Displacement history and slip rate on the Reelfoot fault of the New Madrid seismic zone

A displacement history and slip rates were determined for the Reelfoot fault in the New Madrid seismic zone from a seismic reflection profile and trench data. Based on calculations from the seismic reflection line the average slip rate over the last 80 million years is 0.0009 mm year−1. Slip rate during the Late Cretaceous was 0.0007 mm year−1, 0.002 mm year−1 during the Paleocene Midway Group, 0.001 mm year−1 during Paleocene–Eocene Wilcox Formation time, 0.0003 mm year−1 during the post-Wilcox/pre-Holocene period, and a Holocene slip rate of 1.8 mm year−1. Based on trench data, slip rate on the Reelfoot fault has been 4.4 mm year−1 over the last 2400 years and a maximum of 6.2 mm year−1 during the two most recent earthquake cycles between AD 900 and AD 1812. The Holocene slip rate is at least four orders of magnitude higher than the average Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic slip rates for the Reelfoot fault. It would appear that there has been a Quaternary change in the stress field in the central United States or the Reelfoot fault is experiencing a short-lived burst of seismic activity.