Manawahe Fault

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Manawahe Fault
Map
Approximate surface traces of the active Manawahe Fault in red in the Taupo Rift, North Island, New Zealand[1]
EtymologyManawahe
Coordinates37°57′50″S 176°40′16″E / 37.964°S 176.671°E / -37.964; 176.671
CountryNew Zealand
RegionBay of Plenty Region
Characteristics
RangeMw6.3[2]
Length14 km (8.7 mi)[2]
StrikeENE[2]
Displacement3 mm (0.12 in)/yr[2]
Tectonics
PlateIndo-Australian
StatusActive, recurrence is 1580–2000 years[2]
TypeNormal fault[2]
AgeHolocene ~0.1 Ma
↓
Volcanic arc/beltTaupō Volcanic Zone
New Zealand geology database (includes faults)

The Manawahe Fault line is a seismically active area in the Bay of Plenty Region of the central North Island of New Zealand with the potential to be involved with other faults in an Mw7.0 event.[2]

Geology

North of Lake Rotoma, volcanic ignimbrite sheets from multiple eruptions of the Ōkataina Caldera extend towards the Whakatane Graben with the volcanic region being separated from the tectonic Whakatane portion of the Taupō Rift by the Manawahe Fault.[2] The fault continues to east and coast in the Matata Fault line. The Manawahe Fault consists of a series of closely-spaced, mainly SSE-dipping fault traces, which are parallel to the North Rotoma Fault at the edge of the north eastern edge of the Rotoma Caldera. The traces are presumed to merge within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the surface.[2] The Manawahe Fault ruptured immediately prior to the 5500 years ago Whakatane eruption of the Ōkataina Caldera and also ruptured several times, associated with the Rotoma Caldera eruptive sequence, and immediately after the Mamaku eruption.[2]

Risks

This intra-rift fault has certainly ruptured several times in the last 10,000 years.[3] The last rupture identified was 636 years ago, with recurrence intervals between 1580–2000 years of a fault with one of the highest slip rates so far defined in the Taupō Volcanic Zone.[2] Although potentially ruptures could be up to Mw 7 if the fault ruptured at the same time as the longer Matata fault, only > Mw 5.5 can be definitely assigned on displacements characterised to date as there appears to have never been a single full length fault rupture which would result in a Mw 6.3event.[2]

References

  1. ^ "GNS:New Zealand Active Faults Database". Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Villamor, P.; Litchfield, N.J.; Gomez, D.; Martin, F.; Alloway, B.; Berryman, K.; Clark, K.; Ries, W.; Howell, A.; Ansell, B. (2022). "Fault ruptures triggered by large rhyolitic eruption s at the boundary between tectonic and magmatic rift segments: the Manawahe Fault, Taupo Rift, New Zealand". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 427. Bibcode:2022JVGR..42707478V. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107478. hdl:2292/59828. S2CID 246258923.
  3. ^ Berryman, Kelvin; Villamor, Pilar; Nairn, Ian; Begg, John; Alloway, Brent V.; Rowland, Julie; Lee, Julie; Capote, Ramon (2022). "Volcano-tectonic interactions at the southern margin of the Okataina Volcanic Centre, Taupō Volcanic Zone, New Zealand". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 427 (107552). Bibcode:2022JVGR..42707552B. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107552. hdl:2292/59681. ISSN 0377-0273.
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