PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE BIG BEND RANCH STATE PARK’S FAULT SCARPS AND VOLCANIC HISTORY

Several faults in Big Bend Ranch State Park of west Texas, USA have the potential to be linked to the park's volcanic past during the Paleogene Period. Three faults are examined in this study located in the northeastern part of the park. This study uses the faults as a potential for fault-scarp age dating. By proving evidence for the presence of these faults, further assumptions about the relationship between nearby volcanic activity and other faults can contribute to the understanding of the region's geologic history. Active tectonics, earthquake hazards, and paleoseismology can be assessed by interpolating fault-scarp chronologies. A diffusion constant (K) can be estimated by using a fault-scarp diffusion-equation. Diffusion-equation modeling of scarps is an efficient reconnaissance method. This modeling works with the premise that the rate of change in elevation of points on the scarp face is a function of the slope curvature and scarp K, a function of climate and material properties. Field observations and the data collected in this study of faults and fault-scarp profiles have solidified the presence of a fault with fault-scarp characteristics ideal for fault-scarp diffusion-equation modeling. Identifying the second fault in the field changes its previous status of uncertainty to known and ID Texas-BBRSP-Fault-001.