Non-planarity, scale-dependent roughness and kinematic properties of the Pidima active normal fault scarp (Messinia, Greece) using high-resolution terrestrial LiDAR data

Abstract Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS), photogrammetric and field data were collected during the years 2014, 2015 and 2017, at a 20-m long limestone scarp locality along the N–S striking, 70° west-dipping, active Pidima fault (Messinia, SW Peloponnese, Greece). This locality presents an artificially exhumed portion of an active fault plane, thus providing a unique opportunity to study kinematics and limestone scarp morphology (including its curvature and roughness). The survey of 2015 offered a high-density point cloud of the fault scarp with 6-mm working resolution, creating a very close to real life representation 3D model. We found that scarp geometry is non-planar with increasing convexity up-dip and increasing northwesterly dip-directions from north towards south, along strike. Non-planarity is also recorded from the morphological data along strike with the appearance of several, slip-parallel troughs and ridges with a mean distance (half-wavelength) of 0.75 m. The fault-plane roughness (absolute values) is scale dependent. The roughness configuration attains a slip-parallel pattern for observation scales above 1-cm. At observations scales less than 1-cm a slip-normal pattern is weakly visible. The obtained TLS results agree with field data (manual compass measurements) and macroscopic observations. We infer an earthquake magnitude of 6.2 ± 0.2 for the last event along the Pidima fault based on the measured thickness of the smooth stripe that was imaged by t-LiDAR along the non-exhumed surface of the scarp.