Catastrophic emplacement of the gigantic Markagunt gravity slide, southwest Utah (USA); implications for hazards associated with sector collapse of volcanic fields
Catastrophic emplacement of the gigantic Markagunt gravity slide, southwest Utah (USA); implications for hazards associated with sector collapse of volcanic fields
Geology (Boulder) (November 2014) 42 (11): 943-946
The newly recognized Markagunt gravity slide (MGS) represents gravitationally induced, catastrophic collapse, ca. 21-22 Ma, of the southwest sector of the Oligocene to Miocene Marysvale volcanic field in southwest Utah (USA). The approximately 90-km-long slide mass consists of approximately 1700-2000 km (super 3) of andesitic volcanic mudflow breccias and subordinate lava flows, sandstones, and intertongued regional ash-flow tuffs. The MGS extends over an area of >3400 km (super 2) and advanced >30 km to the south over the Miocene land surface. The low-angle basal slip surface is in Eocene-Oligocene Brian Head Formation, a weak, clay-rich, tuffaceous sedimentary unit at the base of the volcanic section. The presence of a basal zone of cataclastic and sheared breccia with associated clastic dikes, and pseudotachylyte along secondary shear planes, provides strong evidence of catastrophic emplacement. The uniformity of directional indicators, stratigraphy, and overall geometry of the MGS suggests that it represents a single-emplacement event coeval with late-stage magmatic doming of the volcanic field. The MGS thus represents one of the largest subaerial volcanic landslides on Earth, and along with the comparable Heart Mountain gravity slide in northwest Wyoming, constitutes a class of catastrophic collapse hazard not widely recognized within modern volcanic fields.