Wartrace Fault Zone (New)

Location

T13S, R4E, Johnson County (K-6)

References

S. Weller and Krey 1939, J. Weller 1940, Knight 1968, Nelson 1993

Description

This fault zone is named for the small village of Wartrace, which apparently refers to an Indian war trail (Nelson 1993). S. Weller and Krey (1939), J. Weller (1940), and Knight (1968), all mapped the fault zone but did not name it. On their maps, it appears as a single fault striking northwest and downthrown to the southwest. New mapping in the Bloomfield Quadrangle (Nelson 1993) indicates a pair of faults forming a graben. The central block is downthrown 100 to 150 feet (30-45 m) in the vicinity of Wartrace (Sections 8, 9, and 20, T13S, R4E). A seismic profile shows the faults to be nearly vertical and to penetrate the entire Paleozoic section.

The Wartrace Fault Zone lies between the McCormick Anticline and the Lusk Creek Fault Zone and is nearly perpendicular to both. The role of the Wartrace Fault Zone in regional tectonics is uncertain.