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1. Removal of the Northern Paleo-Teton Range along the Yellowstone Hotspot Track

   https://doi.org/10.2113/2021/1052819  

   Thigpen, Ryan; Brown, Summer J.; Helfrich, Autumn L.; Hoar, Rachel; McGlue, Michael; Woolery, Edward; Guenthner, William R.; Swallom, Meredith L.; Dixon, Spencer; Gallen, Sean (October 2021, Lithosphere)

   Wöfler, Andreas (Ed.)

   Abstract Classically held mechanisms for removing mountain topography (e.g., erosion and gravitational collapse) require 10-100 Myr or more to completely remove tectonically generated relief. Here, we propose that mountain ranges can be completely and rapidly (<2 Myr) removed by a migrating hotspot. In western North America, multiple mountain ranges, including the Teton Range, terminate at the boundary with the relatively low relief track of the Yellowstone hotspot. This abrupt transition leads to a previously untested hypothesis that preexisting mountainous topography along the track has been erased. We integrate thermochronologic data collected from the footwall of the Teton fault with flexural-kinematic modeling and length-displacement scaling to show that the paleo-Teton fault and associated Teton Range was much longer (min. original length 190-210 km) than the present topographic expression of the range front (~65 km) and extended across the modern-day Yellowstone hotspot track. These analyses also indicate that the majority of fault displacement (min. 11.4-12.6 km) and the associated footwall mountain range growth had accumulated prior to Yellowstone encroachment at ~2 Ma, leading us to interpret that eastward migration of the Yellowstone hotspot relative to stable North America led to removal of the paleo-Teton mountain topography via posteruptive collapse of the range following multiple supercaldera (VEI 8) eruptions from 2.0 Ma to 600 ka and/or an isostatic collapse response, similar to ranges north of the Snake River plain. While this extremely rapid removal of mountain ranges and adjoining basins is probably relatively infrequent in the geologic record, it has important implications for continental physiography and topography over very short time spans. 

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2. DETAILED (1:24,000) GEOLOGIC MAPPING BETWEEN GRAND TETON AND YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARKS: IMPLICATIONS FOR MIOCENE-RECENT EXTENSION ON THE TETON AND RELATED FAULTS AND THE COLLAPSE OF NORTHERN PALEO-TETON TOPOGRAPHY

   https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2023AM-395817  

   Goldsby, Ryan; Thigpen, Ryan; Arimes, Alexandra; Zach, Terri; Grove, Riley (January 2023, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs)
3. Holocene Rupture History of the Central Teton Fault at Leigh Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

   https://doi.org/10.1785/0120190129  

   Zellman, Mark S.; DuRoss, Christopher B.; Thackray, Glenn D.; Personius, Stephen F.; Reitman, Nadine G.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Brossy, Cooper C. (November 2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America)

   Abstract Prominent scarps on Pinedale glacial surfaces along the eastern base of the Teton Range confirm latest Pleistocene to Holocene surface‐faulting earthquakes on the Teton fault, but the timing of these events is only broadly constrained by a single previous paleoseismic study. We excavated two trenches at the Leigh Lake site near the center of the Teton fault to address open questions about earthquake timing and rupture length. Structural and stratigraphic evidence indicates two surface‐faulting earthquakes at the site that postdate deglacial sediments dated by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence to ∼10–11  ka. Earthquake LL2 occurred at ∼10.0  ka (9.7–10.4 ka; 95% confidence range) and LL1 at ∼5.9  ka (4.8–7.1 ka; 95%). LL2 predates an earthquake at ∼8  ka identified in the previous paleoseismic investigation at Granite Canyon. LL1 corresponds to the most recent Granite Canyon earthquake at ∼4.7–7.9  ka (95% confidence range). Our results are consistent with the previously documented long‐elapsed time since the most recent Teton fault rupture and expand the fault’s earthquake history into the early Holocene. 

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4. Influences of tectonic and geomorphic processes on fault scarp height along the Teton fault, Wyoming, USA

   Grasso, K.; Thackray, G.D. (July 2022, Proceedings of the 8th Geohazards Conference)

   Landscape disturbance events (e.g., earthquakes, slope failures) play key roles in landscape evolution in tectonically active areas. Along the Teton fault, fault scarps vary in height by up to tens of meters. LiDAR-based mapping indicates that scarp height is affected by glacial geomorphology, slope failure, and alluvial processes. LiDAR data, digital and field mapping were used to characterize fault scarps and slope failure deposits along the Teton fault zone. Based on vertical separation (VS; the vertical offset between faulted surfaces) across fault scarps and the expected behavior of normal faults, we propose a four-section model of the Teton fault. At a broad scale, VS is greatest along the southern fault zone. At a finer scale, VS is least at the ends of the fault and at three areas within the central fault zone. Transitions between these four sections may represent segment boundaries with potentially important implications for geohazards assessment. 

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5. TESTING INTERPRETATIONS OF THE DISPLACEMENT MAGNITUDE OF THE TETON FAULT AND UPLIFT OF THE TETON RANGE, WY WITH INTEGRATED FLEXURAL-KINEMATIC AND THERMAL MODELING

   https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2020AM-356016  

   Helfrich, Autumn L.; Buford Parks, Victoria M.; Thigpen, James; McQuarrie, Nadine (October 2020, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs)