Paleoseismic Investigation of the Taylorsville Fault at the Airport East Site, West Valley Fault Zone, Salt Lake County, Utah (SS-169)

By: Michael D. Hylland, Adam I. Hiscock, Greg N. McDonald, Christopher B. DuRoss, Shannon A. Mahan, Richard W. Briggs, Stephen F. Personius, and Nadine G. Reitman

This paleoseismic investigation, undertaken in 2015, provides new information on earthquake timing, recurrence, and fault displacement that add to the chronology of prehistoric earthquakes on the Taylorsville fault of the West Valley fault zone. Radiocarbon and luminescence ages provide constraints on the timing of three surface-faulting earthquakes in the past 2,500 years at the Airport East site on the Taylorsville fault. The new information also provides insight into the seismogenic relation of the West Valley and Wasatch fault zones, lending support to the idea that fault movement of the West Valley fault zone typically occurs in response to fault movement on the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone.

The report includes seven appendices containing data and analyses, and two plates showing photomosaics and detailed logs of the fault trench exposures at the site.