Relative fault strength controls off-fault deformation and rock uplift around restraining bends in strike-slip faults - Supporting data and modeling files

This repository contains data, models, and analysis code accompanying a study of how the ratio of fault to crustal frictional strength (µf/µc) controls strain partitioning and rock uplift around restraining bends in strike-slip faults. Three-dimensional elastoplastic finite element models spanning a systematic matrix of bend angles and friction ratios demonstrate that µf/µc governs the balance between localized fault slip and distributed crustal failure, producing diagnostic differences in uplift distributions that persist through progressive far-field displacement. Weak faults advect deformed crust through restraining bends and progressively smooth bend geometry, while strong faults impound uplift and drive bend steepening and secondary fault initiation. These model predictions are compared against rock uplift patterns in the Santa Cruz Mountains bend of the San Andreas fault and the Aksay bend of the Altyn Tagh fault, which together span the model-predicted range of behavior.

This repository includes: Abaqus finite element input (.inp) and output database (.odb) files for all model configurations, and extracted fault slip, contact status, surface uplift, stress tensor, and bend geometry arrays in NumPy format; topographic and rock uplift rasters, fault trace shapefiles, and seismicity catalogs for the natural bend study areas.