Sara Carena  Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Geology University of Munich Luisenstr. 37, 80333 München, Germany E-Mail: scarena *[at]* iaag.geo.uni-muenchen.de Fax: +49 (0) 89 2180-6514

I am working together with Chistoph Moder on finite element models of both California and Taiwan in order to study fault strength and crustal strength. The purpose of this work is mainly to find out what is a realistic range of fault friction in a transform margin setting and in a convergent margin setting. The work is based on a coarse global grid, with local high-resolution representation of actual faults obtained from published 3-D fault maps. I use GOCAD  to do most of the grid construction and optimization (an example can be found here). By comparing the simulation results with data on fault-slip rates, we can determine how faults in the network interact, the role of small faults, and quantify the typical fault strength in each setting.

In the past I have used earthquake data in 3-D structural model building, with  GOCAD  as the main fault model building tool. I have modeled fault surfaces in 3-D using the aftershocks from the 1989  Loma Prieta earthquake  and the 1994  Northridge earthquake. The aftershocks allowed me to image in detail not only the faults that generated these two large earthquakes, but also nearby faults. This method is especially useful for imaging the 3-D geometry of blind thrusts, for which there is usually little other information available.

last updated 19.10.2009