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Reelfoot rift and its impact on Quaternary deformation in the central Mississippi River valley

¹ University of Memphis, Ground Water Institute, 300 Engineering, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA
² University of Memphis, Earth Sciences, 1 Johnson Hall, Memphis, Tennessee 38152-3430, USA
³ University of Memphis, Civil Engineering, 110D Engineering Science Building, Memphis, Tennessee 38152, USA

View larger version (110K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Reelfoot rift and New Madrid seismic zone earthquakes. CR—Crowley's Ridge. DEM—digital elevation model. AL—Alabama; AR—Arkansas; IL—Illinois; KY—Kentucky; MS—Mississippi; TN—Tennessee.

View larger version (69K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 2. Precambrian basement map of the Reelfoot rift (from Dart and Swolfs,1998). Circles—drill holes; thick solid lines—Vibroseis lines. Contour interval = 500 m.

View larger version (110K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 3. Precambrian geology of the south-central United States (from Van Schmus et al., 1996). G—Grenville Front, GIPB—Green Island plutonic belt, MCR—Midcontinent Rift, MGL—Missouri gravity low, RR—Reelfoot rift, SFM—St. Francois Mountains. Dashed line extending from Texas to Ontario represents inferred eastern limit of pre–1600 Ma continental crust. Solid circles are drill-hole and outcrop samples for which depleted mantle age (TDM) 1.55 Ga; open circles are drill-hole and outcrop samples for which TDM ≤ 1.55 Ga. Black cross in northwestern Ohio is drill-hole OHSN-001; solid square in southeastern Michigan is drill-hole MIHI-001.

View larger version (27K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 4. (A) Precambrian unconformity data points (red dots and lines) from Howe (1985), Wheeler et al. (1997), Dart and Swolfs (1998), and Parrish and Van Arsdale (2004). AL—Alabama, AR—Arkansas, IL—Illinois, KY—Kentucky, MO—Missouri, MS—Mississippi, TN—Tennessee.

View larger version (53K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 4. (continued). (B) Precambrian unconformity structure contour map from A including the Reelfoot rift (RR) and the Rough Creek graben (RCG). NM—New Madrid. Yellow box denotes location of Figures 5 and 6. Elevation datum is sea level.

View larger version (56K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 5. Precambrian unconformity structure contour map with the addition of the two Eastern Rift Margin faults (EM), Axial fault (AF), Western Rift Margin fault (WM), and the Reelfoot fault (RF). NM—New Madrid. Elevation datum is sea level.

View larger version (53K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 6. Precambrian unconformity structure contour map with the addition of southeast oriented faults. GRTZ—Grand River tectonic zone; CMTZ—Central Missouri tectonic zone; OFZ—Osceola fault zone; BMTZ—Bolivar-Mansfield tectonic zone; WRFZ—White River fault zone. EM—Eastern Rift Margin faults, AF—Axial fault, WM—Western Rift Margin fault, RF—Reelfoot fault, NM—New Madrid. Elevation datum is sea level.

View larger version (141K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 7. Distribution of 5077 borings used to map the Pliocene–Pleistocene unconformity (base of Mississippi River alluvium). WL—Western Lowlands, EL—Eastern Lowlands, B—Big Lake, S—Lake St. Francis. IL—Illinois, KY—Kentucky, MO—Missouri, MS—Mississippi, TN—Tennessee. DEM—digital elevation model.

View larger version (81K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 8. Pliocene–Pleistocene unconformity structure contour map. B—Big Lake, S—Lake St. Francis, J—Joiner ridge. AR—Arkansas, IL—Illinois, KY—Kentucky, MO—Missouri, MS—Mississippi, TN—Tennessee.

View larger version (80K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 9. Pliocene–Pleistocene unconformity surface with Precambrian Reelfoot rift faults. B—Big Lake, S—Lake St. Francis, CR—Crowley's Ridge, J—Joiner ridge, GRTZ—Grand River tectonic zone; CMTZ—Central Missouri tectonic zone; OFZ—Osceola fault zone; BMTZ—Bolivar-Mansfield tectonic zone; WRFZ—White River fault zone. EM—Eastern Rift Margin faults, AF—Axial fault, WM—Western Rift Margin fault, RF—Reelfoot fault, NM—New Madrid. AR—Arkansas, IL—Illinois, KY—Kentucky, MO—Missouri, MS—Mississippi, TN—Tennessee. Tiptonville dome is a culmination on the Lake County uplift. Crowley's Ridge south of lat 35°N not shown.

View larger version (41K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 10. Interpreted deformation of the Pliocene–Pleistocene unconformity surface. Black lines—faults, J—Joiner ridge, GRTZ—Grand River tectonic zone; CMTZ—Central Missouri tectonic zone; OFZ—Osceola fault zone; BMTZ—Bolivar-Mansfield tectonic zone; WRFZ—White River fault zone, EM—Eastern Rift Margin faults, AF—Axial fault, WM—Western Rift Margin fault, RF—Reelfoot fault. AR—Arkansas, KY—Kentucky, MO—Missouri, MS—Mississippi, TN—Tennessee. Inset map shows a restraining bend (van der Pluijm and Marshak, 2004).

View larger version (120K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Animation 1. If you are viewing the PDF of this paper or reading it offline, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/GES00107.S1 or the full-text article on www.gsajournals.org to view Animation 1.

View larger version (76K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Animation 2. If you are viewing the PDF of this paper or reading it offline, please visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/GES00107.S2 or the full-text article on www.gsajournals.org to view Animation 2.