This study of alluvial aquifer basins in southern California is centered on observations of differential surface displacement and the search for the mechanisms of deformation. The San Bernardino basin and the Upper Coachella Valley aquifers are bound by range fronts and fault segments of the southern San Andreas fault system. I have worked to quantify long-term compaction in these groundwater dependent population centers with a unique synthesis of data and methodologies using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and groundwater data. My dissertation contributes to the understanding of alluvial aquifer heterogeneity and partitioning. I model hydrogeologic and tectonic interpretations of deformation where decades of overdraft conditions and ongoing aquifer development contribute to extreme rapid subsidence. I develop the Hydrogeologic InSAR Integration (HII) method for the characterization of surface deformation in aquifer basins. The method allows for the separation of superimposed hydraulic and/or tectonic processes in operation. This formalization of InSAR and groundwater level integration provides opportunities for application in other aquifer basins where overdraft conditions may be causing permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity through compaction. Sixteen years of SAR data for the Upper Coachella Valley exhibit rapid vertical surface displacement (#8804; 48mm/a) in sharply bound areas of the western basin margin. Using well driller logs, I categorize a generalized facies analysis of the western basin margin, describing heterogeneity of the aquifer. This allowed for assessment of the relationships between observed surface deformation and sub-surface material properties. Providing the setting and context for the hydrogeologic evolution of California's primary aquifers, the mature San Andreas transform fault is studied extensively by a broad range of geoscientists. I present a compilation of observations of creep, line integrals across the Pacific-North America Plate Boundary, and strain tensor volumes for comparison to the Working Group 2007 (UCERF 2) seismicity-based deformation model. I find that the moment accumulation across the plate boundary is consistent with the deformation model, suggesting fault displacement observations within the plate boundary zone accurately capture the strain across the plate boundary. This dissertation includes co-authored materials previously published, and also includes unpublished work currently under revisions for submission to a technical journal.

The Pacific-North American plate boundary is typified by transpression and convergence, yet the relationship between interplate deformation and long-term crustal shortening is not fully understood. The continuous belt of rugged topography that extends along the entire plate boundary is generally associated with oblique tectonic plate motion, strong interplate coupling, and terrane accretion, but relating plate boundary orogenesis to variations in plate geometry and behavior requires detailed case studies. The northern San Gabriel Mountains along the San Andreas fault and the Chugach-Kenai Mountains above the Aleutian subduction zone are located along highly tectonically active sections of the Pacific-North American plate boundary and have not been studied from the context of long-term landscape development. To determine whether mountain building along these sections of the plate boundary reflects recent, rapid exhumation as observed in bordering mountain belts, low-temperature thermochronometry and topographic analyses were applied to each area. In the northern San Gabriel Mountains, apatite (U-Th)/He ages are >10 Ma along narrow crystalline ridges topped by low-slope erosional surfaces located within ~5 km of the San Andreas fault zone. In the Chugach-Kenai Mountains, the youngest apatite (U-Th)/He ages (~5 Ma) are an order of magnitude older than those from the Yakutat collision zone to the east, despite the presence of a continuous swath of glaciated, rugged topography between the two areas. Exhumation rates inferred from these ages are <1 mm/yr, suggesting that there has been minimal recent denudation in the northern San Gabriel and Chugach-Kenai Mountains. The lack of evidence for recent mountain building in both of these case studies implies that interplate deformation is heterogeneous and that other factors (secondary structures, climate) besides plate kinematics and topographic character must be considered for understanding landscape development. / Ph. D.