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Science 29 April 1994:
Vol. 264. no. 5159, pp. 688 - 691
DOI: 10.1126/science.264.5159.688
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Articles

Detection of Large Prehistoric Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest by Microfossil Analysis

Rolf W. Mathewes 1 and John J. Clague 2

1 Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Quaternary Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
2 Geological Survey of Canada, 100 West Pender Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 1R8, and Institute for Quaternary Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1SS6

Geologic and palynological evidence for rapid sea level change sim3400 and sim2000 carbon-14 years ago (3600 and 1900 calendar years ago) has been found at sites up to 110 kilometers apart in southwestern British Columbia. Submergence on southern Vancouver Island and slight emergence on the mainland during the older event are consistent with a great (magnitude M ge 8) earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone. The younger event is characterized by submergence throughout the region and may also record a plate-boundary earthquake or a very large crustal or intraplate earthquake. Microfossil analysis can detect small amounts of coseismic uplift and subsidence that leave little or no lithostratigraphic signature.

Submitted on December 28, 1993
Accepted on March 15, 1994


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