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![Figure 2. Shaded topographic map of northern end of South Island of New Zealand showing faults of Marlborough fault zone. Inset shows tectonic setting of New Zealand. Stars locate high-density arrays of short-period seismometers, and dots show single broadband stations used to fill gaps between arrays. Assuming that structure varies perpendicular to strike of Wairau fault, receiver function amplitudes within shaded area were projected onto heavy line. Displacement of Junction magnetic anomaly (purple line, inset) indicates total offset across Alpine fault, most of which was absorbed in Marlborough by Wairau fault]()
![Figure 4. Plots showing magnitude as function of depth of 1ϕ and 2ϕ back-azimuth variations for radial and transverse components from receiver functions to north (A and C) and south (B and D) of Wairau fault. Thinner lines represent 2σ error bounds estimated through bootstrap resampling. Note increased 2ϕ power (marked by red swath on sections C and D) between 15 and 20 km depth on both sides of Wairau fault, indicating presence of seismic anisotropy beneath midcrustal interface. Increase of 1ϕ power and in some cases 2ϕ power on A, B, and D, marked by blue swath at depth of dipping Moho segments, supports our inference that Moho dips to southeast]()
![Lidar hillshade images of the two study sites in New Zealand. A: Branch River site on Wairau fault. B: Saxton River site on Awatere fault. Fault traces (including secondary fault strands) shown in red. Terraces are demarked by colors and labeled according to previous studies (Lensen, 1968; Mason et al., 2006). Contacts between colored surfaces represent terrace risers.]()
![Slip‐rate sites in the NZ PSDB v.1.0, color coded by the overall quality rankings (QRs). The NZ CFM v.1.0 faults (Seebeck et al., 2022, 2023) are color coded by mean slip rate; the inset shows these without the slip‐rate sites. Alf, Alpine fault; FPf, Fox Peak fault; Hf, Hope fault; Mf, Mohaka fault; Of, Ostler fault; Wf, Wairau fault. The largest cities and others mentioned in the V1.0 Overview and Further Insights into Completeness section are labeled. The color version of this figure is available only in the electronic edition.]()
![Tectonic map of Marlborough fault system (MFS; modified from Langridge et al., 2013) showing location and timing of the youngest known historic or prehistoric ruptures on the main active faults, exclusive of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Inset shows the plate tectonic setting of the MFS in South Island, New Zealand. Epicenter location for the 2016 earthquake is from Kaiser et al. (2017). Data for the Kekerengu fault are from this study; for the Hope fault, from Langridge et al. (2003, 2008, 2013) and Khajavi et al. (2016); for the Poulter fault, from Berryman and Villamor (2004); for the Clarence fault, from Van Dissen and Nicol (2009); for the Awatere fault, from Mason et al. (2006); for the Wairau fault, from Zachariasen et al. (2006); and for the Alpine fault, from Howarth et al. (2014).The color version of this figure is available only in the electronic edition.]()
![Simplified geological map, after Begg & Johnston (2000), of part of the Marlborough Schist, New Zealand. See Figure 1 for location. Inset north of Alpine–Wairau fault is simplified from Little et al. (1999). Inset near Picton Harbour is simplified from Nicol & Campbell (1990). Lower‐hemisphere, equal‐area stereogram presents orientation data for upright folds of schistosity in and near the SW part of the Picton fault zone. Note that this plot distinguishes between kilometre‐scale folds of the main foliation (here compared with Moonlight generation folds in Otago, and attributed to distributed dextral wrenching) and mesoscopic folds adjacent to splays of the Picton Fault, which trend NNE, and are attributed to thrust‐related shortening on that structure. See text for discussion of pinned slat rotation model.]()
![Generalized tectonic map of the South Island New Zealand region. The southern Marlborough study area is centered about the Hope fault (HF). Within this region motion between the Pacific and Australian plates is about 38 mm/yr (DeMets et al., 1990) in the direction indicated by the arrow. The locations of the Mw ∼7.5 1848 Awatere and Mw ∼7.7 1929 Buller earthquakes are denoted by dots and focal mechanisms are lower hemisphere projections. The 1848 mechanism is based on observations of surface offset (Grapes et al., 1988), and the 1929 mechanism is from waveform modeling (Doser et al., 1999). The entire Alpine fault between the southwestern coast of the South Island and the Awatere fault (bold line) is believed to have ruptured in A.D. 1717 (Yetton et al., 1998). AF, Awatere fault; HF, Hope fault; WF, Wairau fault. The box indicates the location of Figure 2.]()
![Inset: Marlborough fault system (MFS) on South Island, New Zealand, transfers relative Pacific-Australian plate motion between dextral-oblique–slip Alpine fault (Alp F) and Hikurangi subduction margin (Hik). Wairau fault has accommodated much of the ∼460 km of right-lateral shear along the Alpine fault system, as shown by Dun Mountain–Maitai ultramafic terrane (black) (Sutherland, 1999). Main figure: Simplified representation of MFS showing active, predominantly strike-slip faults in red. Black arrow shows Pacific plate motion relative to Australian plate (DeMets et al., 1994). Rakaia (dark gray) and Esk Head (medium gray) basement terranes are offset ∼13 km along Awatere fault by discrete slip, with potential additional ∼5 km of slip manifest as bending (“drag folding”) of terrane boundaries (Fig. DR2 [see footnote 1]; Rattenbury et al., 2006). Branch River (BR) and Saxton River (SR) sites are shown.]()
![(A) Active and inactive faults with outcrop expression in the central New Zealand region. (B) Important, block-bounding structures identified and used in this study. 1—Alpine Fault; 2—Wairau Fault; 3—Awatere Fault; 4—Clarence Fault; 5—Kekerengu Fault; 6—Jordan Thrust; 7—Elliot Fault; 8—Hope Fault; 9—Porters Pass Fault Zone; 10—Waimea Fault; 11—Takaka Fault; 12—Manaia Fault; 13—Taranaki Fault; 14—Ohariu Fault; 15—Wellington Fault; 16—Wairarapa Fault; 17—Ngapotiki Thrust; 18—Kaimanawa Fault, Ngamatea Fault and southward extension; 19—Adams-Tinui Fault; 20—Poukawa Fault Zone; 21—Mohaka Fault; 22—Kaiangaroa Fault; 23—Waiohau Fault; 24—Whakatane Fault; 25—Maungahaumi Thrust; 26—Arakihi Fault and unnamed structures; 27—Hauraki Graben (Kerepehi Fault). (C) Structural block divisions applied in the reconstruction model of this study. Bounding structures and GPlates microplate code number as included in Table 1. Spatial distributions of New Zealand’s basement terranes, the Northland and East Coast allochthons, and the Taupō Volcanic Zone, are plotted for reference (see map legend). Map data sourced from Heron (2018).]()
![Compilation of paleoseismic events ages from the northern Marlborough–Wellington region, and comparison with the ages of earthquakes 1 and 2 at Big Lagoon. The inset map shows the data locations (except Abel Tasman, which is shown on Fig. 1a) and the main upper plate faults for which we have shown paleoearthquakes ages (bold lines); minor faults or faults for which there are no paleoearthquake data are shown in dashed, gray lines. The type of paleoseismic data obtained from each site or fault varies: C, core (the paleoearthquake or paleoseismic evidence is preserved in core samples); S, seismic (the paleoearthquake evidence has been obtained from high‐resolution offshore seismic lines); T, trench (paleoearthquake evidence obtained from multiple paleoseismic trenches); G, geomorphology (paleoearthquake data obtained from geomorphological features such as beach ridges and marine terraces). Seismic event ages were obtained from the following sources: Vernon fault (Pondard and Barnes, 2010); Wairau fault (Barnes and Pondard, 2010; Nicol et al., 2011); Awatere fault (Mason et al., 2006); Cloudy fault (Pondard and Barnes, 2010); Wairarapa fault (Little et al., 2009); Turakirae beach ridges (McSaveney et al., 2006); Wellington fault (Langridge et al., 2011); Ohariu fault (Litchfield et al., 2006; Litchfield, Van Dissen, et al., 2010); Okupe Lagoon and Taupo Swamp (Cochran et al., 2007); Rongotai beach ridge (Pillans and Huber, 1995); and Abel Tasman paleotsunami (Goff and Chagué‐Goff, 1999).]()
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![Calculation of exponential decay rates (b values) from offset measurements. (A–C) Example offset data from the (A) Wairau, South Island, New Zealand; (B) San Andreas, California, USA; and (C) San Jacinto, California, faults that span a range of b values (the distribution of small to large offsets in a data set). (D) Conceptual illustration of different b values (dashed colored lines) with scaled curves using b values derived from each data set in the filtered global compilation (solid gray lines). Black lines show b values from the Wairau, San Andreas, and San Jacinto faults. Offset is x, n is y, and a is a coefficient that scales with n in Equation 1.]()
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1-20 OF 102 RESULTS FOR
Wairau Fault
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Journal Article
Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand Available to Purchase
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 November 2015
Geology (2015) 43 (11): 1019–1022.
... at the well-known Branch River and Saxton River sites along the Wairau (Alpine) and Awatere strike-slip faults, South Island, New Zealand, reveal that fault-related deformation patterns expressed in the topography at these sites are markedly less structurally complex along the higher-displacement (hundreds...
FIGURES
Journal Article
Distributed deformation in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath a continental strike-slip fault zone: Marlborough fault system, South Island, New Zealand Available to Purchase
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 October 2004
Geology (2004) 32 (10): 837–840.
... anisotropic lower crust beneath the two northernmost faults of the fault system. These observations suggest that distributed deformation, not slip on a narrow vertical fault, accommodates displacement in the lower crust below the 120–480 km of right-lateral slip across the Wairau fault, one splay...
FIGURES
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Image
Figure 2. Shaded topographic map of northern end of South Island of New Zea... Available to Purchase
in Distributed deformation in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath a continental strike-slip fault zone: Marlborough fault system, South Island, New Zealand
> Geology
Published: 01 October 2004
arrays. Assuming that structure varies perpendicular to strike of Wairau fault, receiver function amplitudes within shaded area were projected onto heavy line. Displacement of Junction magnetic anomaly (purple line, inset) indicates total offset across Alpine fault, most of which was absorbed
Journal Article
Hope fault, Jordan thrust, and uplift of the Seaward Kaikoura Range, New Zealand Available to Purchase
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 April 1991
Geology (1991) 19 (4): 393–396.
... restraining bend of the Alpine fault has the same average slip rate as the Wairau fault, 4-6 mm/yr. Even though the Alpine fault is an east-dipping, reverse-separation fault at the restraining bend, this low slip rate results in uplift of the Spenser Mountains east of the bend at a rate lower than...
Journal Article
Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand: COMMENT Open Access
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 July 2016
Geology (2016) 44 (7): e391.
...Mark Quigley; Jarg Pettinga © 2016 Geological Society of America 2016 Forum Comment doi:10.1130/G37905C.1 Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand Mark Quigley1 and Jarg Pettinga2...
Image
Figure 4. Plots showing magnitude as function of depth of 1ϕ and 2ϕ back-az... Available to Purchase
in Distributed deformation in the lower crust and upper mantle beneath a continental strike-slip fault zone: Marlborough fault system, South Island, New Zealand
> Geology
Published: 01 October 2004
Figure 4. Plots showing magnitude as function of depth of 1ϕ and 2ϕ back-azimuth variations for radial and transverse components from receiver functions to north (A and C) and south (B and D) of Wairau fault. Thinner lines represent 2σ error bounds estimated through bootstrap resampling. Note
Image
Lidar hillshade images of the two study sites in New Zealand. A: Branch Riv... Available to Purchase
in Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand
> Geology
Published: 01 November 2015
Figure 2. Lidar hillshade images of the two study sites in New Zealand. A: Branch River site on Wairau fault. B: Saxton River site on Awatere fault. Fault traces (including secondary fault strands) shown in red. Terraces are demarked by colors and labeled according to previous studies ( Lensen
Image
Slip‐rate sites in the NZ PSDB v.1.0, color coded by the overall quality ra... Available to Purchase
Published: 25 September 2023
fault; Mf, Mohaka fault; Of, Ostler fault; Wf, Wairau fault. The largest cities and others mentioned in the V1.0 Overview and Further Insights into Completeness section are labeled. The color version of this figure is available only in the electronic edition.
Journal Article
Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand: REPLY Open Access
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 August 2016
Geology (2016) 44 (8): e392–e393.
...R. Zinke; J.F. Dolan; R. Van Dissen; J.R. Grenader; E.J. Rhodes; C.P. McGuire; R.M. Langridge; A. Nicol; A.E. Hatem © 2016 Geological Society of America 2016 Forum Reply doi:10.1130/G38188Y.1 Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau...
Image
Tectonic map of Marlborough fault system (MFS; modified from Langridge et... Available to Purchase
in Kekerengu Fault, New Zealand: Timing and Size of Late Holocene Surface Ruptures
> Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Published: 02 January 2018
and Villamor (2004) ; for the Clarence fault, from Van Dissen and Nicol (2009) ; for the Awatere fault, from Mason et al. (2006) ; for the Wairau fault, from Zachariasen et al. (2006) ; and for the Alpine fault, from Howarth et al. (2014) .The color version of this figure is available only
Image
Simplified geological map, after Begg & Johnston (2000) , of part of t... Available to Purchase
in Rotation of ductile fabrics across the Alpine Fault and Cenozoic bending of the New Zealand orocline
> Journal of the Geological Society
Published: 01 September 2001
Fig. 7 Simplified geological map, after Begg & Johnston (2000) , of part of the Marlborough Schist, New Zealand. See Figure 1 for location. Inset north of Alpine–Wairau fault is simplified from Little et al. (1999) . Inset near Picton Harbour is simplified from Nicol & Campbell
Image
Generalized tectonic map of the South Island New Zealand region. The southe... Available to Purchase
in Modeling Stress Changes Induced by Earthquakes in the Southern Marlborough Region, South Island, New Zealand
> Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Published: 01 December 2002
( Doser et al. , 1999 ). The entire Alpine fault between the southwestern coast of the South Island and the Awatere fault (bold line) is believed to have ruptured in A.D. 1717 ( Yetton et al. , 1998 ). AF, Awatere fault; HF, Hope fault; WF, Wairau fault. The box indicates the location of Figure 2 .
Image
![Inset: Marlborough fault system (MFS) on South Island, New Zealand, transfers relative Pacific-Australian plate motion between dextral-oblique–slip Alpine fault (Alp F) and Hikurangi subduction margin (Hik). Wairau fault has accommodated much of the ∼460 km of right-lateral shear along the Alpine fault system, as shown by Dun Mountain–Maitai ultramafic terrane (black) (Sutherland, 1999). Main figure: Simplified representation of MFS showing active, predominantly strike-slip faults in red. Black arrow shows Pacific plate motion relative to Australian plate (DeMets et al., 1994). Rakaia (dark gray) and Esk Head (medium gray) basement terranes are offset ∼13 km along Awatere fault by discrete slip, with potential additional ∼5 km of slip manifest as bending (“drag folding”) of terrane boundaries (Fig. DR2 [see footnote 1]; Rattenbury et al., 2006). Branch River (BR) and Saxton River (SR) sites are shown.](https://gsw.silverchair-cdn.com/gsw/Content_public/Journal/geology/43/11/10.1130_G37065.1/3/s_1019fig1.jpeg?Expires=2147483647&Signature=ReyuGM1LcDRhleUf~FQvoGrmX7gkH749yFAxoE1V3obwI4-G9GqoZKpd2cyquTzRxKwuLva3VNYuWaYfhRwGGJeL-RIWfHEn9VWrvOmJU4HjIgAo1RPUcQX4Urw6bZXBKBchhH~qpVRrxZFFttUkq74GS2oXVh65wa4SX~kuehSdUypGrTqLDmg6jzsRCuuP8T3StNqpNz9LFToUG651wR0~mJv1rt6HIkr~Zxgkh6yiggu-3zpCtNLrsU3ES2-nPYV0W80oydo4yva~q6vmhBAagLDFsIawMYRrSc1qAfxwgkW0HANjJIlothSfuAzW5ZnxbCEkMUch8lfMWW67WQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIE5G5CRDK6RD3PGA)
Inset: Marlborough fault system (MFS) on South Island, New Zealand, transfe... Available to Purchase
in Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand
> Geology
Published: 01 November 2015
Figure 1. Inset: Marlborough fault system (MFS) on South Island, New Zealand, transfers relative Pacific-Australian plate motion between dextral-oblique–slip Alpine fault (Alp F) and Hikurangi subduction margin (Hik). Wairau fault has accommodated much of the ∼460 km of right-lateral shear along
Image
(A) Active and inactive faults with outcrop expression in the central New Z... Available to Purchase
in Reconstructing a dismembered Neogene basin along the active Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand
> GSA Bulletin
Published: 17 August 2022
Figure 2. (A) Active and inactive faults with outcrop expression in the central New Zealand region. (B) Important, block-bounding structures identified and used in this study. 1—Alpine Fault; 2—Wairau Fault; 3—Awatere Fault; 4—Clarence Fault; 5—Kekerengu Fault; 6—Jordan Thrust; 7—Elliot Fault; 8
Journal Article
Development of an intracontinental plate boundary transfer zone, Marlborough, Aotearoa New Zealand: A review and synthesis Available to Purchase
Journal: GSA Bulletin
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 07 March 2025
GSA Bulletin (2025)
... is bounded to the northwest by the Alpine Fault and the Wairau Fault (Fig. 1A). As discussed in the following section, the extent of the transfer zone (sensu strictu, in terms of an actively deforming plate boundary region) has varied over the last 10 m.y. Plate boundary transfer zones, such as those...
Early Publication
Journal Article
Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand: COMMENT Open Access
Journal: Geology
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Published: 01 July 2016
Geology (2016) 44 (7): e390.
...Brendan Duffy © 2016 Geological Society of America 2016 Forum Comment doi:10.1130/ G37549Y.1 Evolution and progressive geomorphic manifestation of surface faulting: A comparison of the Wairau and Awatere faults, South Island, New Zealand Brendan Duffy School of Earth Sciences...
Image
Compilation of paleoseismic events ages from the northern Marlborough–Welli... Available to Purchase
in Evidence for Past Subduction Earthquakes at a Plate Boundary with Widespread Upper Plate Faulting: Southern Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand
> Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Published: 19 May 2015
and marine terraces). Seismic event ages were obtained from the following sources: Vernon fault ( Pondard and Barnes, 2010 ); Wairau fault ( Barnes and Pondard, 2010 ; Nicol et al. , 2011 ); Awatere fault ( Mason et al. , 2006 ); Cloudy fault ( Pondard and Barnes, 2010 ); Wairarapa fault ( Little et al
Journal Article
Geological and biological evidence for regional drainage reversal during lateral tectonic transport, Marlborough, New Zealand Available to Purchase
Journal: Journal of the Geological Society
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Published: 01 July 2007
Journal of the Geological Society (2007) 164 (4): 785–793.
... is underlain by Palaeozoic and Mesozoic basement that is dominated by metasedimentary rocks that make up most of the South Island of New Zealand ( Fig. 1 ). These are crossed by a major active transcurrent fault, the Wairau Fault ( Fig. 1 ), which is one of the main strands of the Alpine Fault that separates...
FIGURES
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Image
Calculation of exponential decay rates ( b values) from offset measurement... Available to Purchase
Published: 04 November 2022
Figure 2. Calculation of exponential decay rates ( b values) from offset measurements. (A–C) Example offset data from the (A) Wairau, South Island, New Zealand; (B) San Andreas, California, USA; and (C) San Jacinto, California, faults that span a range of b values (the distribution of small
Journal Article
Geomorphological Influences on the Distribution of Liquefaction in the Wairau Plains, New Zealand, Following the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake Available to Purchase
Publisher: Seismological Society of America
Published: 08 May 2018
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (2018) 108 (3B): 1683–1694.
... is also indicated. The Wairau Plains are situated in the northeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand (Fig. 1 ). The plains are bounded by northeast‐trending mountain ranges reflecting uplift along the Wairau and Awatere faults. The faults comprise part of the Marlborough fault zone...
FIGURES
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