# Denali Fault
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Denali_Fault
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Denali_Fault.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali_Fault
> Source revision: 1292477819
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Short description|Major intercontinental dextral strike-slip fault in North America}}
{{Infobox fault
| name = Denali Fault
| other_name =
| namedfor = Denali (mountain)
| namedby =
| yeardef =
| image =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_width =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_relief =
| pushpin_map_label =
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_mark =
| pushpin_mark_size =
| location = [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), Canada and [Alaska](/source/Alaska), USA
| country =
| region =
| state =
| cities =
| coordinates = {{coord|63.4902|-148.1257|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m =
| elevation_ft =
| elevation_ref =
| topdepth_m =
| topdepth_ft =
| topdepth_ref =
| range =
| part_of =
| segments =
| length =
| width =
| depth =
| strike =
| dip =
| dip_angle =
| displacement =
| plate = North American plate
| status =
| earthquakes = 2002 Denali earthquake
| type = strike-slip fault
| movement = dextral
| rockunit =
| age =
| orogeny =
| volcanic_arc/belt =
| map_image =
| map_caption =
| embed =
}}thumb|upright=1.35|Tectonic map of Alaska and northwestern Canada showing main faults and historic earthquakes
thumb|300px|Denali Fault and the Denali National Park boundary
The '''Denali Fault''' is a major intracontinental dextral (right lateral) [strike-slip fault](/source/Fault_(geology)) in western [North America](/source/North_America), extending from northwestern [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), [Canada](/source/Canada) to the central region of the [U.S. state](/source/U.S._state) of [Alaska](/source/Alaska).[{{cite journal|url=http://www.eos.ubc.ca/~krussell/epapers/GSAB_ER2000.pdf|title=Distribution, nature, and origin of Neogene–Quaternary magmatism in the northern Cordilleran volcanic province, Canada|author=Benjamin R. Edwards, James K. Russell|date=August 2000|pages=1280–1295|journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin|doi=10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112<1280:dnaoon>2.0.co;2|bibcode=2000GSAB..112.1280E|volume=112|issue=8|access-date=2009-09-27|archive-date=2015-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924001346/http://www.eos.ubc.ca/~krussell/epapers/GSAB_ER2000.pdf|url-status=dead}}]
== Location ==
The Denali Fault is located in the southern half of Alaska in the [Alaska Range](/source/Alaska_Range). It is more than 1,250 miles long, arcing through southern Alaska, southwestern [Yukon](/source/Yukon), and back into southeastern Alaska.[{{cite book |last1=Connor |first1=Cathy |title=Roadside Geology of Alaska |date=2014 |publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company |location=Missoula, Montana USA |isbn=978-0-87842-619-5 |page=187 |edition=2nd}}]
The steep north face of [Denali](/source/Denali), known as the Wickersham Wall, rises 15,000 feet from its base, and is a result of relatively recent vertical movement along the fault.[{{cite report |author=Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich |date=September 2010 |title= Denali National Park and Preserve: geologic resources inventory report |url=https://npshistory.com/publications/dena/nrr-2010-244.pdf |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=21 July 2024 |page=21}}]
== Effects ==
Alaska's network of faults is a result of tectonic activity; the Pacific plate is actively subducting (sliding under) the North American plate, and the Denali Fault is located on the boundary between the two plates.[{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/denali/|title=Denali's Fault|author=Laura Naranjo|date=November 13, 2003|publisher=[NASA](/source/NASA)|access-date=May 20, 2012}}] Along the Denali Fault, lateral and vertical offset movement is taking place at a rate of approximately 13 mm/yr. Around 300 to 400 kilometers of displacement has occurred since the Cretaceous, and about 25% of that displacement has occurred since the Miocene.[Wai K. Allen, [Kenneth D. Ridgway](/source/Kenneth_D._Ridgway), J.A. Benowitz, T.S. Waldien, S.M. Roeske, P.G. Fitzgerald, R.J. Gillis; Neogene sedimentary record of the evolution of a translated strike-slip basin along the Denali fault system: Implications for timing of displacement, composite basin development, and regional tectonics of southern Alaska. ''Geosphere'' 2022;; 18 (2): 585–615. {{doi|10.1130/GES02435.1}}][{{cite book|title=Denali, Alaska, Earthquake of November 3, 2002|year=2004|publisher=ASCE, TCLEE|location=Reston, VA|isbn=9780784407479|url=http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5370|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000522/http://www.asce.org/Product.aspx?id=2147486137&productid=5370|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-12-31|editor=Mark Yashinsky}}]
According to tree ring studies, a magnitude 7.2 to 7.4 earthquake happened along the fault in 1912.[{{cite book |last1=Connor |first1=Cathy |title=Roadside Geology of Alaska |date=2014 |publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company |location=Missoula, Montana USA |isbn=978-0-87842-619-5 |page=162}}]
It was the main fault along which the [2002 Denali earthquake](/source/2002_Denali_earthquake) occurred, which was measured as a [magnitude](/source/Moment_magnitude_scale) of 7.9 ''Mw''.[{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1082703 |title=The 2002 Denali Fault Earthquake, Alaska: A Large Magnitude, Slip-Partitioned Event|first1=Donna|last1=Eberhart-Phillips|first2=Peter J.|last2=Haeussler|first3=Jeffrey T. |last3=Freymueller |first4=Arthur D.|last4=Frankel|first5=Charles M.|author-link =Donna Eberhart-Phillips|last5=Rubin|first6=Patricia|last6=Craw|first7=Natalia A. |last7=Ratchkovski|first8=Greg|last8=Anderson|first9=Gary A.|last10=Crone|first10=Anthony J.|last11=Dawson|first11=Timothy E. |last12=Fletcher|first12=Hilary|last13=Hansen|first13=Roger|last14=Harp|first14=Edwin L.|last15=Harris|first15=Ruth A. |last16=Hill|first16=David P.|last17=Hreinsdóttir|first17=Sigrún|last18=Jibson|first18=Randall W.|last19=Jones|first19=Lucile M. |last20=Kayen|first20=Robert|last21=Keefer|first21=David K.|last22=Larsen|first22=Christopher F.|last23=Moran|first23=Seth C. |last24=Personius|first24=Stephen F. |last25=Plafker |first25=George |last26=Sherrod |first26=Brian |last27=Sieh |first27=Kerry |last28=Sitar |first28=Nicholas|last29=Wallace|first29=Wesley K.|last9=Carver|journal=[Science](/source/Science_(journal))|date=May 2003|volume=300|issue=5622, number 5622 |pages=1113–1118|doi=10.1126/science.1082703|bibcode = 2003Sci...300.1113E |display-authors=9 |pmid=12750512|s2cid=33375651|url-access=subscription}}] During the afternoon of November 3, 2002, the water in Seattle's [Lake Union](/source/Lake_Union) suddenly began sloshing hard enough to knock houseboats off their moorings. Water in pools, ponds, and bayous as far away as [Texas](/source/Texas) and [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana) splashed for nearly half an hour.