John Caskey – Research Interests

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My primary research interests are in the fields of structural geology, regional geology, and neotectonics. Most of my research during the past ten years has focused on aspects of active faulting in the Basin and Range province, in particular the central Nevada seismic belt. The arid desert environment and remarkable geomorphic preservation of tectonic and stratigraphic features make Nevada one the greatest natural laboratories for field studies of active normal faults. Much of my research in Nevada has been in collaboration with Steven Wesnousky (Center for Neotectonic Studies, University of Nevada, Reno) and John Bell and Alan Ramelli (Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology) also at the University of Nevada. Some of the more specific topics of our research include:

• Surface faulting and distribution of fault slip for the 1954 Rainbow Mountain-Stillwater and Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquake sequences (Caskey et al., 1996, Caskey et al., in press). (Click here to see a map of the 1954 rupture zones; Click here to view fault scarps formed during the 1954 earthquake sequence.)

• Static-stress changes associated with the northward propagation of the Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquake sequence (Caskey and Wesnousky, 1997). (Click here to see models for stress changes associated with the northward propagation of the 16 December 1954 earthquake sequence).

• Geologic and geophysical evidence for historical faulting along a low-angle normal fault, Dixie Valley (Caskey et al., 1996; Abbott et al., 2001). (Click here to view John Louie's website containing our funded NSF proposal, reports of our results, a JGR journal article, and a photo album of our geophysical field study).

• Patterns and rates of Holocene faulting in the 1915-1954 portion of the central Nevada seismic belt, evidence for paleoseismic belt-like behavior (Bell et al., in press).

• Comparisons between Holocene and contemporary (GPS) extension rates across the central Nevada seismic belt (Bell et al., in press).

• Tectonic and isostatic deformation of pluvial lake shorelines, Dixie Valley (Caskey and Ramelli, in press). (Click here to view a pdf file of a manuscript in press with the Journal of Geodynamics. WARNING! It's a 6 megabyte file).

• Late Holocene surface ruptures and large-magnitude liquefaction along the Stillwater seismic gap segment of the Dixie Valley fault (Caskey 2002; Lutz et al., 2003). (Click here to view some photos and illustrations of some cool stuff from the Stillwater gap).

• Faults and stress redistributions as tools for geothermal resource assessment in the Basin and Range (Caskey and Wesnousky, 2000). (Click here to view a pdf of a workshop proceeding article we presented at Stanford's Twenty-Fifth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering. WARNING! It's a 24 megabyte file)

In addition to the references and links to figures given above, the preliminary results of some of these studies were topics of discussion on the 2002 Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene (FOP) Field Trip. The guidebook for this and other recent FOP field trips can be downloaded for free at http://www.pacificfop.org/.

Since arriving at SFSU in 1998, I've become involved in projects more local to the San Francisco Bay region, largely through the research of graduate and undergraduate students. Some of these studies include:

• Style and rate of active deformation along the (blind) Serra thrust fault in southwest San Francicso (Drew Kennedy).

• Tectonic geomorphology and paleoseismicity of the southern Rodgers Creek fault (Carrie Randolph-Loar).

• Correlation and uplift rates of late Pleistocene marine terraces along the Seal Cove fault (Mitch Monroe).

• Geophysical mapping of serpentinite bodies in the San Francisco Presidio (Joe Pesche).

• Mapping and Ar/Ar dating of Coast Range volcanic rocks at Burdell Mountain with implications for long-term offset on the East Bay fault system (Rick Ford).

• Relations between surface creep and microseismicity along strike-slip faults in the San Francisco Bay region (Marina Mascorro).

Since 2001, I have also been involved with SFSU's fault creep monitoring project that was created by Jon Galehouse (SFSU, Emeritus Faculty) in 1979. The project involves making periodic theodolite measurements of aseismic surface creep on active strike-slip faults in the San Francisco Bay Region. Jon developed and maintained the project from 1979-2001 (e.g., Galehouse, 2002) and the project has been funded since its beginning by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquakes Hazards Reduction Program. In 2001, Karen Grove and I took the reins of project. To learn more about the project, check out our SFSU Fault Creep Monitoring Project website.

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