Seismicity of Southwestern Yukon, Canada, and its relation to slip transfer between the Fairweather and Denali fault systems

• I analyzed seismicity between the Fairweather and Denali faults.
• The Connector fault between these major fault systems is seismically active.
• Seismicity was also compared to gravity and aeromagnetic data.
• East–west faults take up compression while NW–SE faults take up strike-slip motion.

Several researchers have postulated the existence of a fault (termed the Connector fault) that transfers slip from the Fairweather to the Denali fault systems in order to match the observed regional variations in fault slip and GPS deformation. Earthquake locations, seismic moment tensor information, and gravity data presented in this study suggest that the Connector fault is an active seismogenic structure that extends from the Fairweather fault near Hubbard Glacier to the intersection of the Duke River and Totschunda fault systems. Seismicity and potential field data also suggest the existence of an east–west trending cross structure between the Totschunda and Denali faults just north of 62°N that appears to be taking up compressional deformation similar to the Duke River fault system to the south. The intersection of this cross structure with the Totschunda fault occurs near the termination of the 2002 Denali fault mainshock rupture zone.