slgwv's photos with the keyword: graben

In central Nevada, looking east across to the Clan Alpine Range. Mt. Augusta (9966 ft/3038 m) is the high snowcapped peak at the left. The Clan Alpines are not usually this snow-covered; it's been a wet year! Dixie Valley is an asymmetric graben, a fault-bounded trough where the faulting on the west side (i.e., here) is more active. The Stillwater Range, which defines the west side of the valley, is being uplifted with respect to the valley floor. The fault movement is ongoing to this day; in December 1954, a rupture along the range front here caused an enormous earthquake (Richter magnitude ~ 7.4) and left a fault scarp 10-15 ft high (~3-5 m). The quake would have caused tremendous damage in a populated area; as it was, no one was injured and the only damage was a toppled outhouse! This area is part of what's called the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, a north-south trending zone where other large earthquakes have occurred historically. I'll post pix of some of the fault scarps at some point. And no, I haven't ID'd the bird on the snag!