Mirror-like fault surfaces similar to those found in the FL were produced in friction experiments at the deformation conditions expected during seismic slip along the FL (Fondriest et al., this meeting). Overall, deformation is more localized moving from South to North along the FL. The fault strands are characterized by smooth to mirror-like sub-vertical slip surfaces with dominant strike-slip kinematics. The northern portion of the FL consists of sub-parallel fault strands spaced 2-5 m apart, surrounded by 2-3 m thick bands of shattered dolostones. The mirror-like faults have mainly dip-slip reverse kinematics and displacements ranging between 0.04 m and 0.5 m. The southern portion of the FL consists of heavily fractured (shattered) dolostones, with particles of a few millimeters in size (exposed in badlands topography over an area of 6 km2), cut by a dense network of 1-20 m long mirror-like fault surfaces with dispersed attitudes. The fault zone is 50-300 m wide and is exposed for ~ 10 km along strike within several outcrops exhumed from increasing depths from the south (1 km) to the north (2.5 km). The FL has a cumulative vertical throw of 1.5-2 km that reduces toward its southern termination. The Foiana Line (FL) is a major NNE-SSW-trending sinistral transpressive fault cutting sedimentary Triassic dolostones in the Italian Southern Alps. Here we describe an exhumed example of a regionally-significant fault zone cutting dolostones. L'Aquila 2009 Mw = 6.3 in central Italy). Aretusini, S.įault zones in carbonate rocks (limestones and dolostones) represent significant upper crustal seismogenic sources in several areas worldwide (e.g. Structure of a seismogenic fault zone in dolostones: the Foiana Line ( Italian Southern Alps)ĭi Toro, G. The remote and spectacular Fiordland National Further to the south is the prominent 'S' shape of Lake Wakatipu, 83 kilometers long, on the northern shore of which is Queenstown, the principal resort town of the island. Further to the south in adjacent valleys you can easily see Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, between which (though not visible here) is the Haast Pass Road, the most southerly of the few links between the east and west coast road systems. Cook (to the right in these images), the glacial pale-blue water of Lake Pukaki stands out. From the high peaks, glaciers have gouged long, slender mountain lakes and coastal fiords. Its snow-covered peak is visible to the left of center in each of these MISR images. The tallest mountain in the Southern Alps is Mt. To facilitate stereoscopic viewing, both images have been oriented with north at the left. Viewing the anaglyph in 3-D requires the use of red/blue glasses with the red filter over your left eye. The lower image is a stereo anaglyph generated from the instrument's 46-degree and 26-degree forward-viewing cameras, and is presented at 275-meter per pixel resolution to show the portion of the image containing the Southern Alps in greater detail. It is presented at a resolution of 550 meters per pixel. The upper image is a natural color view from the instrument's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. This pair of MISR images is from Ap(Terra orbit 1712). The drier eastern seaboard is home to the majority of the island's population.
Westerly winds bring clouds that drop over 500 centimeters of rain annually on luxuriant rain forest along the west coast. The higher peaks are snow-covered all year round.
The mountains are often obscured by clouds, which is probably why the Maoris called New Zealand 'Aotearoa', the long white cloud. The rugged Southern Alps extend some 650 kilometers along the western side of New Zealand's South Island. Chamonix, the famous resort town and center of Alpine mountain climbing, lies in the valley just below Mont Blanc. The rivers flow out of the Alps into Italy toward Turin. In this southeast looking view, Mont Blanc, on the French/ Italian border, (48.0N, 4.5E) the highest mountain peak in all of Europe, is just below and right of center (below the end of the prominent valley of the Aosta River, in the center of the photo. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.įrench Alps, Mont Blanc, French/ Italian Border This anaglyph from the MISR instrument aboard NASA Terra spacecraft shows the rugged Southern Alps extending some 650 kilometers along the western side of New Zealand South Island.