Stratigraphic evidence of Holocene faulting in the mid-continent: The Meers fault, southwestern Oklahoma

Abstract

Stratigraphic relations and ten 14C ages show that movement occurred on the Meers fault in late Holocene time. Movement on the fault postdates the Browns Creek Alluvium, which began to be deposited between 14,000 and 13,000 yr B.P., and predates the East Cache Alluvium, which was deposited between 800 and 100 yr B.P. Surface warping along the fault led to local stream incision on the upthrown side of the fault and deposition of slopewash and fan alluvium on the down-thrown side. Three 14C ages of charcoal and soil humus buried by fan alluvium indicate that faulting probably occurred between 1400 and 1100 yr B.P. The soil that formed in the fan alluvium is only slightly more developed than that in the East Cache Alluvium, and the weak development of both soils indicates a geologically recent age that is consistent with the radiocarbon ages obtained for these deposits.