Upper crustal seismic velocity structure of the Hayward fault zone, San Francisco Bay, California, USA: Results from the 2016 East Bay Seismic Experiment (EBSI-16)

Abstract

We developed Vp, Vs, Vp/Vs ratio, and Poisson’s ratio models of the uppermost crust (<4 km depth) from the eastern San Francisco (SF) Bay (California, USA) to near the Calaveras fault along a 15-km-long, linear profile. Upper crustal velocities are highly variable beneath, west, and well east of the Hayward fault. We observe eight notable features, from west to east: (1) Near San Francisco Bay, there is an ∼2-km-wide structure with high Vp/Vs ratios (up to 5) and Poisson’s ratios (up to 0.48) extending from the surface to the base of our model, which we suggest the structure is a near-vertical fault that lies along a straight-line projection between the Silver Creek fault to the south and the Point Richmond fault to the north. The structure may be part of an ∼90-km-long fault along the eastern SF Bay. (2) The western East Bay Plain, the lower lying area between the bay and the hills, includes up to 800 m of low-velocity sediments (Vp ∼1600−3000 m/s, Vs ∼500 m/s to ∼1000 m/s), underlain by higher velocity basement rocks (Vp ∼3000−5800 m/s; Vs ∼1000−1500 m/s). (3) Between ∼1 km and 3 km east of the Bay shoreline, sediments thin in a series of steps (likely faults) toward the Hayward fault. (4) Between ∼3 km west and ∼1 km east of the Hayward fault (at the East Chabot fault) at depths greater than 1 km, basement Vp (up to 6000 m/s) and Vs (up to 2800 m/s) are high, and Vp/Vs ratios (<2) and Poisson’s ratios (<0.3) are low, suggesting crystalline rocks. Furthermore, a near-vertical zone of low Vp/Vs ratios and Poisson’s ratios is between near-surface traces of the Hayward and East Chabot faults, likely corresponding to the San Leandro Gabbro of Ponce et al. (2003). (5) Eastward of the East Chabot fault in the upper 1.5 km, basement Vp (∼3000 m/s to ∼4200 m/s) and Vs (∼1200−2000 m/s) are lower than those west of the fault. (6) In the eastern Hayward/Oakland Hills, there are zones of laterally varying, high- and low-velocity (Vp ∼2500−3000 m/s) Jurassic−Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments in the shallow subsurface that likely extend much deeper than imaged. (7) Seismic energy that propagates westward from sources east of the Hayward fault (HF) appear weaker than energy that propagates eastward from sources west of the HF, suggesting that the HF acts as a partial barrier to shallow seismic energy propagation into the more populated eastern SF Bay area. (8) Unlike many fault zones, it appears that the active trace of the Hayward fault (in our study area) is not cored by a prominent, low-velocity zone relative to rocks to the east and west of the active trace. However, the active trace does mark a prominent change from relatively higher velocities to the west and lower velocities to the east.