coal liquefaction is the production of liquid fuels from coal using a variety of industrial processes. Liquefaction is also used in commercial and industrial settings to refer to mechanical dissolution of
153-561: The footwall of the fault to tilt down toward the west. The Teton fault is also an important feature in a larger region of seismic activity called the Intermountain Seismic Belt. This region extends from western Montana south to northern Arizona. The development of the Teton fault has been influenced by many past geologic events. In the Precambrian , extensive plutonism caused metamorphism and deformation of
170-622: The Teton fault. The Teton fault is unique in that it dips or slopes to the east. The majority of major faults in the Basin and Range province dip to the west. The unique dip of the Teton fault can be explained by the subsidence of the Snake River Plain . The Snake River Plain is located to the west of the Teton fault and was formed by the migration of the Yellowstone hotspot forming prehistoric calderas across southern Idaho. As this section of crust cools it tends to subside causing
187-463: The fault are consistent with other normal faults in the Intermountain Seismic Belt. The Teton fault is a normal fault . Therefore, movement on the fault is primarily in a vertical direction. Movement on the Teton fault occurs on a plane that averages a strike of N10°E and dips 45° to 75° to the east. The 44 mile length of the fault is broken into three segments. These segments may move separately or with other segments. The southern segment extends from
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#1732765480105204-479: The fault may be as high as 36,000 feet (11 km). The average rate of movement on the fault for the late Quaternary is about 1.3 millimeters per year. The earthquake hazard in the Teton-Yellowstone region is the highest in the intermountain west. Large earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 to 7.0 are estimated to occur in this region roughly every 200 years. However, the Teton fault contributes very little in
221-409: The latter, a "major commercial application of liquefaction is the liquefaction of air to allow separation of the constituents, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and the noble gases." Another is the conversion of solid coal into a liquid form usable as a substitute for liquid fuels. In geology , soil liquefaction refers to the process by which water-saturated, unconsolidated sediments are transformed into
238-542: The potential to trigger other hazards such as landslides, rockslides and avalanches. Geologic province A geologic province is a spatial entity with common geologic attributes. A province may include a single dominant structural element such as a basin or a fold belt , or a number of contiguous related elements. Adjoining provinces may be similar in structure but be considered separate due to differing histories . Some studies classify provinces based upon mineral resources, such as mineral deposits. There are
255-653: The region that would become the Teton Range. During the Mesozoic and early Tertiary , the region underwent compression and crustal thickening. This formed thrust faults and folds. In the Late Tertiary, compressional forces ceased and extensional forces began. This led to the development of the Basin and Range province beginning 20–17 million years ago. The age of the Teton fault is somewhat controversial. Most estimates range between 2 and 13 million years old with
272-495: The town of Wilson, Wyoming north to Taggart Lake . The middle segment extends from Taggart Lake to the south end of Jackson Lake . The northern segment extends to the north end of Jackson Lake. The Teton fault is somewhat unusual in the amount of movement that has occurred over a relatively short amount of time. The amount of movement on the fault over its lifetime has been estimated to range from about 20,000 to 30,000 feet (6–9 km). Some evidence suggests total displacement on
289-407: The way of seismic activity as large earthquakes on the fault occur every 1600 to 6000 years. Most large earthquakes in the region are associated with the Yellowstone caldera and other faults in the area. In a study conducted from 1986 to 2002, it was found that the Teton fault had very little seismic activity. Despite its lack of recent seismic activity, it is believed that the Teton fault could produce
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