Evidence of palaeoseismicity in the caves of Arizona and New Mexico

International audienceSeveral caves were visited in different parts of the western USA to observe speleothems that could have been affected by ancient earthquakes. There are very few caves in California. In Arizona, it seems possible to find evidences of the Sonora 1887 earthquake in Sutherland Peak cave. In New Mexico, the caves of Guadalupe Mountain contain many broken speleothems showing evidences of, at least, an old unknown earthquake