Fault Imaging with High-Resolution Seismic Reflection for Earthquake Hazard and Geothermal Resource Assessment in Reno, Nevada

Abstract

The Truckee Meadows basin is situated adjacent to the Sierra Nevada microplate, on the western boundary of the Walker Lane. Being in the transition zone between a range-front normal fault on the west and northwest-striking right-lateral strike slip faults to the east, there is no absence of faulting in this basin. The Reno-Sparks metropolitan area is located in this basin, and with a significant population living here, it is important to know where these faults are. High-resolution seismic reflection surveys are used for the imaging of these faults along the Truckee River, across which only one fault was previously mapped, and in southern Reno near and along Manzanita Lane, where a swarm of short faults has been mapped. The reflection profiles constrain the geometries of these faults, and suggest additional faults not seen before. Used in conjunction with depth to bedrock calculations and gravity measurements, the seismic reflection surveys provide definitive locations of faults, as well as their orientations. Offsets on these faults indicate how active they are, and this in turn has implications for seismic hazard in the area. In addition to seismic hazard, the faults imaged here tell us something about the conduits for geothermal fluid resources in Reno.