Seismic evidence for a lower-crustal detachment beneath san francisco bay, california.
Results from the San Francisco Bay area seismic imaging experiment (BASIX) reveal the presence of a prominent lower crustal reflector at a depth of approximately 15 kilometers beneath San Francisco and San Pablo bays. Velocity analyses indicate that this reflector marks the base of Franciscan assemblage rocks and the top of a mafic lower crust. Because this compositional contrast would imply a strong rheological contrast, this interface may correspond to a lower crustal detachment surface. If so, it may represent a subhorizontal segment of the North America and Pacific plate boundary proposed by earlier thermo-mechanical and geological models.
Brocher
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McCarthy
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Hart
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Holbrook
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Furlong
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McEvilly
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Hole
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Klemperer
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