Neotectonic Features

Serpentine Scarp (Darling Fault)

https://neotectonics.ga.gov.au/feature/442958

Summary Report
Feature Id: 442958
Feature Type: Fold/kink/warp
Confidence Level: C - Possible neotectonic feature
Length: 19 km
Displacement: 1.5
Age of Youngest Deformed Deposit: Pliocene
Age Range: 5.333 - 2.58 Ma
Domain: Western extended continental crust

Synopsis
The Darling Fault Scarp rises some 300-400 m above the Perth coastal plain. The foot of the
scarp, and the Darling Fault trace, is cloaked in an extensive colluvial apron that ranges in age
from late Tertiary to Recent. The Serpentine Scarp transects this colluvial apron over a distance
of ~19 km. The east-facing scarp breaks the even westerly slope of the aprons within a few
hundred metres of the most westerly outcrops of granite relating to the Darling Ranges, falling
1-1.5 m to the east over a distance of 20 - 40 m. The scarp crest ranges in elevation from ~55 m
to 85 m a.s.l. and the scarp profile is uniform over its entire length. Most westerly flowing
streams crossing the scarp are deflected in some way. A trenching investigation of the feature
conducted by Geoscience Australia failed to find evidence for faulting. Furthermore the
stratigraphy was sufficiently homogeneous to preclude determination of whether the feature
reflects warping or folding. However, the materials that he scarp is developed in are not
consistent with a dune origin (Clark, 2006).

About this information

Initially compiled: February 2003
About this information
Last updated: May 2021
Confidence: C - Possible neotectonic feature
Quality assured: U - Not Checked
Location method: Digital Elevation Model
Location precision: 200 m

Detailed Report
Feature Id: 442958
Feature Name: Serpentine Scarp (Darling Fault)
Compilation Date: February 2003
Last Updated: May 2021
Originator: Clark, D.
Quality Assurance: U - Not Checked
Confidence Level: C - Possible neotectonic feature
Domain: Western extended continental crust
Latitude: -32.4518013
Longitude: 115.9885101
Length: 19 kilometres
Displacement: 1.5 metres
Sense of Movement: Reverse
Average Strike: 185 degrees
Dip Direction: West
Single Event Displacement:
Location method: Digital Elevation Model
Location precision: 200 m
Location remarks: Extends ~20 km along the toe of the Darling
Scarp from North Dandalup to Serpentine.
Location traced from the Western Australian
Department of Land Information 10 m DEM.
Deformed Deposit Description: The affected units are mapped at 1:50 000
scale as Pleistocene in age, but may extend to
late Tertiary (Karl-Heinz Wyrwoll pers. comm.,
UWA, 2006).
Synopsis: The Darling Fault Scarp rises some 300-400 m
above the Perth coastal plain. The foot of the
scarp, and the Darling Fault trace, is cloaked in
an extensive colluvial apron that ranges in age
from late Tertiary to Recent. The Serpentine
Scarp transects this colluvial apron over a
distance of ~19 km. The east-facing scarp
breaks the even westerly slope of the aprons
within a few hundred metres of the most
westerly outcrops of granite relating to the
Darling Ranges, falling 1-1.5 m to the east over
Detailed Report
a distance of 20 - 40 m. The scarp crest ranges
in elevation from ~55 m to 85 m a.s.l. and the
scarp profile is uniform over its entire length.
Most westerly flowing streams crossing the
scarp are deflected in some way. A trenching
investigation of the feature conducted by
Geoscience Australia failed to find evidence
for faulting. Furthermore the stratigraphy was
sufficiently homogeneous to preclude
determination of whether the feature reflects
warping or folding. However, the materials that
he scarp is developed in are not consistent
with a dune origin (Clark, 2006).
Geologic Setting: The Darling Fault juxtaposes Proterozoic
basement (the Northampton and Leeuwin
Complexes) and Phanerozoic sediments and
sedimentary rocks of the Perth Basin against
Archean granites and gniesses of the Yilgarn
Craton. The Serpentinee Scarp is developed in
sandy clayey gravels and clayey sandy gravels
of the colluvial apron overlying the toe of the
Darling Scarp.
Geomorphic Expression: In detail, the east-facing scarp breaks the even
westerly slope of the colluvial aprons within a
few hundred metres of the most westerly
outcrops of granite relating to the Darling
Ranges. It falls 1-1.5 m to the east over a
distance of 20 - 40 m, and ranges in elevation
from ~55 m to 85 m. The scarp profile is
uniform over the entire length of the feature.
The scarp cannot be traced across lines of
westerly flowing drainage (on 10 m DEM data).
However, most streams that cross the scarp
are deflected to some degree. In one instance,
a drainage line has been captured and forced
to flow scarpparallel for almost 400 m before
escaping via a nearby drainage. Drainage lines
deeply incise into the fan west of the scarp.
This characteristic may reflect preferential
clearing of stabilizing vegetation over the
alluvial aprons for agriculture, or uplift west of
the scarp. Larger drainage lines also incise
deeply into the colluvial deposits. The scarp
does not appear to relate to a topographic
bench developed at the boundary of colluvium
dominated by Sandy Clayey Gravel and Clayey
Sandy Gravel, as mapped in the 1:50 000
Serpentine Environmental geology Map
(GSWA).
Seismicity Remarks: No contemporary seismicity has been
recorded on the 1000 km long Darling Fault
Detailed Report
Scarp. Preliminary Be-10 cosmogenic
radionuclide erosion rate determinations (Sara
Jakica, Mark Quigley, Dan Clark, 2008) suggest
that the Darling Scarp is an ancient steady-
state landform and disequilibrium in the
longitudinal profiles of streams crossing the
scarp can be attributed to the northerly tilting
of the Australian continent proposed by
Sandiford (2007). Incipient iron pisolite
development in the colluvial materials in which
the 1.5 m high Serpentine Scarp is developed
suggests that the sediments may range up to
Late Tertiary in age, consistent with very low
slip rates and the cosmogenic redionuclide
results. However, it is curious that the 15 m
high Serpentine falls knickpoint occurs at the
northern extent of the Serpentine Scarp.
Slip Rate Remarks:
Bibliographic References: CLARK D. 2006 Field investigation of linear
scarps south of Perth, Western Australia:
relationships to faulting, Geoscience Australia,
Earthquake Hazard Project, vol. unpublished
report, p. 30p. https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/270884633_Field_Investigation_of
_Linear_Scarps_South_of_Perth_Western_Austra
lia_Relationships_to_Faulting

Images
Name: Serpentine_section_GSWA.jpg
Caption: Clip of the 1:50 000 Serpentine
Environmental Geology Map (GSWA) showing
a cross section across the Serpentine Scarp.
The scarp does not correspond with the
lithological bench depicted.

(c) Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2021

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