Wairau Fault

Wairau Fault
Map of the Marlborough Fault System with Wairau Fault in light purple
EtymologyWairau River
CountryNew Zealand
RegionMarlborough
Characteristics
Rangeup to 7.7 MW[1]
Length200 km (120 mi)[1]
Displacement3.5 mm (0.14 in)/year[2]
Tectonics
PlateIndo-Australian, Pacific
StatusActive
Earthquakesprehistoric
TypeStrike-slip fault
MovementDextral/convergent, east side up
AgeMiocene-Holocene
OrogenyKaikoura
New Zealand geology database (includes faults)
The eastern end of the Wairau Fault reaches the sea at the outlet of the Wairau River in Cloudy Bay in this view from the north east. The hills beyond the fault line that runs along the Wairau River (middle of photo) are the Richmond Range.

The Wairau Fault is an active dextral (right lateral) strike-slip fault in the northeastern part of South Island, New Zealand. It forms part of the Marlborough fault system, which accommodates the transfer of displacement along the oblique convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and Pacific plate, from the transform Alpine Fault to the Hikurangi Trough subduction zone.[3]

  1. ^ a b Nicol, Andrew; Van Dissen, Russ (2018). "A 6000-year record of surface-rupturing paleoearthquakes on the Wairau Fault, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 61 (3): 341–358. doi:10.1080/00288306.2018.1498360. S2CID 135174507.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference GNSreport2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Langridge, R.; Campbell J.; Hill N.; Pere V.; Pope J.; Pettinga J.; Estrada B.; Berryman K. (2003). "Paleoseismology and slip rate of the Conway Segment of the Hope Fault at Greenburn Stream, South Island, New Zealand" (PDF). Annals of Geophysics. 46 (5). Retrieved 27 June 2010.