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Room: Tubughnenq’ 5

Date: 5/1/2024

Session Time: 4:30 PM to 5:45 PM (local time)

The Queen Charlotte - Fairweather Fault System (QC-FW) is a transform plate boundary that spans >1000 kilometers of the western edge of North America, between the Cascadia and Alaska convergent margins. In the last 100 years, the QC-FW has hosted several major earthquakes, including the 1949 magnitude (M) 8.1 Queen Charlotte earthquake, the 1958 (M 7.9) on the Fairweather Fault, and the 2012 Haida-Gwaii (M 7.8) and 2013 Craig (M 7.5) earthquakes. The tectonics of the QC-FW are variable along its length, including oblique convergence in the south at Haida Gwaii, comparably simple shear offshore Southeast Alaska, and oblique collision with the Yakutat microplate in the north. The QC-FW is similar in length and in slip rate (~4-5 cm/yr) to the San Andreas fault system. However, the remote location of the QC-FW, largely offshore hugging the North American continental shelf and slope, leaves major gaps in our understanding of its structure, seismicity, and dynamics. We welcome abstracts that explore the QC-FW system, including but not limited to its natural hazards, earthquakes, subsurface properties, structure, and tectonics. We encourage a large range of methods and seek perspectives that compare the QC-FW with other plate boundary systems.

Conveners:
Collin Brandl, University of New Mexico (cbrandl@unm.edu)

Andrew Gase, Western Washington University (gasea@wwu.edu)
Emily Roland, Western Washington University (rolande2@wwu.edu)
 
Lindsay Worthington, University of New Mexico (lworthington@unm.edu)

Oral Presentations