Palaeoseismological features of the Granada fault

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary results of a palaeoseismic study of the Granada Fault, a NW‐SE active normal fault that produces a Plio‐Quaternary throw of 300 m. According to these data, slip rate has been estimated in 0.38 mm/y (Sanz de Galdeano et al., 2003). Several palaeosols, Pleistocene in age, have been affected by this fault. Three different events can be recognized from the accumulative throw. The vertical slip per event ranges from 5 to 7 cm. Following the empirical relationship between moment magnitude and average displacement proposed by Wells and Coppersmith (1994), a magnitude between 5.9 and 6.0 can be preliminary assessed for these events. The palaeosols were sampled and dated using the thermoluminiscence method to constrain these estimates.