Hydromechanical heterogeneities of a mature fault zone: impacts on fluid flow.

PubMed

Jeanne, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Cappa, Frédéric

2013-01-01

In this paper, fluid flow is examined for a mature strike-slip fault zone with anisotropic permeability and internal heterogeneity. The hydraulic properties of the fault zone were first characterized in situ by microgeophysical (VP and σc ) and rock-quality measurements (Q-value) performed along a 50-m long profile perpendicular to the fault zone. Then, the local hydrogeological context of the fault was modified to conduct a water-injection test. The resulting fluid pressures and flow rates through the different fault-zone compartments were then analyzed with a two-phase fluid-flow numerical simulation. Fault hydraulic properties estimated from the injection test signals were compared to the properties estimated from the multiscale geological approach. We found that (1) the microgeophysical measurements that we made yield valuable information on the porosity and the specific storage coefficient within the fault zone and (2) the Q-value method highlights significant contrasts in permeability. Fault hydrodynamic behavior can be modeled by a permeability tensor rotation across the fault zone and by a storativity increase. The permeability tensor rotation is linked to the modification of the preexisting fracture properties and to the development of new fractures during the faulting process, whereas the storativity increase results from the development of micro- and macrofractures that lower the fault-zone stiffness and allows an increased extension of the pore space within the fault damage zone. Finally, heterogeneities internal to the fault zones create complex patterns of fluid flow that reflect the connections of paths with contrasting properties. © 2013, The Author(s). Ground Water © 2013, National Ground Water Association.

The western limits of the Seattle fault zone and its interaction with the Olympic Peninsula, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

A.P. Lamb,; L.M. Liberty,; Blakely, Richard J.; Pratt, Thomas L.; Sherrod, B.L.; Van Wijk, K.

2012-01-01

We present evidence that the Seattle fault zone of Washington State extends to the west edge of the Puget Lowland and is kinemati-cally linked to active faults that border the Olympic Massif, including the Saddle Moun-tain deformation zone. Newly acquired high-resolution seismic reflection and marine magnetic data suggest that the Seattle fault zone extends west beyond the Seattle Basin to form a >100-km-long active fault zone. We provide evidence for a strain transfer zone, expressed as a broad set of faults and folds connecting the Seattle and Saddle Mountain deformation zones near Hood Canal. This connection provides an explanation for the apparent synchroneity of M7 earthquakes on the two fault systems ~1100 yr ago. We redefi ne the boundary of the Tacoma Basin to include the previously termed Dewatto basin and show that the Tacoma fault, the southern part of which is a backthrust of the Seattle fault zone, links with a previously unidentifi ed fault along the western margin of the Seattle uplift. We model this north-south fault, termed the Dewatto fault, along the western margin of the Seattle uplift as a low-angle thrust that initiated with exhu-mation of the Olympic Massif and today accommodates north-directed motion. The Tacoma and Dewatto faults likely control both the southern and western boundaries of the Seattle uplift. The inferred strain trans-fer zone linking the Seattle fault zone and Saddle Mountain deformation zone defi nes the northern margin of the Tacoma Basin, and the Saddle Mountain deformation zone forms the northwestern boundary of the Tacoma Basin. Our observations and model suggest that the western portions of the Seattle fault zone and Tacoma fault are com-plex, require temporal variations in principal strain directions, and cannot be modeled as a simple thrust and/or backthrust system.

Origin and structure of major orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Shuyun; Neubauer, Franz

2016-04-01

The formation of major exhumed strike-slip faults represents one of the most important dynamic processes affecting the evolution of the Earth's lithosphere and surface. Detailed models of the potential initiation and properties and architecture of orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip faults and how these relate to exhumation are rare. In this study, we deal with key properties controlling the development of major exhumed strike-slip fault systems, which are equivalent to the deep crustal sections of active across fault zones. We also propose two dominant processes for the initiation of orogen-scale exhumed strike-slip faults: (1) pluton-controlled and (2) metamorphic core complex-controlled strike-slip faults. In these tectonic settings, the initiation of faults occurs by rheological weakening along hot-to-cool contacts and guides the overall displacement and ultimate exhumation. These processes result in a specific thermal and structural architecture of such faults. These types of strike-slip dominated fault zones are often subparallel to mountain ranges and expose a wide variety of mylonitic, cataclastic and non-cohesive fault rocks, which were formed at different structural levels of the crust during various stages of faulting. The high variety of distinctive fault rocks is a potential evidence for recognition of these types of strike-slip faults. Exhumation of mylonitic rocks is, therefore, a common feature of such reverse oblique-slip strike-slip faults, implying major transtensive and/or transpressive processes accompanying pure strike-slip motion during exhumation. Some orogen-scale strike-slip faults nucleate and initiate along rheologically weak zones, e.g. at granite intrusions, zones of low-strength minerals, thermally weakened crust due to ascending fluids, and lateral borders of hot metamorphic core complexes. A further mechanism is the juxtaposition of mechanically strong mantle lithosphere to hot asthenosphere in continental transform faults (e.g., San Andreas Fault, Alpine Fault in New Zealand) and transtensional rift zones such as the East African rift. In many cases, subsequent shortening exhumes such faults from depth to the surface. A major aspect of many exhumed strike-slip faults is its lateral thermal gradient induced by the juxtaposition of hot and cool levels of the crust controlling relevant properties of such fault zones, e.g. the overall fault architecture (e.g., fault core, damage zone, shear lenses, fault rocks) and the thermal structure. These properties and the overall fault architecture include strength of fault rocks, permeability and porosity, the hydrological regime, as well as the nature and origin of circulating hydrothermal fluids.

Geochemical and microstructural evidence for interseismic changes in fault zone permeability and strength, Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boulton, Carolyn; Menzies, Catriona D.; Toy, Virginia G.; Townend, John; Sutherland, Rupert

2017-01-01

Oblique dextral motion on the central Alpine Fault in the last circa 5 Ma has exhumed garnet-oligoclase facies mylonitic fault rocks from ˜35 km depth. During exhumation, deformation, accompanied by fluid infiltration, has generated complex lithological variations in fault-related rocks retrieved during Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP-1) drilling at Gaunt Creek, South Island, New Zealand. Lithological, geochemical, and mineralogical results reveal that the fault comprises a core of highly comminuted cataclasites and fault gouges bounded by a damage zone containing cataclasites, protocataclasites, and fractured mylonites. The fault core-alteration zone extends ˜20-30 m from the principal slip zone (PSZ) and is characterized by alteration of primary phases to phyllosilicate minerals. Alteration associated with distinct mineral phases occurred proximal the brittle-to-plastic transition (T ≤ 300-400°C, 6-10 km depth) and at shallow depths (T = 20-150°C, 0-3 km depth). Within the fault core-alteration zone, fractures have been sealed by precipitation of calcite and phyllosilicates. This sealing has decreased fault normal permeability and increased rock mass competency, potentially promoting interseismic strain buildup.

The Maradi fault zone: 3-D imagery of a classic wrench fault in Oman

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neuhaus, D.

1993-09-01

The Maradi fault zone extends for almost 350 km in a north-northwest-south-southeast direction from the Oman Mountain foothills into the Arabian Sea, thereby dissecting two prolific hydrocarbon provinces, the Ghaba and Fahud salt basins. During its major Late Cretaceous period of movement, the Maradi fault zone acted as a left-lateral wrench fault. An early exploration campaign based on two-dimensional seismic targeted at fractured Cretaceous carbonates had mixed success and resulted in the discovery of one producing oil field. The structural complexity, rapidly varying carbonate facies, and uncertain fracture distribution prevented further drilling activity. In 1990 a three-dimensional (3-D) seismic surveymore » covering some 500 km[sup 2] was acquired over the transpressional northern part of the Maradi fault zone. The good data quality and the focusing power of 3-D has enabled stunning insight into the complex structural style of a [open quotes]textbook[close quotes] wrench fault, even at deeper levels and below reverse faults hitherto unexplored. Subtle thickness changes within the carbonate reservoir and the unconformably overlying shale seal provided the tool for the identification of possible shoals and depocenters. Horizon attribute maps revealed in detail the various structural components of the wrench assemblage and highlighted areas of increased small-scale faulting/fracturing. The results of four recent exploration wells will be demonstrated and their impact on the interpretation discussed.« less

Incipient Evolution of the Eastern California Shear Zone through a Transpressional Zone along the San Andreas Fault in the San Bernardino Mountains, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochran, W. J.; Spotila, J. A.

2017-12-01

Measuring long-term accumulation of strike-slip displacements and transpressional uplift is difficult where strain is accommodated across wide shear zones, as opposed to a single major fault. The Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) in southern California accommodates dextral shear across several strike-slip faults, and is potentially migrating and cutting through a formerly convergent zone of the San Bernardino Mountains (SBM). The advection of crust along the San Andreas fault to the SE has forced these two tectonic regimes into creating a nexus of interacting strike-slip faults north of San Gorgonio Pass. These elements make this region ideal for studying complex fault interactions, evolving fault geometries, and deformational overprinting within a wide shear zone. Using high-resolution topography and field mapping, this study aims to test whether diffuse, poorly formed strike-slip faults within the uplifted SBM block are nascent elements of the ECSZ. Topographic resolution of ≤ 1m was achieved using both lidar and UAV surveys along two Quaternary strike-slip faults, namely the Lake Peak fault and Lone Valley faults. Although the Lone Valley fault cuts across Quaternary alluvium, the geomorphic expression is obscured, and may be the result of slow slip rates. In contrast, the Lake Peak fault is located high elevations north of San Gorgonio Peak in the SBM, and displaces Quaternary glacial deposits. The deposition of large boulders along the escarpment also obscures the apparent magnitude of slip along the fault. Although determining fault offset is difficult, the Lake Peak fault does display evidence for minor right-lateral displacement, where the magnitude of slip would be consistent with individual faults within the ECSZ (i.e. ≤ 1 mm/yr). Compared to the preservation of displacement along strike-slip faults located within the Mojave Desert, the upland region of the SBM adds complexity for measuring fault offset. The distribution of strain across the entire SBM block, the slow rates of slip, and the geomorphic expression of these faults add difficulty for assessing fault-slip evolution. Although evidence for diffuse dextral faulting exists within the formerly uplifted SBM block, future work is needed along these faults to determine if the ECSZ is migrating west.

Preliminary geologic map of the Murrieta 7.5' quadrangle, Riverside County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kennedy, Michael P.; Morton, Douglas M.

2003-01-01

The Murrieta quadrangle is located in the northern part of the Peninsular Ranges Province and includes parts of two structural blocks, or structural subdivisions of the province. The quadrangle is diagonally crossed by the active Elsinore fault zone, a major fault zone of the San Andreas fault system, and separates the Santa Ana Mountains block to the west from the Perris block to the east. Both blocks are relatively stable internally and within the quadrangle are characterized by the presence of widespread erosional surfaces of low relief. The Santa Ana Mountains block, in the Murrieta quadrangle, is underlain by undifferentiated, thick-layered, granular, impure quartzite and well-layered, fissile, phyllitic metamorphic rock of low metamorphic grade. Both quartzite and phyllitic rocks are Mesozoic. Unconformably overlying the metamorphic rocks are remnants of basalt flows having relatively unmodified flow surfaces. The age of the basalt is about 7-8Ma. Large shallow depressions on the surface of the larger basalt remnants form vernal ponds that contain an endemic flora. Beneath the basalt the upper part of the metamorphic rocks is deeply weathered. The weathering appears to be the same as the regional Paleocene saprolitic weathering in southern California. West of the quadrangle a variable thickness sedimentary rock, physically resembling Paleogene rocks, occurs between the basalt and metamorphic rock. Where not protected by the basalt, the weathered rock has been removed by erosion. The dominant feature on the Perris block in the Murrieta quadrangle is the south half of the Paloma Valley ring complex, part of the composite Peninsular Ranges batholith. The complex is elliptical in plan view and consists of an older ring-dike with two subsidiary short-arced dikes that were emplaced into gabbro by magmatic stoping. Small to large stoped blocks of gabbro are common within the ring-dikes. A younger ring-set of hundreds of thin pegmatite dikes occur largely within the central part of the complex. These pegmatite dikes were emplaced into a domal fracture system, apparently produced by cauldron subsidence, and include in the center of the complex, a number of flat-floored granophyre bodies. The granophyre is interpreted to be the result of pressure quenching of pegmatite magma. Along the eastern edge of the quadrangle is the western part of a large septum of medium metamorphic grade Mesozoic schist. A dissected basalt flow caps the Hogbacks northeast of Temecula, and represents remnants of a channel filling flow. Beneath the basalt is a thin deposit of stream gravel. Having an age of about 10Ma, this basalt is about 2-3Ma older than the basalt flows in the Santa Ana Mountains. The Elsinore fault zone forms a complex of pull-apart basins. The west edge of the fault zone, the Willard Fault, is marked by the high, steep eastern face of the Santa Ana Mountains. The east side of the zone, the Wildomar Fault, forms a less pronounced physiographic step. In the center of the quadrangle a major splay of the fault zone, the Murrieta Hot Springs Fault, strikes east. Branching of the fault zone causes the development of a broad alluvial valley between the Willard Fault and the Murrieta Hot Springs Fault. All but the axial part of the zone between the Willard and Wildomar Faults consist of dissected Pleistocene sedimentary units. The axial part of the zone is underlain by Holocene and latest Pleistocene sedimentary units.

A geophysical investigation of shallow deformation along an anomalous section of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

McBride, J.H.; Stephenson, W.J.; Thompson, T.J.; Harper, M.P.; Eipert, A.A.; Hoopes, J.C.; Tingey, D.G.; Keach, R.W.; Okojie-Ayoro, A. O.; Gunderson, K.L.; Meirovitz, C.D.; Hicks, T.C.; Spencer, C.J.; Yaede, J.R.; Worley, D.M.

2008-01-01

We report the results of a geophysical study of the Wasatch fault zone near the Provo and Salt Lake City segment boundary. This area is anomalous because the fault zone strikes more east-west than north-south. Vibroseis was used to record a common mid-point (CMP) profile that provides information to depths of ???500 m. A tomographic velocity model, derived from first breaks, constrained source and receiver static corrections; this was required due to complex terrain and significant lateral velocity contrasts. The profile reveals an ???250-m-wide graben in the hanging wall of the main fault that is associated with both synthetic and antithetic faults. Faults defined by apparent reflector offsets propagate upward toward topographic gradients. Faults mapped from a nearby trench and the seismic profile also appear to correlate with topographic alignments on LiDAR gradient maps. The faults as measured in the trench show a wide range of apparent dips, 20??-90??, and appear to steepen with depth on the seismic section. Although the fault zone is likely composed of numerous small faults, the broad asymmetric structure in the hanging wall is fairly simple and dominated by two inward-facing ruptures. Our results indicate the feasibility of mapping fault zones in rugged terrain and complex near-surface geology using low-frequency vibroseis. Further, the integration of geologic mapping and seismic reflection can extend surface observations in areas where structural deformation is obscured by poorly stratified or otherwise unmappable deposits. Therefore, the vibroseis technique, when integrated with geological information, provides constraints for assessing geologic hazards in areas of potential development.

The Sorong Fault Zone, Indonesia: Mapping a Fault Zone Offshore

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melia, S.; Hall, R.

2017-12-01

The Sorong Fault Zone is a left-lateral strike-slip fault zone in eastern Indonesia, extending westwards from the Bird's Head peninsula of West Papua towards Sulawesi. It is the result of interactions between the Pacific, Caroline, Philippine Sea, and Australian Plates and much of it is offshore. Previous research on the fault zone has been limited by the low resolution of available data offshore, leading to debates over the extent, location, and timing of movements, and the tectonic evolution of eastern Indonesia. Different studies have shown it north of the Sula Islands, truncated south of Halmahera, continuing to Sulawesi, or splaying into a horsetail fan of smaller faults. Recently acquired high resolution multibeam bathymetry of the seafloor (with a resolution of 15-25 meters), and 2D seismic lines, provide the opportunity to trace the fault offshore. The position of different strands can be identified. On land, SRTM topography shows that in the northern Bird's Head the fault zone is characterised by closely spaced E-W trending faults. NW of the Bird's Head offshore there is a fold and thrust belt which terminates some strands. To the west of the Bird's Head offshore the fault zone diverges into multiple strands trending ENE-WSW. Regions of Riedel shearing are evident west of the Bird's Head, indicating sinistral strike-slip motion. Further west, the ENE-WSW trending faults turn to an E-W trend and there are at least three fault zones situated immediately south of Halmahera, north of the Sula Islands, and between the islands of Sanana and Mangole where the fault system terminates in horsetail strands. South of the Sula islands some former normal faults at the continent-ocean boundary with the North Banda Sea are being reactivated as strike-slip faults. The fault zone does not currently reach Sulawesi. The new fault map differs from previous interpretations concerning the location, age and significance of different parts of the Sorong Fault Zone. Kinematic analysis is underway to give a fresh understanding of the tectonic evolution of this complex zone of faulting and plate interaction.

Fault and fracture patterns in low porosity chalk and their potential influence on sub-surface fluid flow-A case study from Flamborough Head, UK

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagi, D. A.; De Paola, N.; McCaffrey, K. J. W.; Holdsworth, R. E.

2016-10-01

To better understand fault zone architecture and fluid flow in mesoscale fault zones, we studied normal faults in chalks with displacements up to 20 m, at two representative localities in Flamborough Head (UK). At the first locality, chalk contains cm-thick, interlayered marl horizons, whereas at the second locality marl horizons were largely absent. Cm-scale displacement faults at both localities display ramp-flat geometries. Mesoscale fault patterns in the marl-free chalk, including a larger displacement fault (20 m) containing multiple fault strands, show widespread evidence of hydraulically-brecciated rocks, whereas clays smears along fault planes, and injected into open fractures, and a simpler fault zone architecture is observed where marl horizons are present. Hydraulic brecciation and veins observed in the marl-free chalk units suggest that mesoscale fault patterns acted as localized fault conduit allowing for widespread fluid flow. On the other hand, mesoscale fault patterns developed in highly fractured chalk, which contains interlayered marl horizons can act as localized barriers to fluid flow, due to the sealing effect of clays smears along fault planes and introduced into open fractures in the damage zone. To support our field observations, quantitative analyses carried out on the large faults suggest a simple fault zone in the chalk with marl units with fracture density/connectivity decreasing towards the protolith. Where marls are absent, density is high throughout the fault zone, while connectivity is high only in domains nearest the fault core. We suggest that fluid flow in fractured chalk is especially influenced by the presence of marls. When present, it can smear onto fault planes, forming localised barriers. Fluid flow along relatively large displacement faults is additionally controlled by the complexity of the fault zone, especially the size/geometry of weakly and intensely connected damage zone domains.

Analysis of a Complex Faulted CO 2 Reservoir Using a Three-dimensional Hydro-geochemical-Mechanical Approach

DOE PAGES

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Bacon, Diana H.; ...

2017-08-18

This work applies a three-dimensional (3D) multiscale approach recently developed to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults. The approach couples the STOMP-CO2-R code for flow and reactive transport modeling to the ABAQUS ® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. The objective is to examine the coupled hydro-geochemical-mechanical impact on the risk of hydraulic fracture and fault slip in a complex and representative CO 2 reservoir that contains two nearly parallel faults. STOMP-CO2-R/ABAQUS ® coupled analyses of this reservoir are performed assuming extensional and compressional stress regimesmore » to predict evolutions of fluid pressure, stress and strain distributions as well as potential fault failure and leakage of CO 2 along the fault damage zones. The tendency for the faults to slip and pressure margin to fracture are examined in terms of stress regime, mineral composition, crack distributions in the fault damage zones and geomechanical properties. Here, this model in combination with a detailed description of the faults helps assess the coupled hydro-geochemical-mechanical effect.« less

Analysis of a Complex Faulted CO 2 Reservoir Using a Three-dimensional Hydro-geochemical-Mechanical Approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Bacon, Diana H.

This work applies a three-dimensional (3D) multiscale approach recently developed to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults. The approach couples the STOMP-CO2-R code for flow and reactive transport modeling to the ABAQUS ® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. The objective is to examine the coupled hydro-geochemical-mechanical impact on the risk of hydraulic fracture and fault slip in a complex and representative CO 2 reservoir that contains two nearly parallel faults. STOMP-CO2-R/ABAQUS ® coupled analyses of this reservoir are performed assuming extensional and compressional stress regimesmore » to predict evolutions of fluid pressure, stress and strain distributions as well as potential fault failure and leakage of CO 2 along the fault damage zones. The tendency for the faults to slip and pressure margin to fracture are examined in terms of stress regime, mineral composition, crack distributions in the fault damage zones and geomechanical properties. Here, this model in combination with a detailed description of the faults helps assess the coupled hydro-geochemical-mechanical effect.« less

Slip rate on the San Diego trough fault zone, inner California Borderland, and the 1986 Oceanside earthquake swarm revisited

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryan, Holly F.; Conrad, James E.; Paull, C.K.; McGann, Mary

2012-01-01

The San Diego trough fault zone (SDTFZ) is part of a 90-km-wide zone of faults within the inner California Borderland that accommodates motion between the Pacific and North American plates. Along with most faults offshore southern California, the slip rate and paleoseismic history of the SDTFZ are unknown. We present new seismic reflection data that show that the fault zone steps across a 5-km-wide stepover to continue for an additional 60 km north of its previously mapped extent. The 1986 Oceanside earthquake swarm is located within the 20-km-long restraining stepover. Farther north, at the latitude of Santa Catalina Island, the SDTFZ bends 20° to the west and may be linked via a complex zone of folds with the San Pedro basin fault zone (SPBFZ). In a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), we measure and date the coseismic offset of a submarine channel that intersects the fault zone near the SDTFZ–SPBFZ junction. We estimate a horizontal slip rate of about 1:5 0:3 mm=yr over the past 12,270 yr.

Width of the Surface Rupture Zone for Thrust Earthquakes and Implications for Earthquake Fault Zoning: Chi-Chi 1999 and Wenchuan 2008 Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boncio, P.; Caldarella, M.

2016-12-01

We analyze the zones of coseismic surface faulting along thrust faults, whit the aim of defining the most appropriate criteria for zoning the Surface Fault Rupture Hazard (SFRH) along thrust faults. Normal and strike-slip faults were deeply studied in the past, while thrust faults were not studied with comparable attention. We analyze the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan (Mw 7.6) and 2008 Wenchuan, China (Mw 7.9) earthquakes. Several different types of coseismic fault scarps characterize the two earthquakes, depending on the topography, fault geometry and near-surface materials. For both the earthquakes, we collected from the literature, or measured in GIS-georeferenced published maps, data about the Width of the coseismic Rupture Zone (WRZ). The frequency distribution of WRZ compared to the trace of the main fault shows that the surface ruptures occur mainly on and near the main fault. Ruptures located away from the main fault occur mainly in the hanging wall. Where structural complexities are present (e.g., sharp bends, step-overs), WRZ is wider then for simple fault traces. We also fitted the distribution of the WRZ dataset with probability density functions, in order to define a criterion to remove outliers (e.g., by selecting 90% or 95% probability) and define the zone where the probability of SFRH is the highest. This might help in sizing the zones of SFRH during seismic microzonation (SM) mapping. In order to shape zones of SFRH, a very detailed earthquake geologic study of the fault is necessary. In the absence of such a very detailed study, during basic (First level) SM mapping, a width of 350-400 m seems to be recommended (95% of probability). If the fault is carefully mapped (higher level SM), one must consider that the highest SFRH is concentrated in a narrow zone, 50 m-wide, that should be considered as a "fault-avoidance (or setback) zone". These fault zones should be asymmetric. The ratio of footwall to hanging wall (FW:HW) calculated here ranges from 1:5 to 1:3.

A method and example of seismically imaging near‐surface fault zones in geologically complex areas using Vp, Vs, and their ratios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Catchings, Rufus D.; Rymer, Michael J.; Goldman, Mark R.; Sickler, Robert R.; Criley, Coyn J.

2014-01-01

The determination of near‐surface (vadose zone and slightly below) fault locations and geometries is important because assessment of ground rupture, strong shaking, geologic slip rates, and rupture histories occurs at shallow depths. However, seismic imaging of fault zones at shallow depths can be difficult due to near‐surface complexities, such as weathering, groundwater saturation, massive (nonlayered) rocks, and vertically layered strata. Combined P‐ and S‐wave seismic‐refraction tomography data can overcome many of the near‐surface, fault‐zone seismic‐imaging problems because of differences in the responses of elastic (bulk and shear) moduli of P and S waves to shallow‐depth, fault‐zone properties. We show that high‐resolution refraction tomography images of P‐ to S‐wave velocity ratios (VP/VS) can reliably identify near‐surface faults. We demonstrate this method using tomography images of the San Andreas fault (SAF) surface‐rupture zone associated with the 18 April 1906 ∼M 7.9 San Francisco earthquake on the San Francisco peninsula in California. There, the SAF cuts through Franciscan mélange, which consists of an incoherent assemblage of greywacke, chert, greenstone, and serpentinite. A near‐vertical zone (∼75° northeast dip) of high P‐wave velocities (up to 3000  m/s), low S‐wave velocities (∼150–600  m/s), high VP/VS ratios (4–8.8), and high Poisson’s ratios (0.44–0.49) characterizes the main surface‐rupture zone to a depth of about 20 m and is consistent with nearby trench observations. We suggest that the combined VP/VSimaging approach can reliably identify most near‐surface fault zones in locations where many other seismic methods cannot be applied.

Deformation associated with the Ste. Genevieve fault zone and mid-continent tectonics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schultz, A.; Baker, G.S.; Harrison, R.W.

1992-01-01

The Ste. Genevieve fault is a northwest-trending deformation zone on the northeast edge of the Ozark Dome in Missouri. The fault has been described as a high-angle block fault resulting from vertical uplift of Proterozoic basement rocks, and also as a left-lateral, strike-slip or transpressive wrench fault associated with the Reelfoot rift. Recent mapping across the fault zone documents significant changes in the style of deformation along strike, including variations in the number and the spacing of fault strands, changes in the orientation of rocks within and adjacent to the fault zone, and changes in the direction of stratigraphic offsetmore » between different fault slices. These data are inconsistent with existing Ste. Genevieve models of monoclinal folding over basement upthrusts. Mesoscopic structural analysis of rocks in and near the fault zone indicates highly deformed noncylindrical folds, faults with normal, reverse, oblique, and strike-slip components of movement, and complex joint systems. Fabric orientation, calcite shear fibers, and slickensides indicate that the majority of these mesoscopic structures are kinematically related to left-lateral oblique slip with the southwest side up. Within the fault zone are highly fractured rocks, microscopic to coarse-grained carbonate breccia, and siliciclastic cataclasite. Microscopic deformation includes twinning in carbonate rocks, deformation banding, undulose extinction, and strain-induced polygonization in quartz, tectonic stylolites, extension veining, microfractures, and grain-scale cataclasis. Data are consistent with models relating the Ste. Genevieve fault zone to left-lateral oblique slip possibly associated with New Madrid tectonism.« less

Microstructural and fabric characterization of brittle-ductile transitional deformation of middle crustal rocks along the Jinzhou detachment fault zone, Northeast China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Juyi; Jiang, Hao; Liu, Junlai

2017-04-01

Detachment fault zones (DFZs) of metamorphic core complexes generally root into the middle crust. Exhumed DFZs therefore generally demonstrate structural, microstructural and fabric features characteristic of middle to upper crustal deformation. The Jinzhou detachment fault zone from the Liaonan metamorphic core complex is characterized by the occurrence of a sequence of fault rocks due to progressive shearing along the fault zone during exhumation of the lower plate. From the exhumed fabric zonation, cataclastic rocks formed in the upper crust occur near the Jinzhou master detachment fault, and toward the lower plate gradually changed to mylonites, mylonitic gneisses and migmatitic gneisses. Correspondingly, these fault rocks have various structural, microstructural and fabric characteristics that were formed by different deformation and recrystallization mechanisms from middle to upper crustal levels. At the meanwhile, various structural styles for strain localization were formed in the DFZ. As strain localization occurs, rapid changes in deformation mechanisms are attributed to increases in strain rates or involvement of fluid phases during the brittle-ductile shearing. Optical microscopic studies reveal that deformed quartz aggregates in the lower part of the detachment fault zone are characterized by generation of dynamically recrystallized grains via SGR and BLG recrystallization. Quartz rocks from the upper part of the DFZ have quartz porphyroclasts in a matrix of very fine recrystallized grains. The porphyroclasts have mantles of sub-grains and margins grain boundary bulges. Electron backscattered diffraction technique (EBSD) quartz c-axis fabric analysis suggests that quartz grain aggregates from different parts of the DFZ possess distinct fabric complexities. The c-axis fabrics of deformed quartz aggregates from mylonitic rocks in the lower part of the detachment fault zone preserve Y-maxima which are ascribed to intermediate temperature deformation (500-630˚ C), whereas complicated fabric patterns (e.g. asymmetric single girdles) are formed in fault rocks from the upper part of the DFZ. The increasing fabric complexity is here interpreted as the result of progressive superposition of fault rocks by shearing either at relatively shallow levels or high rate of strain, during exhumation of the lower plate and shear zone rocks. The above observations and interpretations imply that dislocation creep processes contribute to the dynamic recrystallization of quartz in the middle crustal brittle-ductile transition. Progressive shearing as a consequence of exhumation of the lower plate of the MCC contributed to the obvious structural, microstructural and fabric superpositions. Strain localization occurs as the progressive shearing proceeded. Transition of mechanisms of deformation and dynamic recrystallization during strain localization may be resulted from changes in temperature conditions, in strain rates or addition of minor amount water.

Old stories and lost pieces of the Eastern Mediterranean puzzle: a new approach to the tectonic evolution of the Western Anatolia and the Aegean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaltırak, Cenk; Engin Aksu, Ali; Hall, Jeremy; Elitez, İrem

2015-04-01

During the last 20 or so years, the tectonic evolution of Aegean Sea and Western Anatolia has been dominantly explained by back-arc extension and escape tectonics along the North Anatolian Fault. Various datasets have been considered in the construction of general tectonic models, including the geometry of fault patterns, paleomagnetic data, extensional directions of the core complexes, characteristic changes in magmatism and volcanism, the different sense of Miocene rotation between the opposite sides of the Aegean Sea, and the stratigraphy and position of the Miocene and Pliocene-Quaternary basins. In these models, the roles of the Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone, the Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone, the Anaximander Mountains and Isparta Angle have almost never been taken into consideration. The holistic evaluation of numerous land and marine researches in the Aegean Sea and western Anatolia suggest the following evolutionary stages: 1. during the early Miocene, Greece and western Anatolia were deformed under the NE-SW extensional tectonics associated with the back-arc extension, when core complexes and supra-detachment basins developed, 2. following the collision of the Anaximander Mountains and western Anatolia in early Miocene , the Isparta Angle locked this side of the western arc by generating a triangle-shaped compressional structure, 3. while the Isparta Angle penetrated into the Anatolia, the NE-striking Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone in the west and NW-striking Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone in the north developed along the paleo-tectonic zones , 4. the formation of these two tectonic structures allowed the counterclockwise rotation of the western Anatolia in the middle Miocene and this rotation removed the effect of the back-arc extension on the western Anatolian Block, 5. the counterclockwise rotation developed with the early westward escape of the Western Anatolian reached up to 35-40o and Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone created a total dextral displacement of about 200 km. Therefore the original NE-SW extension records on the core complexes rotated to the N-S orientation and replace 45o in reference to the core complexes in Greece, 6. During this stage, the left-lateral shear along the Burdur-Fethiye Shear Zone indicates the southern part of the counterclockwise rotation. 7. The North Anatolian Fault started to form as the result of the collision of the Arabian Microplate and the Eurasian Plate in the late Miocene. This continental transform fault propagated into the Marmara Region in the late Pliocene. Its late westward escape by cutting the Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone on three points generates its transportation through Trakya-Eskişehir Fault Zone splays. 8. During the Miocene, while Greece was rotating 20o clockwise and continuing to be shaped by the NW-SE normal faults, which were formed as a result of back-arc tectonic, the late westward escape of the Anatolia changed the orientation of the NEE-SWW striking oblique-extensional fault-controlled Miocene basins to NE-SW direction. The rotational E-W basins, which had developed by the North Anatolian Fault tectonics, superimposed with these Miocene basins .

The influence of a reverse-reactivated normal fault on natural fracture geometries and relative chronologies at Castle Cove, Otway Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Debenham, Natalie; King, Rosalind C.; Holford, Simon P.

2018-07-01

Despite the ubiquity of normal faults that have undergone compressional inversion, documentation of the structural history of natural fractures around these structures is limited. In this paper, we investigate the geometries and relative chronologies of natural fractures adjacent to a reverse-reactivated normal fault, the Castle Cove Fault in the Otway Basin, southeast Australia. Local variations in strain resulted in greater deformation within the fault damage zone closer to the fault. Structural mapping within the damage zone reveals a complex tectonic history recording both regional and local perturbations in stress and a total of 11 fracture sets were identified, with three sets geometrically related to the Castle Cove Fault. The remaining fracture sets formed in response to local stresses at Castle Cove. Rifting in the late Cretaceous resulted in normal movement of the Castle Cove Fault and associated rollover folding, and the formation of the largest fracture set. Reverse-reactivation of the fault and associated anticlinal folding occurred during late Miocene to Pliocene compression. Rollover folding may have provided structural traps if seals were not breached by fractures, however anticlinal folding likely post-dated the main episodes of hydrocarbon generation and migration in the region. This study highlights the need to conduct careful reconstruction of the structural histories of fault zones that experienced complex reactivation histories when attempting to define off-fault fluid flow properties.

How can fluid overpressures be developed and maintained in crustal fault zones ?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LECLÈRE, H.; Cappa, F.; Faulkner, D. R.; Armitage, P. J.; Blake, O. O.; Fabbri, O.

2013-12-01

The presence of fluid overpressure in crustal fault zones is known to play a key role on the stability of faults and it has often been invoked to explain the triggering of earthquakes and the apparent weakness of misoriented faults. However, the mechanisms allowing the development and maintenance of fluid overpressures in fault remain unresolved. We investigate how fluid overpressures can be developed and maintained in complex fault zones with hydraulic and elastic heterogeneities. Here we address this question combining geological observations, laboratory experiments and hydromechanical models of an active crustal fault zone in the Ubaye-Argentera area (southeastern France). The fault zone studied is located in the Argentera external crystalline massif and is connected to regional NW-SE steeply-dipping dextral strike-slip faults with an offset of several kilometers. The fault zone cuts through migmatitic gneisses composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite and muscovite. It exposes several anastomosing core zones surrounded by damage zones with a pluri-decametric total width. The core zones are made up of centimetric to pluridecimetric phyllosilicate-rich gouge layers while the damage zones are composed of pluri-metric phyllonitic rock derived from mylonite. The determination of fault structure in the field and its hydraulic and mechanical properties in the lab are key aspects to improve our understanding of the role of fluids in fault mechanics and earthquake triggering. Here, the permeability and elastic moduli of the host rock, damage zone and fault core were measured from natural plugs with a diameter of 20 mm and lengths between 26 to 51 mm, using a high-pressure hydrostatic fluid-flow apparatus. Measurements were made with confining pressures ranging from 30 to 210 MPa and using argon pore fluid pressure of 20 MPa. Data show a reduction of the permeability values of one order of magnitude between host rock and fault damage zone and a decrease of 50% of the elastic properties between host rock and core zone. Data also show a higher dependence of the permeability on the effective pressure for the host rock compared with the damage zone and core zone. This heterogeneity of properties is related to the development of different microstructures such as microcracks, S-C structures and microbreccia across the fault zone achieved during the tectonic history of the fault. From these physical property values and the fault zone architecture, we then analyzed the effects of sudden mechanical loading approximating to static normal-stress transfer following an earthquake on a neighbouring fault, on the development of fluid overpressures. A series of 1-D hydromechanical numerical models was used to show that sudden normal stress increase is a viable mechanism for fluid overpressuring in the studied fault-zone. The models also showed that fluid overpressures can be temporarily maintained in the studied fault zone and that the maintenance of fluid overpressures is controlled by the structure and fluid-flow properties of the fault zone.

Metamorphic P-T conditions across the Chugach Metamorphic Complex (Alaska)—A record of focussed exhumation during transpression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruand, Emilie; Gasser, Deta; Stüwe, Kurt

2014-03-01

The Chugach Metamorphic Complex (CMC) is a large high-grade metamorphic complex that developed in the Eocene within the Chugach accretionary complex along the margin of Alaska where subduction is still ongoing. The CMC has a conspicuous asymmetric structure with a migmatitic zone flanked in the north and west by amphibolite facies schists and in the south by a metabasite belt. To the north and south, major, crustal-scale fault zones juxtapose the Chugach terrane against much lower-grade and less-deformed sequences belonging to different terranes. Curiously these crustal-scale structures are known to have largely strike slip motion posing the question as to the nature of the exhumation of the high-grade complex between them. However, P-T conditions which would allow an estimation of the amount of exhumation were lacking for large parts of the complex. This paper presents petrographic descriptions, biotite-garnet thermometry, RSCM thermometry, average P-T calculations and pseudosection modelling from three major across-strike transects covering the complex from west to south-east. Our results reveal that, both temperature and pressure vary substantially across the complex. More specifically, peak metamorphic conditions evolve from 4-7 kbar and ~ 550-650 °C in the northern schist zone to 5-11 kbar and ~ 650-750 °C in the migmatite zone in the south of the complex. The higher pressure estimates in the south of the complex indicate that focussed exhumation must have occurred in this area and was probably initiated by the subduction of a high topographic relief (intra-oceanic arc or ridge subduction) and the accretion of the metabasite belt in the south. Exhumation of the CMC occurred in an overall transpressive strain regime, with strike-slip deformation concentrated along the northern Border Range fault zone and thrusting and exhumation focussed within the southern migmatite zone and splay faults of the Contact fault zone. The T/P ratios in the southern migmatite zone indicate that the thermal perturbation of the migmatites is less than previously inferred. These new results, associated with the structural data and the accretion of a metabasite belt in the south of the complex, seem incompatible with the existing ridge-subduction models.

Deformation processes and weakening mechanisms within the frictional viscous transition zone of major crustal-scale faults: insights from the Great Glen Fault Zone, Scotland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, M.; Holdsworth, R. E.; Strachan, R. A.

2000-05-01

The Great Glen Fault Zone (GGFZ), Scotland, is a typical example of a crustal-scale, reactivated strike-slip fault within the continental crust. Analysis of intensely strained fault rocks from the core of the GGFZ near Fort William provides a unique insight into the nature of deformation associated with the main phase of (sinistral) movements along the fault zone. In this region, an exhumed sequence of complex mid-crustal deformation textures that developed in the region of the frictional-viscous transition (ca. 8-15 km depth) is preserved. Fault rock fabrics vary from mylonitic in quartzites to cataclastic in micaceous shear zones and feldspathic psammites. Protolith mineralogy exerted a strong control on the initial textural development and distribution of the fault rocks. At lower strains, crystal-plastic deformation occurred in quartz-dominated lithologies to produce mylonites simultaneously with widespread fracturing and cataclasis in feldspar- and mica-dominated rocks. At higher strains, shearing appears to increasingly localise into interconnected networks of cataclastic shear zones, many of which are strongly foliated. Textures indicative of fluid-assisted diffusive mass transfer mechanisms are widespread in such regions and suggest that a hydrous fluid-assisted, grainsize-controlled switch in deformation behaviour followed the brittle comminution of grains. The fault zone textural evolution implies that a strain-induced, fluid-assisted shallowing and narrowing of the frictional-viscous transition occurred with increasing strain. It is proposed that this led to an overall weakening of the fault zone and that equivalent processes may occur along many other long-lived, crustal-scale dislocations.

Kinematic evolution of the Maacama Fault Zone, Northern California Coast Ranges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, Rick D.

The Maacama Fault Zone (MFZ) is a major component of the Pacific-North American transform boundary in northern California, and its distribution of deformation and kinematic evolution defines that of a young continental transform boundary. The USGS Quaternary database (2010) currently defines the MFZ as a relatively narrow fault zone; however, a cluster analysis of microearthquakes beneath the MFZ defines a wider fault zone, composed of multiple seismogenically active faults. The surface projection of best-fit tabular zones through foci clusters correlates with previously interpreted faults that were assumed inactive. New investigations further delineate faults within the MFZ based on geomorphic features and shallow resistivity surveys, and these faults are interpreted to be part of several active pull-apart fault systems. The location of faults and changes in their geometry in relation to geomorphic features, indicate >8 km of cumulative dextral displacement across the eastern portion of the MFZ at Little Lake Valley, which includes other smaller offsets on fault strands in the valley. Some faults within the MFZ have geometries consistent with reactivated subduction-related reverse faults, and project near outcrops of pre-existing faults, filled with mechanically weak minerals. The mechanical behavior of fault zones is influenced by the spatial distribution and abundance of mechanically weak lithologies and mineralogies within the heterogeneous Franciscan melange that the MFZ displaces. This heterogeneity is characterized near Little Lake Valley (LLV) using remotely sensed data, field mapping, and wellbore data, and is composed of 2--5 km diameter disk-shaped coherent blocks that can be competent and resist deformation. Coherent blocks and the melange that surrounds them are the source for altered minerals that fill portions of fault zones. Mechanically weak minerals in pre-existing fault zones, identified by X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analyses, are interpreted as a major reason for complex configurations of clusters of microearthquakes and zones of aseismic creep along the MFZ. Analysis of the kinematics of the MFZ and the distribution of its deformation is important because it improves the understanding of young stages of transform system evolution, which has implications that affect issues ranging from seismic hazard to petroleum and minerals exploration around the world.

The May 29 2008 earthquake aftershock sequence within the South Iceland Seismic Zone: Fault locations and source parameters of aftershocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandsdottir, B.; Parsons, M.; White, R. S.; Gudmundsson, O.; Drew, J.

2010-12-01

The mid-Atlantic plate boundary breaks up into a series of segments across Iceland. The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is a complex transform zone where left-lateral E-W shear between the Reykjanes Peninsula Rift Zone and the Eastern Volcanic Zone is accommodated by bookshelf faulting along N-S lateral strike-slip faults. The SISZ is also a transient feature, migrating sideways in response to the southward propagation of the Eastern Volcanic Zone. Sequences of large earthquakes (M > 6) lasting from days to years and affecting most of the seismic zone have occurred repeatedly in historical time (last 1100 years), separated by intervals of relative quiescence lasting decades to more than a century. On May 29 2008, a Mw 6.1 earthquake struck the western part of the South Iceland Seismic Zone, followed within seconds by a slightly smaller event on a second fault ~5 km further west. Aftershocks, detected by a temporal array of 11 seismometers and three permanent Icelandic Meteorological Office stations were located using an automated Coalescence Microseismic Mapping technique. The epicenters delineate two major and several smaller N-S faults as well as an E-W zone of activity stretching further west into the Reykjanes Peninsula Rift Zone. Fault plane solutions show both right lateral and oblique strike slip mechanisms along the two major N-S faults. The aftershocks deepen from 3-5 km in the north to 8-9 km in the south, suggesting that the main faults dip southwards. The faulting is interpreted to be driven by the local stress due to transform motion between two parallel segments of the divergent plate boundary crossing Iceland.

Two-dimensional seismic image of the San Andreas Fault in the Northern Gabilan Range, central California: Evidence for fluids in the fault zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thurber, C.; Roecker, S.; Ellsworth, W.; Chen, Y.; Lutter, W.; Sessions, R.

1997-01-01

A joint inversion for two-dimensional P-wave velocity (Vp), P-to-S velocity ratio (Vp/Vs), and earthquake locations along the San Andreas fault (SAF) in central California reveals a complex relationship among seismicity, fault zone structure, and the surface fault trace. A zone of low Vp and high Vp/Vs lies beneath the SAF surface trace (SAFST), extending to a depth of about 6 km. Most of the seismic activity along the SAF occurs at depths of 3 to 7 km in a southwest-dipping zone that roughly intersects the SAFST, and lies near the southwest edge of the low Vp and high Vp/Vs zones. Tests indicate that models in which this seismic zone is significantly closer to vertical can be confidently rejected. A second high Vp/Vs zone extends to the northeast, apparently dipping beneath the Diablo Range. Another zone of seismicity underlies the northeast portion of this Vp/Vs high. The high Vp/Vs zones cut across areas of very different Vp values, indicating that the high Vp/Vs values are due to the presence of fluids, not just lithology. The close association between the zones of high Vp/Vs and seismicity suggests a direct involvement of fluids in the faulting process. Copyright 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.

Character of High Temperature Mylonitic Shear Zones Associated with Oceanic Detachment Faults at the Ultra-Slow Mid-Cayman Rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marr, C.; John, B. E.; Cheadle, M. J.; German, C. R.

2014-12-01

Two well-preserved core complexes at the Mid-Cayman Rise (MCR), Mt Dent and Mt Hudson, provide an opportunity to examine the deformation history and rheology of detachment faults at an ultra-slow spreading ridge. Samples from the CAYTROUGH (1976-77) project and the Nautilus NA034 cruise (2013) were selected for detailed petrographic and microstructural study. Surface samples from Mt. Dent (near the center of the MCR) provide insight into lateral variation in footwall rock type and deformation history across a core complex in both the across and down dip directions. In contrast, sampling of Mt. Hudson (SE corner of the MCR) focuses on a high-angle, crosscutting normal fault scarp, which provides a cross section of the detachment fault system. Sampling across Mt Dent reveals that the footwall is composed of heterogeneously-distributed gabbro (47%) and peridotite (20%) with basaltic cover (33%) dominating the top of the core complex. Sampling of Mt Hudson is restricted to the normal fault scarp cutting the core complex and suggests the interior is dominated by gabbro (85% gabbro, 11% peridotite, 4% basalt). At Mt. Dent, peridotite is exposed within ~4km of the breakaway indicating that the Mt. Dent detachment does not cut Penrose-style oceanic crust. The sample set provides evidence of a full down-temperature sequence of detachment related-fault rocks, from possible granulite and clear amphibolite mylonitizatization to prehnite-pumpellyite brittle deformation. Both detachments show low-temperature brittle deformation overprinting higher temperature plastic fabrics. Fe-Ti oxide gabbro mylonites dominate the sample set, and plastic deformation of plagioclase is recorded in samples collected as near as ~4km from the inferred breakaway along the southern flank of Mt. Dent, suggesting the brittle-plastic transition was initially at ~3km depth. Recovered samples suggest strain associated with both detachment systems is localized into discrete mylonitic shear zones (~1-10cm thick), implying that the plastic portion of the fault consists of a broad zone of thin, anastomosing shear zones. Concentrations of Ti-rich magmatic hornblende and interstitial Fe-Ti oxides in the high strain horizons are consistent with the lowermost part of the fault(s) localizing in the margins of the mush zone of a shallow magma chamber.

Structural styles of Paleozoic intracratonic fault reactivation: A case study of the Grays Point fault zone in southeastern Missouri, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clendenin, C.W.; Diehl, S.F.

1999-01-01

A pronounced, subparallel set of northeast-striking faults occurs in southeastern Missouri, but little is known about these faults because of poor exposure. The Commerce fault system is the southernmost exposed fault system in this set and has an ancestry related to Reelfoot rift extension. Recent published work indicates that this fault system has a long history of reactivation. The northeast-striking Grays Point fault zone is a segment of the Commerce fault system and is well exposed along the southeast rim of an inactive quarry. Our mapping shows that the Grays Point fault zone also has a complex history of polyphase reactivation, involving three periods of Paleozoic reactivation that occurred in Late Ordovician, Devonian, and post-Mississippian. Each period is characterized by divergent, right-lateral oblique-slip faulting. Petrographic examination of sidwall rip-out clasts in calcite-filled faults associated with the Grays Point fault zone supports a minimum of three periods of right-lateral oblique-slip. The reported observations imply that a genetic link exists between intracratonic fault reactivation and strain produced by Paleozoic orogenies affecting the eastern margin of Laurentia (North America). Interpretation of this link indicate that right-lateral oblique-slip has occurred on all of the northeast-striking faults in southeastern Missouri as a result of strain influenced by the convergence directions of the different Paleozoic orogenies.

Fault geometries in basement-induced wrench faulting under different initial stress states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naylor, M. A.; Mandl, G.; Supesteijn, C. H. K.

Scaled sandbox experiments were used to generate models for relative ages, dip, strike and three-dimensional shape of faults in basement-controlled wrench faulting. The basic fault sequence runs from early en échelon Riedel shears and splay faults through 'lower-angle' shears to P shears. The Riedel shears are concave upwards and define a tulip structure in cross-section. In three dimensions, each Riedel shear has a helicoidal form. The sequence of faults and three-dimensional geometry are rationalized in terms of the prevailing stress field and Coulomb-Mohr theory of shear failure. The stress state in the sedimentary overburden before wrenching begins has a substantial influence on the fault geometries and on the final complexity of the fault zone. With the maximum compressive stress (∂ 1) initially parallel to the basement fault (transtension), Riedel shears are only slightly en échelon, sub-parallel to the basement fault, steeply dipping with a reduced helicoidal aspect. Conversely, with ∂ 1 initially perpendicular to the basement fault (transpression), Riedel shears are strongly oblique to the basement fault strike, have lower dips and an exaggerated helicoidal form; the final fault zone is both wide and complex. We find good agreement between the models and both mechanical theory and natural examples of wrench faulting.

Fine structure of the landers fault zone: Segmentation and the rupture process

USGS Publications Warehouse

Li, Y.-G.; Vidale, J.E.; Aki, K.; Marone, C.J.; Lee, W.H.K.

1994-01-01

Observations and modeling of 3- to 6-hertz seismic shear waves trapped within the fault zone of the 1992 Landers earthquake series allow the fine structure and continuity of the zone to be evaluated. The fault, to a depth of at least 12 kilometers, is marked by a zone 100 to 200 meters wide where shear velocity is reduced by 30 to 50 percent. This zone forms a seismic waveguide that extends along the southern 30 kilometers of the Landers rupture surface and ends at the fault bend about 18 kilometers north of the main shock epicenter. Another fault plane waveguide, disconnected from the first, exists along the northern rupture surface. These observations, in conjunction with surface slip, detailed seismicity patterns, and the progression of rupture along the fault, suggest that several simple rupture planes were involved in the Landers earthquake and that the inferred rupture front hesitated or slowed at the location where the rupture jumped from one to the next plane. Reduction in rupture velocity can tentatively be attributed to fault plane complexity, and variations in moment release can be attributed to variations in available energy.

The role of faulting on surface deformation patterns from pumping-induced groundwater flow (Las Vegas Valley, USA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Marin, Martin; Burbey, Thomas J.

2009-12-01

Land subsidence and earth fissuring can cause damage in semiarid urbanized valleys where pumping exceeds natural recharge. In places such as Las Vegas Valley (USA), Quaternary faults play an important role in the surface deformation patterns by constraining the migration of land subsidence and creating complex relationships with surface fissures. These fissures typically result from horizontal displacements that occur in zones where extensional stress derived from groundwater flow exceeds the tensile strength of the near-surface sediments. A series of hypothetical numerical models, using the finite-element code ABAQUS and based on the observed conditions of the Eglington Fault zone, were developed. The models reproduced the (1) long-term natural recharge and discharge, (2) heavy pumping and (3) incorporation of artificial recharge that reflects the conditions of Las Vegas Valley. The simulated hydrostratigraphy consists of three aquifers, two aquitards and a relatively dry vadose zone, plus a normal fault zone that reflects the Quaternary Eglington fault. Numerical results suggest that a 100-m-wide fault zone composed of sand-like material produces: (1) conditions most similar to those observed in Las Vegas Valley and (2) the most favorable conditions for the development of fissures to form on the surface adjacent to the fault zone.

Stratigraphic record of Pliocene-Pleistocene basin evolution and deformation within the Southern San Andreas Fault Zone, Mecca Hills, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNabb, James C.; Dorsey, Rebecca J.; Housen, Bernard A.; Dimitroff, Cassidy W.; Messé, Graham T.

2017-11-01

A thick section of Pliocene-Pleistocene nonmarine sedimentary rocks exposed in the Mecca Hills, California, provides a record of fault-zone evolution along the Coachella Valley segment of the San Andreas fault (SAF). Geologic mapping, measured sections, detailed sedimentology, and paleomagnetic data document a 3-5 Myr history of deformation and sedimentation in this area. SW-side down offset on the Painted Canyon fault (PCF) starting 3.7 Ma resulted in deposition of the Mecca Conglomerate southwest of the fault. The lower member of the Palm Spring Formation accumulated across the PCF from 3.0 to 2.6 Ma during regional subsidence. SW-side up slip on the PCF and related transpressive deformation from 2.6 to 2.3 Ma created a time-transgressive angular unconformity between the lower and upper members of the Palm Spring Formation. The upper member accumulated in discrete fault-bounded depocenters until initiation of modern deformation, uplift, and basin inversion starting at 0.7 Ma. Some spatially restricted deposits can be attributed to the evolution of fault-zone geometric complexities. However, the deformation events at ca. 2.6 Ma and 0.7 Ma are recorded regionally along 80 km of the SAF through Coachella Valley, covering an area much larger than mapped fault-zone irregularities, and thus require regional explanations. We therefore conclude that late Cenozoic deformation and sedimentation along the SAF in Coachella Valley has been controlled by a combination of regional tectonic drivers and local deformation due to dextral slip through fault-zone complexities. We further propose a kinematic link between the 2.6-2.3 Ma angular unconformity and a previously documented but poorly dated reorganization of plate-boundary faults in the northern Gulf of California at 3.3-2.0 Ma. This analysis highlights the potential for high-precision chronologies in deformed terrestrial deposits to provide improved understanding of local- to regional-scale structural controls on basin formation and deformation along an active transform margin.

Late Quaternary Faulting in Southeastern Louisiana: A Natural Laboratory for Understanding Shallow Faulting in Deltaic Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawers, N. H.; McLindon, C.

2017-12-01

A synthesis of late Quaternary faults within the Mississippi River deltaic plain aims to provide a more accurate assessment of regional and local fault architecture, and interactions between faulting, sediment loading, salt withdrawal and compaction. This effort was initiated by the New Orleans Geological Society and has resulted in access to industry 3d seismic reflection data, as well as fault trace maps, and various types of well data and biostratigraphy. An unexpected outgrowth of this project is a hypothesis that gravity-driven normal faults in deltaic settings may be good candidates for shallow aseismic and slow-slip phenomena. The late Quaternary fault population is characterized by several large, highly segmented normal fault arrays: the Baton Rouge-Tepetate fault zone, the Lake Pontchartrain-Lake Borgne fault zone, the Golden Meadow fault zone (GMFZ), and a major counter-regional salt withdrawal structure (the Bay Marchand-Timbalier Bay-Caillou Island salt complex and West Delta fault zone) that lies just offshore of southeastern Louisiana. In comparison to the other, more northerly fault zones, the GMFZ is still significantly salt-involved. Salt structures segment the GMFZ with fault tips ending near or within salt, resulting in highly localized fault and compaction related subsidence separated by shallow salt structures, which are inherently buoyant and virtually incompressible. At least several segments within the GMFZ are characterized by marsh breaks that formed aseismically over timescales of days to months, such as near Adams Bay and Lake Enfermer. One well-documented surface rupture adjacent to a salt dome propagated over a 3 day period in 1943. We suggest that Louisiana's coastal faults make excellent analogues for deltaic faults in general, and propose that a series of positive feedbacks keep them active in the near surface. These include differential sediment loading and compaction, weak fault zone materials, high fluid pressure, low elastic stiffness in surrounding materials, and low confining pressure.

Geologic and structural controls on rupture zone fabric: A field-based study of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake surface rupture

USGS Publications Warehouse

Teran, Orlando; Fletcher, John L.; Oskin, Michael; Rockwell, Thomas; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Spelz, Ronald; Akciz, Sinan; Hernandez-Flores, Ana Paula; Morelan, Alexander

2015-01-01

We systematically mapped (scales >1:500) the surface rupture of the 4 April 2010 Mw (moment magnitude) 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake through the Sierra Cucapah (Baja California, northwestern Mexico) to understand how faults with similar structural and lithologic characteristics control rupture zone fabric, which is here defined by the thickness, distribution, and internal configuration of shearing in a rupture zone. Fault zone thickness and master fault dip are strongly correlated with many parameters of rupture zone fabric. Wider fault zones produce progressively wider rupture zones and both of these parameters increase systematically with decreasing dip of master faults, which varies from 20° to 90° in our dataset. Principal scarps that accommodate more than 90% of the total coseismic slip in a given transect are only observed in fault sections with narrow rupture zones (<25 m). As rupture zone thickness increases, the number of scarps in a given transect increases, and the scarp with the greatest relative amount of coseismic slip decreases. Rupture zones in previously undeformed alluvium become wider and have more complex arrangements of secondary fractures with oblique slip compared to those with pure normal dip-slip or pure strike-slip. Field relations and lidar (light detection and ranging) difference models show that as magnitude of coseismic slip increases from 0 to 60 cm, the links between kinematically distinct fracture sets increase systematically to the point of forming a throughgoing principal scarp. Our data indicate that secondary faults and penetrative off-fault strain continue to accommodate the oblique kinematics of coseismic slip after the formation of a thoroughgoing principal scarp. Among the widest rupture zones in the Sierra Cucapah are those developed above buried low angle faults due to the transfer of slip to widely distributed steeper faults, which are mechanically more favorably oriented. The results from this study show that the measureable parameters that define rupture zone fabric allow for testing hypotheses concerning the mechanics and propagation of earthquake ruptures, as well as for siting and designing facilities to be constructed in regions near active faults.

Ductile creep and compaction: A mechanism for transiently increasing fluid pressure in mostly sealed fault zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sleep, Norman H.; Blanpied, M.L.

1994-01-01

A simple cyclic process is proposed to explain why major strike-slip fault zones, including the San Andreas, are weak. Field and laboratory studies suggest that the fluid within fault zones is often mostly sealed from that in the surrounding country rock. Ductile creep driven by the difference between fluid pressure and lithostatic pressure within a fault zone leads to compaction that increases fluid pressure. The increased fluid pressure allows frictional failure in earthquakes at shear tractions far below those required when fluid pressure is hydrostatic. The frictional slip associated with earthquakes creates porosity in the fault zone. The cycle adjusts so that no net porosity is created (if the fault zone remains constant width). The fluid pressure within the fault zone reaches long-term dynamic equilibrium with the (hydrostatic) pressure in the country rock. One-dimensional models of this process lead to repeatable and predictable earthquake cycles. However, even modest complexity, such as two parallel fault splays with different pressure histories, will lead to complicated earthquake cycles. Two-dimensional calculations allowed computation of stress and fluid pressure as a function of depth but had complicated behavior with the unacceptable feature that numerical nodes failed one at a time rather than in large earthquakes. A possible way to remove this unphysical feature from the models would be to include a failure law in which the coefficient of friction increases at first with frictional slip, stabilizing the fault, and then decreases with further slip, destabilizing it. ?? 1994 Birkha??user Verlag.

Dynamic rupture simulations on complex fault zone structures with off-fault plasticity using the ADER-DG method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wollherr, Stephanie; Gabriel, Alice-Agnes; Igel, Heiner

2015-04-01

In dynamic rupture models, high stress concentrations at rupture fronts have to to be accommodated by off-fault inelastic processes such as plastic deformation. As presented in (Roten et al., 2014), incorporating plastic yielding can significantly reduce earlier predictions of ground motions in the Los Angeles Basin. Further, an inelastic response of materials surrounding a fault potentially has a strong impact on surface displacement and is therefore a key aspect in understanding the triggering of tsunamis through floor uplifting. We present an implementation of off-fault-plasticity and its verification for the software package SeisSol, an arbitrary high-order derivative discontinuous Galerkin (ADER-DG) method. The software recently reached multi-petaflop/s performance on some of the largest supercomputers worldwide and was a Gordon Bell prize finalist application in 2014 (Heinecke et al., 2014). For the nonelastic calculations we impose a Drucker-Prager yield criterion in shear stress with a viscous regularization following (Andrews, 2005). It permits the smooth relaxation of high stress concentrations induced in the dynamic rupture process. We verify the implementation by comparison to the SCEC/USGS Spontaneous Rupture Code Verification Benchmarks. The results of test problem TPV13 with a 60-degree dipping normal fault show that SeisSol is in good accordance with other codes. Additionally we aim to explore the numerical characteristics of the off-fault plasticity implementation by performing convergence tests for the 2D code. The ADER-DG method is especially suited for complex geometries by using unstructured tetrahedral meshes. Local adaptation of the mesh resolution enables a fine sampling of the cohesive zone on the fault while simultaneously satisfying the dispersion requirements of wave propagation away from the fault. In this context we will investigate the influence of off-fault-plasticity on geometrically complex fault zone structures like subduction zones or branched faults. Studying the interplay of stress conditions and angle dependence of neighbouring branches including inelastic material behaviour and its effects on rupture jumps and seismic activation helps to advance our understanding of earthquake source processes. An application is the simulation of a real large-scale subduction zone scenario including plasticity to validate the coupling of our dynamic rupture calculations to a tsunami model in the framework of the ASCETE project (http://www.ascete.de/). Andrews, D. J. (2005): Rupture dynamics with energy loss outside the slip zone, J. Geophys. Res., 110, B01307. Heinecke, A. (2014), A. Breuer, S. Rettenberger, M. Bader, A.-A. Gabriel, C. Pelties, A. Bode, W. Barth, K. Vaidyanathan, M. Smelyanskiy and P. Dubey: Petascale High Order Dynamic Rupture Earthquake Simulations on Heterogeneous Supercomputers. In Supercomputing 2014, The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis. IEEE, New Orleans, LA, USA, November 2014. Roten, D. (2014), K. B. Olsen, S.M. Day, Y. Cui, and D. Fäh: Expected seismic shaking in Los Angeles reduced by San Andreas fault zone plasticity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 2769-2777.

Tectonics of the Jemez Lineament in the Jemez Mountains and Rio Grande Rift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aldrich, M. J., Jr.

1986-02-01

The Jemez lineament is a NE trending crustal flaw that controlled volcanism and tectonism in the Jemez Mountains and the Rio Grande rift zone. The fault system associated with the lineament in the rift zone includes, from west to east, the Jemez fault zone southwest of the Valles-Toledo caldera complex, a series of NE trending faults on the resurgent dome in the Valles caldera, a structural discontinuity with a high fracture intensity in the NE Jemez Mountains, and the Embudo fault zone in the Española Basin. The active western boundary faulting of the Española Basin may have been restricted to the south side of the lineament since the mid-Miocene. The faulting apparently began on the Sierrita fault on the east side of the Nacimiento Mountains in the late Oligocene and stepped eastward in the early Miocene to the Canada de Cochiti fault zone. At the end of the Miocene (about 5 Ma) the active boundary faulting again stepped eastward to the Pajarito fault zone on the east side of the Jemez Mountains. The north end of the Pajarito fault terminates against the Jemez lineament at a point where it changes from a structural discontinuity (zone of high fracture intensity) on the west to the Embudo fault zone on the east. Major transcurrent movement occurred on the Embudo fault zone during the Pliocene and has continued at a much slower rate since then. The relative sense of displacement changes from right slip on the western part of the fault zone to left slip on the east. The kinematics of this faulting probably reflect the combined effects of faster spreading in the Española Basin than the area north of the lineament (Abiquiu embayment and San Luis Basin), the right step in the rift that juxtaposes the San Luis Basin against the Picuris Mountains, and counterclockwise rotation of various crustal blocks within the rift zone. No strike-slip displacements have occurred on the lineament in the central and eastern Jemez Mountains since at least the mid-Miocene, although movements on the still active Jemez fault zone, in the western Jemez Mountains, may have a significant strike-slip component. Basaltic volcanism was occurring in the Jemez Mountains at four discrete vent areas on the lineament between about 15 Ma and 10 Ma and possibly as late as 7 Ma, indicating that it was being extended during that time.

Complex rupture during the 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, G.P.; Briggs, R.W.; Sladen, A.; Fielding, E.J.; Prentice, C.; Hudnut, K.; Mann, P.; Taylor, F.W.; Crone, A.J.; Gold, R.; Ito, T.; Simons, M.

2010-01-01

Initially, the devastating Mw 7.0, 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake seemed to involve straightforward accommodation of oblique relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates along the Enriquillog-Plantain Garden fault zone. Here, we combine seismological observations, geologic field data and space geodetic measurements to show that, instead, the rupture process may have involved slip on multiple faults. Primary surface deformation was driven by rupture on blind thrust faults with only minor, deep, lateral slip along or near the main Enriquillog-Plantain Garden fault zone; thus the event only partially relieved centuries of accumulated left-lateral strain on a small part of the plate-boundary system. Together with the predominance of shallow off-fault thrusting, the lack of surface deformation implies that remaining shallow shear strain will be released in future surface-rupturing earthquakes on the Enriquillog-Plantain Garden fault zone, as occurred in inferred Holocene and probable historic events. We suggest that the geological signature of this earthquakeg-broad warping and coastal deformation rather than surface rupture along the main fault zoneg-will not be easily recognized by standard palaeoseismic studies. We conclude that similarly complex earthquakes in tectonic environments that accommodate both translation and convergenceg-such as the San Andreas fault through the Transverse Ranges of Californiag-may be missing from the prehistoric earthquake record. ?? 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Geological modeling of a fault zone in clay rocks at the Mont-Terri laboratory (Switzerland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kakurina, M.; Guglielmi, Y.; Nussbaum, C.; Valley, B.

2016-12-01

Clay-rich formations are considered to be a natural barrier for radionuclides or fluids (water, hydrocarbons, CO2) migration. However, little is known about the architecture of faults affecting clay formations because of their quick alteration at the Earth's surface. The Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory provides exceptional conditions to investigate an un-weathered, perfectly exposed clay fault zone architecture and to conduct fault activation experiments that allow explore the conditions for stability of such clay faults. Here we show first results from a detailed geological model of the Mont Terri Main Fault architecture, using GoCad software, a detailed structural analysis of 6 fully cored and logged 30-to-50m long and 3-to-15m spaced boreholes crossing the fault zone. These high-definition geological data were acquired within the Fault Slip (FS) experiment project that consisted in fluid injections in different intervals within the fault using the SIMFIP probe to explore the conditions for the fault mechanical and seismic stability. The Mont Terri Main Fault "core" consists of a thrust zone about 0.8 to 3m wide that is bounded by two major fault planes. Between these planes, there is an assembly of distinct slickensided surfaces and various facies including scaly clays, fault gouge and fractured zones. Scaly clay including S-C bands and microfolds occurs in larger zones at top and bottom of the Mail Fault. A cm-thin layer of gouge, that is known to accommodate high strain parts, runs along the upper fault zone boundary. The non-scaly part mainly consists of undeformed rock block, bounded by slickensides. Such a complexity as well as the continuity of the two major surfaces are hard to correlate between the different boreholes even with the high density of geological data within the relatively small volume of the experiment. This may show that a poor strain localization occurred during faulting giving some perspectives about the potential for reactivation and leakage of faults affecting clay materials.

Fault interaction and stresses along broad oceanic transform zone: Tjörnes Fracture Zone, north Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homberg, C.; Bergerat, F.; Angelier, J.; Garcia, S.

2010-02-01

Transform motion along oceanic transforms generally occurs along narrow faults zones. Another class of oceanic transforms exists where the plate boundary is quite large (˜100 km) and includes several subparallel faults. Using a 2-D numerical modeling, we simulate the slip distribution and the crustal stress field geometry within such broad oceanic transforms (BOTs). We examine the possible configurations and evolution of such BOTs, where the plate boundary includes one, two, or three faults. Our experiments show that at any time during the development of the plate boundary, the plate motion is not distributed along each of the plate boundary faults but mainly occurs along a single master fault. The finite width of a BOT results from slip transfer through time with locking of early faults, not from a permanent distribution of deformation over a wide area. Because of fault interaction, the stress field geometry within the BOTs is more complex than that along classical oceanic transforms and includes stress deflections close to but also away from the major faults. Application of this modeling to the 100 km wide Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in North Iceland, a major BOT of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that includes three main faults, suggests that the Dalvik Fault and the Husavik-Flatey Fault developed first, the Grismsey Fault being the latest active structure. Since initiation of the TFZ, the Husavik-Flatey Fault accommodated most of the plate motion and probably persists until now as the main plate structure.

Geomorphic evidence of Quaternary tectonics within an underlap fault zone of southern Apennines, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giano, Salvatore Ivo; Pescatore, Eva; Agosta, Fabrizio; Prosser, Giacomo

2018-02-01

A composite seismic source, the Irpinia - Agri Valley Fault zone, located in the axial sector of the fold-and-thrust belt of southern Apennines, Italy, is investigated. This composite source is made up of a series of nearly parallel, NW-striking normal fault segments which caused many historical earthquakes. Two of these fault segments, known as the San Gregorio Magno and Pergola-Melandro, and the fault-related mountain fronts, form a wedge-shaped, right-stepping, underlap fault zone. This work is aimed at documenting tectonic geomorphology and geology of this underlap fault zone. The goal is to decipher the evidence of surface topographic interaction between two bounding fault segments and their related mountain fronts. In particular, computation of geomorphic indices such as mountain front sinuosity (Smf), water divide sinuosity (Swd), asymmetry factor (AF), drainage basin elongation (Bs), relief ratio (Rh), Hypsometry (HI), normalized steepness (Ksn), and concavity (θ) is integrated with geomorphological analysis, the geological mapping, and structural analysis in order to assess the recent activity of the fault scarp sets recognized within the underlap zone. Results are consistent with the NW-striking faults as those showing the most recent tectonic activity, as also suggested by presence of related slope deposits younger than 38 ka. The results of this work therefore show how the integration of a multidisciplinary approach that combines geomorphology, morphometry, and structural analyses may be key to solving tectonic geomorphology issues in a complex, fold-and-thrust belt configuration.

The Fluid Flow Evolution During the Seismic Cycle Within Overpressured Fault Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Paola, Nicola; Vanhunen, Jeroen; Collettini, Cristiano; Faulkner, Dan

2010-05-01

The integration of seismic reflection profiles with well-located earthquakes shows that the mainshocks of the 1997 Umbria-Marche seismic sequence (Mw < 6) nucleated at about 6 km depth, within the Triassic Evaporites, a 2 km thick sequence made of interbedded anhydrites and dolostones. Two boreholes, drilled northwest of the epicentral area, encountered CO2 fluid overpressures at about 0.8 of the lithostatic load, at about 4 km depth. It has been proposed that the time-space evolution of the 1997 aftershock sequence, was driven by the coseismic release of trapped high-pressure fluids (lv = 0.8), within the Triassic Evaporites. In order to understand whether CO2 fluid overpressure can be maintained up to the coseismic period, and trigger earthquake nucleation, we modelled fluid flow through a mature fault zone within the Triassic Evaporites. We assume that fluid flow within the fault zone occurs in accord with the Darcy's Law. Under this condition, a near lithostatic pore pressure gradient can develop, within the fault zone, when the upward transport of fluid along the fault zone exceeds the fluid loss in a horizontal direction. Our model's parameters are: a) Fault zone structure: model inputs have been obtained from large fault zone analogues derived from field observation. The architecture of large fault zones within the TE is given by a distinct fault core, up to few meters thick, of very fine-grained fault rocks (cataclasites and fault gouge), where most of the shear strain has been accommodated, surrounded by a geometrically complex and heterogeneous damage zone (up to few tens of meters wide). The damage zone is characterized by adjacent zones of heavily fractured rocks (dolostones) and foliated rocks displaying little fracturing (anhydrites). b) Fault zone permeability: field data suggests that the permeability of the fault core is relatively low due to the presence of fine grained fault rocks (k < 10E-18 m2). The permeability of the dolostones, within the damage zone, is likely to be high and controlled by mesoscale fracture patterns (k > 10E-17 m2). For the anhydrites, the permeability and porosity development was continuously measured prior and throughout triaxial loading tests, performed on borehole samples. The permeability of the anhydrites within the damage zone, due to the absence of mesoscale fracture patterns within Ca-sulphates layers, has been assumed to be as low as the values measured during our lab experiments (k = 10E-17 - 10E-20 m2). Our model results show that, during the seismic cycle, the lateral fluid flux, across the fault zone, is always lower than the vertical parallel fluid flux. Under these conditions fluid overpressure within the fault zone can be sustained up to the coseismic period when earthquake nucleation occurs. Our modelling shows that during extensional loading, overpressured fault zones within the Triassic Evaporites may develop and act as asperities, i.e. they are mechanically weaker than faults within the overlain carbonates at hydrostatic (lv = 0.4) pore fluid pressure conditions.

The geothermal system of Caviahue-Copahue Volcanic Complex (Chile-Argentina): New insights from self-potential, soil CO2 degassing, temperature measurements and helium isotopes, with structural and fluid circulation implications.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roulleau, Emilie; Bravo, Francisco; Barde-Cabusson, Stephanie; Pizarro, Marcela; Muños, Carlos; Sanchez, Juan; Tardani, Daniele; Sano, Yuji; Takahata, Naoto; de Cal, Federico; Esteban, Carlos

2016-04-01

Geothermal systems represent natural heat transfer engines in a confined volume of rock which are strongly influenced by the regional volcano-tectonic setting controlling the formation of shallow magmatic reservoirs, and by the local faults/fracture network, that permits the development of hydrothermal circulation cells and promote the vertical migration of fluids and heat. In the Southern Volcanic Zone of Chile-Argentina, geothermal resources occur in close spatial relationship with active volcanism along the Cordillera which is primarily controlled by the 1000 km long, NNE Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone (LOFZ), an intra-arc dextral strike-slip fault system, associated with second-order intra-arc anisotropy of overall NE-SW (extensional) and NW-SE orientation (compressional). However there is still a lack of information on how fault network (NE and WNW strinking faults) and lithology control the fluid circulation. In this study, we propose new data of dense self-potential (SP), soil CO2 emanation and temperature (T) measurements within the geothermal area from Caviahue-Copahue Volcanic Complex (CCVC), coupled with helium isotopes ratios measured in fumaroles and thermal springs. We observe that inside the geothermal system the NE-striking faults, characterized by a combination of SP-CO2 and T maxima with high 3He/4He ratios (7.86Ra), promote the formation of high vertical permeability pathways for fluid circulation. Whereas, the WNW-striking faults represent low permeability pathways for hydrothermal fluids ascent associated with moderate 3He/4He ratios (5.34Ra), promoting the infiltration of meteoric water at shallow depth. These active zones are interspersed by SP-CO2- T minima, which represent self-sealed zones (e.g. impermeable altered rocks) at depth, creating a barrier inhibiting fluids rise. The NE-striking faults seem to be associated with the upflow zones of the geothermal system, where the boiling process produces a high vapor-dominated zone close to the surface. The WNW-striking faults seems to limit to the south the Copahue geothermal area.

Seismic and Tectonic Regionalization of the State of Michoacan.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazquez Rosas, R.; Aguirre, J.; Garduño-Monroy, V. H.; Ramirez-Guzman, L.

2017-12-01

In Mexico it is a country with seismically active regions, mainly the zones that are next to the pacific where the zone of subduction is located, in this work we focus on the state of Michoacán, since this has not been completely studied in the last 30 years after the earthquake in Michoacán in 1985. The first most important step is to know the region which are the most seismic zones within the state and one way is to carry out the regionalization of Michoacán identifying the sources of earthquakes as well as where occur more frequently.If we could know each of the factors that influence seismicity and describe every point of the terrain, every rupture, every rock, etc., then we could describe in an analytical way the seismic process and predict the occurrence of earthquakes such as eclipses. Unfortunately the number of parameters is so enormous that we cannot arrive at an exact description; however, we can take advantage of statistical properties to evaluate probabilities, even in the case of small systems such as a particular seismic zone.In this paper, epicenter data were collected from 1970 to 2014, and with them a statistical study was carried out and the epicenter data plotted using data reported by the National Seismological Service and the IRIS catalog as well as some data from the Institute of engineering UNAM. Where earthquakes of equal and greater than M = 4 were used. Graphing these in function with the depth and with that it was graficaron and was made an overlapping the faults of the state and with that it was divided in 4 seismic zones in function of the faults and the localized seismicity.Zone A. is located within the Michoacán Block set of faults, as well as part of the subduction zone on the coast of the state. Seismicity in this area is high. Zone B-1. This is located between the limits of Jalisco and Michoacán in the set of faults called Tepalcatepec depression and limits with the Jorullo-Tacámbaro fracture. At this site seismicity is relatively moderate. The Zone B-2 is located in the limits of Michoacán and Guerrero, within the fault complex Michoacán Oaxaca, and the faults Zitzio and Villa de Santiago. With relatively moderate seismicity. Zone C This zone is located in the limits of Guanajuato, Querétaro and State of Mexico, within the Acambay fault complex and the Morelia fault system. With relatively low seismicity.

The Terminology of Fault Zones in the Brittle Regime: Making Field Observations More Useful to the End User

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipton, Z.; Caine, J. S.; Lunn, R. J.

2013-12-01

Geologists are tiny creatures living on the 2-and-a-bit-D surface of a sphere who observe essentially 1D vanishingly small portions (boreholes, roadcuts, stream and beach sections) of complex, 4D tectonic-scale structures. Field observations of fault zones are essential to understand the processes of fault growth and to make predictions of fault zone mechanical and hydraulic properties at depth. Here, we argue that a failure of geologists to communicate their knowledge effectively to other scientists/engineers can lead to unrealistic assumptions being made about fault properties, and may result in poor economic performance and a lack of robustness in industrial safety cases. Fault zones are composed of many heterogeneously distributed deformation-related elements. Low permeability features include regions of intense grain-size reduction, pressure solution, cementation and shale smears. Other elements are likely to have enhanced permeability through fractures and breccias. Slip surfaces can have either enhanced or reduced permeability depending on whether they are open or closed, and the local stress state. The highly variable nature of 1) the architecture of faults and 2) the properties of deformation-related elements demonstrates that there are many factors controlling the evolution of fault zone internal structures (fault architecture). The aim of many field studies of faults is to provide data to constrain predictions at depth. For these data to be useful, pooling of data from multiple sites is usually necessary. This effort is frequently hampered by variability in the usage of fault terminologies. In addition, these terms are often used in ways as to make it easy for 'end-users' such as petroleum reservoir engineers, mining geologists, and seismologists to mis-interpret or over-simplify the implications of field studies. Field geologists are comfortable knowing that if you walk along strike or up dip of a fault zone you will find variations in fault rock type, number and orientations of slip surfaces, variation in fracture density, relays, asperities, variable juxtaposition relationships etc. Problems can arise when "users" of structural geology try to apply models to general cases without understanding that these are simplified models. For example, when a section like the one in Chester and Logan 1996, gets projected infinitely into the third dimension along a fault the size of the San Andreas (seismology), or Shale Gouge Ratios are blindly applied to an Allen diagram without recognising that sub-seismic scale relays may provide "hidden" juxtapositions resulting in fluids bypassing low permeability fault cores. Phrases like 'low-permeability fault core and high-permeabilty damage zone' fail to appreciate fault zone complexity. Internicene arguments over the details of terminology that baffle the "end users" can make detailed field studies that characterise fault heterogeneity seem irrelevant. We argue that the field geology community needs to consider ways to make sure that we educate end-users to appropriate and cautious approaches to use of the data we provide with an appreciation of the uncertainties inherent in our limited ability to characterize 4D, tectonic structures, at the same time as understanding the value of carefully collected field data.

Seismic reflection images of shallow faulting, northernmost Mississippi embayment, north of the New Madrid seismic zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

McBride, J.H.; Nelson, W.J.

2001-01-01

High-resolution seismic reflection surveys document tectonic faults that displace Pleistocene and older strata just beyond the northeast termination of the New Madrid seismic zone, at the northernmost extent of the Mississippi embayment. These faults, which are part of the Fluorspar Area fault complex in southeastern Illinois, are directly in line with the northeast-trending seismic zone. The reflection data were acquired using an elastic weight-drop source recorded to 500 msec by a 48-geophone array (24-fold) with a 10-ft (??3.0m) station interval. Recognizable reflections were recorded to about 200 msec (100-150 m). The effects of multiple reflections, numerous diffractions, low apparent velocity (i.e., steeply dipping) noise, and the relatively low-frequency content of the recorded signal provided challenges for data processing and interpreting subtle fault offsets. Data processing steps that were critical to the detection of faults included residual statics, post-stack migration, deconvolution, and noise-reduction filtering. Seismic migration was crucial for detecting and mitigating complex fault-related diffraction patterns, which produced an apparent 'folding' of reflectors on unmigrated sections. Detected individual offsets of shallow reflectors range from 5 to 10 m for the top of Paleozoic bedrock and younger strata. The migrated sections generally indicate vertical to steeply dipping normal and reverse faults, which in places outline small horsts and/or grabens. Tilting or folding of stratal reflectors associated with faulting is also locally observed. At one site, the observed faulting is superimposed over a prominent antiformal structure, which may itself be a product of the Quaternary deformation that produced the steep normal and reverse faults. Our results suggest that faulting of the Paleozoic bedrock and younger sediments of the northern Mississippi embayment is more pervasive and less localized than previously thought.

Contrasts between source parameters of M [>=] 5. 5 earthquakes in northern Baja California and southern California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doser, D.I.

1993-04-01

Source parameters determined from the body waveform modeling of large (M [>=] 5.5) historic earthquakes occurring between 1915 and 1956 along the San Jacinto and Imperial fault zones of southern California and the Cerro Prieto, Tres Hermanas and San Miguel fault zones of Baja California have been combined with information from post-1960's events to study regional variations in source parameters. The results suggest that large earthquakes along the relatively young San Miguel and Tres Hermanas fault zones have complex rupture histories, small source dimensions (< 25 km), high stress drops (60 bar average), and a high incidence of foreshock activity.more » This may be a reflection of the rough, highly segmented nature of the young faults. In contrast, Imperial-Cerro Prieto events of similar magnitude have low stress drops (16 bar average) and longer rupture lengths (42 km average), reflecting rupture along older, smoother fault planes. Events along the San Jacinto fault zone appear to lie in between these two groups. These results suggest a relationship between the structural and seismological properties of strike-slip faults that should be considered during seismic risk studies.« less

Three-dimensional analysis of a faulted CO 2 reservoir using an Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach to rock elastic properties and fault permeability

DOE PAGES

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Last, George V.; ...

2016-09-29

This work develops a three-dimensional multiscale model to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults southwest of the Kimberlina site. The model uses the STOMP-CO 2 code for flow modeling that is coupled to the ABAQUS® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. A 3D ABAQUS® finite element model is developed that contains a large number of 3D solid elements with two nearly parallel faults whose damage zones and cores are discretized using the same continuum elements. Five zones with different mineral compositions are considered: shale, sandstone, faultmore » damaged sandstone, fault damaged shale, and fault core. Rocks’ elastic properties that govern their poroelastic behavior are modeled by an Eshelby-Mori-Tanka approach (EMTA). EMTA can account for up to 15 mineral phases. The permeability of fault damage zones affected by crack density and orientations is also predicted by an EMTA formulation. A STOMP-CO 2 grid that exactly maps the ABAQUS® finite element model is built for coupled hydro-mechanical analyses. Simulations of the reservoir assuming three different crack pattern situations (including crack volume fraction and orientation) for the fault damage zones are performed to predict the potential leakage of CO 2 due to cracks that enhance the permeability of the fault damage zones. Here, the results illustrate the important effect of the crack orientation on fault permeability that can lead to substantial leakage along the fault attained by the expansion of the CO 2 plume. Potential hydraulic fracture and the tendency for the faults to slip are also examined and discussed in terms of stress distributions and geomechanical properties.« less

Three-dimensional analysis of a faulted CO 2 reservoir using an Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka approach to rock elastic properties and fault permeability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nguyen, Ba Nghiep; Hou, Zhangshuan; Last, George V.

This work develops a three-dimensional multiscale model to analyze a complex CO 2 faulted reservoir that includes some key geological features of the San Andreas and nearby faults southwest of the Kimberlina site. The model uses the STOMP-CO 2 code for flow modeling that is coupled to the ABAQUS® finite element package for geomechanical analysis. A 3D ABAQUS® finite element model is developed that contains a large number of 3D solid elements with two nearly parallel faults whose damage zones and cores are discretized using the same continuum elements. Five zones with different mineral compositions are considered: shale, sandstone, faultmore » damaged sandstone, fault damaged shale, and fault core. Rocks’ elastic properties that govern their poroelastic behavior are modeled by an Eshelby-Mori-Tanka approach (EMTA). EMTA can account for up to 15 mineral phases. The permeability of fault damage zones affected by crack density and orientations is also predicted by an EMTA formulation. A STOMP-CO 2 grid that exactly maps the ABAQUS® finite element model is built for coupled hydro-mechanical analyses. Simulations of the reservoir assuming three different crack pattern situations (including crack volume fraction and orientation) for the fault damage zones are performed to predict the potential leakage of CO 2 due to cracks that enhance the permeability of the fault damage zones. Here, the results illustrate the important effect of the crack orientation on fault permeability that can lead to substantial leakage along the fault attained by the expansion of the CO 2 plume. Potential hydraulic fracture and the tendency for the faults to slip are also examined and discussed in terms of stress distributions and geomechanical properties.« less

Fine-scale delineation of the location of and relative ground shaking within the San Andreas Fault zone at San Andreas Lake, San Mateo County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Catchings, R.D.; Rymer, M.J.; Goldman, M.R.; Prentice, C.S.; Sickler, R.R.

2013-01-01

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is seismically retrofitting the water delivery system at San Andreas Lake, San Mateo County, California, where the reservoir intake system crosses the San Andreas Fault (SAF). The near-surface fault location and geometry are important considerations in the retrofit effort. Because the SAF trends through highly distorted Franciscan mélange and beneath much of the reservoir, the exact trace of the 1906 surface rupture is difficult to determine from surface mapping at San Andreas Lake. Based on surface mapping, it also is unclear if there are additional fault splays that extend northeast or southwest of the main surface rupture. To better understand the fault structure at San Andreas Lake, the U.S. Geological Survey acquired a series of seismic imaging profiles across the SAF at San Andreas Lake in 2008, 2009, and 2011, when the lake level was near historical lows and the surface traces of the SAF were exposed for the first time in decades. We used multiple seismic methods to locate the main 1906 rupture zone and fault splays within about 100 meters northeast of the main rupture zone. Our seismic observations are internally consistent, and our seismic indicators of faulting generally correlate with fault locations inferred from surface mapping. We also tested the accuracy of our seismic methods by comparing our seismically located faults with surface ruptures mapped by Schussler (1906) immediately after the April 18, 1906 San Francisco earthquake of approximate magnitude 7.9; our seismically determined fault locations were highly accurate. Near the reservoir intake facility at San Andreas Lake, our seismic data indicate the main 1906 surface rupture zone consists of at least three near-surface fault traces. Movement on multiple fault traces can have appreciable engineering significance because, unlike movement on a single strike-slip fault trace, differential movement on multiple fault traces may exert compressive and extensional stresses on built structures within the fault zone. Such differential movement and resulting distortion of built structures appear to have occurred between fault traces at the gatewell near the southern end of San Andreas Lake during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (Schussler, 1906). In addition to the three fault traces within the main 1906 surface rupture zone, our data indicate at least one additional fault trace (or zone) about 80 meters northeast of the main 1906 surface rupture zone. Because ground shaking also can damage structures, we used fault-zone guided waves to investigate ground shaking within the fault zones relative to ground shaking outside the fault zones. Peak ground velocity (PGV) measurements from our guided-wave study indicate that ground shaking is greater at each of the surface fault traces, varying with the frequency of the seismic data and the wave type (P versus S). S-wave PGV increases by as much as 5–6 times at the fault traces relative to areas outside the fault zone, and P-wave PGV increases by as much as 3–10 times. Assuming shaking increases linearly with increasing earthquake magnitude, these data suggest strong shaking may pose a significant hazard to built structures that extend across the fault traces. Similarly complex fault structures likely underlie other strike-slip faults (such as the Hayward, Calaveras, and Silver Creek Faults) that intersect structures of the water delivery system, and these fault structures similarly should be investigated.

Multi-Fault Rupture Scenarios in the Brawley Seismic Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyriakopoulos, C.; Oglesby, D. D.; Rockwell, T. K.; Meltzner, A. J.; Barall, M.

2017-12-01

Dynamic rupture complexity is strongly affected by both the geometric configuration of a network of faults and pre-stress conditions. Between those two, the geometric configuration is more likely to be anticipated prior to an event. An important factor in the unpredictability of the final rupture pattern of a group of faults is the time-dependent interaction between them. Dynamic rupture models provide a means to investigate this otherwise inscrutable processes. The Brawley Seismic Zone in Southern California is an area in which this approach might be important for inferring potential earthquake sizes and rupture patterns. Dynamic modeling can illuminate how the main faults in this area, the Southern San Andreas (SSAF) and Imperial faults, might interact with the intersecting cross faults, and how the cross faults may modulate rupture on the main faults. We perform 3D finite element modeling of potential earthquakes in this zone assuming an extended array of faults (Figure). Our results include a wide range of ruptures and fault behaviors depending on assumptions about nucleation location, geometric setup, pre-stress conditions, and locking depth. For example, in the majority of our models the cross faults do not strongly participate in the rupture process, giving the impression that they are not typically an aid or an obstacle to the rupture propagation. However, in some cases, particularly when rupture proceeds slowly on the main faults, the cross faults indeed can participate with significant slip, and can even cause rupture termination on one of the main faults. Furthermore, in a complex network of faults we should not preclude the possibility of a large event nucleating on a smaller fault (e.g. a cross fault) and eventually promoting rupture on the main structure. Recent examples include the 2010 Mw 7.1 Darfield (New Zealand) and Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah (Mexico) earthquakes, where rupture started on a smaller adjacent segment and later cascaded into a larger event. For that reason, we are investigating scenarios of a moderate rupture on a cross fault, and determining conditions under which the rupture will propagate onto the adjacent SSAF. Our investigation will provide fundamental insights that may help us interpret faulting behaviors in other areas, such as the complex Mw 7.8 2016 Kaikoura (New Zealand) earthquake.

Recent faulting in the Gulf of Santa Catalina: San Diego to Dana Point

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryan, H.F.; Legg, M.R.; Conrad, J.E.; Sliter, R.W.

2009-01-01

We interpret seismic-reflection profiles to determine the location and offset mode of Quaternary offshore faults beneath the Gulf of Santa Catalina in the inner California Continental Borderland. These faults are primarily northwest-trending, right-lateral, strike-slip faults, and are in the offshore Rose Canyon-Newport-Inglewood, Coronado Bank, Palos Verdes, and San Diego Trough fault zones. In addition we describe a suite of faults imaged at the base of the continental slope between Dana Point and Del Mar, California. Our new interpretations are based on high-resolution, multichannel seismic (MCS), as well as very high resolution Huntec and GeoPulse seismic-reflection profiles collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1998 to 2000 and MCS data collected by WesternGeco in 1975 and 1981, which have recently been made publicly available. Between La Jolla and Newport Beach, California, the Rose Canyon and Newport-Inglewood fault zones are multistranded and generally underlie the shelf break. The Rose Canyon fault zone has a more northerly strike; a left bend in the fault zone is required to connect with the Newport-Inglewood fault zone. A prominent active anticline at mid-slope depths (300-400 m) is imaged seaward of where the Rose Canyon fault zone merges with the Newport-Inglewood fault zone. The Coronado Bank fault zone is a steeply dipping, northwest-trending zone consisting of multiple strands that are imaged from south of the U.S.-Mexico border to offshore of San Mateo Point. South of the La Jolla fan valley, the Coronado Bank fault zone is primarily transtensional; this section of the fault zone ends at the La Jolla fan valley in a series of horsetail splays. The northern section of the Coronado Bank fault zone is less well developed. North of the La Jolla fan valley, the Coronado Bank fault zone forms a positive flower structure that can be mapped at least as far north as Oceanside, a distance of ??35 km. However, north of Oceanside, the Coronado Bank fault zone is more discontinuous and in places has no strong physiographic expression. The San Diego Trough fault zone consists of one or two well-defined linear fault strands that cut through the center of the San Diego Trough and strike N30??W. North of the La Jolla fan valley, this fault zone steps to the west and is composed of up to four fault strands. At the base of the continental slope, faults that show recency of movement include the San Onofre fault and reverse, oblique-slip faulting associated with the San Mateo and Carlsbad faults. In addition, the low-angle Oceanside detachment fault is imaged beneath much of the continental slope, although reflectors associated with the detachment are more prominent in the area directly offshore of San Mateo Point. North of San Mateo Point, the Oceanside fault is imaged as a northeast-dipping detachment surface with prominent folds deforming hanging-wall strata. South of San Mateo point, reflectors associated with the Oceanside detachment are often discontinuous with variable dip as imaged in WesternGeco MCS data. Recent motion along the Oceanside detachment as a reactivated thrust fault appears to be limited primarily to the area between Dana and San Mateo Points. Farther south, offshore of Carlsbad, an additional area of folding associated with the Carlsbad fault also is imaged near the base of the slope. These folds coincide with the intersection of a narrow subsurface ridge that trends at a high angle to and intersects the base of the continental slope. The complex pattern of faulting observed along the base of the continental slope associated with the San Mateo, San Onofre, and Carlsbad fault zones may be the result of block rotation. We propose that the clockwise rotation of a small crustal block between the Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon and Coronado Bank fault zones accounts for the localized enhanced folding along the Gulf of Santa Catalina margin. Prominent subsurface basement ridges imaged offshore of Dana Point m

Quantitative analysis of a transpressional system, El Biod Arch, Ghadames Basin, Algeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, S.R.; Krantz, R.W.; Akkache, K.

1996-12-31

Trap definition within the northern extension of the Hassi Touareg - Rhourde El Baguel fault zone in the western Ghadames Basin of Algeria is difficult due to complex structural geometries. The fault zone consists of a narrow system of discontinuous. locally en echelon faults. Although north-trending to the south, the zone curves to a northeast trend to the north. Reserves associated with the southern portion of the system total 1500 MMBOR and 2 TCFG. Several lines of evidence support a strike-slip component of motion for the northern segment. Horizontal slickensides have been described in cores taken from wells within themore » fault trend. Fracture patterns measured from logs taken within the NE-SW fault trend show clusters expected for right-lateral Reidel shears. Although complicated by all evaporate sequence at mid-level in the stratigraphic section, we interpret downward converging faults imaged on recent 2D seismic as positive flower profiles. Map patterns are also interpreted as right-lateral, recognizing that the 2D grid cannot resolve all of the structural complexity. To confirm the component of strike-slip fault displacement, we applied a new quantitative method relating map view structural orientations to the shear magnitude, the degree of convergence or divergence, and the magnitudes of horizontal and vertical strains. Strike-slip to convergence ratios ranging from 2:1 to 3:1 were measured in the study area. Higher ratios (10:1) measured above the salt may indicate a detachment. These ratios also fit the regional tectonic pattern: to the south, where the fault zone trends due north, structural geometries support dip-slip inversion indicative of east-west shortening. Applying the same shortening vector to the northeast-trending part of the zone suggests oblique right-lateral motion, with a strike-slip to convergence ratio of 2:1.« less

Quantitative analysis of a transpressional system, El Biod Arch, Ghadames Basin, Algeria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, S.R.; Krantz, R.W.; Akkache, K.

1996-01-01

Trap definition within the northern extension of the Hassi Touareg - Rhourde El Baguel fault zone in the western Ghadames Basin of Algeria is difficult due to complex structural geometries. The fault zone consists of a narrow system of discontinuous. locally en echelon faults. Although north-trending to the south, the zone curves to a northeast trend to the north. Reserves associated with the southern portion of the system total 1500 MMBOR and 2 TCFG. Several lines of evidence support a strike-slip component of motion for the northern segment. Horizontal slickensides have been described in cores taken from wells within themore » fault trend. Fracture patterns measured from logs taken within the NE-SW fault trend show clusters expected for right-lateral Reidel shears. Although complicated by all evaporate sequence at mid-level in the stratigraphic section, we interpret downward converging faults imaged on recent 2D seismic as positive flower profiles. Map patterns are also interpreted as right-lateral, recognizing that the 2D grid cannot resolve all of the structural complexity. To confirm the component of strike-slip fault displacement, we applied a new quantitative method relating map view structural orientations to the shear magnitude, the degree of convergence or divergence, and the magnitudes of horizontal and vertical strains. Strike-slip to convergence ratios ranging from 2:1 to 3:1 were measured in the study area. Higher ratios (10:1) measured above the salt may indicate a detachment. These ratios also fit the regional tectonic pattern: to the south, where the fault zone trends due north, structural geometries support dip-slip inversion indicative of east-west shortening. Applying the same shortening vector to the northeast-trending part of the zone suggests oblique right-lateral motion, with a strike-slip to convergence ratio of 2:1.« less

Shallow seismic reflection profiles and geological structure in the Benton Hills, southeast Missouri

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palmer, J.R.; Hoffman, D.; Stephenson, W.J.; Odum, J.K.; Williams, R.A.

1997-01-01

During late May and early June of 1993, we conducted two shallow, high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (Mini-Sosie method) across the southern escarpment of the Benton Hills segment of Crowleys Ridge. The reflection profiles imaged numerous post-late Cretaceous faults and folds. We believe these faults may represent a significant earthquake source zone. The stratigraphy of the Benton Hills consists of a thin, less than about 130 m, sequence of mostly unconsolidated Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary sediments which unconformably overlie a much thicker section of Paleozoic carbonate rocks. The survey did not resolve reflectors within the upper 75-100 ms of two-way travel time (about 60-100 m), which would include all of the Tertiary and Quaternary and most of the Cretaceous. However, the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity (Pz) produced an excellent reflection, and, locally a shallower reflector within the Cretaceous (K) was resolved. No coherent reflections below about 200 ms of two-way travel time were identified. Numerous faults and folds, which clearly offset the Paleozoic-Cretaceous unconformity reflector, were imaged on both seismic reflection profiles. Many structures imaged by the reflection data are coincident with the surface mapped locations of faults within the Cretaceous and Tertiary succession. Two locations show important structures that are clearly complex fault zones. The English Hill fault zone, striking N30??-35??E, is present along Line 1 and is important because earlier workers indicated it has Pleistocene Loess faulted against Eocene sands. The Commerce fault zone striking N50??E, overlies a major regional basement geophysical lineament, and is present on both seismic lines at the southern margin of the escarpment. The fault zones imaged by these surveys are 30 km from the area of intense microseismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ). If these are northeast and north-northeast oriented fault zones like those at Thebes Gap they are favorably oriented in the modern stress field to be reactivated as right-lateral strike slip faults. Currently, earthquake hazards assessments are most dependent upon historical seismicity, and there are little geological data available to evaluate the earthquake potential of fault zones outside of the NMSZ. We anticipate that future studies will provide evidence that seismicity has migrated between fault zones well beyond the middle Mississippi Valley. The potential earthquake hazards represented by faults outside the NMSZ may be significant.

Influence of fault trend, fault bends, and fault convergence on shallow structure, geomorphology, and hazards, Hosgri strike-slip fault, offshore central California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, S. Y.; Watt, J. T.; Hartwell, S. R.

2012-12-01

We mapped a ~94-km-long portion of the right-lateral Hosgri Fault Zone from Point Sal to Piedras Blancas in offshore central California using high-resolution seismic reflection profiles, marine magnetic data, and multibeam bathymetry. The database includes 121 seismic profiles across the fault zone and is perhaps the most comprehensive reported survey of the shallow structure of an active strike-slip fault. These data document the location, length, and near-surface continuity of multiple fault strands, highlight fault-zone heterogeneity, and demonstrate the importance of fault trend, fault bends, and fault convergences in the development of shallow structure and tectonic geomorphology. The Hosgri Fault Zone is continuous through the study area passing through a broad arc in which fault trend changes from about 338° to 328° from south to north. The southern ~40 km of the fault zone in this area is more extensional, resulting in accommodation space that is filled by deltaic sediments of the Santa Maria River. The central ~24 km of the fault zone is characterized by oblique convergence of the Hosgri Fault Zone with the more northwest-trending Los Osos and Shoreline Faults. Convergence between these faults has resulted in the formation of local restraining and releasing fault bends, transpressive uplifts, and transtensional basins of varying size and morphology. We present a hypothesis that links development of a paired fault bend to indenting and bulging of the Hosgri Fault by a strong crustal block translated to the northwest along the Shoreline Fault. Two diverging Hosgri Fault strands bounding a central uplifted block characterize the northern ~30 km of the Hosgri Fault in this area. The eastern Hosgri strand passes through releasing and restraining bends; the releasing bend is the primary control on development of an elongate, asymmetric, "Lazy Z" sedimentary basin. The western strand of the Hosgri Fault Zone passes through a significant restraining bend and dies out northward where we propose that its slip transfers to active structures in the Piedras Blancas fold belt. Given the continuity of the Hosgri Fault Zone through our study area, earthquake hazard assessments should incorporate a minimum rupture length of 110 km. Our data do not constrain lateral slip rates on the Hosgri, which probably vary along the fault (both to the north and south) as different structures converge and diverge but are likely in the geodetically estimated range of 2 to 4 mm/yr. More focused mapping of lowstand geomorphic features (e.g., channels, paleoshorelines) has the potential to provide better constraints. The post-Last-Glacial Maximum unconformity is an important surface for constraining vertical deformation, yielding local fault offset rates that may be as high as 1.4 mm/yr and off-fault deformation rates as high as 0.5 mm/yr. These vertical rates are short-term and not sustainable over longer geologic time, emphasizing the complex evolution and dynamics of strike-slip zones.

Using Remote Sensing Data to Constrain Models of Fault Interactions and Plate Boundary Deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glasscoe, M. T.; Donnellan, A.; Lyzenga, G. A.; Parker, J. W.; Milliner, C. W. D.

2016-12-01

Determining the distribution of slip and behavior of fault interactions at plate boundaries is a complex problem. Field and remotely sensed data often lack the necessary coverage to fully resolve fault behavior. However, realistic physical models may be used to more accurately characterize the complex behavior of faults constrained with observed data, such as GPS, InSAR, and SfM. These results will improve the utility of using combined models and data to estimate earthquake potential and characterize plate boundary behavior. Plate boundary faults exhibit complex behavior, with partitioned slip and distributed deformation. To investigate what fraction of slip becomes distributed deformation off major faults, we examine a model fault embedded within a damage zone of reduced elastic rigidity that narrows with depth and forward model the slip and resulting surface deformation. The fault segments and slip distributions are modeled using the JPL GeoFEST software. GeoFEST (Geophysical Finite Element Simulation Tool) is a two- and three-dimensional finite element software package for modeling solid stress and strain in geophysical and other continuum domain applications [Lyzenga, et al., 2000; Glasscoe, et al., 2004; Parker, et al., 2008, 2010]. New methods to advance geohazards research using computer simulations and remotely sensed observations for model validation are required to understand fault slip, the complex nature of fault interaction and plate boundary deformation. These models help enhance our understanding of the underlying processes, such as transient deformation and fault creep, and can aid in developing observation strategies for sUAV, airborne, and upcoming satellite missions seeking to determine how faults behave and interact and assess their associated hazard. Models will also help to characterize this behavior, which will enable improvements in hazard estimation. Validating the model results against remotely sensed observations will allow us to better constrain fault zone rheology and physical properties, having implications for the overall understanding of earthquake physics, fault interactions, plate boundary deformation and earthquake hazard, preparedness and risk reduction.

Discovering the Complexity of Capable Faults in Northern Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, G.; del Río, I. A.; Rojas Orrego, C., Sr.; Astudillo, L. A., Sr.

2017-12-01

Great crustal earthquakes (Mw >7.0) in the upper plate of subduction zones are relatively uncommon and less well documented. We hypothesize that crustal earthquakes are poorly represented in the instrumental record because they have long recurrence intervals. In northern Chile, the extreme long-term aridity permits extraordinary preservation of landforms related to fault activity, making this region a primary target to understand how upper plate faults work at subduction zones. To understand how these faults relate to crustal seismicity in the long-term, we have conducted a detailed palaeoseismological study. We performed a palaeoseismological survey integrating trench logging and photogrammetry based on UAVs. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age determinations were practiced for dating deposits linked to faulting. In this contribution we present the study case of two primary faults located in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile between Iquique (21ºS) and Antofagasta (24ºS). We estimate the maximum moment magnitude of earthquakes generated in these upper plate faults, their recurrence interval and the fault-slip rate. We conclude that the studied upper plate faults show a complex kinematics on geological timescales. Faults seem to change their kinematics from normal (extension) to reverse (compression) or from normal to transcurrent (compression) according to the stage of subduction earthquake cycle. Normal displacement is related to coseismic stages and compression is linked to interseismic period. As result this complex interaction these faults are capable of generating Mw 7.0 earthquakes, with recurrence times on the order of thousands of years during every stage of the subduction earthquake cycle.

Palaeomagnetic study of the Kepezdaǧ and Yamadaǧ volcanic complexes, central Turkey: Neogene tectonic escape and block definition in the central-east Anatolides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gürsoy, H.; Tatar, O.; Piper, J. D. A.; Koçbulut, F.; Akpınar, Zafer; Huang, Baochun; Roberts, A. P.; Mesci, B. L.

2011-05-01

The Anatolian accretionary collage between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia is currently subject to two tectonic regimes. Ongoing slip of Arabia relative to Africa along the Dead Sea Fault Zone in the east is extruding crustal blocks away from the indenter by a combination of strike-slip and rotation. This zone of compression gives way to an extensional province in western Turkey, which also includes the eastern sector of Aegean Province. Although it is now well established that rotational deformation throughout Anatolia is distributed and differential, the sizes of the blocks involved are poorly understood. As a contribution towards evaluating this issue in central-east Turkey, we report palaeomagnetic study of the mid-Miocene Kepezdağ and Yamadağ volcanic complexes in central-south Anatolia (38-39.5°N, 37.5-39°E). A distributed sample through the Yamadağ complex identifies eruption during an interval of multiple geomagnetic field reversals (40 normal, 36 reversed, 8 intermediate sites) with a selected mean defined by 63 sites of D/ I = 335.4/51.1° ( α95 = 4.4°). The smaller Kepezdağ complex (8 reversed, 4 normal and 1 intermediate site) yields a comparable mean direction from 12 sites of 338.7/49.8° ( α95 = 14.1°). In the context of a range of radiometric age evidence, two thick normal polarity zones within the Yamadağ succession probably correlate with zones C5ACn and C5ADn of the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale and imply that the bulk of the volcanic activity took place between ˜15 and 13.5 Ma. Comparison of the palaeomagnetic results with the adjoining major plate indenters shows that the Yamadağ complex has rotated CCW by 29.3 ± 5.2° relative to Eurasia; the much smaller dataset from the Kepezdağ complex indicates a comparable CCW rotation of 26.0 ± 11.8° with respect to Eurasia. The Arabian Indenter has also been rotating CCW since mid Miocene times, and the block incorporating these two volcanic complexes north of the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) is determined to have rotated 18.2 ± 6.0° CCW relative to the northern perimeter of Arabia. Comparison with data to the north identifies quasi-uniform rotation across a ˜200 km wide block extending from the Central Anatolian Fault Zone in the northwest to close to the East Anatolian transform fault zone in the south east. Although absence of suitable younger rocks does not permit the timing of this rotation to be determined in the study area, analogies with results from the Sivas Basin suggest that it is young, and followed establishment of the major transform faults. Rotation has evidently taken place around bounding arcuate faults and accompanied westward expulsion as the accretionary collage north of Arabia has been subject to ongoing post-collisional indentation.

Characterization of frictional melting processes in subduction zone faults by trace element and isotope analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, T.; Ujiie, K.

2017-12-01

Pseudotachylytes found in exhumed accretionary complexes, which are considered to be formed originally at seismogenic depths, are of great importance for elucidating frictional melting and concomitant dynamic weakening of the fault during earthquake in subduction zones. However, fluid-rich environment of the subduction zone faults tends to cause extensive alteration of the pseudotachylyte glass matrix in later stages, and thus it has been controversial that pseudotachylytes are rarely formed or rarely preserved. Chemical analysis of the fault rocks, especially on fluid-immobile trace elements and isotopes, can be a useful means to identify and quantify the frictional melting occurred in subduction zone faults. In this paper, we report major and trace element and Sr isotope compositions for pseudotachylyte-bearing dark veins and surrounding host rocks from the Mugi area of the Shimanto accretionary complex (Ujiie et al., J. Struct. Geol. 2007). Samples were collected from a rock chip along the microstructure using a micro-drilling technique, and then analyzed by ICP-MS and TIMS. Major element compositions of the dark veins showed a clear shift from the host rock composition toward the illite composition. The dark veins, either unaltered or completely altered, were also characterized by extreme enrichment in some of the trace elements such as Ti, Zr, Nb and Th. These results are consistent with disequilibrium melting of the fault zone. Model calculations revealed that the compositions of the dark veins can be produced by total melting of clay-rich matrix in the source rock, leaving plagioclase and quartz grains almost unmolten. The calculations also showed that the dark veins are far more enriched in melt component than that expected from the source rock compositions, suggesting migration and concentration of frictional melt during the earthquake faulting. Furthermore, Sr isotope data of the dark veins implied the occurrence of frictional melting in multiple stages. These results demonstrate that trace element and isotope analyses are useful not only to detect preexistence of pseudotachylytes but also to evaluate the frictional melting in subduction zone faults quantitatively.

Anatomy of an Active Seismic Source: the Interplay between Present-Day Seismic Activity and Inherited Fault Zone Architecture (Central Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fondriest, M.; Demurtas, M.; Bistacchi, A.; Fabrizio, B.; Storti, F.; Valoroso, L.; Di Toro, G.

2017-12-01

The mechanics and seismogenic behaviour of fault zones are strongly influenced by their internal structure, in terms of both fault geometry and fault rock constitutive properties. In recent years high-resolution seismological techniques yielded new constraints on the geometry and velocity structure of seismogenic faults down to 10s meters length scales. This reduced the gap between geophysical imaging of active seismic sources and field observations of exhumed fault zones. Nevertheless fundamental questions such as the origin of geometrical and kinematic complexities associated to seismic faulting remain open. We addressed these topics by characterizing the internal structure of the Vado di Corno Fault Zone, an active seismogenic normal fault cutting carbonates in the Central Apennines of Italy and comparing it with the present-day seismicity of the area. The fault footwall block, which was exhumed from < 2 km depth, was mapped with high detail (< 1 m spatial resolution) for 2 km of exposure along strike, combining field structural data and photogrammetric surveys in a three dimensional structural model. Three main structural units separated by principal fault strands were recognized: (i) cataclastic unit (20-100 m thick), (ii) damage zone (≤ 300 m thick), (iii) breccia unit ( 20 thick). The cataclastic unit lines the master fault and represents the core of the normal fault zone. In-situ shattering together with evidence of extreme (possibly coseismic) shear strain localization (e.g., mirror-like faults with truncated clasts, ultrafine-grained sheared veins) was recognized. The breccia unit is an inherited thrust zone affected by pervasive veining and secondary dolomitization. It strikes subparallel to the active normal fault and is characterized by a non-cylindrical geometry with 10-100 m long frontal and lateral ramps. The cataclastic unit cuts through thrust flats within the breccia unit, whereas normal to oblique inversion occur on frontal and lateral ramps. A comparable structural setting was imaged South-West of the study area, during the 2009 L'Aquila seismic sequence. Here at 2 km depth, the master normal fault cross-cuts a 10 km long flat structure and clear lateral ramps are illuminated, suggesting the superposition of normal seismic faulting on inherited compressional structures.

Modeling of coulpled deformation and permeability evolution during fault reactivation induced by deep underground injection of CO2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cappa, F.; Rutqvist, J.

2010-06-01

The interaction between mechanical deformation and fluid flow in fault zones gives rise to a host of coupled hydromechanical processes fundamental to fault instability, induced seismicity, and associated fluid migration. In this paper, we discuss these coupled processes in general and describe three modeling approaches that have been considered to analyze fluid flow and stress coupling in fault-instability processes. First, fault hydromechanical models were tested to investigate fault behavior using different mechanical modeling approaches, including slip interface and finite-thickness elements with isotropic or anisotropic elasto-plastic constitutive models. The results of this investigation showed that fault hydromechanical behavior can be appropriatelymore » represented with the least complex alternative, using a finite-thickness element and isotropic plasticity. We utilized this pragmatic approach coupled with a strain-permeability model to study hydromechanical effects on fault instability during deep underground injection of CO{sub 2}. We demonstrated how such a modeling approach can be applied to determine the likelihood of fault reactivation and to estimate the associated loss of CO{sub 2} from the injection zone. It is shown that shear-enhanced permeability initiated where the fault intersects the injection zone plays an important role in propagating fault instability and permeability enhancement through the overlying caprock.« less

Marine forearc extension in the Hikurangi Margin: New insights from high-resolution 3D seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Böttner, Christoph; Gross, Felix; Geersen, Jacob; Mountjoy, Joshu; Crutchley, Gareth; Krastel, Sebastian

2017-04-01

In subduction zones upper-plate normal faults have long been considered a tectonic feature primarily associated with erosive margins. However, increasing data coverage has proven that similar features also occur in accretionary margins, such as Cascadia, Makran, Nankai or Central Chile, where kinematics are dominated by compression. Considering their wide distribution there is, without doubt, a significant lack of qualitative and quantitative knowledge regarding the role and importance of normal faults and zones of extension for the seismotectonic evolution of accretionary margins. We use a high-resolution 3D P-Cable seismic volume from the Hikurangi Margin acquired in 2014 to analyze the spatial distribution and mechanisms of upper-plate normal faulting. The study area is located at the upper continental slope in the area of the Tuaheni landslide complex. In detail we aim to (1) map the spatial distribution of normal faults and characterize their vertical throws, strike directions, and dip angles; (2) investigate their possible influence on fluid migration in an area, where gas hydrates are present; (3) discuss the mechanisms that may cause extension of the upper-slope in the study area. Beneath the Tuaheni Landslide Complex we mapped about 200 normal faults. All faults have low displacements (<15 m) and dip at high (> 65°) angles. About 71% of the faults dip landward. We found two main strike directions, with the majority of faults striking 350-10°, parallel to the deformation front. A second group of faults strikes 40-60°. The faults crosscut the BSR, which indicates the base of the gas hydrate zone. In combination with seismically imaged bright-spots and pull-up structures, this indicates that the normal faults effectively transport fluids vertically across the base of the gas hydrate zone. Localized uplift, as indicated by the presence of the Tuaheni Ridge, might support normal faulting in the study area. In addition, different subduction rates across the margin may also favor extension between the segments. Future work will help to further untangle the mechanisms that cause extension of the upper continental slope.

Deep-tow studies of the Vema Fracture Zone: 1. Tectonics of a major slow slipping transform fault and its intersection with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, Ken. C.; Castillo, David A.; Miller, Stephen P.; Fox, Paul J.; Kastens, Kim A.; Bonatti, Enrico

1986-03-01

The Vema transform fault, which slips at a rate of 24 mm/yr, displaces the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) 320 km in a left-lateral sense. High-resolution deep-tow studies of the Vema ridge-transform intersection (RTI) and the eastern 130 km of the active transform fault reveal a complex pattern of dip-slip and strike-slip faults which evolve in time and space. At the intersection, both the neovolcanic zone and the west wall of the MAR rift valley curve counterclockwise toward the transform fault along trends approximately 30° oblique to the regional north-south trend of the spreading axis. The curving of extensional structures in the rift valley, such as normal faults and the axial zone of dike injection, appears to be related to transmission of transform related shear stresses into the spreading center domain. Intermittent locking of the American and African lithospheric plates across the RTI causes shear stresses to penetrate up to 4 km into the MAR axial neovolcanic zone where the lithosphere is relatively thin and up to 12 km into the block-faulted west wall of the rift valley where the lithosphere is thicker. The degree of shear coupling across the RTI may vary with time due to changes in the thickness of the lithosphere along the axis (0-10 km), the strength of a "mantle weld" at depth, and the presence or absence of an axial magma chamber, so that extensional structures at the RTI may be either spreading center parallel when coupling is weak or oblique when coupling is strong. Oblique extension across the RTI in addition to other factors may account for some of the down dropping of lithosphere within the deep nodal basin. The easternmost 20 km of the active transform fault zone near the RTI displays a braided network of three to nine tectonically active grabens and V-shaped furrows in a zone 2-4 km wide, interpreted to consist of interwoven Riedel shears, P shears, and oblique normal faults. Clay cake deformation experiments and deep-tow observations suggest that P shears and R shears, which are 10°-20° oblique to the transform slip direction, develop during the initial stages of transform faulting near the RTI as the newly accreted lithosphere accelerates to full plate velocity. Some of the R shears propagate along strike and intercept the oblique normal faults resulting in sharply curving scarps at the RTI. Subsequent to this merging of the two fault types, some of the R shears develop a significant component of dip slip, while other R shears merge with P shears creating a complex anastomosing fault pattern up to 4 km wide. A continuous strand within this braided pattern of faults is interpreted to be the principal transform displacement zone near the RTI. Twenty kilometers west of the RTI the active transform fault zone narrows to a furrow generally less than 100 m wide with only a few short discontinuous splays. This narrow groove cuts through thinly sedimented basalt 20-40 km west of the RTI and continues as a narrow furrow (less than 100 m wide) through up to 1.5 km of layered turbidite fill most of the way to the western RTI. Such a narrow zone of deformation typifies the mature stages of transform faulting where the lithosphere on both sides of the transform fault is relatively old, thick, and rigid and has completed its acceleration to full plate velocity. The transform fault zone is closely associated with a partially buried median ridge and widens to 1-2 km where it transects exposed portions of the ridge. The transform parallel median and transverse ridges create the highest topography associated with the transform fault and may be serpentinized ultramafic intrusions capped by displaced crustal blocks of gabbro, metagabbro, and basalt.

The Bear River Fault Zone, Wyoming and Utah: Complex Ruptures on a Young Normal Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, D. P.; Hecker, S.; Haproff, P.; Beukelman, G.; Erickson, B.

2012-12-01

The Bear River fault zone (BRFZ), a set of normal fault scarps located in the Rocky Mountains at the eastern margin of Basin and Range extension, is a rare example of a nascent surface-rupturing fault. Paleoseismic investigations (West, 1994; this study) indicate that the entire neotectonic history of the BRFZ may consist of two large surface-faulting events in the late Holocene. We have estimated a maximum per-event vertical displacement of 6-6.5 m at the south end of the fault where it abuts the north flank of the east-west-trending Uinta Mountains. However, large hanging-wall depressions resulting from back rotation, which front scarps that locally exceed 15 m in height, are prevalent along the main trace, obscuring the net displacement and its along-strike distribution. The modest length (~35 km) of the BRFZ indicates ruptures with a large displacement-to-length ratio, which implies earthquakes with a high static stress drop. The BRFZ is one of several immature (low cumulative displacement) normal faults in the Rocky Mountain region that appear to produce high-stress drop earthquakes. West (1992) interpreted the BRFZ as an extensionally reactivated ramp of the late Cretaceous-early Tertiary Hogsback thrust. LiDAR data on the southern section of the fault and Google Earth imagery show that these young ruptures are more extensive than currently mapped, with newly identified large (>10m) antithetic scarps and footwall graben. The scarps of the BRFZ extend across a 2.5-5.0 km-wide zone, making this the widest and most complex Holocene surface rupture in the Intermountain West. The broad distribution of Late Holocene scarps is consistent with reactivation of shallow bedrock structures but the overall geometry of the BRFZ at depth and its extent into the seismogenic zone are uncertain.

Evolution of petrophysical properties of across natural faults: a study on cores from the Tournemire underground research laboratory (France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonnelye, Audrey; David, Christian; Schubnel, Alexandre; Wassermann, Jérôme; Lefèvre, Mélody; Henry, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Castilla, Raymi; Dick, Pierre

2017-04-01

Faults in general, and in clay materials in particular, have complex structures that can be linked to both a polyphased tectonic history and the anisotropic nature of the material. Drilling through faults in shaly materials allows one to measure properties such as the structure, the mineralogical composition, the stress orientation or physical properties. These relations can be investigated in the laboratory in order to have a better understanding on in-situ mechanisms. In this study we used shales of Toarcian age from the Tournemire underground research laboratory (France). We decided to couple different petrophysical measurements on core samples retrieved from a borehole drilled perpendicularly to a fault plane, and the fault size is of the order of tens of meters. This 25m long borehole was sampled in order to perform several types of measurements: density, porosity, saturation directly in the field, and velocity of elastic waves and magnetic susceptibility anisotropy in the laboratory. For all these measurements, special protocols were developed in order to preserve as much as possible the saturation state of the samples. All these measurements were carried out in three zones that intersects the borehole: the intact zone , the damaged zone and the fault core zone. From our measurements, we were able to associate specific properties to each zone of the fault. We then calculated Thomsen's parameters in order to quantify the elastic anisotropy across the fault. Our results show strong variations of the elastic anisotropy with the distance to the fault core as well as the occurrence of anisotropy reversal.

Fault zone characterization using P- and S-waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wawerzinek, Britta; Buness, Hermann; Polom, Ulrich; Tanner, David C.; Thomas, Rüdiger

2014-05-01

Although deep fault zones have high potential for geothermal energy extraction, their real usability depends on complex lithological and tectonic factors. Therefore a detailed fault zone exploration using P- and S-wave reflection seismic data is required. P- and S-wave reflection seismic surveys were carried out along and across the eastern border of the Leinetal Graben in Lower Saxony, Germany, to analyse the structural setting, different reflection characteristics and possible anisotropic effects. In both directions the P-wave reflection seismic measurements show a detailed and complex structure. This structure was developed during several tectonic phases and comprises both steeply- and shallowly-dipping faults. In a profile perpendicular to the graben, a strong P-wave reflector is interpreted as shallowly west-dipping fault that is traceable from the surface down to 500 m depth. It is also detectable along the graben. In contrast, the S-waves show different reflection characteristics: There is no indication of the strong P-wave reflector in the S-wave reflection seismic measurements - neither across nor along the graben. Only diffuse S-wave reflections are observable in this region. Due to the higher resolution of S-waves in the near-surface area it is possible to map structures which cannot be detected in P-wave reflection seismic, e.g the thinning of the uppermost Jurassic layer towards the south. In the next step a petrophysical analysis will be conducted by using seismic FD modelling to a) determine the cause (lithological, structural, or a combination of both) of the different reflection characteristics of P- and S-waves, b) characterize the fault zone, as well as c) analyse the influence of different fault zone properties on the seismic wave field. This work is part of the gebo collaborative research programme which is funded by the 'Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur' and Baker Hughes.

Stratigraphy, Structure and Tectonics of the Eyjafjarðaráll Rift, Abandoned Southern Segment of the Kolbeinsey Ridge, North Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandsdottir, B.; Karson, J. A.; Magnúsdóttir, S.; Detrick, B.; Driscoll, N. W.

2017-12-01

The multi-branched plate boundary across Iceland is made up of divergent and oblique rifts, and transform zones, characterized by entwined extensional and transform tectonics. The Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) is a complex transform linking the northern rift zone (NVZ) on land with the offshore Kolbeinsey Ridge. The TFZ lacks a clear topographic expression typical of oceanic fracture zones. The transform zone is roughly 150 km long (E-W) by 50-75 km wide (N-S) with three N-S trending pull-apart basins bounded by a complex array of normal and oblique-slip faults. The offshore extension of the NVZ, the Grímsey Oblique Rift, is composed of several active volcanic systems with N-S trending fissure swarms, including the Skjálfandadjúp Basin (SB). The magma-starved southern extension of the KR, the 80 km NS and 15-20 EW Eyjafjarðaráll Rift (ER), is made up of dominantly normal faults merging southwards with a system of right-lateral strike-slip faults with vertical displacement up to 15 m in the Húsavík Flatey Fault Zone (HFFZ). The northern ER is a 500-700 m deep asymmetric rift, framed by normal faults with 20-25 m vertical displacement, To the south, transform movement associated with the HFFZ has created a NW- striking pull-apart basin with frequent earthquake swarms. Details of the tectonic framework of the ER are documented in a compilation of data from aerial photos, satellite images, field mapping, multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution seismic reflection surveys (Chirp) and seismicity. The TFZ rift basins contain post-glacial sediments of variable thickness. Strata in the western ER and SB basins dip steeply E along the normal faults, towards the deepest part of the rift. The eastern side of the ER and SB basins differ considerably from the western side, with near-vertical faults. Correlation of Chirp reflection data and tephrachronology from a sediment core reveal major rifting episodes between 10-12.1 kyrs BP activating both the Eyjafjarðaráll and Skjálfandadjúp rift basins, followed by smaller-scale fault movements throughout Holocene. These vertical fault movements reflect elevated tectonic activity during early postglacial time coinciding with isostatic rebound and enhanced volcanism within Iceland.

The Non-Regularity of Earthquake Recurrence in California: Lessons From Long Paleoseismic Records in Simple vs Complex Fault Regions (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rockwell, T. K.

2010-12-01

A long paleoseismic record at Hog Lake on the central San Jacinto fault (SJF) in southern California documents evidence for 18 surface ruptures in the past 3.8-4 ka. This yields a long-term recurrence interval of about 210 years, consistent with its slip rate of ~16 mm/yr and field observations of 3-4 m of displacement per event. However, during the past 3800 years, the fault has switched from a quasi-periodic mode of earthquake production, during which the recurrence interval is similar to the long-term average, to clustered behavior with the inter-event periods as short as a few decades. There are also some periods as long as 450 years during which there were no surface ruptures, and these periods are commonly followed by one to several closely-timed ruptures. The coefficient of variation (CV) for the timing of these earthquakes is about 0.6 for the past 4000 years (17 intervals). Similar behavior has been observed on the San Andreas Fault (SAF) south of the Transverse Ranges where clusters of earthquakes have been followed by periods of lower seismic production, and the CV is as high as 0.7 for some portions of the fault. In contrast, the central North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in Turkey, which ruptured in 1944, appears to have produced ruptures with similar displacement at fairly regular intervals for the past 1600 years. With a CV of 0.16 for timing, and close to 0.1 for displacement, the 1944 rupture segment near Gerede appears to have been both periodic and characteristic. The SJF and SAF are part of a broad plate boundary system with multiple parallel strands with significant slip rates. Additional faults lay to the east (Eastern California shear zone) and west (faults of the LA basin and southern California Borderland), which makes the southern SAF system a complex and broad plate boundary zone. In comparison, the 1944 rupture section of the NAF is simple, straight and highly localized, which contrasts with the complex system of parallel faults in southern California. These observations suggest that the complexity of the southern California fault network is partly responsible for the apparent increase in “noise” and non-periodic behavior, perhaps resulting from stress transfer to adjacent faults after a large earthquake on one fault. The simplicity of the central NAF may account for its relatively simple behavior. If correct, the study of simple plate boundary faults may provide new insights into the constitutive elements of fault zones, and may aid in identifying those components that are critical for better forecasting future seismicity in complex systems.

Geophysical-geological studies of possible extensions of the New Madrid Fault Zone. Annual report, 1982. Vol. 1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hinze, W.J.; Braile, L.W.; Keller, G.R.

1983-05-01

An integrated geophysical/geologic program is being conducted to evaluate the rift complex hypothesis as an explanation for the earthquake activity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone and its extensions, to refine our knowledge of the rift complex, and to investigate the possible northern extensions of the New Madrid Fault Zone, especially its possible connection to the Anna, Ohio seismogenic region. Drillhole basement lithologies are being investigated to aid in tectonic analysis and geophysical interpretation, particularly in the Anna, Ohio area. Gravity and magnetic modeling combined with limited seismic reflection studies in southwest Indiana are interpreted as confirming speculation that anmore » arm of the New Madrid Rift Complex extends northeasterly into Indiana. The geologic and geophysical evidence confirm that the basement lithology in the Anna, Ohio area is highly variable reflecting a complex geologic history. The data indicate that as many as three major Late Precambrian tectonic features intersect within the basement of the Anna area suggesting that the seismicity may be related to basement zones of weakness.« less

Noise Configuration and fault zone anisotropy investigation from Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Deep Borehole Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hung, R. J.; Ma, K. F.; Song, T. R. A.; Nishida, K.; Lin, Y. Y.

2016-12-01

The Taiwan Chelungpu-fault Drilling Project was operated to understand the fault zone characteristics associated with the 1999 Chichi earthquake. Seven Borehole Seismometers (TCDPBHS) were installed through the identified fault zone to monitor the micro-seismic activities, as well as the fault-zone seismic structure properties. To understand the fault zone anisotropy and its possible temporal variations after the Chichi earthquake, we calculated cross-correlations of the noise at different stations to obtain cross correlation functions (CCFs) of the ambient noise field between every pair of the stations. The result shows that TCDP well site suffers from complex wavefield, and phase traveltime from CCF can't provide explicit result to determine the dominated wavefield. We first analyze the power density spectra and probability density functions of this array. We observe that the spectra show diurnal variation in the frequency band 1-25 Hz, suggesting human-generated sources are dominated in this frequency band. Then, we focus on the particle motion analysis at each CCF. We assume one component at a station plays as a visual source and compute the CCF tensor in other station components. The particle motion traces show high linearity which indicate that the dominated wavefield in our study area is body wave signals with the azimuth approximate to 60° from north. We also analyze the Fourier spectral amplitudes by rotating every 5 degrees in time domain to search for the maximum background energy distribution. The result shows that the spectral amplitudes are stronger at NE-SW direction, with shallow incident angles which are comparable with the CCF particle motion measurement. In order to obtain higher resolution about the dominated wavefield in our study area, we also used beamforming from surface station array to validate our results from CCF analysis. In addition to the CCF analysis to provide the noise configuration at the TCDPBHS site for further analysis on fault zone anisotropy using ambient noise, we also analyze fault zone anisotropy using the events data recorded by TCDPBHS. The identified event clusters through the borehole data enhance the consistency in results to give hints on fault zone anisotropy.

Magnetic properties of cores from the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Hole-2 (WFSD-2), China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, L., Jr.; Sun, Z.; Li, H.; Cao, Y.; Ye, X.; Wang, L.; Zhao, Y.; Han, S.

2015-12-01

During an earthquake, seismic slip and frictional heating may cause the physical and chemical alterations of magnetic minerals within the fault zone. Rock magnetism provides a method for understanding earthquake dynamics. The Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Project (WFSD) started right after 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, to investigate the earthquake faulting mechanism. Hole 2 (WFSD-2) is located in the Pengguan Complex in the Bajiaomiao village (Dujiangyan, Sichuan), and reached the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF). We measured the surface magnetic susceptibility of the cores in WFSD-2 from 500 m to 1530 m with an interval of 1 cm. Rocks at 500-599.31 m-depth and 1211.49-1530 m-depth are from the Neoproterozoic Pengguang Complex while the section from 599.31 m to 1211.49 m is composed of Late Triassic sediments. The magnetic susceptibility values of the first part of the Pengguan Complex range from 1 to 25 × 10-6 SI, while the second part ranges from 10 to 200 × 10-6 SI, which indicate that the two parts are not from the same rock units. The Late Triassic sedimentary rocks have a low magnetic susceptibility values, ranging from -5 to 20 × 10-6 SI. Most fault zones coincide with the high value of magnetic susceptibility in the WFSD-2 cores. Fault rocks, mainly fault breccia, cataclasite, gouge and pseudotachylite within the WFSD-2 cores, and mostly display a significantly higher magnetic susceptibility than host rocks (5:1 to 20:1). In particular, in the YBF zone of the WFSD-2 cores (from 600 to 960 m), dozens of stages with high values of magnetic susceptibility have been observed. The multi-layered fault rocks with high magnetic susceptibility values might indicate that the YBF is a long-term active fault. The magnetic susceptibility values change with different types of fault rocks. The gouge and pseudotachylite have higher values of magnetic susceptibility than other fault rocks. Other primary rock magnetism analyses were then performed to investigate the mechanisms. We consider that the principal mechanism for the high magnetic susceptibility of these fault rocks is most likely the production of new magnetite from iron-bearing paramagnetic minerals (such as silicates or clays). These new magnetites might originate from frictional heating on a seismic fault slip plane or seismic fluid during an earthquake.

Imaging of Fine Shallow Structure Beneath the Longmenshan Fault Zone from Ambient Noise Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, P.; Campillo, M.; Chen, J.; Liu, Q.

2016-12-01

Short period seismic ambient noise group velocity dispersion curve, obtained from cross correlation of vertical component of 57 stations around the Longmenshan fault zone deployed after the Wenchuan earthquake and continuously observed for 1 year, is used to inverse the S wave velocity structure of the top 25 km of the central to northern part of Longmenshan fault zone. A iterative correction method based on 3-D simulation is proposed to reduce the influence of elevation. After 7 times of correction, a fine shllow S-wave velocity structure comes out. The results show that (1) Velocity structure above 10 km keeps good consistency with the surface fault system around Longmenshan, and controls the deep extension features of most major faults. Below the depth of 15 km, the velocity structure presents cross tectonic frame work along both Longmenshan and Minshan. The complex structure may have affected the rupture process of the Wenchuan earthquake. (2) The depth velocity structure profiles give good constraint for the deep geometry of main faults. The characteristics of the high angle, listric, reverse structure of the Longmenshan faults is further confirmed by our results.(3) At southern part of the study area, low-velocity structure is found at about 20km depth beneath the Pengguan massif, which is related to the low velocity layer in the middle crust of Songpan-Ganzi block. This may be an evidence for the existence of brittle-ductile transition zone in southern part of the rupture zone of the Wenchuan earthquake at the depth around 22km. Our results show the great potential of short period ambient noise tomography with data from densepassive seismic array in the study of fine velocity structure and fault zone imaging.

Plate convergence and deformation, North Luzon Ridge, Philippines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Stephen D.; Hayes, Dennis E.

1989-10-01

Marine geophysical and earthquake seismology data indicate that the North Luzon Ridge, a volcano-capped bathymetrie ridge system that extends between Luzon and Taiwan, is presently undergoing deformation in response to the relative motion between the Asian and Philippine Sea plates. Plate motion models predict convergence along the western side of the Philippine Sea plate, from Japan in the north to Indonesia in the south, and most of this plate margin is defined by active subduction zones. However, the western boundary of the Philippine Sea plate adjacent to the North Luzon Ridge shows no evidence of an active WNW-dipping subduction zone; this is in marked contrast to the presence of both the Philippine Trench/East Luzon Trough subduction zones to the south and the Ryukyu Trench subduction zone to the north. Crustal shortening, in response to ongoing plate convergence in the North Luzon Ridge region, apparently takes place through a complex pattern of strike-slip and thrust faulting, rather than by the typical subduction of oceanic lithosphere along a discreet zone. The curvilinear bathymetrie trends within the North Luzon Ridge represent the traces of active faults. The distribution of these faults, mapped by both multichannel and single-channel seismic reflection methods and earthquake seismicity patterns and focal mechanism solutions, suggest that right-lateral, oblique-slip faulting occurs along NE-trending faults, and left-lateral, oblique-slip faulting takes place on N- and NNW-trending faults. The relative plate convergence accommodated by the deformation of the North Luzon Ridge will probably be taken up in the future by the northward-propagating East Luzon Trough subduction zone.

Porosity variations in and around normal fault zones: implications for fault seal and geomechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Healy, David; Neilson, Joyce; Farrell, Natalie; Timms, Nick; Wilson, Moyra

2015-04-01

Porosity forms the building blocks for permeability, exerts a significant influence on the acoustic response of rocks to elastic waves, and fundamentally influences rock strength. And yet, published studies of porosity around fault zones or in faulted rock are relatively rare, and are hugely dominated by those of fault zone permeability. We present new data from detailed studies of porosity variations around normal faults in sandstone and limestone. We have developed an integrated approach to porosity characterisation in faulted rock exploiting different techniques to understand variations in the data. From systematic samples taken across exposed normal faults in limestone (Malta) and sandstone (Scotland), we combine digital image analysis on thin sections (optical and electron microscopy), core plug analysis (He porosimetry) and mercury injection capillary pressures (MICP). Our sampling includes representative material from undeformed protoliths and fault rocks from the footwall and hanging wall. Fault-related porosity can produce anisotropic permeability with a 'fast' direction parallel to the slip vector in a sandstone-hosted normal fault. Undeformed sandstones in the same unit exhibit maximum permeability in a sub-horizontal direction parallel to lamination in dune-bedded sandstones. Fault-related deformation produces anisotropic pores and pore networks with long axes aligned sub-vertically and this controls the permeability anisotropy, even under confining pressures up to 100 MPa. Fault-related porosity also has interesting consequences for the elastic properties and velocity structure of normal fault zones. Relationships between texture, pore type and acoustic velocity have been well documented in undeformed limestone. We have extended this work to include the effects of faulting on carbonate textures, pore types and P- and S-wave velocities (Vp, Vs) using a suite of normal fault zones in Malta, with displacements ranging from 0.5 to 90 m. Our results show a clear lithofacies control on the Vp-porosity and the Vs-Vp relationships for faulted limestones. Using porosity patterns quantified in naturally deformed rocks we have modelled their effect on the mechanical stability of fluid-saturated fault zones in the subsurface. Poroelasticity theory predicts that variations in fluid pressure could influence fault stability. Anisotropic patterns of porosity in and around fault zones can - depending on their orientation and intensity - lead to an increase in fault stability in response to a rise in fluid pressure, and a decrease in fault stability for a drop in fluid pressure. These predictions are the exact opposite of the accepted role of effective stress in fault stability. Our work has provided new data on the spatial and statistical variation of porosity in fault zones. Traditionally considered as an isotropic and scalar value, porosity and pore networks are better considered as anisotropic and as scale-dependent statistical distributions. The geological processes controlling the evolution of porosity are complex. Quantifying patterns of porosity variation is an essential first step in a wider quest to better understand deformation processes in and around normal fault zones. Understanding porosity patterns will help us to make more useful predictive tools for all agencies involved in the study and management of fluids in the subsurface.

Final Project Report: Imaging Fault Zones Using a Novel Elastic Reverse-Time Migration Imaging Technique

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Lianjie; Chen, Ting; Tan, Sirui

Imaging fault zones and fractures is crucial for geothermal operators, providing important information for reservoir evaluation and management strategies. However, there are no existing techniques available for directly and clearly imaging fault zones, particularly for steeply dipping faults and fracture zones. In this project, we developed novel acoustic- and elastic-waveform inversion methods for high-resolution velocity model building. In addition, we developed acoustic and elastic reverse-time migration methods for high-resolution subsurface imaging of complex subsurface structures and steeply-dipping fault/fracture zones. We first evaluated and verified the improved capabilities of our newly developed seismic inversion and migration imaging methods using synthetic seismicmore » data. Our numerical tests verified that our new methods directly image subsurface fracture/fault zones using surface seismic reflection data. We then applied our novel seismic inversion and migration imaging methods to a field 3D surface seismic dataset acquired at the Soda Lake geothermal field using Vibroseis sources. Our migration images of the Soda Lake geothermal field obtained using our seismic inversion and migration imaging algorithms revealed several possible fault/fracture zones. AltaRock Energy, Inc. is working with Cyrq Energy, Inc. to refine the geologic interpretation at the Soda Lake geothermal field. Trenton Cladouhos, Senior Vice President R&D of AltaRock, was very interested in our imaging results of 3D surface seismic data from the Soda Lake geothermal field. He planed to perform detailed interpretation of our images in collaboration with James Faulds and Holly McLachlan of University of Nevada at Reno. Using our high-resolution seismic inversion and migration imaging results can help determine the optimal locations to drill wells for geothermal energy production and reduce the risk of geothermal exploration.« less

Blueschist- and Eclogite facies Pseudotachylytes: Products of Earthquakes in Collision- and Subduction zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andersen, T. B.; Austrheim, H.; John, T.; Medvedev, S.; Mair, K.

2009-04-01

Pseudotachylytes are the products of violent geological processes such as metorite impacts and seismic faulting. The fault-rock weakening processes leading to release of earthquakes are commonly related to phenomena such as grain size reduction and gouge formation, pressurization of pore-fluids and in some cases to melting by frictional heating. Explaining the frequently observed intermediate and deep earthquakes by brittle failure is, however, inherently difficult to reconcile because of extremely high normal stresses occuring at depth. In recent years several mechanisms for seismic events on deep faults have been suggested. These include: a) The most commonly accepted mechanism, dehydration embrittlement coupled to prograde metamorphic dehydration of wet rocks, such as serpentinites, at depth. b) Grain-size dependent flow-laws coupled with shear heating instability has been suggested as an alternative to explain repeated seismic faulting in Wadati-Benioff zones. c) Self-localized-thermal-runaway (SLTR) has been forwarded as a mechanism for ultimate failure of visco-elastic materials and as mechanism to explain the co-existence of shear zones and pseudotachylyte fault veins formed at eclogite facies conditions. All these mechanism point to the importance of metamorphism and/or metasomatism in understanding the mechanism(s) of intermediate- and deep earthquakes. Exhumed high to ultra-high pressure [(U)HP] metamorphic rocks are recognized in many orogenic belts. These complexes provide avenues to study a number of important products of geological processes including earthquakes with hypocentres at great depths. (U)HP co-seismic fault rocks are difficult to find in the field; nevertheless, a number of occurrences of co-seismic fault rocks from such complexes have been described after the initial discovery of such rocks in Norway (see: Austrheim and Boundy, Science 1994). In this talk we review some observations and interpretations based on these hitherto rarely observed but important co-seismic fault rocks from deep-crust and mantle complexes.

Evidence of Enhanced Subrosion in a Fault Zone and Characterization of Hazard Zones with Elastic Parameters derived from SH-wave reflection Seismics and VSP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wadas, S. H.; Tanner, D. C.; Tschache, S.; Polom, U.; Krawczyk, C. M.

2017-12-01

Subrosion, the dissolution of soluble rocks, e.g., sulfate, salt, or carbonate, requires unsaturated water and fluid pathways that enable the water to flow through the subsurface and generate cavities. Over time, different structures can occur that depend on, e.g., rock solubility, flow rate, and overburden type. The two main structures are sinkholes and depressions. To analyze the link between faults, groundwater flow, and soluble rocks, and to determine parameters that are useful to characterize hazard zones, several shear-wave (SH) reflection seismic profiles were surveyed in Thuringia in Germany, where Permian sulfate rocks and salt subcrop close to the surface. From the analysis of the seismic sections we conclude that areas affected by tectonic deformation phases are prone to enhanced subrosion. The deformation of fault blocks leads to the generation of a damage zone with a dense fracture network. This increases the rock permeability and thus serves as a fluid pathway for, e.g., artesian-confined groundwater. The more complex the fault geometry and the more interaction between faults, the more fractures are generated, e.g., in a strike slip-fault zone. The faults also act as barriers for horizontal groundwater flow perpendicular to the fault surfaces and as conduits for groundwater flow along the fault strike. In addition, seismic velocity anomalies and attenuation of seismic waves are observed. Low velocities <200 m/s and high attenuation may indicate areas affected by subrosion. Other parameters that characterize the underground stability are the shear modulus and the Vp/Vs ratio. The data revealed zones of low shear modulus <100 MPa and high Vp/Vs ratio >2.5, which probably indicate unstable areas due to subrosion. Structural analysis of S-wave seismics is a valuable tool to detect near-surface faults in order to determine whether or not an area is prone to subrosion. The recognition of even small fault blocks can help to better understand the hydrodynamic groundwater conditions, which is another key factor to understand the subrosion process. The elastic parameters derived from seismic velocities can help to identify possible zones of instability.

Fault Geometry and Slip Distribution at Depth of the 1997 Mw 7.2 Zirkuh Earthquake: Contribution of Near-Field Displacement Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchandon, Mathilde; Vergnolle, Mathilde; Sudhaus, Henriette; Cavalié, Olivier

2018-02-01

In this study, we reestimate the source model of the 1997 Mw 7.2 Zirkuh earthquake (northeastern Iran) by jointly optimizing intermediate-field Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar data and near-field optical correlation data using a two-step fault modeling procedure. First, we estimate the geometry of the multisegmented Abiz fault using a genetic algorithm. Then, we discretize the fault segments into subfaults and invert the data to image the slip distribution on the fault. Our joint-data model, although similar to the Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar-based model to the first order, highlights differences in the fault dip and slip distribution. Our preferred model is ˜80° west dipping in the northern part of the fault, ˜75° east dipping in the southern part and shows three disconnected high slip zones separated by low slip zones. The low slip zones are located where the Abiz fault shows geometric complexities and where the aftershocks are located. We interpret this rough slip distribution as three asperities separated by geometrical barriers that impede the rupture propagation. Finally, no shallow slip deficit is found for the overall rupture except on the central segment where it could be due to off-fault deformation in quaternary deposits.

Interplay of plate convergence and arc migration in the central Mediterranean (Sicily and Calabria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nijholt, Nicolai; Govers, Rob; Wortel, Rinus

2016-04-01

Key components in the current geodynamic setting of the central Mediterranean are continuous, slow Africa-Eurasia plate convergence (~5 mm/yr) and arc migration. This combination encompasses roll-back, tearing and detachment of slabs, and leads to back-arc opening and orogeny. Since ~30 Ma the Apennnines-Calabrian and Gibraltar subduction zones have shaped the western-central Mediterranean region. Lithospheric tearing near slab edges and the accompanying surface expressions (STEP faults) are key in explaining surface dynamics as observed in geologic, geophysical and geodetic data. In the central Mediterranean, both the narrow Calabrian subduction zone and the Sicily-Tyrrhenian offshore thrust front show convergence, with a transfer (shear) zone connecting the distinct SW edge of the former with the less distinct, eastern limit of the latter (similar, albeit on a smaller scale, to the situation in New Zealand with oppositely verging subduction zones and the Alpine fault as the transfer shear zone). The ~NNW-SSE oriented transfer zone (Aeolian-Sisifo-Tindari(-Ionian) fault system) shows transtensive-to-strike slip motion. Recent seismicity, geological data and GPS vectors in the central Mediterranean indicate that the region can be subdivided into several distinct domains, both on- and offshore, delineated by deformation zones and faults. However, there is discussion about the (relative) importance of some of these faults on the lithospheric scale. We focus on finding the best-fitting assembly of faults for the transfer zone connecting subduction beneath Calabria and convergence north of Sicily in the Sicily-Tyrrhenian offshore thrust front. This includes determining whether the Alfeo-Etna fault, Malta Escarpment and/or Ionian fault, which have all been suggested to represent the STEP fault of the Calabrian subduction zone, are key in describing the observed deformation patterns. We first focus on the present-day. We use geodynamic models to reproduce observed GPS velocities in the Sicily-Calabria region. In these models, we combine far-field velocity boundary conditions, GPE-related body forces, and slab pull/trench suction at the subduction contacts. The location and nature of model faults are based on geological and seismicity observations, and as these faults do not fully enclose blocks our models require both fault slip and distributed strain. We vary fault friction in the models. Extrapolating the (short term) model results to geological time scales, we are able to make a first-order assessment of the regional strain and block rotations resulting from the interplay of arc migration and plate convergence during the evolution of this complex region.

Shallow observatory installations unravel earthquake processes in the Nankai accretionary complex (IODP Expedition 365)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopf, A.; Saffer, D. M.; Toczko, S.

2016-12-01

NanTroSEIZE is a multi-expedition IODP project to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along the Nankai Trough subduction zone through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring. Recent Expedition 365 had three primary objectives at a major splay thrust fault (termed the "megasplay") in the forearc: (1) retrieval of a temporary observatory (termed a GeniusPlug) that has been monitoring temperature and pore pressure within the fault zone at 400 meters below seafloor for since 2010; (2) deployment of a complex long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) across the same fault; and (3) coring of key sections of the hanging wall, deformation zone and footwall of the shallow megasplay. Expedition 365 achieved its primary monitoring objectives, including recovery of the GeniusPlug with a >5-year record of pressure and temperature conditions, geochemical samples, and its in situ microbial colonization experiment; and installation of the LTBMS. The pressure records from the GeniusPlug include high-quality records of formation and seafloor responses to multiple fault slip events, including the 2011 M9 Tohoku and the 1 April Mie-ken Nanto-oki M6 earthquakes. The geochemical sampling coils yielded in situ pore fluids from the fault zone, and microbes were successfully cultivated from the colonization unit. The LTBMS incorporates multi-level pore pressure sensing, a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. This multi-level hole completion was meanwhile connected to the DONET seafloor cabled network for tsunami early warning and earthquake monitoring. Coring the shallow megasplay site in the Nankai forearc recovered ca. 100m of material across the fault zone, which contained indurated silty clay with occasional ash layers and sedimentary breccias in the hangingwall and siltstones in the footwall of the megasplay. The mudstones show different degrees of deformation spanning from occasional fractures to intensely fractured scaly claystones of up to >10 cm thickness. Sparse faulting with low displacement (usually <2cm) is seen with both normal and reverse sense of slip. Post-cruise rock deformation experiments will relate physical properties to the earthquake response monitored by the observatory array.

Structurally controlled 'teleconnection' of large-scale mass wasting (Eastern Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostermann, Marc; Sanders, Diethard

2015-04-01

In the Brenner Pass area (Eastern Alps) , closely ahead of the most northward outlier ('nose') of the Southern-Alpine continental indenter, abundant deep-seated gravitational slope deformations and a cluster of five post-glacial rockslides are present. The indenter of roughly triangular shape formed during Neogene collision of the Southern-Alpine basement with the Eastern-Alpine nappe stack. Compression by the indenter activated a N-S striking, roughly W-E extensional fault northward of the nose of the indenter (Brenner-normal fault; BNF), and lengthened the Eastern-Alpine edifice along a set of major strike-slip faults. These fault zones display high seismicity, and are the preferred locus of catastrophic rapid slope failures (rockslides, rock avalanches) and deep-seated gravitational slope deformations. The seismotectonic stress field, earthquake activity, and structural data all indicate that the South-Alpine indenter still - or again - exerts compression; in consequence, the northward adjacent Eastern Alps are subject mainly to extension and strike-slip. For the rockslides in the Brenner Pass area, and for the deep-seated gravitational slope deformations, the fault zones combined with high seismic activity predispose massive slope failures. Structural data and earthquakes mainly record ~W-E extension within an Eastern Alpine basement block (Oetztal-Stubai basement complex) in the hangingwall of the BNF. In the Northern Calcareous Alps NW of the Oetztal-Stubai basement complex, dextral faults provide defacement scars for large rockfalls and rockslides. Towards the West, these dextral faults merge into a NNW-SSE striking sinistral fault zone that, in turn, displays high seismic activity and is the locus of another rockslide cluster (Fern Pass cluster; Prager et al., 2008). By its kinematics dictated by the South-Alpine indenter, the relatively rigid Oetztal-Stubai basement block relays faulting and associated mass-wasting over a N-S distance of more than 60 kilometers - from the Brenner Pass area located along the crestline of the Alps to mount Zugspitze near the northern fringe of the Northern Calcareous Alps. Major fault zones and intercalated rigid blocks thus can 'teleconnect' zones of preferred mass-wasting over large lateral distances in orogens. Reference: Prager, C., Zangerl, C., Patzelt, G., Brandner, R., 2008. Age distribution of fossil landslides in the Tyrol (Austria) and its surrounding areas. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 8, 377-407.

What is an Oceanic Core Complex?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, T.; Cheadle, M. J.

2007-12-01

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) 75km north and south of the 15-20 Fracture Zone (FZ) has produced upper oceanic lithosphere composed dominantly of mantle peridotite with gabbro intrusions. In the absence of diapirism, mantle peridotite can only be exposed on the seafloor by extensional faulting, thus the sea floor geology and bathymetry provide widespread evidence for extensive low-angle faulting. However, only 3% of the seafloor in this region has the domal morphology characteristic of features that have been termed oceanic core complexes; suggesting that other processes, in addition to low-angle faulting, are responsible for the generation of domal core complexes. Most low-angle faults near the 15-20 FZ form gently dipping (10-15°), 10-15km-wide dip slopes on the flanks of 2000m relief bathymetric ridges that are up to 15-40km long (parallel to the MAR). Core recovered from ODP Leg 209 drill holes in these ridges is dominantly peridotite with small (<50m thick) gabbro intrusions. The peridotite is cut by a very high density of brittle faults dipping at both steep and gentle angles. Several holes also contain long-lived shear zones/faults in their upper reaches in which strain was localized at granulite facies, indicated by mylonitic olivine and cpx, and remained active during cooling to sub-greenschist grade, indicated by cross-cutting of progressively lower-grade syn-deformation mineral assemblages. These observations suggest that seafloor spreading is largely accommodated here by slip on low-angle faults, and that these faults are correctly termed detachment faults. Holes drilled into a domal oceanic core complex north of the 15-20 FZ during Leg 209 (ODP Site 1275) recovered dominantly gabbro and not mantle peridotite. This hole is cut by significantly fewer brittle and ductile faults than the peridotite drilled at the non-core-complex detachment fault sites. The detachment fault in the upper reaches (50m) of Site 1275 was localized at temperatures near feldspar's ductile-to-brittle transition, indicated by cataclasis with minor crystal plastic flow in plagioclase, and a lack of pervasive pure-ductile deformation. Amphibole-plagioclase thermometry in the fault yields equilibrium temperatures from 600-650°C, compared to equilibrium temperatures of 750-850°C for the gabbro outside the fault. The presence of talc- chlorite schists and cataclasites cutting the higher-temperature deformation textures indicate fault activity down- temperature from amphibolite through greenschist facies. This core-complex-bounding fault contrasts with the fault that bounds the Atlantis Bank Core Complex on the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). There, the fault is 100m thick and strain was initially localized at granulite grade (>800°C) (Mehl & Hirth, 2007); significantly hotter than the Site 1275 fault. Therefore, the formation of core-complex morphology does not seem to depend on the initial faulting conditions. Both oceanic core complexes that have been drilled besides Site 1275, Atlantis Massif at 30°N (IODP Hole 1309D) on the MAR and Atlantis Bank on the SWIR (ODP Hole 735B), are also comprised dominantly of gabbro. This suggests that magma supply may be an essential requirement for core complex formation and raises the question whether all domal oceanic core complexes are cored by gabbro? We also ask whether the term 'oceanic core complex' should be restricted to these domal features and not applied to detachment-bound, non- domal, peridotite-cored ridges; or if these should be considered two sub-classes of oceanic core complexes.

Fault zone characteristics and basin complexity in the southern Salton Trough, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Persaud, Patricia; Ma, Yiran; Stock, Joann M.; Hole, John A.; Fuis, Gary S.; Han, Liang

2016-01-01

Ongoing oblique slip at the Pacific–North America plate boundary in the Salton Trough produced the Imperial Valley (California, USA), a seismically active area with deformation distributed across a complex network of exposed and buried faults. To better understand the shallow crustal structure in this region and the connectivity of faults and seismicity lineaments, we used data primarily from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project to construct a three-dimensional P-wave velocity model down to 8 km depth and a velocity profile to 15 km depth, both at 1 km grid spacing. A VP = 5.65–5.85 km/s layer of possibly metamorphosed sediments within, and crystalline basement outside, the valley is locally as thick as 5 km, but is thickest and deepest in fault zones and near seismicity lineaments, suggesting a causative relationship between the low velocities and faulting. Both seismicity lineaments and surface faults control the structural architecture of the western part of the larger wedge-shaped basin, where two deep subbasins are located. We estimate basement depths, and show that high velocities at shallow depths and possible basement highs characterize the geothermal areas.

An Integrated View of Tectonics in the North Pacific Derived from GPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, J.; Freymueller, J.; Marechal, A.; Larsen, C.; Perea Barreto, M. A.

2015-12-01

Textbooks show a simple picture of the tectonics of the North Pacific, with discrete deformation along the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates along the Aleutian megathrust and Fairweather/Queen Charlotte fault system. Reality is much more complex, with a pattern of broadly distributed deformation. This is in part due to a number of studies and initiatives (such as PBO) in recent years that have greatly expanded the density of GPS data throughout the region. We present an overview of the GPS data acquired and various tectonic interpretations developed over the past decade and discuss a current effort to integrate the available data into a regional tectonic model for Alaska and northwestern Canada. Rather than discrete plate boundaries, we observe zones of concentrated deformation where the majority of the relative plate motion is accommodated. Within these zones, there are major fault systems, such as the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte transform and the Aleutian megathrust, where most of the deformation occurs along a main structure, but often motion is instead partitioned across multiple faults, such as the fold-and-thrust belt of the eastern St. Elias orogen. In zones of particular complexity, such as the eastern syntaxis of the St. Elias orogen, the deformation is better described by continuum deformation than localized strain along crustal structures. Strain is transferred far inboard, either by diffuse deformation or along fault system such as the Denali fault, and outboard of the main zones of deformation. The upper plate, if it can be called such, consists of a number of blocks and deforming zones while the lower plate is segmented between the Yakutat block and Pacific plate and is also likely undergoing internal deformation.

Consequences of Rift Propagation for Spreading in Thick Oceanic Crust in Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J. A.

2015-12-01

Iceland has long been considered a natural laboratory for processes related to seafloor spreading, including propagating rifts, migrating transforms and rotating microplates. The thick, hot, weak crust and subaerial processes of Iceland result in variations on the themes developed along more typical parts of the global MOR system. Compared to most other parts of the MOR, Icelandic rift zones and transform faults are wider and more complex. Rift zones are defined by overlapping arrays of volcanic/tectonic spreading segments as much as 50 km wide. The most active rift zones propagate N and S away from the Iceland hot spot causing migration of transform faults. A trail of crust deformed by bookshelf faulting forms in their wakes. Dead or dying transform strands are truncated along pseudofaults that define propagation rates close to the full spreading rate of ~20 mm/yr. Pseudofaults are blurred by spreading across wide rift zones and laterally extensive subaerial lava flows. Propagation, with decreasing spreading toward the propagator tips causes rotation of crustal blocks on both sides of the active rift zones. The blocks deform internally by the widespread reactivation of spreading-related faults and zones of weakness along dike margins. The sense of slip on these rift-parallel strike-slip faults is inconsistent with transform-fault deformation. These various deformation features as well as subaxial subsidence that accommodate the thickening of the volcanic upper crustal units are probably confined to the brittle, seismogenic, upper 10 km of the crust. At least beneath the active rift zones, the upper crust is probably decoupled from hot, mechanically weak middle and lower gabbroic crust resulting in a broad plate boundary zone between the diverging lithosphere plates. Similar processes may occur at other types of propagating spreading centers and magmatic rifts.

Fault zone structure from topography: signatures of en echelon fault slip at Mustang Ridge on the San Andreas Fault, Monterey County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeLong, Stephen B.; Hilley, George E.; Rymer, Michael J.; Prentice, Carol

2010-01-01

We used high-resolution topography to quantify the spatial distribution of scarps, linear valleys, topographic sinks, and oversteepened stream channels formed along an extensional step over on the San Andreas Fault (SAF) at Mustang Ridge, California. This location provides detail of both creeping fault landform development and complex fault zone kinematics. Here, the SAF creeps 10–14 mm/yr slower than at locations ∼20 km along the fault in either direction. This spatial change in creep rate is coincident with a series of en echelon oblique-normal faults that strike obliquely to the SAF and may accommodate the missing deformation. This study presents a suite of analyses that are helpful for proper mapping of faults in locations where high-resolution topographic data are available. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that two large subsidiary faults near the center of the step over zone appear to carry significant distributed deformation based on their large apparent vertical offsets, the presence of associated sag ponds and fluvial knickpoints, and the observation that they are rotating a segment of the main SAF. Several subsidiary faults in the southeastern portion of Mustang Ridge are likely less active; they have few associated sag ponds and have older scarp morphologic ages and subdued channel knickpoints. Several faults in the northwestern part of Mustang Ridge, though relatively small, are likely also actively accommodating active fault slip based on their young morphologic ages and the presence of associated sag ponds.

Style and Rate of Late Pleistocene - Holocene Deformation of the Poukawa Fault Zone, Central Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basili, R.; Langridge, R. M.; Villamor, P.; Rieser, U.

2008-12-01

The Poukawa Fault Zone is one component of a complex system of contractional faulting in eastern North Island, New Zealand. It is located within the actively uplifting Hikurangi Margin where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate at a convergence rate of over 40 mm/yr. The most destructive earthquake in New Zealand history, the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake of M 7.8, occurred just off the northern termination of the Poukawa Fault Zone. To the south and probably within the Poukawa Fault Zone, another strong earthquake struck near Waipukurau in 1863. We have characterized the contemporary style of faulting along the zone on the basis of an integrated analysis of a broad spectrum of data, including exploratory trenching; geomorphic data aided by 1m resolution digital orthophotos, a LIDAR-derived Terrain Model, and GPS-RTK surveys; stratigraphic and paleoseismic analysis; radiocarbon and OSL dating and tephra correlation. We have also made a detailed reconstruction of the terrace sequences formed where the Kaikora Stream crosses at a high angle to the Poukawa Fault Zone. These data show that the Poukawa Fault Zone is a contractional fault system formed by a series of NE-SW strands with style varying, from west to east, from high-angle east-dipping reverse to low-angle west-dipping thrusting. The geometry of the system suggests that these faults may merge at shallow depth into a single large structure capable of generating strong earthquakes similar to those that occurred in the past on nearby sections. All these faults variously displace the top of the Ohakean aggradation surface (12-15 ka) thereby generating scarps of several meters. The Kaikora Stream terrace sequences also testify to a series of uplift events associated with the late-Holocene growth of two of the eastern thrust faults. Two reaches of Kaikora Stream show evidence of uplifted and abandoned inset Holocene stream terraces found in association with a surface-rupture trace and an active fold. The four terraces in each case correspond in number with paeloearthquake events recognized in trenches nearby (Kelsey et al. 1998). Based on these relations the recurrence interval of surface faulting and folding is c. 3000-3700 yr. The abandonment of a low inset terrace capped by peat and Waimihia Tephra (c. 3400 yr BP) is consistent with this average recurrence. Based on the deformation of the dated Ohakean surface across the entire Poukawa Fault Zone, its reverse slip rate is c. 1-2 mm/yr.

The permeaiblity of fault-zones:the role of stylolites as incipit of dissolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magni, Silvana

2017-04-01

Fault zones and fractures play an important role in fluid circulation and then in dissolution, acting as barriers or conductors depending on the distribution of other features associated with them and on the specific conditions (lithological and structural, as well). The fault zone have a high permeability only in the early stages of the movement but shortly after recrystallization and reprecipitation processes greatly reduce the permeability within them. Indeed the dissolution is a complex phenomenon which involves both several factors that lead to the formation of caves and karst systems often complex. Traditionally, in the field of karst , the dissolution is associated with extensional structures such as faults and joints believing that they are more favorable to the water circulation. In this context compressional tectonic structures, as like the stylolites, are never considered. In fact the stylolites play an important role in the fluid circulation (Rawling, 2001) and in particular in the incipit of dissolution and then of the karst. We have so focused our research on the study of permeability of four fault zones in a karst area of Alte Murge (South Italy). Through a detailed structural analysis in the field and using the method of Caine (Caine, 1996), we reconstructed the permeability of the four previous fault zones. Our attention was focused on faults, joints and on stylolites. Contrary to the literature the dissolution and therefore the karst was mainly found along the stylolites and only secondarily along faults. No sign of dissolution was found along the joints. In the context of karst studies, the stylolites, which are structures due to pressure solution has never been taken into account, thinking that in compressional structures is not possible any circulation of water and that therefore there is no fluid-rock interaction. No consideration has been given to the enormous role that the pressure and the microfluidic that are created have in this context. The styololites, the focus of our research open important questions about their exact role as incipit of the dissolution. Through petrophysical analysis and microstructural we are characterizing the porosity and permeability near the stylolites. Recently, fluid-rock interactions and their impact on carbonate rocks is becoming very important because of an increasing interest it the carbonate reservoirs as a consequence of a progressive deterioration of the quantity and quality of the groundwater due to increasing pollution phenomena. In fact the aquifers represent about 40% of the drinking water resources and their importance will increase in coming years. REFERENCESE Caine, J.S.,Evans, J.P., Forster,C.B. (1996). Fault zone architecture and permeability structure. Geology 24, 1025-1032 Rawling,G.C., Goodwin,L.B., Wilson,J.L. (2001). Internal architecture permeability structure and hydrogeologic significance of contrasting fault-zone types. Geology 29, 43-46

Transfer zones in listric normal fault systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, Shamik

Listric normal faults are common in passive margin settings where sedimentary units are detached above weaker lithological units, such as evaporites or are driven by basal structural and stratigraphic discontinuities. The geometries and styles of faulting vary with the types of detachment and form landward and basinward dipping fault systems. Complex transfer zones therefore develop along the terminations of adjacent faults where deformation is accommodated by secondary faults, often below seismic resolution. The rollover geometry and secondary faults within the hanging wall of the major faults also vary with the styles of faulting and contribute to the complexity of the transfer zones. This study tries to understand the controlling factors for the formation of the different styles of listric normal faults and the different transfer zones formed within them, by using analog clay experimental models. Detailed analyses with respect to fault orientation, density and connectivity have been performed on the experiments in order to gather insights on the structural controls and the resulting geometries. A new high resolution 3D laser scanning technology has been introduced to scan the surfaces of the clay experiments for accurate measurements and 3D visualizations. Numerous examples from the Gulf of Mexico have been included to demonstrate and geometrically compare the observations in experiments and real structures. A salt cored convergent transfer zone from the South Timbalier Block 54, offshore Louisiana has been analyzed in detail to understand the evolutionary history of the region, which helps in deciphering the kinematic growth of similar structures in the Gulf of Mexico. The dissertation is divided into three chapters, written in a journal article format, that deal with three different aspects in understanding the listric normal fault systems and the transfer zones so formed. The first chapter involves clay experimental models to understand the fault patterns in divergent and convergent transfer zones. Flat base plate setups have been used to build different configurations that would lead to approaching, normal offset and overlapping faults geometries. The results have been analyzed with respect to fault orientation, density, connectivity and 3D geometry from photographs taken from the three free surfaces and laser scans of the top surface of the clay cake respectively. The second chapter looks into the 3D structural analysis of the South Timbalier Block 54, offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico with the help of a 3D seismic dataset and associated well tops and velocity data donated by ExxonMobil Corporation. This study involves seismic interpretation techniques, velocity modeling, cross section restoration of a series of seismic lines and 3D subsurface modeling using depth converted seismic horizons, well tops and balanced cross sections. The third chapter deals with the clay experiments of listric normal fault systems and tries to understand the controls on geometries of fault systems with and without a ductile substrate. Sloping flat base plate setups have been used and silicone fluid underlain below the clay cake has been considered as an analog for salt. The experimental configurations have been varied with respect to three factors viz. the direction of slope with respect to extension, the termination of silicone polymer with respect to the basal discontinuities and overlap of the base plates. The analyses for the experiments have again been performed from photographs and 3D laser scans of the clay surface.

Tectonic lineaments in the cenozoic volcanics of southern Guatemala: Evidence for a broad continental plate boundary zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baltuck, M.; Dixon, T. H.

1984-01-01

The northern Caribbean plate boundary has been undergoing left lateral strike slip motion since middle Tertiary time. The western part of the boundary occurs in a complex tectonic zone in the continental crust of Guatemala and southernmost Mexico, along the Chixoy-Polochic, Motogua and possibly Jocotan-Chamelecon faults. Prominent lineaments visible in radar imagery in the Neogene volcanic belt of southern Guatemala and western El Salvador were mapped and interpreted to suggest southwest extensions of this already broad plate boundary zone. Because these extensions can be traced beneath Quaternary volcanic cover, it is thought that this newly mapped fault zone is active and is accommodating some of the strain related to motion between the North American and Caribbean plates. Onshore exposures of the Motoqua-Polochic fault systems are characterized by abundant, tectonically emplaced ultramafic rocks. A similar mode of emplacement for these off shore ultramafics, is suggested.

Deformation of conjugate compliant fault zones induced by the 2013 Mw7.7 Baluchistan (Pakistan) earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, Rishabh; Wang, Teng; Feng, Guangcai; Harrington, Jonathan; Vasyura-Bathke, Hannes; Jónsson, Sigurjón

2017-04-01

Strain localizations in compliant fault zones (with elastic moduli lower than the surrounding rocks) induced by nearby earthquakes have been detected using geodetic observations in a few cases in the past. Here we observe small-scale changes in interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements along multiple conjugate faults near the rupture of the 2013 Mw7.7 Baluchistan (Pakistan) earthquake. After removing the main coseismic deformation signal in the interferograms and correcting them for topography-related phase, we observe 2-3 cm signal along several conjugate faults that are 15-30 km from the mainshock fault rupture. These conjugate compliant faults have strikes of N30°E and N45°W. The sense of motion indicates left-lateral deformation across the N30°E faults and right-lateral deformation across the N45°W faults, which suggests the conjugate faults were subjected to extensional coseismic stresses along the WSW-ENE direction. The spacing between the different sets of faults is around 5 to 8 km. We explain the observed strain localizations as an elastic response of the compliant conjugate faults induced by the Baluchistan earthquake. Using 3D Finite Element models (FEM), we impose coseismic static displacements due to the earthquake along the boundaries of the FEM domain to reproduce the coseismic stress changes acting across the compliant faults. The InSAR measurements are used to constrain the geometry and rigidity variations of the compliant faults with respect to the surrounding rocks. The best fitting models show the compliant fault zones to have a width of 0.5 km to 2 km and a reduction of the shear modulus by a factor of 3 to 4. Our study yields similar values as were found for compliant fault zones near the 1992 Landers and the 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes in California, although here the strain localization is occurring on more complex conjugate sets of faults.

Recent state of stress change in the Walker Lane zone, western Basin and Range province, United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellier, Olivier; Zoback, Mary Lou

1995-06-01

The NW to north-trending Walker Lane zone (WLZ) is located along the western boundary of the northern Basin and Range province with the Sierra Nevada. This zone is distinguished from the surrounding Basin and Range province on the basis of irregular topography and evidence for both normal and strike-slip Holocene faulting. Inversion of slip vectors from active faults, historic fault offsets, and earthquake focal mechanisms indicate two distinct Quaternary stress regimes within the WLZ, both of which are characterized by a consistent WNW σ3 axis; these are a normal faulting regime with a mean σ3 axis of N85°±9°W and a mean stress ratio (R value) (R=(σ2-σ1)/(σ3-σ1)) of 0.63-0.74 and a younger strike-slip faulting regime with a similar mean σ3 axis (N65° - 70°W) and R values ranging between ˜ 0.1 and 0.2. This younger regime is compatible with historic fault offsets and earthquake focal mechanisms. Both the extensional and strike-slip stress regimes reactivated inherited Mesozoic and Cenozoic structures and also produced new faults. The present-day strike-slip stress regime has produced strike-slip, normal oblique-slip, and normal dip-slip historic faulting. Previous workers have explained the complex interaction of active strike-slip, oblique, and normal faulting in the WLZ as a simple consequence of a single stress state with a consistent WNW σ3 axis and transitional between strike-slip and normal faulting (maximum horizontal stress approximately equal to vertical stress, or R ≈ 0 in both regimes) with minor local fluctuations. The slip data reported here support previous results from Owens Valley that suggest deformation within temporally distinct normal and strike-slip faulting stress regimes with a roughly constant WNW trending σ3 axis (Zoback, 1989). A recent change from a normal faulting to a strike-slip faulting stress regime is indicated by the crosscutting striae on faults in basalts <300,000 years old and is consistent with the dominantly strike-slip earthquake focal mechanisms and the youngest striae observed on faults in Plio-Quaternary deposits. Geologic control on the timing of the change is poor; it is impossible to determine if there has been a single recent absolute change or if there is, rather, an alternating or cyclical variation in stress magnitudes. Our slip data, in particular, the cross-cutting normal and strike-slip striae on the same fault plane, are inconsistent with postulated simple strain partitioning of deformation within a single regional stress field suggested for the WLZ by Wesnousky and Jones [1994]. The location of the WLZ between the deep-seated regional extension of the Basin and Range and the right-lateral strike-slip regional tectonics of the San Andreas fault zone is probably responsible for the complex interaction of tectonic regimes in this transition zone. In early to mid-Tertiary time the WLZ appears to have had a similarly complex deformational history, in this case as a back arc or intra-arc region, accommodating at least part of the right-lateral component of oblique convergence as well as a component of extension.

Evolution of fault zones in carbonates with mechanical stratigraphy - Insights from scale models using layered cohesive powder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gent, Heijn W.; Holland, Marc; Urai, Janos L.; Loosveld, Ramon

2010-09-01

We present analogue models of the formation of dilatant normal faults and fractures in carbonate fault zones, using cohesive hemihydrate powder (CaSO 4·½H 2O). The evolution of these dilatant fault zones involves a range of processes such as fragmentation, gravity-driven breccia transport and the formation of dilatant jogs. To allow scaling to natural prototypes, extensive material characterisation was done. This showed that tensile strength and cohesion depend on the state of compaction, whereas the friction angle remains approximately constant. In our models, tensile strength of the hemihydrate increases with depth from 9 to 50 Pa, while cohesion increases from 40 to 250 Pa. We studied homogeneous and layered material sequences, using sand as a relatively weak layer and hemihydrate/graphite mixtures as a slightly stronger layer. Deformation was analyzed by time-lapse photography and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to calculate the evolution of the displacement field. With PIV the initial, predominantly elastic deformation and progressive localization of deformation are observed in detail. We observed near-vertical opening-mode fractures near the surface. With increasing depth, dilational shear faults were dominant, with releasing jogs forming at fault-dip variations. A transition to non-dilatant shear faults was observed near the bottom of the model. In models with mechanical stratigraphy, fault zones are more complex. The inferred stress states and strengths in different parts of the model agree with the observed transitions in the mode of deformation.

The effect of segmented fault zones on earthquake rupture propagation and termination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Y.

2017-12-01

A fundamental question in earthquake source physics is what can control the nucleation and termination of an earthquake rupture. Besides stress heterogeneities and variations in frictional properties, damaged fault zones (DFZs) that surround major strike-slip faults can contribute significantly to earthquake rupture propagation. Previous earthquake rupture simulations usually characterize DFZs as several-hundred-meter-wide layers with lower seismic velocities than host rocks, and find earthquake ruptures in DFZs can exhibit slip pulses and oscillating rupture speeds that ultimately enhance high-frequency ground motions. However, real DFZs are more complex than the uniform low-velocity structures, and show along-strike variations of damages that may be correlated with historical earthquake ruptures. These segmented structures can either prohibit or assist rupture propagation and significantly affect the final sizes of earthquakes. For example, recent dense array data recorded at the San Jacinto fault zone suggests the existence of three prominent DFZs across the Anza seismic gap and the south section of the Clark branch, while no prominent DFZs were identified near the ends of the Anza seismic gap. To better understand earthquake rupture in segmented fault zones, we will present dynamic rupture simulations that calculate the time-varying rupture process physically by considering the interactions between fault stresses, fault frictional properties, and material heterogeneities. We will show that whether an earthquake rupture can break through the intact rock outside the DFZ depend on the nucleation size of the earthquake and the rupture propagation distance in the DFZ. Moreover, material properties of the DFZ, stress conditions along the fault, and friction properties of the fault also have a critical impact on rupture propagation and termination. We will also present scenarios of San Jacinto earthquake ruptures and show the parameter space that is favorable for rupture propagation through the Anza seismic gap. Our results suggest that a priori knowledge of properties of segmented fault zones is of great importance for predicting sizes of future large earthquakes on major faults.

Fault zone structure and kinematics from lidar, radar, and imagery: revealing new details along the creeping San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLong, S.; Donnellan, A.; Pickering, A.

2017-12-01

Aseismic fault creep, coseismic fault displacement, distributed deformation, and the relative contribution of each have important bearing on infrastructure resilience, risk reduction, and the study of earthquake physics. Furthermore, the impact of interseismic fault creep in rupture propagation scenarios, and its impact and consequently on fault segmentation and maximum earthquake magnitudes, is poorly resolved in current rupture forecast models. The creeping section of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) in Central California is an outstanding area for establishing methodology for future scientific response to damaging earthquakes and for characterizing the fine details of crustal deformation. Here, we describe how data from airborne and terrestrial laser scanning, airborne interferometric radar (UAVSAR), and optical data from satellites and UAVs can be used to characterize rates and map patterns of deformation within fault zones of varying complexity and geomorphic expression. We are evaluating laser point cloud processing, photogrammetric structure from motion, radar interferometry, sub-pixel correlation, and other techniques to characterize the relative ability of each to measure crustal deformation in two and three dimensions through time. We are collecting new and synthesizing existing data from the zone of highest interseismic creep rates along the SAF where a transition from a single main fault trace to a 1-km wide extensional stepover occurs. In the stepover region, creep measurements from alignment arrays 100 meters long across the main fault trace reveal lower rates than those in adjacent, geomorphically simpler parts of the fault. This indicates that deformation is distributed across the en echelon subsidiary faults, by creep and/or stick-slip behavior. Our objectives are to better understand how deformation is partitioned across a fault damage zone, how it is accommodated in the shallow subsurface, and to better characterize the relative amounts of fault creep and potential stick-slip fault behavior across the plate boundary at these sites in order to evaluate the potential for rupture propagation in large earthquakes.

A reconnaissance space sensing investigation of the crustal structure for a strip from the eastern Sierra Nevada to the Colorado Plateau: April 1971

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bechtold, I. C. (Principal Investigator); Liggett, M. A.

1972-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. An area of anomalous linear topographic grain and color expressions was recognized in Apollo 9 and ERTS-1 imagery along the Colorado River of northwestern Arizona and southern Nevada. Field reconnaissance and analysis of U-2 photography has shown the anomaly to be a zone of north to north-northwest trending dike swarms and associated granitic plutons. The dikes vary in composition from rhyolite to diabase, with an average composition nearer rhyolite. Shearing and displacement of host rocks along dikes suggest dike emplacement along active fault zones. Post-dike deformation has resulted in shearing and complex normal faulting along a similar north-south trend. The epizonal plutonism and volcanism of this north-south belt appears to represent a structurally controlled volcanogenic province which ends abruptly in the vicinity of Lake Mead at a probable eastern extension of the Las Vegas Shear Zone. The magnitude and chronology of extensional faulting and plutonism recognized in the north-south zone, support the hypothesis that the Las Vegas Shear Zone is a transform fault separating two areas of crustal spreading.

Seismic evidence of Quaternary faulting in the Benton Hills area, southeast Missouri

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palmer, J.R.; Shoemaker, M.; Hoffman, D.; Anderson, N.L.; Vaughn, J.D.; Harrison, R.W.

1997-01-01

Two reflection seismic profiles at English Hill, across the southern edge of the Benton Hills escarpment, southeast Missouri, establish that geologic structures at English Hill are of tectonic origin. The lowland area to the south of the escarpment is relatively undisturbed. The geology at English Hill is structurally complex, and reflection seismic and geologic data indicate extensive and episodic faulting of Paleozoic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary strata. The individual faults have near-vertical fault surfaces with maximum vertical separations on the order of 15 m. They appear to be clustered in north-northeast trending zones that essentially parallel one of the dominant Benton Hills structural trends. These observations suggest that previously mapped Quaternary faults at English Hill are deep-seated and tectonic in origin. This paper documents recent faulting at English Hill and is the first time late Quaternary, surface-rupture faulting has been recognized in the middle Mississippi River Valley region outside of the New Madrid seismic zone. This has important implications for earthquake assessment in the midcontinent.

SeaMARC II mapping of transform faults in the Cayman Trough, Caribbean Sea

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosencrantz, Eric; Mann, Paul

1992-01-01

SeaMARC II maps of the southern wall of the Cayman Trough between Honduras and Jamaica show zones of continuous, well-defined fault lineaments adjacent and parallel to the wall, both to the east and west of the Cayman spreading axis. These lineaments mark the present, active traces of transform faults which intersect the southern end of the spreading axis at a triple junction. The Swan Islands transform fault to the west is dominated by two major lineaments that overlap with right-stepping sense across a large push-up ridge beneath the Swan Islands. The fault zone to the east of the axis, named the Walton fault, is more complex, containing multiple fault strands and a large pull-apart structure. The Walton fault links the spreading axis to Jamaican and Hispaniolan strike-slip faults, and it defines the southern boundary of a microplate composed of the eastern Cayman Trough and western Hispaniola. The presence of this microplate raises questions about the veracity of Caribbean plate velocities based primarily on Cayman Trough opening rates.

Timing of terrane accretion in eastern and east-central Maine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludman, Allan

1986-05-01

The Norumbega fault zone is often cited as a post-Acadian suture between exotic blocks, even though stratigraphic, structural, and metamorphic data indicate that there is little offset of the Silurian-Devonian strata that the zone cuts in eastern Maine. Similarly, the Kingman fault zone has been shown by gravity and geochemical studies to separate distinct crustal blocks, whereas mapping shows that it lies entirely within a Silurian turbidite package. These conflicts are resolved if the two fault zones represent boundaries between Ordovician or older crustal blocks that had accreted to form a composite terrane prior to deposition of the cover sequences. The faults now mapped within these younger rocks formed by reactivation of the pre-Silurian boundaries during late Acadian time; movement continued until the late Carboniferous. Most of the accretionary history of Maine had thus ended before the Silurian. A complex composite terrane may have formed during Cambrian-Ordovician time that (1) interacted with cratonic North America during the Taconian orogeny and (2) became the “basement” upon which the Silurian and Lower Devonian strata of eastern Maine were deposited.

Tearing the terroir: Details and implications of surface rupture and deformation from the 24 August 2014 M6.0 South Napa earthquake, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeLong, Stephen B.; Donnellan, Andrea; Ponti, Daniel J.; Rubin, Ron S.; Lienkaemper, James J.; Prentice, Carol S.; Dawson, Timothy E.; Seitz, Gordon G.; Schwartz, David P.; Hudnut, Kenneth W.; Rosa, Carla M.; Pickering, Alexandra J; Parker, Jay W.

2016-01-01

The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake of 24 August 2014 caused slip on several active fault strands within the West Napa Fault Zone (WNFZ). Field mapping identified 12.5 km of surface rupture. These field observations, near-field geodesy and space geodesy, together provide evidence for more than ~30 km of surface deformation with a relatively complex distribution across a number of subparallel lineaments. Along a ~7 km section north of the epicenter, the surface rupture is confined to a single trace that cuts alluvial deposits, reoccupying a low-slope scarp. The rupture continued northward onto at least four other traces through subparallel ridges and valleys. Postseismic slip exceeded coseismic slip along much of the southern part of the main rupture trace with total slip 1 year postevent approaching 0.5 m at locations where only a few centimeters were measured the day of the earthquake. Analysis of airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar data provides slip distributions along fault traces, indicates connectivity and extent of secondary traces, and confirms that postseismic slip only occurred on the main trace of the fault, perhaps indicating secondary structures ruptured as coseismic triggered slip. Previous mapping identified the WNFZ as a zone of distributed faulting, and this was generally borne out by the complex 2014 rupture pattern. Implications for hazard analysis in similar settings include the need to consider the possibility of complex surface rupture in areas of complex topography, especially where multiple potentially Quaternary-active fault strands can be mapped.

High-resolution seismic profiling reveals faulting associated with the 1934 Ms 6.6 Hansel Valley earthquake (Utah, USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bruno, Pier Paolo G.; Duross, Christopher; Kokkalas, Sotirios

2017-01-01

The 1934 Ms 6.6 Hansel Valley, Utah, earthquake produced an 8-km-long by 3-km-wide zone of north-south−trending surface deformation in an extensional basin within the easternmost Basin and Range Province. Less than 0.5 m of purely vertical displacement was measured at the surface, although seismologic data suggest mostly strike-slip faulting at depth. Characterization of the origin and kinematics of faulting in the Hansel Valley earthquake is important to understand how complex fault ruptures accommodate regions of continental extension and transtension. Here, we address three questions: (1) How does the 1934 surface rupture compare with faults in the subsurface? (2) Are the 1934 fault scarps tectonic or secondary features? (3) Did the 1934 earthquake have components of both strike-slip and dip-slip motion? To address these questions, we acquired a 6.6-km-long, high-resolution seismic profile across Hansel Valley, including the 1934 ruptures. We observed numerous east- and west-dipping normal faults that dip 40°−70° and offset late Quaternary strata from within a few tens of meters of the surface down to a depth of ∼1 km. Spatial correspondence between the 1934 surface ruptures and subsurface faults suggests that ruptures associated with the earthquake are of tectonic origin. Our data clearly show complex basin faulting that is most consistent with transtensional tectonics. Although the kinematics of the 1934 earthquake remain underconstrained, we interpret the disagreement between surface (normal) and subsurface (strike-slip) kinematics as due to slip partitioning during fault propagation and to the effect of preexisting structural complexities. We infer that the 1934 earthquake occurred along an ∼3-km wide, off-fault damage zone characterized by distributed deformation along small-displacement faults that may be alternatively activated during different earthquake episodes.

Tectonic study of the extension of the New Madrid fault zone near its intersection with the 38th parallel lineament

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Braile, L.W.; Hinze, W.J.; Sexton, J.L.

1982-06-01

Gravity, magnetic, geologic, and seismicity data have been combined in a seismotectonic analysis of the New Madrid seismic zone. Previous studies have presented evidence for several rift zones in this area (Upper Mississippi enmbayment), including the Reelfoot rift, a late precambrian-early Paleozoic failed arm which extends north-northeast from the ancient continental margin. We suggest that the northern terminus of the Reelfoot rift forms a rift complex, with arms extending northeast into southwestern Indiana, northwest along the Mississippi River, and east into western Kentucky, which appears to correlate well with the seismicity in the area. This correlation suggests that faults associatedmore » with this rift complex are being reactivated in the contemporary stress field (east-northeast compression). If this interpretation is valid, it represents a seismotectonic model which can be used to predict the extent of future seismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone. The proposed rift complex also provides a coherent model for the tectonic development of this region of the North American midcontinent.« less

Deep Vadose Zone Flow and Transport Behavior at T-Tunnel Complex, Rainier Mesa, Nevada National Security Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parashar, R.; Reeves, D. M.

2010-12-01

Rainier Mesa, a tuffaceous plateau on the Nevada National Security Site, has been the location of numerous subsurface nuclear tests conducted in a series of tunnel complexes located approximately 450 m below the top of the mesa and 500 m above the regional groundwater flow system. The tunnels were constructed near the middle of an 800 m Tertiary sequence of faulted, low-permeability welded and non-welded bedded, vitric, and zeolitized tuff units. Water levels from wells in the vicinity of the T-tunnel complex indicate the presence of a perched saturation zone located approximately 100 m above the T-tunnel complex. This upper zone of saturation extends downward through most of the Tertiary sequence. The groundwater table is located at an elevation of 1300 m within a thrust sheet of Paleozoic carbonates, corresponding to the lower carbonate aquifer hydrostratigraphic unit (LCA3). The LCA3 is considered to be hydraulically connected to the Death Valley regional flow system. The objective of this project is to simulate complex downward patterns of fluid flow and radionuclide transport from the T-tunnel complex through the matrix and fault networks of the Tertiary tuff units to the water table. We developed an improved fracture characterization and mapping methodology consisting of displacement-length scaling relationships, simulation of realistic fault networks based on site-specific data, and the development of novel fracture network upscaling techniques that preserves fracture network flow and transport properties on coarse continuum grid. Development of upscaling method for fracture continua is based on the concepts of discrete fracture network modeling approach which performs better at honoring network connectivity and anisotropy of sparse networks in comparison to other established methods such as a tensor approach. Extensive flow simulations in the dual-continuum framework demonstrate that the characteristics of fault networks strongly influences the saturation profile and formation of perched zones, although they may not conduct a large amount of flow when compared to the matrix continua. The simulated results are found to be very sensitive to distribution of fracture aperture, density of the network, and spatial pattern of fracture clustering. The faults provide rapid pathways for radionuclide transport and the conceptual modeling of diffusional mass transfer between matrix and fracture continua plays a vital role in prediction of the overall behavior of the breakthrough curve.

Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wadas, Sonja H.; Tanner, David C.; Polom, Ulrich; Krawczyk, Charlotte M.

2017-12-01

In November 2010, a large sinkhole opened up in the urban area of Schmalkalden, Germany. To determine the key factors which benefited the development of this collapse structure and therefore the dissolution, we carried out several shear-wave reflection-seismic profiles around the sinkhole. In the seismic sections we see evidence of the Mesozoic tectonic movement in the form of a NW-SE striking, dextral strike-slip fault, known as the Heßleser Fault, which faulted and fractured the subsurface below the town. The strike-slip faulting created a zone of small blocks ( < 100 m in size), around which steep-dipping normal faults, reverse faults and a dense fracture network serve as fluid pathways for the artesian-confined groundwater. The faults also acted as barriers for horizontal groundwater flow perpendicular to the fault planes. Instead groundwater flows along the faults which serve as conduits and forms cavities in the Permian deposits below ca. 60 m depth. Mass movements and the resulting cavities lead to the formation of sinkholes and dissolution-induced depressions. Since the processes are still ongoing, the occurrence of a new sinkhole cannot be ruled out. This case study demonstrates how S-wave seismics can characterize a sinkhole and, together with geological information, can be used to study the processes that result in sinkhole formation, such as a near-surface fault zone located in soluble rocks. The more complex the fault geometry and interaction between faults, the more prone an area is to sinkhole occurrence.

Oil migration in a major growth fault: Structural analysis of the Pathfinder core, South Eugene Island Block 330, offshore Louisiana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Losh, S.

1998-09-01

The Pathfinder core, collected in the South Eugene Island Block 330 field, offshore Louisiana, provides an outstanding sample of structures associated with a major growth fault that abuts a giant oil field and that is thought to have acted as a conduit for hydrocarbon migration into the producing reservoirs. The fault zone in the core consists of three structural domains, each characterized by a distinct rock type, distribution of fault dips and dip azimuths, and distribution of spacing between adjacent faults and fractures. Although all of the domains contain oil-bearing sands, only faults and fractures in the deepest domain containmore » oil, even though the oil-barren fault domains contain numerous faults and fractures that are parallel to those containing oil in the deepest domain. The deepest domain is also distinguished from the other two domains by a greater degree of structural complexity and by a well-defined power-law distribution of fault and fracture spacings. Even though oil is present in sands throughout the core, its restriction to faults and fractures in the youngest sampled portion of the fault zone implies that oil migrated only through that part of the fault that was active during the time when oil had access to it. The absence of oil in fractures or faults in the other, probably older, fault domains indicates that the oil was never sufficiently pressured to flow up the fault zone on its own, either by hydraulic fracture or by increased permeability as a result of decreased effective stress. Instead, fluid migration along faults and fractures in the Pathfinder core was enhanced by permeability created in response to relatively far-field stresses related to minibasin subsidence.« less

Maine Pseudotachylyte Localities and the Role of Host Rock Anisotropy in Fault Zone Development and Frictional Melting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanson, M. T.

2004-12-01

Three brittle strike-slip fault localities in coastal Maine have developed pseudotachylyte fault veins, injection veins and other reservoir structures in a variety of host rocks where the pre-existing layering can serve as a controlling fabric for brittle strike-slip reactivation. Host rocks with a poorly-oriented planar anisotropy at high angles to the shear direction will favor the development of R-shears in initial en echelon arrays as seen in the Two Lights and Richmond Island Fault Zones of Cape Elizabeth that cut gently-dipping phyllitic quartzites. These en echelon R-shears grow to through-going faults with the development of P-shear linkages across the dominantly contractional stepovers in the initial arrays. Pseudotachylyte on these faults is very localized, typically up to 1-2 mm in thickness and is restricted to through-going fault segments, P-shear linkages and some sidewall ripouts. Overall melt production is limited by the complex geometry of the multi-fault array. Host rocks with a favorably-oriented planar anisotropy for reactivation in brittle shear, however, preferentially develop a multitude of longer, non-coplanar layer-parallel fault segments. Pseudotachylyte in the newly-discovered Harbor Island Fault Zone in Muscongus Bay is developed within vertical bedding on regional upright folds with over 50 individual layer-parallel single-slip fault veins, some of which can be traced for over 40 meters along strike. Many faults show clear crosscuts of pre-existing quartz veins that indicate a range of coseismic displacements of 0.23-0.53 meters yielding fault vein widths of a few mm and dilatant reservoirs up to 2 cm thick. Both vertical and rare horizontal lateral injection veins can be found in the adjoining wall rock up to 0.7 cm thick and 80 cm in length. The structure of these faults is simple with minor development of splay faults, sidewall ripouts and strike-slip duplexes. The prominent vertical flow layering within the mylonite gneisses of Gerrish Island serves as host to the complex Fort Foster Brittle Zone where it localizes brittle fault slip and contributes to a maximum area of contact between the sliding surfaces which, in turn, yields fault vein thicknesses of 1-2 mm and locally up to 2 cm. The reactivation of this planar anisotropy in brittle shear produces long overlapping geometries that develop linking structures in both extensional and contractional stepovers may reflect the development of sidewall ripouts due to adhesive wear. The prominent development of closely-spaced individual single-slip fault veins suggests frictional welding as an effective strain hardening mechanism for repeated stick-slip.

Permeability and strength structure around an ancient exhumed subduction-zone fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, A.; Sakaguchi, A.; Yoshida, S.; Kaneda, Y.

2003-12-01

Investigating the transporting properties of subduction zone faults is crucial for understanding shear strength and slip-stability, or instability, of subduction zone faults. Despite the influence of pore pressure on a wide range of subduction-zone fault processes, few previous studies have evaluated the permeability structure around the fault placed in a well-defined structural context. In this study, the aim is to gain the entire permeability and the shear strength structure around the ancient subduction zone fault. We have conducted a series of permeability measurements and shear failure experiments in seismogenic environments using intact rocks sampled at the outcrop of an exhumed fault zone in the Cretaceous Shimanto accretionary complex, in Shikoku, SW Japan, where a typical evidence for seismic fault rock of pseudotachylyte has been demonstrated [Ikesawa et al., 2003]. This fault zone is located at boundary between the sandstone-dominant coherent unit of the Nonokawa Formation and the Okitsu mélange. The porosity of each rock sample is less than 1 %, except for the shear zone. Cylindrical test specimens (length = 40 mm, diameter = 20 mm) were cored to an accuracy of within 0.02 mm. Most of values of permeability were evaluated at confining pressure Pc of 140 MPa and pore pressure Pp of 115 MPa simulating the depth of 5 km (suprahydrostatic pore pressure). It is found that the permeability at room temperature shows the heterogeneous structure across the fault zone. The permeability of sandstone-dominant coherent unit is the lowest (10-19 m2) across the fault zone. In contrast, high shear zone has the highest permeability (10-16 m2). Following the increase in temperature, permeability evolution has been investigated. The permeability at 250oC continuously decreases with hold time for all types of rock specimens, and the reduction rate of permeability against hold time seems to become small with hold time. It seems that the reduction rate does not significantly depend on the rock types. The specimen was loaded at a strain rate of 2*E-6 /s under the conditions (Pc, Pp, T) = (140 MPa, 105 MPa, 250oC) to conduct the shear fracture experiments. High shear zone has a minimum value in strength profile. In contrast, the largest shear strength is observed at sandstone in coherent unit. From the seismic reflection surveys in the Nankai Trough, Park et al. [2002] delineated reflections with negative polarities beneath the Nankai accretionary prism 20-60 km landward of the frontal thrust, which are located deeper than the negative polarity décollement near the frontal thrust. They interpreted that the DSRs indicate the elevated fluid pressures. The fault zone studied in this paper is consistent with the duplex-model, and corresponds to the area where the décollement near the frontal thrust stepped down. Present results show the possibility that the coherent sandstone acts as a cap rock for fluid flow, and shear zone as a conduit for the flow, which leads to the elevated pore pressures along the roof thrust.

Interseismic Strain Accumulation of the Gazikoy-Saros segment (Ganos fault) of the North Anatolian Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havazli, E.; Wdowinski, S.; Amelung, F.

2017-12-01

The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is one of the most active continental transform faults in the world. A westward migrating earthquake sequence has started in 1939 in Erzincan and the last two events of this sequence occurred in 1999 in Izmit and Duzce manifesting the importance of NAFZ on the seismic hazard potential of the region. NAFZ exhibits slip rates ranging from 14-30 mm/yr along its 1500 km length with a right lateral strike slip characteristic. In the East of the Marmara Sea, the NAFZ splits into two branches. The Gazikoy-Saros segment (Ganos Fault) is the westernmost and onshore segment of the northern branch. The ENE-WSW oriented Ganos Fault is seismically active. It produced a Ms 7.2 earthquake in 1912, which was followed by several large aftershocks, including Ms 6.3 and Ms 6.9 events. Since 1912, the Ganos Fault did not produce any significant earthquakes (> M 5), in contrast to its adjacent segments, which produced 20 M>5 earthquakes, including a M 6.7 event, offshore in Gulf of Saros. Interseismic strain accumulation along the Ganos Fault was assessed from sparse GPS measurements along a single transect located perpendicular to the fault zone, suggesting strain accumulation rate of 20-25 mm/yr. Insofar, InSAR studies, based on C-band data, didn't produce conclusive results due to low coherence over the fault zone area, which is highly vegetated. In this study, we present a detailed interseismic velocity map of the Ganos Fault zone derived from L-band InSAR observations. We use 21 ALOS PALSAR scenes acquired over a 5-year period, from 2007 to 2011. We processed the ALOS data using the PySAR software, which is the University of Miami version of the Small Baseline (SB) method. The L-band observations enabled us to overcome the coherence issue in the study area. Our initial results indicate a maximum velocity of 15 mm/yr across the fault zone. The high spatial resolution of the InSAR-based interseismic velocity map will enable us to better to resolve locking depth variations and structural complexities along the seismically active Ganos Fault segment of the NAFZ.

Movement sense determination in sheared rocks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simpson, C.

1985-01-01

Deformation within fault zones produces sheared rocks that range from cataclasites at high structural level, to mylonites and mylonitic gneiss at deeper levels. These rocks are easily recognized and mapped in the field and the strike and dip of the fault zone established. However, present-day geometry of the fault zone does not necessarily indicate relative motion - a zone dipping at 15/sup 0/ could represent a listric normal, thrust, oblique-slip or tilted strike-slip fault. Where offset stratigraphic or lithological markers are absent, the movement sense may be determined from meso- and micro-structural features within the sheared rocks. Of prime importancemore » is the orientation of mineral elongation or stretching lineations which record the finite X direction of strain in the rock; this direction approaches the bulk movement direction with increase in strain. At mesoscopic scale the most reliable shear sense indicators are shear bands and associated features. Use of fold vergence requires caution. On a micro-structural scale, shear bands, mica fish, microfolds, rotated grains, asymmetrical augen structure and fiber growth patterns all give reliable results. Thin sections should be cut parallel to lineation and perpendicular to foliation in order to view maximum rotational component. Asymmetry of crystallographic fabric patterns gives consistent results in zones of relatively simple movement history. For high confidence shear sense determination, all structural elements should be internally consistent. If inconsistency occurs this may indicate a complex, multidirectional movement history for the fault zone.« less

Location, structure, and seismicity of the Seattle fault zone, Washington: Evidence from aeromagnetic anomalies, geologic mapping, and seismic-reflection data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blakely, R.J.; Wells, R.E.; Weaver, C.S.; Johnson, S.Y.

2002-01-01

A high-resolution aeromagnetic survey of the Puget Lowland shows details of the Seattle fault zone, an active but largely concealed east-trending zone of reverse faulting at the southern margin of the Seattle basin. Three elongate, east-trending magnetic anomalies are associated with north-dipping Tertiary strata exposed in the hanging wall; the magnetic anomalies indicate where these strata continue beneath glacial deposits. The northernmost anomaly, a narrow, elongate magnetic high, precisely correlates with magnetic Miocene volcanic conglomerate. The middle anomaly, a broad magnetic low, correlates with thick, nonmagnetic Eocene and Oligocene marine and fluvial strata. The southern anomaly, a broad, complex magnetic high, correlates with Eocene volcanic and sedimentary rocks. This tripartite package of anomalies is especially clear over Bainbridge Island west of Seattle and over the region east of Lake Washington. Although attenuated in the intervening region, the pattern can be correlated with the mapped strike of beds following a northwest-striking anticline beneath Seattle. The aeromagnetic and geologic data define three main strands of the Seattle fault zone identified in marine seismic-reflection profiles to be subparallel to mapped bedrock trends over a distance of >50 km. The locus of faulting coincides with a diffuse zone of shallow crustal seismicity and the region of uplift produced by the M 7 Seattle earthquake of A.D. 900-930.

Conditions of Fissuring in a Pumped-Faulted Aquifer System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Marin, M.; Burbey, T. J.

2007-12-01

Earth fissuring associated with subsidence from groundwater pumping is problematic in many arid-zone heavily pumped basins such as Las Vegas Valley. Long-term pumping at rates considerably greater than the natural recharge rate has stressed the heterogeneous aquifer system resulting in a complex stress-strain regime. A rigorous artificial recharge program coupled with increased surface-water importation has allowed water levels to appreciably recover, which has led to surface rebound in some localities. Nonetheless, new fissures continue to appear, particularly near basin-fill faults that behave as barriers to subsidence bowls. The purpose of this research is to develop a series of computational models to better understand the influence that structure (faults), pumping, and hydrostratigraphy has in the generation and propagation of fissures. The hydrostratigraphy of Las Vegas Valley consists of aquifers, aquitards and a relatively dry vadoze zone that may be as thick as 100m in much of the valley. Quaternary faults are typically depicted as scarps resulting from pre- pumping extensional tectonic events and are probably not responsible for the observed strain. The models developed to simulate the stress-strain and deformation processes in a faulted pumped aquifer-aquitard system of Las Vegas use the ABAQUS CAE (Complete ABAQUS Environment) software system. ABAQUS is a sophisticated engineering industry finite-element modeling package capable of simulating the complex fault- fissure system described here. A brittle failure criteria based on the tensile strength of the materials and the acting stresses (from previous models) are being used to understand how and where fissures are likely to form. , Hypothetical simulations include the role that faults and the vadose zone may play in fissure formation

The lateral boundary of a metamorphic core complex: the Moutsounas shear zone on Naxos, Cyclades, Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, S.; Neubauer, F.

2012-04-01

One of the apparently best investigated metamorphic core complexes all over world is that of Naxos in the Aegean Sea and numerous high-quality data on structures and microfabrics have been published. Among these structures is the Naxos-Paros ductile low-angle fault (Gautier et al., 1993), which is located along the northern margin of Naxos and which is part of the North Cycladic Detachment System (Jolivet et al., 2010). There, structural evidence indicates that the hanging wall of the core complex experienced large-scale top-to-the-north (ca. 010°) transport along a low-angle detachment fault. Interestingly no attention has been paid on the well exposed boundary fault on the eastern margin of the Naxos Island, which is even not mentioned in the lierarure. We denote this fault as Moutsounas shear zone, which represents the lateral boundary of the Naxos metamorphic core complex. The Naxos metamorphic core complex is a N-trending elongated dome, which exposes on its eastern side moderately E-dipping micaschists and marbles, which are largely well annealed due to late heating. These annealed rocks grade towards the Moutsounas Peninsula in retrogressed sheared rocks, mostly phyllonitic micaschists and phyllites with an E-dipping foliation and a ca. NNE-trending subhorizontal stretching lineation. Shear bands, asymmetric fringes around rigid clasts and oblique mineralized extension veins consistently indicate top-to-the-NNE shear. The shear zone is structurally overlain by hydrothermally altered Miocene conglomerates, which contain no pebbles from the Naxos metamorphic core complex but exclusively from the ophiolitic hangingwall unit. Miocene rocks are exposed both on the northern and southern edge of the Moutsounas Peninsula. Their bedding is variable but dips generally towards NW, oblique to the detachment fault, which dips with a medium-angle towards east indicating therefore a rollover structure. The Miocene succession is overlain by subhorizontal conglomerates of Pliocene age, which form the main portion of the Moutsounas Peninsula and which contain numerous clasts, mainly marble, of the metamorphic core complex. These sedimentary data indicate that exhumation of the Naxos metamorphic core complex postdate deposition of Miocene successions and predate Pliocene rocks. We interpret the Moutsounas shear zone as a lateral boundary of the Naxos migmatite dome and relate their main activity with top NNE-shear with the main stage of updoming during migmatite formation and granite uplift between ca. 15 and 11 Ma.

Transfer zones and fault reactivation in inverted rift basins: Insights from physical modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konstantinovskaya, Elena A.; Harris, Lyal B.; Poulin, Jimmy; Ivanov, Gennady M.

2007-08-01

Lateral transfer zones of deformation and fault reactivation were investigated in multilayered silicone-sand models during extension and subsequent co-axial shortening. Model materials were selected to meet similarity criteria and to be distinguished on CT scans; this approach permitted non-destructive visualisation of the progressive evolution of structures. Transfer zones were initiated by an orthogonal offset in the geometry of a basal mobile aluminium sheet and/or by variations of layer thickness or material rheology in basal layers. Transfer zones affected rift propagation and fault kinematics in models. Propagation and overlapping rift culminations occurred in transfer zones during extension. During shortening, deviation in the orientation of frontal thrusts and fold axes occurred within transfer zones in brittle and ductile layers, respectively. CT scans showed that steep (58-67°) rift-margin normal faults were reactivated as reverse faults. The reactivated faults rotated to shallower dips (19-38°) with continuing shortening after 100% inversion. Rotation of rift phase faults appears to be due to deep level folding and uplift during the inversion phase. New thrust faults with shallow dips (20-34°) formed outside the inverted graben at late stages of shortening. Frontal ramps propagated laterally past the transfer structure during shortening. During inversion, the layers filling the rift structures underwent lateral compression at the depth, the graben fill was pushed up and outwards creating local extension near the surface. Sand marker layers in inverted graben have showed fold-like structures or rotation and tilting in the rifts and on the rift margins. The results of our experiments conform well to natural examples of inverted graben. Inverted rift basins are structurally complex and often difficult to interpret in seismic data. The models may help to unravel the structure and evolution of these systems, leading to improved hydrocarbon exploration assessments. Model results may also be used to help predict the location of basement discontinuities which may have focused hydrothermal fluids during basin formation and inversion.

Mapping offshore portions of the Khlong Marui and Ranong faults in Thailand: Implications for seismic hazards in the Thai peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, H.; Furlong, K.; Pananont, P.; Krastel, S.; Nhongkai, S. N.

2017-12-01

Thailand experiences Mw < 6.5 earthquakes, but the frequency of these earthquakes is considerably less within Thailand than at plate boundaries. Faults in Thailand that are potentially active, but have not historically hosted a large earthquake pose an unknown seismic hazard. Two such faults are the Khlong Marui and Ranong faults, which are left lateral strike-slip faults that strike northeast across the Thai peninsula and have been assumed to continue into the Andaman Sea. The Ranong and Khlong Marui fault zones have clear surface expression onshore, but their offshore extent is unknown. An estimated 100 km of sinistral displacement has occurred in the last 52 million years on the Ranong fault zone and the Khlong Marui fault zone is assumed to be similar (Watkinson et al., 2008; Kornsawan and Morley, 2002). Five Mw < 4.5 earthquakes have occurred near the inferred offshore extension of the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults since 2005. However, the maximum earthquake magnitude possible and recurrence interval of events on these faults is unconstrained, leaving southern Thailand unprepared for a Mw < 6 earthquake. To constrain the location of offshore portion of these two faults we performed a marine seismic reflection survey in the Andaman Sea, and construct an offshore fault map. Additionally, we are working to resolve the depth extent of displacement associated with faulting in the seismic data to constrain the timing of fault motion. Using empirical scaling between fault area and earthquake size we will be able to estimate a maximum earthquake magnitude for the Ranong and Khlong Marui faults. This will provide additional information to help southern Thailand prepare for potential seismic events. Kornsawan, A., & Morley, C. K. (2002). The origin and evolution of complex transfer zones (graben shifts) in conjugate fault systems around the Funan Field, Pattani Basin, Gulf of Thailand. Journal of Structural Geology, 24(3), 435-449. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0191- 8141(01)00080-3 Watkinson, I., Elders, C., & Hall, R. (2008). The kinematic history of the Khlong Marui and Ranong Faults, southern Thailand. Journal of Structural Geology, 30, 1554-1571. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2008.09.001

Fault zone property near Xinfengjiang Reservoir using dense, across-fault seismic array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, M. H. B.; Yang, H.; Sun, X.

2017-12-01

Properties of fault zones are important to the understanding of earthquake process. Around the fault zone is a damaged zone which is characterised by a lower seismic velocity. This is detectable as a low velocity zone and measure some physical property of the fault zone, which is otherwise difficult sample directly. A dense, across-fault array of short period seismometer is deployed on an inactive fault near Xinfengjiang Reservoir. Local events were manually picked. By computing the synthetic arrival time, we were able to constrain the parameters of the fault zone Preliminary result shows that the fault zone is around 350 m wide with a P and S velocity increase of around 10%. The fault is geologically inferred, and this result suggested that it may be a geological layer. The other possibility is that the higher velocity is caused by a combination of fault zone healing and fluid intrusion. Whilst the result was not able to tell us the nature of the fault, it demonstrated that this method is able to derive properties from a fault zone.

The Bootheel lineament, the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake sequence, and modern seismicity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schweig, E.S.; Ellis, M.A.

1992-01-01

Pedologic, geomorphic, and geochronologic data suggest that liquefaction occurred along the Bootheel lineament of Missouri and Arkansas during the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquake sequence. The authors propose that the lineament may be the surface trace of a relatively young fault zone consisting of multiple strike-slip flower structures. These structures have been interpreted over a zone at least 5 km wide exhibiting deformed strata at least as young as a regional Eocene/Quaternary unconformity. In physical models, flower structures form in less rigid material in response to low finite displacement across a discrete strike-slip shear zone in a rigid basement. By analogy,more » the Bootheel lineament may represent the most recent attempt of a strike-slip fault zone of relatively low displacement to propagate through a weak cover. In addition, the Bootheel lineament extends between two well-established, seismically active strike-slip fault zones that current form a restraining step. Restraining steps along strike-slip fault zones are inherently unstable, and thus the Bootheel lineament may be acting to smooth the trace of the New Madrid seismic zone as displacement increases. The current seismic inactivity along the Bootheel lineament may be explained by sequential accommodation of complex strain in which the stress field is highly variable within the source volume. In other words, the current stress field may not represent that which operated during the 1811-1812 sequence. Alternatively, an earthquake on a fault associated with the bootheel lineament may have released sufficient strain energy to temporarily shut down activity.« less

Ground-penetrating radar investigation of active faults along the Dead Sea Transform and implications for seismic hazards within the city of Aqaba, Jordan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slater, Lee; Niemi, Tina M.

2003-06-01

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used in an effort to locate a major active fault that traverses Aqaba City, Jordan. Measurements over an exposed (trenched) cross fault outside of the city identify a radar signature consisting of linear events and horizontal offset/flexured reflectors both showing a geometric correlation with two known faults at a control site. The asymmetric linear events are consistent with dipping planar reflectors matching the known direction of dip of the faults. However, other observations regarding this radar signature render the mechanism generating these events more complex and uncertain. GPR measurements in Aqaba City were limited to vacant lots. Seven GPR profiles were conducted approximately perpendicular to the assumed strike of the fault zone, based on regional geological evidence. A radar response very similar to that obtained over the cross fault was observed on five of the profiles in Aqaba City, although the response is weaker than that obtained at the control site. The positions of the identified responses form a near straight line with a strike of 45°. Although subsurface verification of the fault by trenching within the city is needed, the geophysical evidence for fault zone location is strong. The location of the interpreted fault zone relative to emergency services, military bases, commercial properties, and residential areas is defined to within a few meters. This study has significant implications for seismic hazard analysis in this tectonically active and heavily populated region.

Fault zone architecture within Miocene-Pliocene syn-rift sediments, Northwestern Red Sea, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaky, Khairy S.

2017-04-01

The present study focusses on field description of small normal fault zones in Upper Miocene-Pliocene sedimentary rocks on the northwestern side of the Red Sea, Egypt. The trend of these fault zones is mainly NW-SE. Paleostress analysis of 17 fault planes and slickenlines indicate that the tension direction is NE-SW. The minimum ( σ3) and intermediate ( σ2) paleostress axes are generally sub-horizontal and the maximum paleostress axis ( σ1) is sub-vertical. The fault zones are composed of damage zones and fault core. The damage zone is characterized by subsidiary faults and fractures that are asymmetrically developed on the hanging wall and footwall of the main fault. The width of the damage zone varies for each fault depending on the lithology, amount of displacement and irregularity of the fault trace. The average ratio between the hanging wall and the footwall damage zones width is about 3:1. The fault core consists of fault gouge and breccia. It is generally concentrated in a narrow zone of ˜0.5 to ˜8 cm width. The overall pattern of the fault core indicates that the width increases with increasing displacement. The faults with displacement < 1 m have fault cores ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 cm, while the faults with displacements of > 2 m have fault cores ranging from 4.0 to 8.0 cm. The fault zones are associated with sliver fault blocks, clay smear, segmented faults and fault lenses' structural features. These features are mechanically related to the growth and linkage of the fault arrays. The structural features may represent a neotectonic and indicate that the architecture of the fault zones is developed as several tectonic phases.

Three-Dimensional Geologic Model of Complex Fault Structures in the Upper Seco Creek Area, Medina and Uvalde Counties, South-Central Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pantea, Michael P.; Cole, James C.; Smith, Bruce D.; Faith, Jason R.; Blome, Charles D.; Smith, David V.

2008-01-01

This multimedia report shows and describes digital three-dimensional faulted geologic surfaces and volumes of the lithologic units of the Edwards aquifer in the upper Seco Creek area of Medina and Uvalde Counties in south-central Texas. This geologic framework model was produced using (1) geologic maps and interpretations of depositional environments and paleogeography; (2) lithologic descriptions, interpretations, and geophysical logs from 31 drill holes; (3) rock core and detailed lithologic descriptions from one drill hole; (4) helicopter electromagnetic geophysical data; and (5) known major and minor faults in the study area. These faults were used because of their individual and collective effects on the continuity of the aquifer-forming units in the Edwards Group. Data and information were compared and validated with each other and reflect the complex relationships of structures in the Seco Creek area of the Balcones fault zone. This geologic framework model can be used as a tool to visually explore and study geologic structures within the Seco Creek area of the Balcones fault zone and to show the connectivity of hydrologic units of high and low permeability between and across faults. The software can be used to display other data and information, such as drill-hole data, on this geologic framework model in three-dimensional space.

Fluid involvement in normal faulting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sibson, Richard H.

2000-04-01

Evidence of fluid interaction with normal faults comes from their varied role as flow barriers or conduits in hydrocarbon basins and as hosting structures for hydrothermal mineralisation, and from fault-rock assemblages in exhumed footwalls of steep active normal faults and metamorphic core complexes. These last suggest involvement of predominantly aqueous fluids over a broad depth range, with implications for fault shear resistance and the mechanics of normal fault reactivation. A general downwards progression in fault rock assemblages (high-level breccia-gouge (often clay-rich) → cataclasites → phyllonites → mylonite → mylonitic gneiss with the onset of greenschist phyllonites occurring near the base of the seismogenic crust) is inferred for normal fault zones developed in quartzo-feldspathic continental crust. Fluid inclusion studies in hydrothermal veining from some footwall assemblages suggest a transition from hydrostatic to suprahydrostatic fluid pressures over the depth range 3-5 km, with some evidence for near-lithostatic to hydrostatic pressure cycling towards the base of the seismogenic zone in the phyllonitic assemblages. Development of fault-fracture meshes through mixed-mode brittle failure in rock-masses with strong competence layering is promoted by low effective stress in the absence of thoroughgoing cohesionless faults that are favourably oriented for reactivation. Meshes may develop around normal faults in the near-surface under hydrostatic fluid pressures to depths determined by rock tensile strength, and at greater depths in overpressured portions of normal fault zones and at stress heterogeneities, especially dilational jogs. Overpressures localised within developing normal fault zones also determine the extent to which they may reutilise existing discontinuities (for example, low-angle thrust faults). Brittle failure mode plots demonstrate that reactivation of existing low-angle faults under vertical σ1 trajectories is only likely if fluid overpressures are localised within the fault zone and the surrounding rock retains significant tensile strength. Migrating pore fluids interact both statically and dynamically with normal faults. Static effects include consideration of the relative permeability of the faults with respect to the country rock, and juxtaposition effects which determine whether a fault is transmissive to flow or acts as an impermeable barrier. Strong directional permeability is expected in the subhorizontal σ2 direction parallel to intersections between minor faults, extension fractures, and stylolites. Three dynamic mechanisms tied to the seismic stress cycle may contribute to fluid redistribution: (i) cycling of mean stress coupled to shear stress, sometimes leading to postfailure expulsion of fluid from vertical fractures; (ii) suction pump action at dilational fault jogs; and, (iii) fault-valve action when a normal fault transects a seal capping either uniformly overpressured crust or overpressures localised to the immediate vicinity of the fault zone at depth. The combination of σ2 directional permeability with fluid redistribution from mean stress cycling may lead to hydraulic communication along strike, contributing to the protracted earthquake sequences that characterise normal fault systems.

Active transfer fault zone linking a segmented extensional system (Betics, southern Spain): Insight into heterogeneous extension driven by edge delamination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Martínez, José Miguel; Booth-Rea, Guillermo; Azañón, José Miguel; Torcal, Federico

2006-08-01

Pliocene and Quaternary tectonic structures mainly consisting of segmented northwest-southeast normal faults, and associated seismicity in the central Betics do not agree with the transpressive tectonic nature of the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary in the Ibero-Maghrebian region. Active extensional deformation here is heterogeneous, individual segmented normal faults being linked by relay ramps and transfer faults, including oblique-slip and both dextral and sinistral strike-slip faults. Normal faults extend the hanging wall of an extensional detachment that is the active segment of a complex system of successive WSW-directed extensional detachments which have thinned the Betic upper crust since middle Miocene. Two areas, which are connected by an active 40-km long dextral strike-slip transfer fault zone, concentrate present-day extension. Both the seismicity distribution and focal mechanisms agree with the position and regime of the observed faults. The activity of the transfer zone during middle Miocene to present implies a mode of extension which must have remained substantially the same over the entire period. Thus, the mechanisms driving extension should still be operating. Both the westward migration of the extensional loci and the high asymmetry of the extensional systems can be related to edge delamination below the south Iberian margin coupled with roll-back under the Alborán Sea; involving the asymmetric westward inflow of asthenospheric material under the margins.

Origin of a crustal splay fault and its relation to the seismogenic zone and underplating at the erosional north Ecuador-south Colombia oceanic margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collot, J.-Y.; Agudelo, W.; Ribodetti, A.; Marcaillou, B.

2008-12-01

Splay faults within accretionary complexes are commonly associated with the updip limit of the seismogenic zone. Prestack depth migration of a multichannel seismic line across the north Ecuador-south Colombia oceanic margin images a crustal splay fault that correlates with the seaward limit of the rupture zone of the 1958 (Mw 7.7) tsunamogenic subduction earthquake. The splay fault separates 5-6.6 km/s velocity, inner wedge basement rocks, which belong to the accreted Gorgona oceanic terrane, from 4 to 5 km/s velocity outer wedge rocks. The outer wedge is dominated by basal tectonic erosion. Despite a 3-km-thick trench fill, subduction of 2-km-high seamount prevented tectonic accretion and promotes basal tectonic erosion. The low-velocity and poorly reflective subduction channel that underlies the outer wedge is associated with the aseismic, décollement thrust. Subduction channel fluids are expected to migrate upward along splay faults and alter outer wedge rocks. Conversely, duplexes are interpreted to form from and above subducting sediment, at ˜14- to 15-km depths between the overlapping seismogenic part of the splay fault and the underlying aseismic décollement. Coeval basal erosion of the outer wedge and underplating beneath the apex of inner wedge control the margin mass budget, which comes out negative. Intraoceanic basement fossil listric normal faults and a rift zone inverted in a flower structure reflect the evolution of the Gorgona terrane from Cretaceous extension to likely Eocene oblique compression. The splay faults could have resulted from tectonic inversion of listric normal faults, thus showing how inherited structures may promote fluid flow across margin basement and control seismogenesis.

Tectonic position and geological manifestations of the Mogod (Central Mongolia), January 5, 1967, earthquake (a view after 40 years)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rogozhin, E.A.; Imaev, V.S.; Smekalin, O.P.; Schwartz, D.P.

2008-01-01

The earthquake source, reaching the surface in the form of an extended system of faults, encompassed the N-S and NW-SE planes of two large faults near their juncture zone. A revised seismotectonic study of the system of coseismic ruptures performed after many years revealed a complex structure of primary coseismic ruptures in the juncture area of fault branches of different directions. In addition to the two major faults, the juncture zone consists of intersecting or parallel branches of both structural directions. The trench study and detailed mapping of the shallow structure of the seismic rupture characterizes it as a right-lateral-thrust fault on the N-S branch and a strike-slip-reverse fault on the NW-SE branch. Results of our paleoseismogeological study indicate that equally strong earthquakes are likely to have occurred in the same seismic source in the past (about 8000 and 160 years ago). ?? Pleiades Publishing, Ltd. 2008.

Evolving geometrical heterogeneities of fault trace data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wechsler, Neta; Ben-Zion, Yehuda; Christofferson, Shari

2010-08-01

We perform a systematic comparative analysis of geometrical fault zone heterogeneities using derived measures from digitized fault maps that are not very sensitive to mapping resolution. We employ the digital GIS map of California faults (version 2.0) and analyse the surface traces of active strike-slip fault zones with evidence of Quaternary and historic movements. Each fault zone is broken into segments that are defined as a continuous length of fault bounded by changes of angle larger than 1°. Measurements of the orientations and lengths of fault zone segments are used to calculate the mean direction and misalignment of each fault zone from the local plate motion direction, and to define several quantities that represent the fault zone disorder. These include circular standard deviation and circular standard error of segments, orientation of long and short segments with respect to the mean direction, and normal separation distances of fault segments. We examine the correlations between various calculated parameters of fault zone disorder and the following three potential controlling variables: cumulative slip, slip rate and fault zone misalignment from the plate motion direction. The analysis indicates that the circular standard deviation and circular standard error of segments decrease overall with increasing cumulative slip and increasing slip rate of the fault zones. The results imply that the circular standard deviation and error, quantifying the range or dispersion in the data, provide effective measures of the fault zone disorder, and that the cumulative slip and slip rate (or more generally slip rate normalized by healing rate) represent the fault zone maturity. The fault zone misalignment from plate motion direction does not seem to play a major role in controlling the fault trace heterogeneities. The frequency-size statistics of fault segment lengths can be fitted well by an exponential function over the entire range of observations.

Hydrogeological impact of fault zones on a fractured carbonate aquifer, Semmering (Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayaud, Cyril; Winkler, Gerfried; Reichl, Peter

2015-04-01

Fault zones are the result of tectonic processes and are geometrical features frequently encountered in carbonate aquifer systems. They can hamper the fluid migration (hydrogeological barriers), propagate the movement of fluid (draining conduits) or be a combination of both processes. Numerical modelling of fractured carbonate aquifer systems is strongly bound on the knowledge of a profound conceptual model including geological and tectonic settings such as fault zones. In further consequence, numerical models can be used to evaluate the conceptual model and its introduced approximations. The study was conducted in a fractured carbonate aquifer built up by permomesozoic dolo/limestones of the Semmering-Wechsel complex in the Eastern Alps (Austria). The aquifer has an assumed thickness of about 200 m and dips to the north. It is covered by a thin quartzite layer and a very low permeable layer of quartz-phyllite having a thickness of up to several hundred meters. The carbonate layer crops out only in the southern part of the investigation area, where it receives autogenic recharge. The geological complexity affects some uncertainties related to the extent of the model area, which was determined to be about 15 km². Three vertical fault zones cross the area approximately in a N-S direction. The test site includes an infrastructural pilot tunnel gallery of 4.3 km length with two pumping stations, respectively active since August 1997 and June 1998. The total pumping rate is about 90 l/s and the drawdown data were analysed analytically, providing a hydraulic conductivity of about 5E-05 m/s for the carbonate layer. About 120 m drawdown between the initial situation and situation with pumping is reported by piezometers. This led to the drying up of one spring located at the southern border of the carbonates. A continuum approach using MODFLOW-2005 was applied to reproduce numerically the observed aquifer behaviour and investigate the impact of the three fault zones. First simulations were done under laminar flow conditions, an attempt allowing nonlinear flow with a new released package was implemented later. Preliminary results show that the implementation of the three faults zones with a much lower hydraulic conductivity compared to the aquifer is essential to reproduce properly both situations with and without pumping. This approves the high impact of fault zones on groundwater flow in fractured aquifer systems. Finally, this example shows that numerical modelling can help to reduce the uncertainties of conceptual models.

Frictional heterogeneities on carbonate-bearing normal faults: Insights from the Monte Maggio Fault, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carpenter, B. M.; Scuderi, M. M.; Collettini, C.; Marone, C.

2014-12-01

Observations of heterogeneous and complex fault slip are often attributed to the complexity of fault structure and/or spatial heterogeneity of fault frictional behavior. Such complex slip patterns have been observed for earthquakes on normal faults throughout central Italy, where many of the Mw 6 to 7 earthquakes in the Apennines nucleate at depths where the lithology is dominated by carbonate rocks. To explore the relationship between fault structure and heterogeneous frictional properties, we studied the exhumed Monte Maggio Fault, located in the northern Apennines. We collected intact specimens of the fault zone, including the principal slip surface and hanging wall cataclasite, and performed experiments at a normal stress of 10 MPa under saturated conditions. Experiments designed to reactivate slip between the cemented principal slip surface and cataclasite show a 3 MPa stress drop as the fault surface fails, then velocity-neutral frictional behavior and significant frictional healing. Overall, our results suggest that (1) earthquakes may readily nucleate in areas of the fault where the slip surface separates massive limestone and are likely to propagate in areas where fault gouge is in contact with the slip surface; (2) postseismic slip is more likely to occur in areas of the fault where gouge is present; and (3) high rates of frictional healing and low creep relaxation observed between solid fault surfaces could lead to significant aftershocks in areas of low stress drop.

Central Japan's Atera Active Fault's Wide-Fractured Zone: An Examination of the Structure and In-situ Crustal Stress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, R.; Omura, K.; Matsuda, T.; Mizuochi, Y.; Uehara, D.; Chiba, A.; Kikuchi, A.; Yamamoto, T.

2001-12-01

In-situ downhole measurements and coring within and around an active fault zone are needed to better understand the structure and material properties of fault rocks as well as the physical state of active faults and intra-plate crust. Particularly, the relationship between the stress concentration state and the heterogeneous strength of an earthquake fault zone is important to estimate earthquake occurrence mechanisms which correspond to the prediction of an earthquake. It is necessary to compare some active faults in different conditions of the chrysalis stage and their relation to subsequent earthquake occurrence. To better understand such conditions, "Active Fault Zone Drilling Project" has been conducted in the central part of Japan by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention. The Nojima fault which appeared on the surface by the 1995 Great Kobe earthquake (M=7.2) and the Neodani fault created by the 1981 Nobi earthquake, the greatest inland earthquake M=8.0 in Japan, have been drilled through the fault fracture zones. During these past four years, a similar experiment and research at the Atera fault, of which some parts seem to have been dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake, has been undertaken. The features of the Atera fault are as follows: (1) total length is about 70 km, (2) general trend is NW45_Kwith a left-lateral strike slip, (3) slip rate is estimated as 3-5 m/1000 yrs. and the average recurrence time as 1700 yrs., (4) seismicity is very low at present, and (5) lithologies around the fault are basically granitic rocks and rhyolite. We have conducted integrated investigations by surface geophysical survey and drilling around the Atera fault. Six boreholes have been drilled from the depth of 400 m to 630 m. Four of these boreholes are located on a line crossing the fracture zone of the Atera fault. Resistivity and gravity structures inferred from surface geophysical surveys were compared with the physical properties determined from the borehole logging data and core samples. These results were also compared with in situ stress data by the hydraulic fracturing stress measurements in the boreholes. We obtained characteristic states on crustal stress and strength of the fault from these investigations. Our findings are as follows: (1) The fracture zone around the Atera fault shows a very wide and complex fracture structure, from approximately 1 km to 4 km wide. The average slip rate was estimated to be 5.3 m /1000 yrs. by the distribution of basalt in age of 1.5 Ma by radioactive dating. We inferred that the Atera fault has been repeatedly active in recent geologic time; however, it is in a very weak state at present. (2) The stress magnitude decreases in the area closer to the center of the fracture zone. Furthermore the orientation of the maximum horizontal compressive stress was almost in a North-South direction, just reverse of the fault moving direction. These are important results to evaluate fault activity. We argue that the stress state observed in these sites exists only when the faults are quite "weak," and thus does not reach to a critical level of fault activation in the present situation.

Microstructures and deformation mechanisms in Opalinus Clay: insights from scaly clay from the Main Fault in the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory (CH)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laurich, Ben; Urai, Janos L.; Nussbaum, Christophe

2017-01-01

The Main Fault in the shaly facies of Opalinus Clay is a small reverse fault formed in slightly overconsolidated claystone at around 1 km depth. The fault zone is up to 6 m wide, with micron-thick shear zones, calcite and celestite veins, scaly clay and clay gouge. Scaly clay occurs in up to 1.5 m wide lenses, providing hand specimens for this study. We mapped the scaly clay fabric at 1 m-10 nm scale, examining scaly clay for the first time using broad-ion beam polishing combined with scanning electron microscopy (BIB-SEM). Results show a network of thin shear zones and microveins, separating angular to lensoid microlithons between 10 cm and 10 µm in diameter, with slickensided surfaces. Our results show that microlithons are only weakly deformed and that strain is accumulated by fragmentation of microlithons by newly formed shear zones, by shearing in the micron-thick zones and by rearrangement of the microlithons.The scaly clay aggregates can be easily disintegrated into individual microlithons because of the very low tensile strength of the thin shear zones. Analyses of the microlithon size by sieving indicate a power-law distribution model with exponents just above 2. From this, we estimate that only 1 vol % of the scaly clay aggregate is in the shear zones.After a literature review of the hypotheses for scaly clay generation, we present a new model to explain the progressive formation of a self-similar network of anastomosing thin shear zones in a fault relay. The relay provides the necessary boundary conditions for macroscopically continuous deformation. Localization of strain in thin shear zones which are locally dilatant, and precipitation of calcite veins in dilatant shear fractures, evolve into complex microscale re-partitioning of shear, forming new shear zones while the microlithons remain much less deformed internally and the volume proportion of the µm-thick shear zones slowly increases. Grain-scale deformation mechanisms are microfracturing, boudinage and rotation of mica grains, pressure solution of carbonate fossils and pore collapse during ductile flow of the clay matrix. This study provides a microphysical basis to relate microstructures to macroscopic observations of strength and permeability of the Main Fault, and extrapolating fault properties in long-term deformation.

Regional Survey of Structural Properties and Cementation Patterns of Fault Zones in the Northern Part of the Albuquerque Basin, New Mexico - Implications for Ground-Water Flow

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minor, Scott A.; Hudson, Mark R.

2006-01-01

Motivated by the need to document and evaluate the types and variability of fault zone properties that potentially affect aquifer systems in basins of the middle Rio Grande rift, we systematically characterized structural and cementation properties of exposed fault zones at 176 sites in the northern Albuquerque Basin. A statistical analysis of measurements and observations evaluated four aspects of the fault zones: (1) attitude and displacement, (2) cement, (3) lithology of the host rock or sediment, and (4) character and width of distinctive structural architectural components at the outcrop scale. Three structural architectural components of the fault zones were observed: (1) outer damage zones related to fault growth; these zones typically contain deformation bands, shear fractures, and open extensional fractures, which strike subparallel to the fault and may promote ground-water flow along the fault zone; (2) inner mixed zones composed of variably entrained, disrupted, and dismembered blocks of host sediment; and (3) central fault cores that accommodate most shear strain and in which persistent low- permeability clay-rich rocks likely impede the flow of water across the fault. The lithology of the host rock or sediment influences the structure of the fault zone and the width of its components. Different grain-size distributions and degrees of induration of the host materials produce differences in material strength that lead to variations in width, degree, and style of fracturing and other fault-related deformation. In addition, lithology of the host sediment appears to strongly control the distribution of cement in fault zones. Most faults strike north to north-northeast and dip 55? - 77? east or west, toward the basin center. Most faults exhibit normal slip, and many of these faults have been reactivated by normal-oblique and strike slip. Although measured fault displacements have a broad range, from 0.9 to 4,000 m, most are <100 m, and fault zones appear to have formed mainly at depths less than 1,000 m. Fault zone widths do not exceed 40 m (median width = 15.5 m). The mean width of fault cores (0.1 m) is nearly one order of magnitude less than that of mixed zones (0.75 m) and two orders of magnitude less than that of damage zones (9.7 m). Cements, a proxy for localized flow of ancient ground water, are common along fault zones in the basin. Silica cements are limited to faults that are near and strike north to northwest toward the Jemez volcanic field north of the basin, whereas carbonate fault cements are widely distributed. Coarse sediments (gravel and sand) host the greatest concentrations of cement within fault zones. Cements fill some extension fractures and, to a lesser degree, are concentrated along shear fractures and deformation bands within inner damage zones. Cements are commonly concentrated in mixed zones and inner damage zones on one side of a fault and thus are asymmetrically distributed within a fault zone, but cement does not consistently lie on the basinward side of faults. From observed spatial patterns of asymmetrically distributed fault zone cements, we infer that ancient ground-water flow was commonly localized along, and bounded by, faults in the basin. It is apparent from our study that the Albuquerque Basin contains a high concentration of faults. The geometry of, internal structure of, and cement and clay distribution in fault zones have created and will continue to create considerable heterogeneity of permeability within the basin aquifers. The characteristics and statistical range of fault zone features appear to be predictable and consistent throughout the basin; this predictability can be used in ground-water flow simulations that consider the influence of faults.

Architecture of buried reverse fault zone in the sedimentary basin: A case study from the Hong-Che Fault Zone of the Junggar Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yin; Wu, Kongyou; Wang, Xi; Liu, Bo; Guo, Jianxun; Du, Yannan

2017-12-01

It is widely accepted that the faults can act as the conduits or the barrier for oil and gas migration. Years of studies suggested that the internal architecture of a fault zone is complicated and composed of distinct components with different physical features, which can highly influence the migration of oil and gas along the fault. The field observation is the most useful methods of observing the fault zone architecture, however, in the petroleum exploration, what should be concerned is the buried faults in the sedimentary basin. Meanwhile, most of the studies put more attention on the strike-slip or normal faults, but the architecture of the reverse faults attracts less attention. In order to solve these questions, the Hong-Che Fault Zone in the northwest margin of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Province, is chosen for an example. Combining with the seismic data, well logs and drill core data, we put forward a comprehensive method to recognize the internal architectures of buried faults. High-precision seismic data reflect that the fault zone shows up as a disturbed seismic reflection belt. Four types of well logs, which are sensitive to the fractures, and a comprehensive discriminated parameter, named fault zone index are used in identifying the fault zone architecture. Drill core provides a direct way to identify different components of the fault zone, the fault core is composed of breccia, gouge, and serpentinized or foliated fault rocks and the damage zone develops multiphase of fractures, which are usually cemented. Based on the recognition results, we found that there is an obvious positive relationship between the width of the fault zone and the displacement, and the power-law relationship also exists between the width of the fault core and damage zone. The width of the damage zone in the hanging wall is not apparently larger than that in the footwall in the reverse fault, showing different characteristics with the normal fault. This study provides a comprehensive method in identifying the architecture of buried faults in the sedimentary basin and would be helpful in evaluating the fault sealing behavior.

Migrating tremors illuminate complex deformation beneath the seismogenic San Andreas fault

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shelly, David R.

2010-01-01

The San Andreas fault is one of the most extensively studied faults in the world, yet its physical character and deformation mode beneath the relatively shallow earthquake-generating portion remain largely unconstrained. Tectonic ‘non-volcanic’ tremor, a recently discovered seismic signal probably generated by shear slip on the deep extension of some major faults, can provide new insight into the deep fate of such faults, including that of the San Andreas fault near Parkfield, California. Here I examine continuous seismic data from mid-2001 to 2008, identifying tremor and decomposing the signal into different families of activity based on the shape and timing of the waveforms at multiple stations. This approach allows differentiation between activities from nearby patches of the deep fault and begins to unveil rich and complex patterns of tremor occurrence. I find that tremor exhibits nearly continuous migration, with the most extensive episodes propagating more than 20 kilometres along fault strike at rates of 15–80 kilometres per hour. This suggests that the San Andreas fault remains a localized through-going structure, at least to the base of the crust, in this area. Tremor rates and recurrence behaviour changed markedly in the wake of the 2004 magnitude-6.0 Parkfield earthquake, but these changes were far from uniform within the tremor zone, probably reflecting heterogeneous fault properties and static and dynamic stresses decaying away from the rupture. The systematic recurrence of tremor demonstrated here suggests the potential to monitor detailed time-varying deformation on this portion of the deep San Andreas fault, deformation which unsteadily loads the shallower zone that last ruptured in the 1857 magnitude-7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake.

Evolution of the Median Tectonic Line fault zone, SW Japan, during exhumation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shigematsu, Norio; Kametaka, Masao; Inada, Noriyuki; Miyawaki, Masahiro; Miyakawa, Ayumu; Kameda, Jun; Togo, Tetsuhiro; Fujimoto, Koichiro

2017-01-01

Like many crustal-scale fault zones, the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) fault zone in Japan preserves fault rocks that formed across a broad range of physical conditions. We examined the architecture of the MTL at a large new outcrop in order to understand fault behaviours under different crustal levels. The MTL here strikes almost E-W, dips to the north, and juxtaposes the Sanbagawa metamorphic rocks to the south against the Izumi Group sediments to the north. The fault core consists mainly of Sanbagawa-derived fault gouges. The fault zone can be divided into several structural units, including two slip zones (upper and lower slip zones), where the lower slip zone is more conspicuous. Crosscutting relationships among structures and kinematics indicate that the fault zone records four stages of deformation. Microstructures and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicate that the four stages of deformation occurred under different temperature conditions. The oldest deformation (stage 1) was widely distributed, and had a top-to-the-east (dextral) sense of slip at deep levels of the seismogenic zone. Deformation with the same sense of slip, then became localised in the lower slip zone (stage 2). Subsequently, the slip direction in the lower slip zone changed to top-to-the-west (sinistral-normal) (stage 3). The final stage of deformation (stage 4) involved top-to-the-north normal faulting along the two slip zones within the shallow crust (near the surface). The widely distributed stage 1 damage zone characterises the deeper part of the seismogenic zone, while the sets of localised principal slip zones and branching faults of stage 4 characterise shallow depths. The fault zone architecture described in this paper leads us to suggest that fault zones display different behaviours at different crustal levels.

How fault evolution changes strain partitioning and fault slip rates in Southern California: Results from geodynamic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Jiyang; Liu, Mian

2017-08-01

In Southern California, the Pacific-North America relative plate motion is accommodated by the complex southern San Andreas Fault system that includes many young faults (<2 Ma). The initiation of these young faults and their impact on strain partitioning and fault slip rates are important for understanding the evolution of this plate boundary zone and assessing earthquake hazard in Southern California. Using a three-dimensional viscoelastoplastic finite element model, we have investigated how this plate boundary fault system has evolved to accommodate the relative plate motion in Southern California. Our results show that when the plate boundary faults are not optimally configured to accommodate the relative plate motion, strain is localized in places where new faults would initiate to improve the mechanical efficiency of the fault system. In particular, the Eastern California Shear Zone, the San Jacinto Fault, the Elsinore Fault, and the offshore dextral faults all developed in places of highly localized strain. These younger faults compensate for the reduced fault slip on the San Andreas Fault proper because of the Big Bend, a major restraining bend. The evolution of the fault system changes the apportionment of fault slip rates over time, which may explain some of the slip rate discrepancy between geological and geodetic measurements in Southern California. For the present fault configuration, our model predicts localized strain in western Transverse Ranges and along the dextral faults across the Mojave Desert, where numerous damaging earthquakes occurred in recent years.

Fluid-injection and the mechanics of frictional stability of shale-bearing faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scuderi, Marco Maria; Collettini, Cristiano; Marone, Chris

2017-04-01

Fluid overpressure is one of the primary mechanisms for triggering tectonic fault slip and human-induced seismicity. This mechanism is appealing because fluids lubricate the fault and reduce the effective normal stress that holds the fault in place. However, current models of earthquake nucleation, based on rate- and state- friction, imply that stable sliding is favored by the increase of pore fluid pressure. Despite this apparent dilemma, there are a few studies on the role of fluid pressure in frictional stability under controlled, laboratory conditions. Here, we describe laboratory experiments on shale fault gouge, conducted in the double direct shear configuration in a true-triaxial machine. To characterize frictional stability and hydrological properties we performed three types of experiments: 1) stable sliding shear experiment to determine the material failure envelope resulting in fault strength of µ=0.28 and fault zone permeability (k 10-19m2); 2) velocity step experiments to determine the rate- and state- frictional properties, characterized by a velocity strengthening behavior with a negative rate parameter b, indicative of stable aseismic creep; 3) creep experiment to study fault slip evolution with increasing pore-fluid pressure. In these creep experiments fault slip history can be divided in three main stages: a) for low fluid pressure the fault is locked and undergoes compaction; b) with increasing fluid pressurization, we observe aseismic creep (i.e. v=0.0001 µm/s) associated with fault dilation, with maintained low permeability; c) As fluid pressure is further increased and we approach the failure criteria fault begins to accelerate, the dilation rate increases causing an increase in permeability. Following the first acceleration we document complex fault slip behavior characterized by periodic accelerations and decelerations with slip velocity that remains slow (i.e. v 200 µm/s), never approaching dynamic slip rates. Surprisingly, this complex slip behavior is associated with fault zone compaction and permeability increase as opposite to the dilation hardening mechanism that is usually invoked to quench the instability. We relate this complex fault slip behaviour to the interplay between fault weakening induced by fluid pressurization and the strong rate-strengthening behaviour of shales. Our data show that fault rheology and fault stability is controlled by the coupling between fluid pressure and rate- and state- friction parameters suggesting that their comprehensive characterization is fundamental for assessing the role of fluid pressure in natural and human induced earthquakes.

Multi-Scale Structure and Earthquake Properties in the San Jacinto Fault Zone Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben-Zion, Y.

2014-12-01

I review multi-scale multi-signal seismological results on structure and earthquake properties within and around the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) in southern California. The results are based on data of the southern California and ANZA networks covering scales from a few km to over 100 km, additional near-fault seismometers and linear arrays with instrument spacing 25-50 m that cross the SJFZ at several locations, and a dense rectangular array with >1100 vertical-component nodes separated by 10-30 m centered on the fault. The structural studies utilize earthquake data to image the seismogenic sections and ambient noise to image the shallower structures. The earthquake studies use waveform inversions and additional time domain and spectral methods. We observe pronounced damage regions with low seismic velocities and anomalous Vp/Vs ratios around the fault, and clear velocity contrasts across various sections. The damage zones and velocity contrasts produce fault zone trapped and head waves at various locations, along with time delays, anisotropy and other signals. The damage zones follow a flower-shape with depth; in places with velocity contrast they are offset to the stiffer side at depth as expected for bimaterial ruptures with persistent propagation direction. Analysis of PGV and PGA indicates clear persistent directivity at given fault sections and overall motion amplification within several km around the fault. Clear temporal changes of velocities, probably involving primarily the shallow material, are observed in response to seasonal, earthquake and other loadings. Full source tensor properties of M>4 earthquakes in the complex trifurcation area include statistically-robust small isotropic component, likely reflecting dynamic generation of rock damage in the source volumes. The dense fault zone instruments record seismic "noise" at frequencies >200 Hz that can be used for imaging and monitoring the shallow material with high space and time details, and numerous minute local earthquakes that contribute to the high frequency "noise". Updated results will be presented in the meeting. *The studies have been done in collaboration with Frank Vernon, Amir Allam, Dimitri Zigone, Zach Ross, Gregor Hillers, Ittai Kurzon, Michel Campillo, Philippe Roux, Lupei Zhu, Dan Hollis, Mitchell Barklage and others.

A tectonic model for the Tertiary evolution of strike slip faults and rift basins in SE Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morley, C. K.

2002-04-01

Models for the Tertiary evolution of SE Asia fall into two main types: a pure escape tectonics model with no proto-South China Sea, and subduction of proto-South China Sea oceanic crust beneath Borneo. A related problem is which, if any, of the main strike-slip faults (Mae Ping, Three Pagodas and Aliao Shan-Red River (ASRR)) cross Sundaland to the NW Borneo margin to facilitate continental extrusion? Recent results investigating strike-slip faults, rift basins, and metamorphic core complexes are reviewed and a revised tectonic model for SE Asia proposed. Key points of the new model include: (1) The ASRR shear zone was mainly active in the Eocene-Oligocene in order to link with extension in the South China Sea. The ASRR was less active during the Miocene (tens of kilometres of sinistral displacement), with minor amounts of South China Sea spreading centre extension transferred to the ASRR shear zone. (2) At least three important regions of metamorphic core complex development affected Indochina from the Oligocene-Miocene (Mogok gneiss belt; Doi Inthanon and Doi Suthep; around the ASRR shear zone). Hence, Paleogene crustal thickening, buoyancy-driven crustal collapse, and lower crustal flow are important elements of the Tertiary evolution of Indochina. (3) Subduction of a proto-South China Sea oceanic crust during the Eocene-Early Miocene is necessary to explain the geological evolution of NW Borneo and must be built into any model for the region. (4) The Eocene-Oligocene collision of NE India with Burma activated extrusion tectonics along the Three Pagodas, Mae Ping, Ranong and Klong Marui faults and right lateral motion along the Sumatran subduction zone. (5) The only strike-slip fault link to the NW Borneo margin occurred along the trend of the ASRR fault system, which passes along strike into a right lateral transform system including the Baram line.

Bayesian inference and interpretation of centroid moment tensors of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake sequence, Kyushu, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hallo, Miroslav; Asano, Kimiyuki; Gallovič, František

2017-09-01

On April 16, 2016, Kumamoto prefecture in Kyushu region, Japan, was devastated by a shallow M JMA7.3 earthquake. The series of foreshocks started by M JMA6.5 foreshock 28 h before the mainshock. They have originated in Hinagu fault zone intersecting the mainshock Futagawa fault zone; hence, the tectonic background for this earthquake sequence is rather complex. Here we infer centroid moment tensors (CMTs) for 11 events with M JMA between 4.8 and 6.5, using strong motion records of the K-NET, KiK-net and F-net networks. We use upgraded Bayesian full-waveform inversion code ISOLA-ObsPy, which takes into account uncertainty of the velocity model. Such an approach allows us to reliably assess uncertainty of the CMT parameters including the centroid position. The solutions show significant systematic spatial and temporal variations throughout the sequence. Foreshocks are right-lateral steeply dipping strike-slip events connected to the NE-SW shear zone. Those located close to the intersection of the Hinagu and Futagawa fault zones are dipping slightly to ESE, while those in the southern area are dipping to WNW. Contrarily, aftershocks are mostly normal dip-slip events, being related to the N-S extensional tectonic regime. Most of the deviatoric moment tensors contain only minor CLVD component, which can be attributed to the velocity model uncertainty. Nevertheless, two of the CMTs involve a significant CLVD component, which may reflect complex rupture process. Decomposition of those moment tensors into two pure shear moment tensors suggests combined right-lateral strike-slip and normal dip-slip mechanisms, consistent with the tectonic settings of the intersection of the Hinagu and Futagawa fault zones.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Characterization of Seismogenic Faults of Central Japan by Geophysical Survey and Drilling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, R.; Omura, K.; Matsuda, T.

2004-12-01

Integrated investigations on seismogenic faults by geophysical survey and drilling are indispensable to better understand deep structure and physical properties of a fault fracture zone. In central Japan, three large active faults, Neodani, Atotsugawa and Atera faults, exist and are remarkable for research because of the potentiality of a scale of magnitude 7 to 8 class earthquake and the different characteristics of the seismogenic activities in these faults. Each individual fault shows its own characteristic features, which may reflect different stages in an earthquake cycle. High seismicity is concentrated with a clear lineation on and around the Atotsugawa fault, which is recognized as aftershocks from the latest event of the 1858 Hida earthquake (M=7.0). On the other hand, extremely low seismicity is found around the Atera fault, of which some parts seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9). As an example of the results of study at the Atera fault, we obtained a wide variety of fault structures, composed materials, states of crustal stress and strengths of the fault from the geophysical survey (resistivity and gravity) and in-situ borehole experiments. Our findings are as follows: (1) The fracture zone around the Atera fault shows a very wide and complex fracture structure, from approximately 1 km to 4 km wide. (2) The average slip rate was estimated to be 5.3 m /1000 yr by the distribution of basalt in the age of 1.5 Ma as determined by radioactive dating. We inferred that the Atera fault has been repeatedly active in recent geologic time; however, it is in a very weak state at present. (3) Stress magnitude decreases in the area closer to the center of the fracture zone. These are important results to evaluate fault activity. Recent in-situ downhole measurements and coring through active faults have provided us with new insights into the physical properties of fault zones. In the vicinity of the epicenter of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake, we have conducted an integrated study by using 1,000 m to 1,800 m deep drilling wells. In particular, the Nojima-Hirabayashi borehole was drilled to a depth of 1,838 m and directly intersected the Nojima fault. Three possible fault strands were detected at depths of 1,140 m, 1,313 m and 1,800 m. Major results obtained from this study include the following: (1) Shear stress around the fault zone is very small, and the orientation of the maximum horizontal compression is perpendicular to the surface trace of faults. (2) From the results of a heat flow study, the lower cut-off depth of the aftershocks was estimated to be roughly 300 _E#8249;C. (3) Cores were classified into several types of fault rocks, and an asymmetric distribution pattern of these fault rocks in the fracture zones was identified. (4) Country rock is characterized by very low permeability and high strength. (5) Resistivity structure can be explained by a model of a fault extending to greater depths but with low resistivity. The integrated study by geophysical survey, drilling and core analyses, downhole measurements and long-term monitoring directly within these fault zones, provide us with characteristic features and dynamics of active faults.

Characteristics of Fault Zones in Volcanic Rocks Near Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sweetkind, Donald S.; Drake II, Ronald M.

2007-01-01

During 2005 and 2006, the USGS conducted geological studies of fault zones at surface outcrops at the Nevada Test Site. The objectives of these studies were to characterize fault geometry, identify the presence of fault splays, and understand the width and internal architecture of fault zones. Geologic investigations were conducted at surface exposures in upland areas adjacent to Yucca Flat, a basin in the northeastern part of the Nevada Test Site; these data serve as control points for the interpretation of the subsurface data collected at Yucca Flat by other USGS scientists. Fault zones in volcanic rocks near Yucca Flat differ in character and width as a result of differences in the degree of welding and alteration of the protolith, and amount of fault offset. Fault-related damage zones tend to scale with fault offset; damage zones associated with large-offset faults (>100 m) are many tens of meters wide, whereas damage zones associated with smaller-offset faults are generally a only a meter or two wide. Zeolitically-altered tuff develops moderate-sized damage zones whereas vitric nonwelded, bedded and airfall tuff have very minor damage zones, often consisting of the fault zone itself as a deformation band, with minor fault effect to the surrounding rock mass. These differences in fault geometry and fault zone architecture in surface analog sites can serve as a guide toward interpretation of high-resolution subsurface geophysical results from Yucca Flat.

Role of Transtension in Rifting at the Pacific-North America Plate Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, J. M.

2011-12-01

Transtensional plate motion can be accommodated either in a localized zone of transtensional rifting or over a broader region. Broader zones of deformation can be classified either as diffuse deformation or strain partitioning (one or more major strike-slip shear zones geographically offset from a region of a extensional faulting). The Pacific-North America plate boundary in southwestern North America was transtensional during much of its history and has exhibited the full range of these behaviors at different spatial scales and in different locations, as recorded by fault motions and paleomagnetic rotations. Here we focus on the northern Gulf of California part of the plate boundary (Upper and Lower Delfin basin segments), which has been in a zone of transtensional Pacific-North America plate boundary motion ever since the middle Miocene demise of adjacent Farallon-derived microplates. Prior to the middle Miocene, during the time of microplate activity, this sector of North America experienced basin-and-range normal faults (core complexes) in Sonora. However there is no evidence of continued extensional faulting nor of a Gulf-related topographic depression until after ca 12 Ma when a major ignimbrite (Tuff of San Felipe/ Ignimbrite of Hermosillo) was deposited across the entire region of the future Gulf of California rift in this sector. After 12 Ma, faults disrupted this marker bed in eastern Baja California and western Sonora, and some major NNW-striking right-lateral faults are inferred to have developed near the Sonoran coast causing offset of some of the volcanic facies. However, there are major tectonic rotations of the volcanic rocks in NE Baja California between 12 and 6 Ma, suggesting that the plate boundary motion was still occurring over a broad region. By contrast, after about 6 Ma, diminished rotations in latest Miocene and Pliocene volcanic rocks, as well as fault slip histories, show that plate boundary deformation became localized to a narrower transtensional zone of long offset strike-slip faults and intervening basins (the modern Gulf of California basin and transform fault system). Within and adjacent to this zone the fault patterns continued to evolve, with new plate boundary strike-slip faults breaking into previously intact blocks of continent. These new strike-slip faults were not accompanied by any widespread zones of tectonic rotation. This suggests that if widespread rotations are occurring, plate boundary transtension has not yet localized and the strike-slip faults are not yet accommodating most of the plate boundary slip. The cessation of widespread and significant vertical axis rotations could indicate strain localization and the increasing importance of throughgoing strike-slip faults (a precursor to fully oceanic rifting) along a transtensional plate boundary.

Paleoseismological surveys on the Hinagu fault zone in Kumamoto, central Kyushu, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azuma, T.

2017-12-01

The Hinagu fault zone is located on the south of the Futagawa fault zone, which was a main part of the source fault of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake of Mj 7.3. Northernmost part of the Hinagu fault zone was also acted in 2016 event and surface faults with right-lateral displacement upto ca. 50 cm were appeared. Seismicity along the central part of the Hinagu fault was increased just after the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. It seems that the Hinagu fault zone would produce the next large earthquake in the near future, although it has not occurred yet. The Headquarters of the Earthquake Research Promotions (HERP) conducted active fault surveys on the Hinagu fault zone to recognize the probability of the occurrence of the next faulting event. The Hinagu fault zone is composed with 3 fault segments, Takano-Shirahata, Hinagu, and Yatsushiro Bay. Yatsushiro Bay segment is offshore fault. In FY2016, we conducted paleoseismological trenching surveys at 2 sites (Yamaide, Minamibeta) and offshore drilling. Those result showed evidences that the recurrence intervals of the Hinagu fault zone was rather short and the last faulting event occurred around 1500-2000 yrsBP. In FY2017, we are planning another trenching survey on the southern part of the central segment, where Yatsushiro city located close to the fault.

Episodic Rifting Events Within the Tjörnes Fracture Zone, an Onshore-Offshore Ridge-Transform in N-Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandsdottir, B.; Magnusdottir, S.; Karson, J. A.; Detrick, R. S.; Driscoll, N. W.

2015-12-01

The multi-branched plate boundary across Iceland is made up of divergent and oblique rifts, and transform zones, characterized by entwined extensional and transform tectonics. The Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ), located on the coast and offshore Northern Iceland, is a complex transform linking the northern rift zone (NVZ) on land with the Kolbeinsey Ridge offshore. Extension across TFZ is partitioned across three N-S trending rift basins; Eyjafjarðaráll, Skjálfandadjúp (SB) and Öxarfjörður and three WNW-NW oriented seismic lineaments; the Grímsey Oblique Rift, Húsavík-Flatey Faults (HFFs) and Dalvík Lineament. We compile the tectonic framework of the TFZ ridge-transform from aerial photos, satellite images, multibeam bathymetry and high-resolution seismic reflection data (Chirp). The rift basins are made up of normal faults with vertical displacements of up to 50-60 m, and post-glacial sediments of variable thickness. The SB comprises N5°W obliquely trending, eastward dipping normal faults as well as N10°E striking, westward dipping faults oriented roughly perpendicular to the N104°E spreading direction, indicative of early stages of rifting. Correlation of Chirp reflection data and tephrachronology from a sediment core within SB reveal major rifting episodes between 10-12.1 kyrs BP activating the whole basin, followed by smaller-scale fault movements throughout Holocene. Onshore faults have the same orientations as those mapped offshore and provide a basis for the interpretation of the kinematics of the faults throughout the region. These include transform parallel right-lateral, strike-slip faults separating domains dominated by spreading parallel left-lateral bookshelf faults. Shearing is most prominent along the HFFs, a system of right-lateral strike-slip faults with vertical displacement up to 15 m. Vertical fault movements reflect increased tectonic activity during early postglacial time coinciding with isostatic rebound enhancing volcanism within Iceland.

Shallow high-resolution geophysical investigation along the western segment of the Victoria Lines Fault (island of Malta)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villani, Fabio; D'Amico, Sebastiano; Panzera, Francesco; Vassallo, Maurizio; Bozionelos, George; Farrugia, Daniela; Galea, Pauline

2018-01-01

The Victoria Lines Fault (island of Malta) is a >15 km-long and N260°-striking segmented normal fault-system, which is probably inactive since the late Pliocene. In the westernmost part, the Fomm Ir-Rih segment displays comparable geologic throw and escarpment height ( 150-170 m), moreover its hangingwall hosts thin patches of Middle Pleistocene clastic continental deposits (red beds), which are poorly preserved elsewhere. We acquired two seismic transects, by collecting ambient vibration recordings, processed by using horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios, complemented by one high-resolution 2-D refraction tomography survey crossing this fault where it is locally covered by red beds and recent colluvial deposits. We found a resonance peak at 1.0 Hz in the hangingwall block, whereas clear peaks in the range 5.0-10.0 Hz appear when approaching the subsurface fault, and we relate them to the fractured bedrock within the fault zone. The best-fit tomographic model shows a relatively high-Vp shallow body (Vp 2200-2400 m/s) that we relate to the weathered top of the Miocene Upper Coralline Limestone Fm., bounded on both sides by low-Vp regions (<1400 m/s). The latter are the smeared images of steep fault zones. Tomography further reveals a thick ( 15-20 m) low-Vp (<1000 m/s) zone, which could be a syn-tectonic wedge of colluvial deposits developed in the downthrown block. Surface waves analysis indicates lateral changes of the average shallow shear wave velocity, with Vs 130 m/s within the inferred fault zone, and Vs >230 m/s above the weathered top-bedrock. Our results depict a clear seismic signature of the Victoria Lines Fault, characterized by low seismic velocity and high amplification of ground motion. We hypothesize that, during the Middle Pleistocene, faulting may have affected the basal part of the red beds, so that this part of the investigated complex fault-system may be considered inactive since 0.6 Myr ago.

Incremental Holocene slip rates from the Hope fault at Hossack Station, Marlborough fault zone, South Island, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatem, A. E.; Dolan, J. F.; Langridge, R.; Zinke, R. W.; McGuire, C. P.; Rhodes, E. J.; Van Dissen, R. J.

2015-12-01

The Marlborough fault system, which links the Alpine fault with the Hikurangi subduction zone within the complex Australian-Pacific plate boundary zone, partitions strain between the Wairau, Awatere, Clarence and Hope faults. Previous best estimates of dextral strike-slip along the Hope fault are ≤ ~23 mm/yr± 4 mm/year. Those rates, however, are poorly constrained and could be improved using better age determinations in conjunction with measurements of fault offsets using high-resolution imagery. In this study, we use airborne lidar- and field-based mapping together with the subsurface geometry of offset channels at the Hossack site 12 km ESE of Hanmer Springs to more precisely determine stream offsets that were previously identified by McMorran (1991). Specifically, we measured fault offsets of ~10m, ~75 m, and ~195m. Together with 65 radiocarbon ages on charcoal, peat, and wood and 25 pending post-IR50-IRSL225 luminescence ages from the channel deposits, these offsets yield three different fault slip rates for the early Holocene, the late Holocene, and the past ca. 500-1,000 years. Using the large number of age determinations, we document in detail the timing of initiation and abandonment of each channel, enhancing the geomorphic interpretation at the Hossack site as channels deform over many earthquake cycles. Our preliminary incremental slip rate results from the Hossack site may indicate temporally variable strain release along the Hope fault. This study is part of a broader effort aimed at determining incremental slip rates and paleo-earthquake ages and displacements from all four main Marlborough faults. Collectively, these data will allow us to determine how the four main Marlborough faults have work together during Holocene-late Pleistocene to accommodate plate-boundary deformation in time and space.

Paper 58714 - Exploring activated faults hydromechanical processes from semi-controled field injection experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guglielmi, Y.; Cappa, F.; Nussbaum, C.

2015-12-01

The appreciation of the sensitivity of fractures and fault zones to fluid-induced-deformations in the subsurface is a key question in predicting the reservoir/caprock system integrity around fluid manipulations with applications to reservoir leakage and induced seismicity. It is also a question of interest in understanding earthquakes source, and recently the hydraulic behavior of clay faults under a potential reactivation around nuclear underground depository sites. Fault and fractures dynamics studies face two key problems (1) the up-scaling of laboratory determined properties and constitutive laws to the reservoir scale which is not straightforward when considering faults and fractures heterogeneities, (2) the difficulties to control both the induced seismicity and the stimulated zone geometry when a fault is reactivated. Using instruments dedicated to measuring coupled pore pressures and deformations downhole, we conducted field academic experiments to characterize fractures and fault zones hydromechanical properties as a function of their multi-scale architecture, and to monitor their dynamic behavior during the earthquake nucleation process. We show experiments on reservoir or cover rocks analogues in underground research laboratories where experimental conditions can be optimized. Key result of these experiments is to highlight how important the aseismic fault activation is compared to the induced seismicity. We show that about 80% of the fault kinematic moment is aseismic and discuss the complex associated fault friction coefficient variations. We identify that the slip stability and the slip velocity are mainly controlled by the rate of the permeability/porosity increase, and discuss the conditions for slip nucleation leading to seismic instability.

Geophysical interpretations west of and within the northwestern part of the Nevada Test Site

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grauch, V.J.; Sawyer, D.A.; Fridrich, C.J.

1997-12-31

This report focuses on interpretation of gravity and new magnetic data west of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and within the northwestern part of NTS. The interpretations integrate the gravity and magnetic data with other geophysical, geological, and rock property data to put constraints on tectonic and magmatic features not exposed at the surface. West of NTS, where drill hole information is absent, these geophysical data provide the best available information on the subsurface. Interpreted subsurface features include calderas, intrusions, basalt flows and volcanoes, Tertiary basins, structurally high pre-Tertiary rocks, and fault zones. New features revealed by this study includemore » (1) a north-south buried tectonic fault east of Oasis Mountain, which the authors call the Hogback fault; (2) an east striking fault or accommodation zone along the south side of Oasis Valley basin, which they call the Hot Springs fault; (3) a NNE striking structural zone coinciding with the western margins of the caldera complexes; (4) regional magnetic highs that probably represent a thick sequence of Tertiary volcanic rocks; and (5) two probable buried calderas that may be related to the tuffs of Tolicha Peak and of Sleeping Butte, respectively.« less

Transition from strike-slip faulting to oblique subduction: active tectonics at the Puysegur Margin, South New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamarche, Geoffroy; Lebrun, Jean-Frédéric

2000-01-01

South of New Zealand the Pacific-Australia (PAC-AUS) plate boundary runs along the intracontinental Alpine Fault, the Puysegur subduction front and the intraoceanic Puysegur Fault. The Puysegur Fault is located along Puysegur Ridge, which terminates at ca. 47°S against the continental Puysegur Bank in a complex zone of deformation called the Snares Zone. At Puysegur Trench, the Australian Plate subducts beneath Puysegur Bank and the Fiordland Massif. East of Fiordland and Puysegur Bank, the Moonlight Fault System (MFS) represents the Eocene strike-slip plate boundary. Interpretation of seafloor morphology and seismic reflection profiles acquired over Puysegur Bank and the Snares Zone allows study of the transition from intraoceanic strike-slip faulting along the Puysegur Ridge to oblique subduction at the Puysegur Trench and to better understand the genetic link between the Puysegur Fault and the MFS. Seafloor morphology is interpreted from a bathymetric dataset compiled from swath bathymetry data acquired during the 1993 Geodynz survey, and single beam echo soundings acquired by the NZ Royal Navy. The Snares Zone is the key transition zone from strike-slip faulting to subduction. It divides into three sectors, namely East, NW and SW sectors. A conspicuous 3600 m-deep trough (the Snares Trough) separates the NW and East sectors. The East sector is characterised by the NE termination of Puysegur Ridge into right-stepping en echelon ridges that accommodate a change of strike from the Puysegur Fault to the MFS. Between 48°S and 47°S, in the NW sector and the Snares Trough, a series of transpressional faults splay northwards from the Puysegur Fault. Between 49°50'S and 48°S, thrusts develop progressively at Puysegur Trench into a decollement. North of 48°S the Snares Trough develops between two splays of the Puysegur Fault, indicating superficial extension associated with the subsidence of Puysegur Ridge. Seismic reflection profiles and bathymetric maps show a series of transpressional faults that splay northwards across the Snares Fault, and terminate at the top of the Puysegur trench slope. Between ca. 48°S and 46°30'S, the relative plate motion appears to be distributed over the Puysegur subduction zone and the strike-slip faults located on the edge of the upper plate. Conversely, north of ca. 46°S, a lack of active strike-slip faulting along the MFS and across most of Puysegur Bank indicates that the subduction in the northern part of Puysegur Trench accounts for most of the oblique convergence. Hence, active transpression in the Snares fault zone indicates that the relative PAC-AUS plate motion is transferred from strike-slip faulting along the Puysegur Fault to subduction at Puysegur Trench. The progressive transition from thrusts at Puysegur Trench and strike-slip faulting at the Puysegur Fault to oblique subduction at Puysegur Trench suggests that the subduction interface progressively developed from a western shallow splay of the Puysegur Fault. It implies that the transfer fault links the subduction interface at depth. A tectonic sliver is identified between Puysegur Trench and the Puysegur Fault. Its northwards motion relative to the Pacific Plate implies that is might collide with Puysegur Bank.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

We present preliminary hypocenter determinations for 52 earthquakes recorded by a large multiinstitutional network of ocean bottom seismometers and ocean bottom hydrophones in the Orozco Fracture Zone in the eastern Pacific during late February to mid-March 1979. The network was deployed as part of the Rivera Ocean Seismic Experiment, also known as Project ROSE. The Orozco Fracture Zone is Physiographically complex, and the pattern of microearthquake hypocenters at least partly reflects this complexity. All of the well-located epicenters lie within the active transform fault segment of the fracture zone. About half of the recorded earthquakes were aligned along a narrowmore » trough that extends eastward from the northern rise crest intersection in the approximate direction of the Cocos-Pacific relative plate motion; these events appear to be characterized by strike-slip faulting. The second major group of activity occurred in the central portion of the transform fault; the microearthquakes in this group do not display a preferred alignment parallel to the direction of spreading, and several are not obviously associated with distinct topographic features. Hypocentral depth was well resolved for many of the earthquakes reported here. Nominal depths range from 0 to 17 km below the seafloor.« less

Linking fault pattern with groundwater flow in crystalline rocks at the Grimsel Test Site (Switzerland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneeberger, Raphael; Berger, Alfons; Mäder, Urs K.; Niklaus Waber, H.; Kober, Florian; Herwegh, Marco

2017-04-01

Water flow across crystalline bedrock is of major interest for deep-seated geothermal energy projects as well as for underground disposal of radioactive waste. In crystalline rocks enhanced fluid flow is related to zones of increased permeability, i.e. to fractures that are associated to fault zones. The flow regime around the Grimsel Test Site (GTS, Central Aar massif) was assessed by establishing a 3D fault zone pattern on a local scale in the GTS underground facility (deca-meter scale) and on a regional scale at the surface (km-scale). The study reveals the existence of a dense fault zone network consisting of several km long and few tens of cm to meter wide, sub-vertically oriented major faults that are connected by tens to hundreds of meters long minor bridging faults. This geometrical information was used as input for the generation of a 3D fault zone network model. The faults originate from ductile shear zones that were reactivated as brittle faults under retrograde conditions during exhumation. Embrittlement and associated dilatancy along the faults provide the pathways for today's groundwater flow. Detection of the actual 3D flow paths is, however, challenging since flow seem to be not planar but rather tube-like. Two strategies are applied to constrain the 3D geometry of the flow tubes: (i) Characterization of the groundwater infiltrating into the GTS (location, yield, hydraulic head, and chemical composition) and (ii) stress modelling on the base of the 3D structural model to unravel potential domains of enhanced fluid flow such as fault plane intersections and domains of dilatancy. At the Grimsel Test Site, hydraulic and structural data demonstrate that the groundwater flow is head-driven from the surface towards the GTS located some 450 m below the surface. The residence time of the groundwater in this surface-near section is >60 years as evidenced by absence of detectable tritium. However, hydraulic heads obtained from interval pressure measurements within boreholes are variable and do not correspond to the overburden above the interval. Underground mapping revealed close spatial relation between water inflow points and faults, major water inflows occur in strongly deformed areas of the GTS. Furthermore, persistent differences in the groundwater chemical composition between infiltration points indicate that connectivity between different water flow paths is poor. Different findings indicate complex flow path geometries. However, domains of enhanced dilatancy and domains with increased number of fault intersections correlate with areas in the underground with 'high' water inflow.

The Ionian and Alfeo-Etna fault zones: New segments of an evolving plate boundary in the central Mediterranean Sea?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polonia, A.; Torelli, L.; Artoni, A.; Carlini, M.; Faccenna, C.; Ferranti, L.; Gasperini, L.; Govers, R.; Klaeschen, D.; Monaco, C.; Neri, G.; Nijholt, N.; Orecchio, B.; Wortel, R.

2016-04-01

The Calabrian Arc is a narrow subduction-rollback system resulting from Africa/Eurasia plate convergence. While crustal shortening is taken up in the accretionary wedge, transtensive deformation accounts for margin segmentation along transverse lithospheric faults. One of these structures is the NNW-SSE transtensive fault system connecting the Alfeo seamount and the Etna volcano (Alfeo-Etna Fault, AEF). A second, NW-SE crustal discontinuity, the Ionian Fault (IF), separates two lobes of the CA subduction complex (Western and Eastern Lobes) and impinges on the Sicilian coasts south of the Messina Straits. Analysis of multichannel seismic reflection profiles shows that: 1) the IF and the AEF are transfer crustal tectonic features bounding a complex deformation zone, which produces the downthrown of the Western lobe along a set of transtensive fault strands; 2) during Pleistocene times, transtensive faulting reactivated structural boundaries inherited from the Mesozoic Tethyan domain which acted as thrust faults during the Messinian and Pliocene; and 3) the IF and the AEF, and locally the Malta escarpment, accommodate a recent tectonic event coeval and possibly linked to the Mt. Etna formation. Regional geodynamic models show that, whereas AEF and IF are neighboring fault systems, their individual roles are different. Faulting primarily resulting from the ESE retreat of the Ionian slab is expressed in the northwestern part of the IF. The AEF, on the other hand, is part of the overall dextral shear deformation, resulting from differences in Africa-Eurasia motion between the western and eastern sectors of the Tyrrhenian margin of northern Sicily, and accommodating diverging motions in the adjacent compartments, which results in rifting processes within the Western Lobe of the Calabrian Arc accretionary wedge. As such, it is primarily associated with Africa-Eurasia relative motion.

Complex Plate Tectonic Features on Planetary Bodies: Analogs from Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, J. M.; Smrekar, S. E.

2016-12-01

We review the types and scales of observations needed on other rocky planetary bodies (e.g., Mars, Venus, exoplanets) to evaluate evidence of present or past plate motions. Earth's plate boundaries were initially simplified into three basic types (ridges, trenches, and transform faults). Previous studies examined the Moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury and icy moons such as Europa, for evidence of features, including linear rifts, arcuate convergent zones, strike-slip faults, and distributed deformation (rifting or folding). Yet, several aspects merit further consideration. 1) Is the feature active or fossil? Earth's active mid ocean ridges are bathymetric highs, and seafloor depth increases on either side; whereas, fossil mid ocean ridges may be as deep as the surrounding abyssal plain with no major rift valley, although with a minor gravity low (e.g., Osbourn Trough, W. Pacific Ocean). Fossil trenches have less topographic relief than active trenches (e.g., the fossil trench along the Patton Escarpment, west of California). 2) On Earth, fault patterns of spreading centers depend on volcanism. Excess volcanism reduced faulting. Fault visibility increases as spreading rates slow, or as magmatism decreases, producing high-angle normal faults parallel to the spreading center. At magma-poor spreading centers, high resolution bathymetry shows low angle detachment faults with large scale mullions and striations parallel to plate motion (e.g., Mid Atlantic Ridge, Southwest Indian Ridge). 3) Sedimentation on Earth masks features that might be visible on a non-erosional planet. Subduction zones on Earth in areas of low sedimentation have clear trench -parallel faults causing flexural deformation of the downgoing plate; in highly sedimented subduction zones, no such faults can be seen, and there may be no bathymetric trench at all. 4) Areas of Earth with broad upwelling, such as the North Fiji Basin, have complex plate tectonic patterns with many individual but poorly linked ridge segments and transform faults. These details and scales of features should be considered in planning future surveys of altimetry, reflectance, magnetics, compositional, and gravity data from other planetary bodies aimed at understanding the link between a planet's surface and interior, whether via plate tectonics or other processes.

Low-Temperature Thermochronology for Unraveling Thermal Processes and Dating of Fault Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tagami, T.

2016-12-01

Thermal signatures as well as timing of fault motions can be constrained by thermochronological analyses of fault-zone rocks (e.g., Tagami, 2012). Fault-zone materials suitable for such analyses are produced by tectocic and geochemical processes, such as (1) mechanical fragmentation of host rocks, grain-size reduction of fragments and recrystallization of grains to form mica and clay minerals, (2) secondary heating/melting of host rocks by frictional fault motions, and (3) mineral vein formation as a consequence of fluid advection associated with fault motions. The geothermal structure of fault zones are primarily controlled by the following three factors: (a) regional geothermal structure around the fault zone that reflect background thermo-tectonic history of studied province, (b) frictional heating of wall rocks by fault motions and resultant heat transfer into surrounding rocks, and (c) thermal influences by hot fluid advection in and around the fault zone. Thermochronological methods widely applied in fault zones are K-Ar (40Ar/39Ar), fission-track (FT), and U-Th methods. In addition, OSL, TL, ESR and (U-Th)/He methods are applied in some fault zones, in order to extract temporal imformation related to low temperature and/or very recent fault activities. Here I briefly review the thermal sensitivity of individual thermochronological systems, which basically controls the response of each method against faulting processes. Then, the thermal sensitivity of FTs is highlighted, with a particular focus on the thermal processes characteristic to fault zones, i.e., flash and hydrothermal heating. On these basis, representative examples as well as key issues, including sampling strategy, are presented to make thermochronologic analysis of fault-zone materials, such as fault gouges, pseudotachylytes and mylonites, along with geological, geomorphological and seismological implications. Finally, the thermochronologic analyses of the Nojima fault are overviewed, as an example of multidisciplinary investigations of an active seismogenic fault system. References: T. Tagami, 2012. Thermochronological investigation of fault zones. Tectonophys., 538-540, 67-85, doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2012.01.032.

Crustal faults exposed in the Pito Deep Rift: Conduits for hydrothermal fluids on the southeast Pacific Rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayman, Nicholas W.; Karson, Jeffrey A.

2009-02-01

The escarpments that bound the Pito Deep Rift (northeastern Easter microplate) expose in situ upper oceanic crust that was accreted ˜3 Ma ago at the superfast spreading (˜142 mm/a, full rate) southeast Pacific Rise (SEPR). Samples and images of these escarpments were taken during transects utilizing the human-occupied vehicle Alvin and remotely operated vehicle Jason II. The dive areas were mapped with a "deformation intensity scale" revealing that the sheeted dike complex and the base of the lavas contain approximately meter-wide fault zones surrounded by fractured "damage zones." Fault zones are spaced several hundred meters apart, in places offset the base of the lavas, separate areas with differently oriented dikes, and are locally crosscut by (younger) dikes. Fault rocks are rich in interstitial amphibole, matrix and vein chlorite, prominent veins of quartz, and accessory grains of sulfides, oxides, and sphene. These phases form the fine-grained matrix materials for cataclasites and cements for breccias where they completely surround angular to subangular clasts of variably altered and deformed basalt. Bulk rock geochemical compositions of the fault rocks are largely governed by the abundance of quartz veins. When compositions are normalized to compensate for the excess silica, the fault rocks exhibit evidence for additional geochemical changes via hydrothermal alteration, including the loss of mobile elements and gain of some trace metals and magnesium. Microstructures and compositions suggest that the fault rocks developed over multiple increments of deformation and hydrothermal fluid flow in the subaxial environment of the SEPR; faults related to the opening of the Pito Deep Rift can be distinguished by their orientation and fault rock microstructure. Some subaxial deformation increments were likely linked with violent discharge events associated with fluid pressure fluctuations and mineral sealing within the fault zones. Other increments were linked with the influx of relatively fresh seawater. The spacing of the faults is consistent with fault localization occurring every 7000 to 14,000 years, with long-term slip rates of <3 mm/a. Once spread from the ridge axis, the faults were probably not active, and damage zones likely played a more significant role in axial flank and off-axis crustal permeability.

Cyclic Stable-Unstable Slip Preserved along an Appalachian Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, R. K.; Newman, J.; Holyoke, C. W., III; Wojtal, S. F.

2017-12-01

The inactive Copper Creek thrust, southern Appalachians, TN, preserves evidence suggesting cyclic aseismic and unstable slip. The Copper Creek thrust is a low-temperature (4-6 km burial depth) foreland thrust with an estimated net slip of 15-20 km. Immediately below the 2 cm thick calcite-shale fault zone, the footwall is composed of shale with cross-cutting calcite veins and is separated from the fault zone by a 300 µm thick layered calcite vein. Optical and electron microscopy indicates that this complex vein layer experienced grain size reduction by plasticity-induced fracturing followed by aseismic diffusion creep. The fault zone calcite exhibits interpenetrating grain boundaries and four-grain junctions suggesting diffusion creep, but also contains nanoscale grains (7 nm), vesicular calcite, and partially-coated clasts indicating unstable, possibly seismic, slip. Well-preserved clasts of deformed calcite vein layer material within the fault zone indicate repeated cycle(s) of aseismic diffusion creep. In addition, nanoscale calcite grains, 30 nm, with straight grain boundaries that form triple junctions, may represent earlier nanoscale grains formed during unstable slip that have experienced grain growth during periods of aseismic creep. Based on the spatial and temporal relations of these preserved microstructures, we propose a sequence of deformation processes consistent with cyclic episodes of unstable slip separated by intervals of aseismic creep. Formation of calcite-filled veins is followed by grain size reduction in vein calcite by plasticity-induced fracturing and aseismic grain-size sensitive diffusion creep deformation in fine-grained calcite. During aseismic creep, the combination of grain growth, resulting in fault strengthening, and an increase in pore fluid pressure, reducing the effective fault strength, leads to new fractures and/or an unstable slip event. During unstable slip, nanograins and vesicular calcite form as a result of thermal decomposition and coated clasts form as a result of fluidization of the fault zone, and are then incorporated within ductilely deforming calcite during a new interval of aseismic creep.

A New Look at Spreading in Iceland: Propagating Rifts, Migrating Transform Faults, and Microplate Tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J.; Horst, A. J.; Nanfito, A.

2011-12-01

Iceland has long been used as an analog for studies of seafloor spreading. Despite its thick (~25 km) oceanic crust and subaerial lavas, many features associated with accretion along mid-ocean ridge spreading centers, and the processes that generate them, are well represented in the actively spreading Neovolcanic Zone and deeply glaciated Tertiary crust that flanks it. Integrated results of structural and geodetic studies show that the plate boundary zone on Iceland is a complex array of linked structures bounding major crustal blocks or microplates, similar to oceanic microplates. Major rift zones propagate N and S from the hotspot centered beneath the Vatnajökull icecap in SE central Iceland. The southern propagator has extended southward beyond the South Iceland Seismic Zone transform fault to the Westman Islands, resulting in abandonment of the Eastern Rift Zone. Continued propagation may cause abandonment of the Reykjanes Ridge. The northern propagator is linked to the southern end of the receding Kolbeinsey Ridge to the north. The NNW-trending Kerlingar Pseudo-fault bounds the propagator system to the E. The Tjörnes Transform Fault links the propagator tip to the Kolbeinsey Ridge and appears to be migrating northward in incremental steps, leaving a swath of deformed crustal blocks in its wake. Block rotations, concentrated mainly to the west of the propagators, are clockwise to the N of the hotspot and counter-clockwise to the S, possibly resulting in a component of NS divergence across EW-oriented rift zones. These rotations may help accommodate adjustments of the plate boundary zone to the relative movements of the N American and Eurasian plates. The rotated crustal blocks are composed of highly anisotropic crust with rift-parallel internal fabric generated by spreading processes. Block rotations result in reactivation of spreading-related faults as major rift-parallel, strike-slip faults. Structural details found in Iceland can help provide information that is difficult or impossible to obtain in propagating systems of the deep seafloor.

The history of late holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the central segments of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duross, Christopher; Personius, Stephen; Olig, Susan S; Crone, Anthony J.; Hylland, Michael D.; Lund, William R; Schwartz, David P.

2017-01-01

The Wasatch fault (WFZ)—Utah’s longest and most active normal fault—forms a prominent eastern boundary to the Basin and Range Province in northern Utah. To provide paleoseismic data for a Wasatch Front regional earthquake forecast, we synthesized paleoseismic data to define the timing and displacements of late Holocene surface-faulting earthquakes on the central five segments of the WFZ. Our analysis yields revised histories of large (M ~7) surface-faulting earthquakes on the segments, as well as estimates of earthquake recurrence and vertical slip rate. We constrain the timing of four to six earthquakes on each of the central segments, which together yields a history of at least 24 surface-faulting earthquakes since ~6 ka. Using earthquake data for each segment, inter-event recurrence intervals range from about 0.6 to 2.5 kyr, and have a mean of 1.2 kyr. Mean recurrence, based on closed seismic intervals, is ~1.1–1.3 kyr per segment, and when combined with mean vertical displacements per segment of 1.7–2.6 m, yield mean vertical slip rates of 1.3–2.0 mm/yr per segment. These data refine the late Holocene behavior of the central WFZ; however, a significant source of uncertainty is whether structural complexities that define the segments of the WFZ act as hard barriers to ruptures propagating along the fault. Thus, we evaluate fault rupture models including both single-segment and multi-segment ruptures, and define 3–17-km-wide spatial uncertainties in the segment boundaries. These alternative rupture models and segment-boundary zones honor the WFZ paleoseismic data, take into account the spatial and temporal limitations of paleoseismic data, and allow for complex ruptures such as partial-segment and spillover ruptures. Our data and analyses improve our understanding of the complexities in normal-faulting earthquake behavior and provide geological inputs for regional earthquake-probability and seismic hazard assessments.

Tertiary extension and mineral deposits, southwestern U.S.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rehrig, William A.; Hardy, James.J.

1996-01-01

Starting in Las Vegas, we will traverse through many of the geometric elements and complexities of hanging wall deformation above the regional detachment systems of the Colorado River extensional terrane. We will study the interaction of normal faults as arranged in regional, crustal-scale mega-domains and the bounding structures that separate these tilt domains. As we progress through the classic Eldorado Mountains-Hoover Dam region, where many of the ideas of listric normal faulting were first popularized, we will see both the real rocks and the historic rationale for their deformation. By examining the listric versus domino models for normal faulting, we will utilize different geometric techniques for determining the depth to the detachment structures and percent extension. Continuing further south toward southernmost Nevada, we will cross the accommodation zone that separates the Lake Mead and Whipple dip domains and further descend to deeper structural levels to examine lower levels of the major normal faults and their tilting of upper-crustal blocks and associated offset along the regional detachment faults. Fluid flow within the shattered fault zones and its relationship to the 3-D geometries of the fault surfaces will be studied both along the faults and within the hydrothermally altered and mineralized wallrocks.

Vibration signal models for fault diagnosis of planet bearings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhipeng; Ma, Haoqun; Zuo, Ming J.

2016-05-01

Rolling element bearings are key components of planetary gearboxes. Among them, the motion of planet bearings is very complex, encompassing spinning and revolution. Therefore, planet bearing vibrations are highly intricate and their fault characteristics are completely different from those of fixed-axis case, making planet bearing fault diagnosis a difficult topic. In order to address this issue, we derive the explicit equations for calculating the characteristic frequency of outer race, rolling element and inner race fault, considering the complex motion of planet bearings. We also develop the planet bearing vibration signal model for each fault case, considering the modulation effects of load zone passing, time-varying angle between the gear pair mesh and fault induced impact force, as well as the time-varying vibration transfer path. Based on the developed signal models, we derive the explicit equations of Fourier spectrum in each fault case, and summarize the vibration spectral characteristics respectively. The theoretical derivations are illustrated by numerical simulation, and further validated experimentally and all the three fault cases (i.e. outer race, rolling element and inner race localized fault) are diagnosed.

Why did the 1756 Tjellefonna rockslide occur? A back-analysis of the largest historic rockslide in Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandøy, Gro; Oppikofer, Thierry; Nilsen, Bjørn

2017-07-01

On 22 February 1756 the largest historically recorded rockslide in Norway took place at Tjelle in the Langfjord (Western Norway). The rockslide created three displacement waves of up to 50 m in height that caused 32 casualties and destroyed most houses and boats along the shores of the Langfjord. The trigger and contributing factors leading to the Tjellefonna rockslide are largely unknown and even seismic triggering has previously been suggested. This study provides a thorough back-analysis of the Tjellefonna rockslide using detailed geomorphological, engineering geological and tectonic field mapping in combination with topographic reconstructions, bathymetry analysis, volume estimations and numerical slope stability analysis. The back-scarp and eastern flank of the Tjellefonna scar form several tens of meter high rock walls, while the basal failure surface and other parts of the scar are covered by rock avalanche debris that extend from the back-scarp down to the bottom of the Langfjord. The rockslide occurred in granodioritic gneisses with variably developed metamorphic foliation that is folded and strike parallel to the fjord. Two prominent fault zones are present in close proximity to the Tjellefonna scar; one is steeply SE-dipping (Tjelle fault), while the other one is sub-horizontal to shallow SE-dipping (Ritlehamran fault). Both fault zones are linked to the Møre-Trøndelag Fault Complex, with one of its branches forming the Langfjord lineament and probably also the faults at Tjellefonna. Additionally, there are four persistent joint sets that together with the metamorphic foliation and the Tjelle fault define the back-scarp of the rockslide and give a fracturing of the rock mass corresponding to a Geological Strength Index (GSI) of 45-55. The GSI decreases significantly to 10-20 in the fault zones, which form distinct weakness zones in the rock slope. Volume estimates based on a reconstruction of the ante-rockslide topography range from 9.3 to 10.4 million m3, which is lower than previous volume estimates (12-15 million m3). Large portions of the failed rock mass remained on land and only approximately 3.9 million m3 entered the fjord. The observed discontinuities in the rock mass at Tjellefonna do not allow for a simple kinematic failure mechanism due to the lack of moderately SE-dipping structures. The basal failure surface was most likely not composed of a single structure, but of a complex interplay of fault zones, metamorphic foliation, joints and broken rock bridges. Numerical slope stability modelling highlights that weak fault zones are essential for the development of the failure surface over a long time. This progressive failure was likely aided by low- to medium-magnitude earthquakes that are frequent in the region. Numerical slope stability modelling and historical accounts suggest, however, that heavy, long-lasting rainfall was the triggering factor for the 1756 Tjellefonna rockslide rather than an earthquake.

A high-resolution aftershock seismicity image of the 2002 Sultandaği-Çay earthquake (Mw = 6.2), Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ergin, Mehmet; Aktar, Mustafa; Özalaybey, Serdar; Tapirdamaz, Mustafa C.; Selvi, Oguz; Tarancioglu, Adil

2009-10-01

A moderate-size earthquake (Mw = 6.2) occurred on 3 February 2002 (07:11:28 GMT) in the Sultandağı-Çay region of southwest Turkey. The mainshock was followed by a strong aftershock of Mw = 6.0 just 2 h after the mainshock, at 09:26:49 GMT. A temporary seismic network of 27 vertical component seismometers was installed to monitor aftershock activity. One thousand sixty nine aftershocks (0.2 < ML < 3.3) were recorded during the period from 5 to 10 February 2002. We analyzed the P and S arrival times and P wave first motion data to obtain high-quality hypocenters and focal mechanisms, which revealed fine details of the fault zone. We infer that the mainshock has ruptured a segment of the Sultandağ Fault Zone that is approximately 37 km long and 7 km wide at depth. The average slip over the rupture plane during the mainshock is estimated to be 32 cm. The linear distribution of the aftershocks and the location of the mainshock epicenter suggest that rupture has initiated in the eastern bending of the fault and propagated unilaterally to the west. The majority of fault plane solutions indicate E-W to ESE-WNW striking oblique-normal faulting mechanisms with an average dip angle of 62° N ± 10° . The high-resolution aftershock seismicity image also shows that faulting involved a complex array of synthetic and possibly antithetic structures during the evolution of the aftershock sequence. The steady increase of the b value towards the west implies that the highest moment release of the mainshock occurred to the west of the epicenter. The study clearly shows the activation of the WNW-ESE-trending Sultandağ Fault Zone along the southern margin of the Akşehir-Afyon Graben (AAG). The westernmost end of the aftershock activity corresponds to a structurally complex zone distinct from the main rupture. It is characterized by both ENE-WSW- and NNE-SSW-trending oblique-slip normal faulting mechanisms, the latter being associated with the NNE-SSW-trending Karamık Graben. The intersection of these two grabens, AAG and Karamık Graben, provides abundant faults available for failure in this region. The occurrence pattern of large events in recent years indicates a possible migration of earthquakes from east to west. Thus, we conclude that this has an important implication for earthquake hazard for the city of Afyon, which lies along the same fault line and only 20 km west of the termination point of the aftershock zone.

Microstructures and composition of brittle faults in claystones: Constraints on the barrier behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kneuker, Tilo; Hammer, Jörg; Jahn, Steffen; Zulauf, Gernold

2017-04-01

Investigations of fault rocks are crucial to evaluate the barrier properties of clay rich formations used for the storage of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide gas or for the storage of heat generating radioactive waste. Claystones are considered as a geological barrier. However, their barrier capability can be reduced if the claystones are cut by brittle faults. Our study is focusing on the microfabrics and element mobility of artificially and naturally fractured claystones using a multi-method approach. Particular attention was paid to small scale lithological heterogeneities occurring in the clayey sequence. The microfabrics were investigated using SEM and optical microscopy. Geochemical and phase analyses were carried out using XRD, XRF and ICP-MS. In addition, organic (TOC) and inorganic carbon (TIC), total sulphur (TS) as well as the cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined. Macroscopic observations of fault zones on outcrops and drill cores indicate closely spaced planar and undulating discontinuities, including slickenside striations. The investigated fault zones are often accompanied by calcite veins and calcite enriched zones. The fault core is formed by a mm to cm thick clayey, fine grained, cohesionless fault gouge including reworked calcite fragments. Duplex-like domains are separated by discrete microshears, along which the rocks disintegrate. Calcareous fossils, common in undeformed claystones, appear in these zones fragmented and rotated. In contrast to calcite, quartz is more resistant to solution-precipitation processes. Rarely intracrystalline fracturing was observed. The calcite mineralization in veins, and solution-precipitation processes of calcite, documented by stylolites, reflect enhanced palaeo-permeability and activity of Ca2+- and CO2-rich fluids inside some of the fault zones, mainly along fault parallel shear planes. Elevated Sr and Ba concentrations are bound to the tectonic, secondary calcite veins within and outside the investigated fault zone. The geochemical data presented in form of isocon diagrams suggest volume gain related to the opening of veins and pores, which are now filled with calcite. Our results do not provide evidence for presently open pores or fractures, which might be related to non-artificial tectonic deformation. However, (micro)fractures as well as mineralized veins represent inherited damage in the rock, and are prone to brittle reactivation during fluid pressure increase or during the excavation of underground galleries. A complex, polyphase deformation history including a possible reactivation of older structures is supported by our observations.

Constraints on behaviour of a mining‐induced earthquake inferred from laboratory rock mechanics experiments

USGS Publications Warehouse

McGarr, Arthur F.; Johnston, Malcolm J.; Boettcher, M.; Heesakkers, V.; Reches, Z.

2013-01-01

On December 12, 2004, an earthquake of magnitude 2.2, located in the TauTona Gold Mine at a depth of about 3.65 km in the ancient Pretorius fault zone, was recorded by the in-mine borehole seismic network, yielding an excellent set of ground motion data recorded at hypocentral distances of several km. From these data, the seismic moment tensor, indicating mostly normal faulting with a small implosive component, and the radiated energy were measured; the deviatoric component of the moment tensor was estimated to be M0 = 2.3×1012 N·m and the radiated energy ER = 5.4×108 J. This event caused extensive damage along tunnels within the Pretorius fault zone. What rendered this earthquake of particular interest was the underground investigation of the complex pattern of exposed rupture surfaces combined with laboratory testing of rock samples retrieved from the ancient fault zone (Heesakkers et al.2011a, 2011b). Event 12/12 2004 was the result of fault slip across at least four nonparallel fault surfaces; 25 mm of slip was measured at one location on the rupture segment that is most parallel with a fault plane inferred from the seismic moment tensor, suggesting that this segment accounted for much of the total seismic deformation. By applying a recently developed technique based on biaxial stick-slip friction experiments (McGarr2012, 2013) to the seismic results, together with the 25 mm slip observed underground, we estimated a maximum slip rate of at least 6.6 m/s, which is consistent with the observed damage to tunnels in the rupture zone. Similarly, the stress drop and apparent stress were found to be correspondingly high at 21.9 MPa and 6.6 MPa, respectively. The ambient state of stress, measured at the approximate depth of the earthquake but away from the influence of mining, in conjunction with laboratory measurements of the strength of the fault zone cataclasites, indicates that during rupture of the M 2.2 event, the normal stress acting on the large-slip fault segment was about 260 MPa, the yield stress was 172 MPa and the seismic efficiency was 0.05. Thus, for event 12/12 2004, 5% of the energy released by the earthquake was radiated and the remaining 95% was consumed in overcoming fault friction and expanding the zone of rupture.

San Andreas fault geometry at Desert Hot Springs, California, and its effects on earthquake hazards and groundwater

USGS Publications Warehouse

Catchings, R.D.; Rymer, M.J.; Goldman, M.R.; Gandhok, G.

2009-01-01

The Mission Creek and Banning faults are two of the principal strands of the San Andreas fault zone in the northern Coachella Valley of southern California. Structural characteristics of the faults affect both regional earthquake hazards and local groundwater resources. We use seismic, gravity, and geological data to characterize the San Andreas fault zone in the vicinity of Desert Hot Springs. Seismic images of the upper 500 m of the Mission Creek fault at Desert Hot Springs show multiple fault strands distributed over a 500 m wide zone, with concentrated faulting within a central 200 m wide area of the fault zone. High-velocity (up to 5000 m=sec) rocks on the northeast side of the fault are juxtaposed against a low-velocity (6.0) earthquakes in the area (in 1948 and 1986) occurred at or near the depths (~10 to 12 km) of the merged (San Andreas) fault. Large-magnitude earthquakes that nucleate at or below the merged fault will likely generate strong shaking from guided waves along both fault zones and from amplified seismic waves in the low-velocity basin between the two fault zones. The Mission Creek fault zone is a groundwater barrier with the top of the water table varying by 60 m in depth and the aquifer varying by about 50 m in thickness across a 200 m wide zone of concentrated faulting.

Recent crustal movements in the Sierra Nevada-Walker lane region of California-Nevada: Part i, rate and style of deformation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Slemmons, D.B.; Wormer, D.V.; Bell, E.J.; Silberman, M.L.

1979-01-01

This review of geological, seismological, geochronological and paleobotanical data is made to compare historic and geologic rates and styles of deformation of the Sierra Nevada and western Basin and Range Provinces. The main uplift of this region began about 17 m.y. ago, with slow uplift of the central Sierra Nevada summit region at rates estimated at about 0.012 mm/yr and of western Basin and Range Province at about 0.01 mm/yr. Many Mesozoic faults of the Foothills fault system were reactivated with normal slip in mid-Tertiary time and have continued to be active with slow slip rates. Sparse data indicate acceleration of rates of uplift and faulting during the Late Cenozoic. The Basin and Range faulting appears to have extended westward during this period with a reduction in width of the Sierra Nevada. The eastern boundary zone of the Sierra Nevada has an irregular en-echelon pattern of normal and right-oblique faults. The area between the Sierra Nevada and the Walker Lane is a complex zone of irregular patterns of ho??rst and graben blocks and conjugate normal-to right- and left-slip faults of NW and NE trend, respectively. The Walker Lane has at least five main strands near Walker Lake, with total right-slip separation estimated at 48 km. The NE-trending left-slip faults are much shorter than the Walker Lane fault zone and have maximum separations of no more than a few kilometers. Examples include the 1948 and 1966 fault zone northeast of Truckee, California, the Olinghouse fault (Part III) and possibly the almost 200-km-long Carson Lineament. Historic geologic evidence of faulting, seismologic evidence for focal mechanisms, geodetic measurements and strain measurements confirm continued regional uplift and tilting of the Sierra Nevada, with minor internal local faulting and deformation, smaller uplift of the western Basin and Range Province, conjugate focal mechanisms for faults of diverse orientations and types, and a NS to NE-SW compression axis (??1) and an EW to NW-SE extension axis (??3). ?? 1979.

Paleoearthquakes and Eolian-dominated fault sedimentation along the Hubbell Spring fault zone near Albuquerque, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Personius, S.F.; Mahan, S.A.

2003-01-01

The Hubbell Spring fault zone forms the modern eastern margin of the Rio Grande rift in the Albuquerque basin of north-central New Mexico. Knowledge of its seismic potential is important because the fault zone transects Kirtland Air Force Base/Sandia National Laboratories and underlies the southern Albuquerque metropolitan area. No earthquakes larger than ML 5.5 have been reported in the last 150 years in this region, so we excavated the first trench across this fault zone to determine its late Quaternary paleoseismic history. Our trench excavations revealed a complex, 16-m-wide fault zone overlain by four tapered blankets of mixed eolian sand and minor colluvium that we infer were deposited after four large-magnitude, surface-rupturing earthquakes. Although the first (oldest) rupture event is undated, we used luminescence (thermoluminescence and infrared-stimulated luminescence) ages to determine that the subsequent three rupture events occurred about 56 ?? 6, 29 ?? 3, and 12 ?? 1 ka. These ages yield recurrence intervals of 27 and 17 k.y. between events and an elapsed time of 12 k.y. since the latest surface-rupturing paleoearthquake. Slip rates are not well constrained, but our preferred average slip rate since rupture event 2 (post-56 ka) is 0.05 mm/yr, and interval slip rates between the last three events are 0.06 and 0.09 mm/yr, respectively. Vertical displacements of 1-2 m per event and probable rupture lengths of 34-43 km indicate probable paleoearthquake magnitudes (Ms or Mw) of 6.8-7.1. Future earthquakes of this size likely would cause strong ground motions in the Albuquerque metropolitan area.

Kinematics of Faulting and Structural Evolution of Neogene Supra-detachment Basins on the Menderes Metamorphic Core Complex, Western Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dilek, Y.; Oner, Z.; Davis, E. A.

2007-12-01

The Menderes metamorphic massif (MM) in western Anatolia is a classic core complex with exhumed high-grade crustal rocks intruded by granodioritic plutons and overlain by syn-extensional sedimentary rocks. Timing and the mechanism(s) of the initial exhumation of the MM are controversial, and different hypotheses exist in the literature. Major structural grabens (i.e. Alasehir, Buyuk Menderes) within the MM that are bounded by high-angle and seismically active faults are late-stage brittle structures, which characterize the block-faulting phase in the extensional history of the core complex and are filled with Quaternary sediments. On the southern shoulder of the Alasehir graben high-grade metamorphic rocks of the MM are overlain by the Miocene and younger sedimentary rocks above a N-dipping detachment surface. The nearly 100-m-thick cataclastic shear zone beneath this surface contain S-C fabrics, microfaults, Riedel shears, mica-fish structures and shear bands, all consistently indicating top-to-the North shearing. Granodioritic plutons crosscutting the MM and the detachment surface are exposed within this cataclastic zone, displaying extensional ductile and brittle structures. The oldest sedimentary rocks onlapping the cataclastic shear zone of the MM here are the Middle Miocene lacustrine shale and limestone units, unconformably overlain by the Upper Miocene fluvial and alluvial fan deposits. Extensive development of these alluvial fan deposits by the Late Miocene indicates the onset of range-front faulting in the MM by this time, causing a surge of coarse clastic deposition along the northern edge of the core complex. The continued exhumation and uplift of the MM provided the necessary relief and detrital material for the Plio-Pleistocene fluvial systems in the Alasehir supradetachment basin (ASDB). A combination of rotational normal faulting and scissor faulting in the extending ASDB affected the depositional patterns and drainage systems, and produced local unconformities within the basinal stratigraphy. High-angle, oblique-slip scissor faults crosscutting the MM rocks, the detachment surface and the basinal strata offset them for more than few 100 meters and the fault blocks locally show different structural architecture and metamorphic grades, suggesting differential uplift along these scissor faults. This fault kinematics and the distribution of range-parallel and range-perpendicular faults strongly controlled the shape and depth of the accommodation space within the ASDB. At a more regional scale scissor faulting across the MM seems to have controlled the foci of Plio-Pleistocene point-source volcanism in the Aegean extensional province (e.g. Kula area). There are no major interruptions in the syn-extensional depositional history of the ASDB, ruling out the pulsed-extension models suggesting a period of contractional deformation in the late Cenozoic evolution of the MM. The onset of exhumation and extensional tectonics in the MM and western Anatolia was a result of thermal weakening of the orogenic crust, following a widespread episode of post-collisional magmatism in the broader Aegean region during the Eocene through Miocene.

Structural development of the Red Hill portion of the Feather River ultramafic complex, Pulmas County, California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weisenberg, C.W.

1979-01-01

The Feather River Ultramafic Complex is a partially serpentinized body of metamorphosed alpine peridotite and gabbro that lies along the northern part of the Melones fault zone, a NNW trending belt in the Northern Sierra Nevada. The complex was studied in the area of Red Hill, near the canyon of the North Fork, Feather River. The complex is separated from the Calaveras Terrain and Arlington Formation country rocks by steep faults; the Melones Fault on the east and the Rich Bar Fault on the west. Units recognized within the complex include Rich Bar metamorphic rocks, peridotite, metaperidotite, tremolite-olivine schist, hornblendemore » schist, and layered metagabbro. The Rich Bar metamorphic rocks are tectonic slices of amphibolite grade hornblende schist, mica schist, and quartzite found along the Rich Bar Fault. The complex shows evidence of 4 major events. E-1 (Pennsylvania-Permian) was formation of the peridotite-gabbro complex. E-2 (Permo-Triassic) consisted of pervasive shearing parallel to the Rich Bar Fault associated with initial emplacement within the Sierra Nevada. E-3 is believed to be compression and metamorphism (serpentinization) associated with the Nevadan orogeny. E-4 was associated with intrusion of nearby plutons. The regional association of the complex with late paleozoic arc volcanics of the Taylorsville area suggest formation near or under an island arc. Metamorphism during emplacement indicates association with the arc at that time. Left-lateral shear during emplacement along the Rich Bar Fault indicates NW directed thrusting when the layering in metagabbro is rotated to horizontal.« less

Strike-slip linked core complexes: A new kinematic model of basement rock exhumation in a crustal-scale fault system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meyer, Sven Erik; Passchier, Cees; Abu-Alam, Tamer; Stüwe, Kurt

2014-05-01

Metamorphic core complexes usually develop as extensional features during continental crustal thinning, such as the Basin and Range and the Aegean Terrane. The Najd fault system in Saudi Arabia is a 2000 km-long and 400 km-wide complex network of crustal-scale strike-slip shear zones in a Neoproterozoic collision zone. Locally, the anastomosing shear zones lead to exhumation of lower crustal segments and represent a new kinematic model for the development of core complexes. We report on two such structures: the Qazaz complex in Saudi Arabia and the Hafafit complex in Egypt. The 15 km-wide Qazaz complex is a triangular dome of gently dipping mylonitic foliations within the 140 km-long sinistral strike-slip Qazaz mylonite zone. The gneissic dome consists of high-grade rocks, surrounded by low-grade metasediments and metavolcanics. The main SE-trending strike-slip Qazaz shear zone splits southwards into two branches around the gneiss dome: the western branch is continuous with the shallow dipping mylonites of the dome core, without overprinting, and changes by more than 90 degrees from a NS-trending strike-slip zone to an EW-trending 40 degree south-dipping detachment that bounds the gneiss dome to the south. The eastern SE-trending sinistral strike-slip shear zone branch is slightly younger and transects the central dome fabrics. The gneiss dome appears to have formed along a jog in the strike-slip shear zone during 40 km of horizontal strike-slip motion, which caused local exhumation of lower crustal rocks by 25 km along the detachment. The eastern shear zone branch formed later during exhumation, transacted the gneiss dome and offset the two parts by another 70 km. The Hafafit core complex in Egypt is of similar shape and size to the Qazaz structure, but forms the northern termination of a sinistral strike-slip zone that is at least 100 km in length. This zone may continue into Saudi Arabia as the Ajjaj shear zone for another 100 km. The NW trending strike slip mylonite zone grades into a gently N-dipping detachment to the west which accommodated strike slip by exhumation of high-grade lower crustal rocks. The Qazaz and the Hafafit Domes are similar, mirror-image structures with small differences in the accommodating shear zones. It is likely that these types of strike-slip related oblique core complexes are common in the Arabian Nubian shield, and possibly elsewhere.

Fracture properties from tight reservoir outcrop analogues with application to geothermal exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philipp, Sonja L.; Reyer, Dorothea; Afsar, Filiz; Bauer, Johanna F.; Meier, Silke; Reinecker, John

2015-04-01

In geothermal reservoirs, similar to other tight reservoirs, fluid flow may be intensely affected by fracture systems, in particular those associated with fault zones. When active (slipping) the fault core, that is, the inner part of a fault zone, which commonly consists of breccia or gouge, can suddenly develop high permeability. Fault cores of inactive fault zones, however, may have low permeabilities and even act as flow barriers. In the outer part of a fault zone, the damage zone, permeability depends mainly on the fracture properties, that is, the geometry (orientation, aperture, density, connectivity, etc.) of the fault-associated fracture system. Mineral vein networks in damage zones of deeply eroded fault zones in palaeogeothermal fields demonstrate their permeability. In geothermal exploration, particularly for hydrothermal reservoirs, the orientation of fault zones in relation to the current stress field as well as their internal structure, in particular the properties of the associated fracture system, must be known as accurately as possible for wellpath planning and reservoir engineering. Here we present results of detailed field studies and numerical models of fault zones and associated fracture systems in palaeogeo¬thermal fields and host rocks for geothermal reservoirs from various stratigraphies, lithologies and tectonic settings: (1) 74 fault zones in three coastal sections of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic age (mudstones and limestone-marl alternations) in the Bristol Channel Basin, UK. (2) 58 fault zones in 22 outcrops from Upper Carboniferous to Upper Cretaceous in the Northwest German Basin (siliciclastic, carbonate and volcanic rocks); and (3) 16 fault zones in 9 outcrops in Lower Permian to Middle Triassic (mainly sandstone and limestone) in the Upper Rhine Graben shoulders. Whereas (1) represent palaeogeothermal fields with mineral veins, (2) and (3) are outcrop analogues of reservoir horizons from geothermal exploration. In the study areas of palaeo¬geothermal fields in the Bristol Channel (1), all mineral veins, most of which are extension fractures, are of calcite. They are clearly associated with the faults and indicate that geothermal water was transported along the then-active faults into the host rocks with evidence of injection as hydrofractures. Layers with contrasting mechanical properties (in particular, stiffnesses), however, acted as stress barriers and lead to fracture arrest. Along some faults, veins propagated through the barriers along faults to shallower levels. In the Northwest German Basin (2) there are pronounced differences between normal-fault zones in carbonate and clastic rocks. Only in carbonate rocks clear damage zones occur, characterized by increased fracture frequencies and high amounts of fractures with large apertures. On the Upper Rhine Graben shoulders (3) damage zones in Triassic Muschelkalk limestones are well developed; fault cores are narrow and comprise breccia, clay smear, host rock lenses and mineralization. A large fault zone in Triassic Bunter sandstone shows a clearly developed fault core with fault gouge, slip zones, deformation bands and host rock lenses, a transition zone with mostly disturbed layering and highest fracture frequency, and a damage zone. The latter damage zone is compared to the damage zone of a large Bunter sandstone fault zone currently explored for geothermal energy production. The numerical models focus on stress field development, fracture propagation and associated permeability changes. These studies contribute to the understanding of the hydromechanical behaviour of fault zones and related fluid transport in fractured reservoirs complementing predictions based on geophysical measurements. Eventually we aim at classifying and quantifying fracture system properties in fault zones to improve exploration and exploitation of geothermal reservoirs. Acknowledgements The authors appreciate the support of 'Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissen¬schaft und Kultur' and 'Baker Hughes' within the gebo research project (http://www.gebo-nds.de), the Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU; FKZ: 0325302, AuGE) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. GeoEnergy GmbH, Karlsruhe, is thanked for explorational data.

Structural and microstructural evolution of fault zones in Cretaceous poorly lithified sandstones of the Rio do Peixe basin, Paraiba, NE Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsamo, Fabrizio; Nogueira, Francisco; Storti, Fabrizio; Bezerra, Francisco H. R.; De Carvalho, Bruno R.; André De Souza, Jorge

2017-04-01

In this contribution we describe the structural architecture and microstructural features of fault zones developed in Cretaceous, poorly lithified sandstones of the Rio do Peixe basin, NE Brazil. The Rio do Peixe basin is an E-W-trending, intracontinental half-graben basin developed along the Precambrian Patos shear zone where it is abutted by the Porto Alegre shear zone. The basin formed during rifting between South America and Africa plates and was reactivated and inverted in a strike-slip setting during the Cenozoic. Sediments filling the basin consist of an heterolithic sequence of alternating sandstones, conglomerates, siltstone and clay-rich layers. These lithologies are generally poorly lithified far from the major fault zones. Deformational structures in the basin mostly consist of deformation band-dominated fault zones. Extensional and strike-slip fault zones, clusters of deformation bands, and single deformation bands are commonly well developed in the proximity of the basin-boundary fault systems. All deformation structures are generally in positive relief with respect to the host rocks. Extensional fault zones locally have growth strata in their hangingwall blocks and have displacement generally <10 m. In map view, they are organized in anastomosed segments with high connectivity. They strike E-W to NE-SW, and typically consist of wide fault cores (< 1 m in width) surrounded by up to few-meter wide damage zones. Fault cores are characterized by distributed deformation without pervasive strain localization in narrow shear bands, in which bedding is transposed into foliation imparted by grain preferred orientation. Microstructural observations show negligible cataclasis and dominant non-destructive particulate flow, suggesting that extensional fault zones developed in soft-sediment conditions in a water-saturated environment. Strike-slip fault zones commonly overprint the extensional ones and have displacement values typically lower than about 2 m. They are arranged in conjugate system consisting of NNW-SSE- and WNW-ESE-trending fault zones with left-lateral and right-lateral kinematics, respectively. Compared to extensional fault zones, strike-slip fault zones have narrow fault cores (few cm thick) and up to 2-3 m-thick damage zones. Microstructural observations indicate that cataclasis with pervasive grain size reduction is the dominant deformation mechanisms within the fault core, thus suggesting that late-stage strike-slip faulting occurred when sandstones were partially lithified by diagenetic processes. Alternatively, the change in deformation mechanisms may indicate faulting at greater depth. Structural and microstructural data suggest that fault zones in the Rio do Peixe basin developed in a progression from "ductile" (sensu Rutter, 1986) to more "brittle" deformation during changes from extensional to strike-slip kinematic fields. Such rheological and stress configuration evolution is expected to impact the petrophysical and permeability structure of fault zones in the study area.

Effect of basement structure and salt tectonics on deformation styles along strike: An example from the Kuqa fold-thrust belt, West China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neng, Yuan; Xie, Huiwen; Yin, Hongwei; Li, Yong; Wang, Wei

2018-04-01

The Kuqa fold-thrust belt (KFTB) has a complex thrust-system geometry and comprises basement-involved thrusts, décollement thrusts, triangle zones, strike-slip faults, transpressional faults, and pop-up structures. These structures, combined with the effects of Paleogene salt tectonics and Paleozoic basement uplift form a complex structural zone trending E-W. Interpretation and comprehensive analysis of recent high-quality seismic data, field observations, boreholes, and gravity data covering the KFTB has been performed to understand the characteristics and mechanisms of the deformation styles along strike. Regional sections, fold-thrust system maps of the surface and the sub-salt layer, salt and basement structure distribution maps have been created, and a comprehensive analysis of thrust systems performed. The results indicate that the thrust-fold system in Paleogene salt range can be divided into five segments from east to west: the Kela-3, Keshen, Dabei, Bozi, and Awate segments. In the easternmost and westernmost parts of the Paleogene salt range, strike-slip faulting and basement-involved thrusting are the dominant deformation styles, as basement uplift and the limits of the Cenozoic evaporite deposit are the main controls on deformation. Salt-core detachment fold-thrust systems coincide with areas of salt tectonics, and pop-up, imbricate, and duplex structures are associated with the main thrust faults in the sub-salt layer. Distribution maps of thrust systems, basement structures, and salt tectonics show that Paleozoic basement uplift controlled the Paleozoic foreland basin morphology and the distribution of Cenozoic salt in the KFTB, and thus had a strong influence on the segmented structural deformation and evolution of the fold-thrust belt. Three types of transfer zone are identified, based on the characteristics of the salt layer and basement uplift, and the effects of these zones on the fault systems are evaluated. Basement uplift and the boundary of the salt deposit generated strike-slip faults in the sub-salt layer and supra-salt layers at the basin boundary (Model A). When changes in the basement occurred within the salt basin, strike-slip faults controlled the deformation styles in the sub-salt layer and shear-zone dominated in the supra-salt layer (Model B). A homogeneous basement and discontinues salt layer formed different accommodation zones in the sub- and supra-salt layers (Model C). In the sub-salt layer the thrusts form imbricate structures on the basal décollement, whereas the supra-salt layer shows overlapping, discontinuous faults and folds with kinds of salt tectonics, and has greater structural variation than the sub-salt layer.

Active tectonics of the Seattle fault and central Puget sound, Washington - Implications for earthquake hazards

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, S.Y.; Dadisman, S.V.; Childs, J. R.; Stanley, W.D.

1999-01-01

We use an extensive network of marine high-resolution and conventional industry seismic-reflection data to constrain the location, shallow structure, and displacement rates of the Seattle fault zone and crosscutting high-angle faults in the Puget Lowland of western Washington. Analysis of seismic profiles extending 50 km across the Puget Lowland from Lake Washington to Hood Canal indicates that the west-trending Seattle fault comprises a broad (4-6 km) zone of three or more south-dipping reverse faults. Quaternary sediment has been folded and faulted along all faults in the zone but is clearly most pronounced along fault A, the northernmost fault, which forms the boundary between the Seattle uplift and Seattle basin. Analysis of growth strata deposited across fault A indicate minimum Quaternary slip rates of about 0.6 mm/yr. Slip rates across the entire zone are estimated to be 0.7-1.1 mm/yr. The Seattle fault is cut into two main segments by an active, north-trending, high-angle, strike-slip fault zone with cumulative dextral displacement of about 2.4 km. Faults in this zone truncate and warp reflections in Tertiary and Quaternary strata and locally coincide with bathymetric lineaments. Cumulative slip rates on these faults may exceed 0.2 mm/yr. Assuming no other crosscutting faults, this north-trending fault zone divides the Seattle fault into 30-40-km-long western and eastern segments. Although this geometry could limit the area ruptured in some Seattle fault earthquakes, a large event ca. A.D. 900 appears to have involved both segments. Regional seismic-hazard assessments must (1) incorporate new information on fault length, geometry, and displacement rates on the Seattle fault, and (2) consider the hazard presented by the previously unrecognized, north-trending fault zone.

Structural localization and origin of compartmentalized fluid flow, Comstock lode, Virginia City, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berger, B.R.; Tingley, J.V.; Drew, L.J.

2003-01-01

Bonanza-grade orebodies in epithermal-style mineral deposits characteristically occur as discrete zones within spatially more extensive fault and/or fracture systems. Empirically, the segregation of such systems into compartments of higher and lower permeability appears to be a key process necessary for high-grade ore formation and, most commonly, it is such concentrations of metals that make an epithermal vein district world class. In the world-class silver- and gold-producing Comstock mining district, Nevada, several lines of evidence lead to the conclusion that the Comstock lode is localized in an extensional stepover between right-lateral fault zones. This evidence includes fault geometries, kinematic indicators of slip, the hydraulic connectivity of faults as demonstrated by veins and dikes along faults, and the opening of a normal-fault-bounded, asymmetric basin between two parallel and overlapping northwest-striking, lateral- to lateral-oblique-slip fault zones. During basin opening, thick, generally subeconomic, banded quartz-adularia veins were deposited in the normal fault zone, the Comstock fault, and along one of the bounding lateral fault zones, the Silver City fault. As deformation continued, the intrusion of dikes and small plugs into the hanging wall of the Comstock fault zone may have impeded the ability of the stepover to accommodate displacement on the bounding strike-slip faults through extension within the stepover. A transient period of transpressional deformation of the Comstock fault zone ensued, and the early-stage veins were deformed through boudinaging and hydraulic fragmentation, fault-motion inversion, and high- and low-angle axial rotations of segments of the fault planes and some fault-bounded wedges. This deformation led to the formation of spatially restricted compartments of high vertical permeability and hydraulic connectivity and low lateral hydraulic connectivity. Bonanza orebodies were formed in the compartmentalized zones of high permeability and hydraulic connectivity. As heat flow and related hydrothermal activitv waned along the Comstock fault zone, extension was reactivated in the stepover along the Occidental zone of normal faults east of the Comstock fault zone. Volcanic and related intrusive activity in this part of the stepover led to a new episode of hydrothermal activity and formation of the Occidental lodes.

San Andreas tremor cascades define deep fault zone complexity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shelly, David R.

2015-01-01

Weak seismic vibrations - tectonic tremor - can be used to delineate some plate boundary faults. Tremor on the deep San Andreas Fault, located at the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates, is thought to be a passive indicator of slow fault slip. San Andreas Fault tremor migrates at up to 30 m s-1, but the processes regulating tremor migration are unclear. Here I use a 12-year catalogue of more than 850,000 low-frequency earthquakes to systematically analyse the high-speed migration of tremor along the San Andreas Fault. I find that tremor migrates most effectively through regions of greatest tremor production and does not propagate through regions with gaps in tremor production. I interpret the rapid tremor migration as a self-regulating cascade of seismic ruptures along the fault, which implies that tremor may be an active, rather than passive participant in the slip propagation. I also identify an isolated group of tremor sources that are offset eastwards beneath the San Andreas Fault, possibly indicative of the interface between the Monterey Microplate, a hypothesized remnant of the subducted Farallon Plate, and the North American Plate. These observations illustrate a possible link between the central San Andreas Fault and tremor-producing subduction zones.

Complex faulting associated with the 22 December 2003 Mw 6.5 San Simeon California, earthquake, aftershocks and postseismic surface deformation

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLaren, Marcia K.; Hardebeck, Jeanne L.; Van Der Elst, Nicholas; Unruh, Jeffrey R.; Bawden, Gerald W.; Blair, James Luke

2008-01-01

We use data from two seismic networks and satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) imagery to characterize the 22 December 2003 Mw 6.5 San Simeon earthquake sequence. Absolute locations for the mainshock and nearly 10,000 aftershocks were determined using a new three-dimensional (3D) seismic velocity model; relative locations were obtained using double difference. The mainshock location found using the 3D velocity model is 35.704° N, 121.096° W at a depth of 9.7±0.7 km. The aftershocks concentrate at the northwest and southeast parts of the aftershock zone, between the mapped traces of the Oceanic and Nacimiento fault zones. The northwest end of the mainshock rupture, as defined by the aftershocks, projects from the mainshock hypocenter to the surface a few kilometers west of the mapped trace of the Oceanic fault, near the Santa Lucia Range front and the >5 mm postseismic InSAR imagery contour. The Oceanic fault in this area, as mapped by Hall (1991), is therefore probably a second-order synthetic thrust or reverse fault that splays upward from the main seismogenic fault at depth. The southeast end of the rupture projects closer to the mapped Oceanic fault trace, suggesting much of the slip was along this fault, or at a minimum is accommodating much of the postseismic deformation. InSAR imagery shows ∼72 mm of postseismic uplift in the vicinity of maximum coseismic slip in the central section of the rupture, and ∼48 and ∼45 mm at the northwest and southeast end of the aftershock zone, respectively. From these observations, we model a ∼30-km-long northwest-trending northeast-dipping mainshock rupture surface—called the mainthrust—which is likely the Oceanic fault at depth, a ∼10-km-long southwest-dipping backthrust parallel to the mainthrust near the hypocenter, several smaller southwest-dipping structures in the southeast, and perhaps additional northeast-dipping or subvertical structures southeast of the mainshock plane. Discontinuous backthrust features opposite the mainthrust in the southeast part of the aftershock zone may offset the relic Nacimiento fault zone at depth. The InSAR data image surface deformation associated with both aseismic slip and aftershock production on the mainthrust and the backthrusts at the northwest and southeast ends of the aftershock zone. The well-defined mainthrust at the latitude of the epicenter and antithetic backthrust illuminated by the aftershock zone indicate uplift of the Santa Lucia Range as a popup block; aftershocks in the southeast part of the zone also indicate a popup block, but it is less well defined. The absence of backthrust features in the central part of the zone suggests range-front uplift by fault-propagation folding, or backthrusts in the central part were not activated during the mainshock.

Deformation during terrane accretion in the Saint Elias orogen, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bruhn, R.L.; Pavlis, T.L.; Plafker, G.; Serpa, L.

2004-01-01

The Saint Elias orogen of southern Alaska and adjacent Canada is a complex belt of mountains formed by collision and accretion of the Yakutat terrane into the transition zone from transform faulting to subduction in the northeast Pacific. The orogen is an active analog for tectonic processes that formed much of the North American Cordillera, and is also an important site to study (1) the relationships between climate and tectonics, and (2) structures that generate large- to great-magnitude earthquakes. The Yakutat terrane is a fragment of the North American plate margin that is partly subducted beneath and partly accreted to the continental margin of southern Alaska. Interaction between the Yakutat terrane and the North American and Pacific plates causes significant differences in the style of deformation within the terrane. Deformation in the eastern part of the terrane is caused by strike-slip faulting along the Fairweather transform fault and by reverse faulting beneath the coastal mountains, but there is little deformation immediately offshore. The central part of the orogen is marked by thrusting of the Yakutat terrane beneath the North American plate along the Chugach-Saint Elias fault and development of a wide, thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt. Strike-slip faulting in this segment may he localized in the hanging wall of the Chugach-Saint Elias fault, or dissipated by thrust faulting beneath a north-northeast-trending belt of active deformation that cuts obliquely across the eastern end of the fold-and-thrust belt. Superimposed folds with complex shapes and plunging hinge lines accommodate horizontal shortening and extension in the western part of the orogen, where the sedimentary cover of the Yakutat terrane is accreted into the upper plate of the Aleutian subduction zone. These three structural segments are separated by transverse tectonic boundaries that cut across the Yakutat terrane and also coincide with the courses of piedmont glaciers that flow from the topographic backbone of the Saint Elias Mountains onto the coastal plain. The Malaspina fault-Pamplona structural zone separates the eastern and central parts of the orogen and is marked by reverse faulting and folding. Onshore, most of this boundary is buried beneath the western or "Agassiz" lobe of the Malaspina piedmont glacier. The boundary between the central fold-and-thrust belt and western zone of superimposed folding lies beneath the middle and lower course of the Bering piedmont glacier. ?? 2004 Geological Society of America.

Continuous Record of Permeability inside the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Lian; Li, Haibing; Brodsky, Emily

2013-04-01

Faults are complex hydrogeological structures which include a highly permeable damage zone with fracture-dominated permeability. Since fractures are generated by earthquakes, we would expect that in the aftermath of a large earthquake, the permeability would be transiently high in a fault zone. Over time, the permeability may recover due to a combination of chemical and mechanical processes. However, the in situ fault zone hydrological properties are difficult to measure and have never been directly constrained on a fault zone immediately after a large earthquake. In this work, we use water level response to solid Earth tides to constrain the hydraulic properties inside the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone. The transmissivity and storage determine the phase and amplitude response of the water level to the tidal loading. By measuring phase and amplitude response, we can constrain the average hydraulic properties of the damage zone at 800-1200 m below the surface (~200-600 m from the principal slip zone). We use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to evaluate the phase and amplitude responses and the corresponding errors for the largest semidiurnal Earth tide M2 in the time domain. The average phase lag is ~ 30o, and the average amplitude response is 6×10-7 strain/m. Assuming an isotropic, homogenous and laterally extensive aquifer, the average storage coefficient S is 2×10-4 and the average transmissivity T is 6×10-7 m2 using the measured phase and the amplitude response. Calculation for the hydraulic diffusivity D with D=T/S, yields the reported value of D is 3×10-3 m2/s, which is two orders of magnitude larger than pump test values on the Chelungpu Fault which is the site of the Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake. If the value is representative of the fault zone, then this means the hydrology processes should have an effect on the earthquake rupture process. This measurement is done through continuous monitoring and we could track the evolution for hydraulic properties after Wenchuan earthquake. We observed the permeability decreases 35% per year. For the purpose of comparison, we convert the permeability measurements to into equivalent seismic velocity. The possible range of seismic wave velocity increase is 0.03%~ 0.8% per year. Our results are comparable to the results of the previous hydraulic and seismic studies after earthquakes. This temporal decrease of permeability may reflect the healing process after Wenchuan Earthquake.

Continuous Record of Permeability inside the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, L.; Li, H.; Brodsky, E. E.; Wang, H.; Pei, J.

2012-12-01

Faults are complex hydrogeological structures which include a highly permeable damage zone with fracture-dominated permeability. Since fractures are generated by earthquakes, we would expect that in the aftermath of a large earthquake, the permeability would be transiently high in a fault zone. Over time, the permeability may recover due to a combination of chemical and mechanical processes. However, the in situ fault zone hydrological properties are difficult to measure and have never been directly constrained on a fault zone immediately after a large earthquake. In this work, we use water level response to solid Earth tides to constrain the hydraulic properties inside the Wenchuan Earthquake Fault Zone. The transmissivity and storage determine the phase and amplitude response of the water level to the tidal loading. By measuring phase and amplitude response, we can constrain the average hydraulic properties of the damage zone at 800-1200 m below the surface (˜200-600 m from the principal slip zone). We use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to evaluate the phase and amplitude responses and the corresponding errors for the largest semidiurnal Earth tide M2 in the time domain. The average phase lag is ˜30°, and the average amplitude response is 6×10-7 strain/m. Assuming an isotropic, homogenous and laterally extensive aquifer, the average storage coefficient S is 2×10-4 and the average transmissivity T is 6×10-7 m2 using the measured phase and the amplitude response. Calculation for the hydraulic diffusivity D with D=T/S, yields the reported value of D is 3×10-3 m2/s, which is two orders of magnitude larger than pump test values on the Chelungpu Fault which is the site of the Mw 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake. If the value is representative of the fault zone, then this means the hydrology processes should have an effect on the earthquake rupture process. This measurement is done through continuous monitoring and we could track the evolution for hydraulic properties after Wenchuan earthquake. We observed the permeability decreases 35% per year. For the purpose of comparison, we convert the permeability measurements to into equivalent seismic velocity. The possible range of seismic wave velocity increase is 0.03%~ 0.8% per year. Our results are comparable to the results of the previous hydraulic and seismic studies after earthquakes. This temporal decrease of permeability may reflect the healing process after Wenchuan Earthquake.

Seismic Investigations of an Accommodation zone in the Northern Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldridge, W. S.; Valdes, J.; Nedorub, O.; Phrampus, B.; Braile, L. W.; Ferguson, J. F.; Benage, M. C.; Litherland, M.

2010-12-01

Seismic reflection and refraction data acquired in the Rio Grande rift near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2009 and 2010 by the SAGE (Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience) program imaged the La Bajada fault (LBF) and strata offset across the associated, perpendicular Budagher fault (BF). The LBF is a major basin-bounding normal fault, offset down to the west; the smaller BF is an extensional fault that breaks the hanging wall ramp of the LBF. We chose this area because it is in a structurally complex region of the rift, comprising a small sub-basin and plunging relay ramps, where north-trending, en echelon basin-bounding faults (including the LBF) transfer crustal extension laterally between the larger Española (to north) and Albuquerque rift basins. Our data help determine the precise location and geometry of the poorly exposed LBF, which, near the survey location, offsets the rift margin vertically about 3,000 m. When integrated with industry reflection data and other SAGE seismic, gravity, and magnetotelluric surveys, we are able to map differences in offset and extension laterally (especially southward) along the fault. We interpret only about 200 m of normal offset across the BF. Our continuing work helps define multiple structural elements, partly buried by syn-rift basin-filling sedimentary rocks, of a complex intra-rift accommodation zone. We are also able to discriminate pre-Eocene (Laramide) from post-Miocene (rift) structures. Our data help determine the amount of vertical offset of pre-rift strata across structural elements of the accommodation zone, and depth and geometry of basin fill. A goal is to infer the kinematic development of this margin of the rift, linkages among faults, growth history, and possible pre-rift structural controls. This information will be potentially useful for evaluation of resources, including oil and/or gas in pre-rift strata and ground water in Late Miocene to Holocene rift-filling units.

Dynamic rupture models of subduction zone earthquakes with off-fault plasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wollherr, S.; van Zelst, I.; Gabriel, A. A.; van Dinther, Y.; Madden, E. H.; Ulrich, T.

2017-12-01

Modeling tsunami-genesis based on purely elastic seafloor displacement typically underpredicts tsunami sizes. Dynamic rupture simulations allow to analyse whether plastic energy dissipation is a missing rheological component by capturing the complex interplay of the rupture front, emitted seismic waves and the free surface in the accretionary prism. Strike-slip models with off-fault plasticity suggest decreasing rupture speed and extensive plastic yielding mainly at shallow depths. For simplified subduction geometries inelastic deformation on the verge of Coulomb failure may enhance vertical displacement, which in turn favors the generation of large tsunamis (Ma, 2012). However, constraining appropriate initial conditions in terms of fault geometry, initial fault stress and strength remains challenging. Here, we present dynamic rupture models of subduction zones constrained by long-term seismo-thermo-mechanical modeling (STM) without any a priori assumption of regions of failure. The STM model provides self-consistent slab geometries, as well as stress and strength initial conditions which evolve in response to tectonic stresses, temperature, gravity, plasticity and pressure (van Dinther et al. 2013). Coseismic slip and coupled seismic wave propagation is modelled using the software package SeisSol (www.seissol.org), suited for complex fault zone structures and topography/bathymetry. SeisSol allows for local time-stepping, which drastically reduces the time-to-solution (Uphoff et al., 2017). This is particularly important in large-scale scenarios resolving small-scale features, such as the shallow angle between the megathrust fault and the free surface. Our dynamic rupture model uses a Drucker-Prager plastic yield criterion and accounts for thermal pressurization around the fault mimicking the effect of pore pressure changes due to frictional heating. We first analyze the influence of this rheology on rupture dynamics and tsunamigenic properties, i.e. seafloor displacement, in 2D. Finally, we use the same rheology in a large-scale 3D scenario of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake to shed light to the source process that caused the subsequent devastating tsunami.

Segmentation and supercycles: A catalog of earthquake cycle complexities from the Sumatran Sunda Megathrust and other well-studied faults worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philibosian, B.; Meltzner, A. J.; Sieh, K.

2017-12-01

Understanding earthquake cycle processes is key to both seismic hazard and fault mechanics. A concept that has come into focus recently is that rupture segmentation and cyclicity can be complex, and that simple models of periodically repeating similar earthquakes are inadequate. The term "supercycle" has been used to describe repeating longer periods of strain accumulation that involve multiple fault ruptures. However, this term has become broadly applied, lumping together several distinct phenomena that likely have disparate underlying causes. Earthquake recurrence patterns have often been described as "clustered," but this term is also imprecise. It is necessary to develop a terminology framework that consistently and meaningfully describes all types of behavior that are observed. We divide earthquake cycle patterns into four major classes, each having different implications for seismic hazard and fault mechanics: 1) quasi-periodic similar ruptures, 2) temporally clustered similar ruptures, 3) temporally clustered complementary ruptures, also known as rupture cascades, in which neighboring fault patches fail sequentially, and 4) superimposed cycles in which neighboring fault patches have cycles with different recurrence intervals, but may occasionally rupture together. Rupture segmentation is classified as persistent, frequent, or transient depending on how reliably ruptures terminate in a given area. We discuss the paleoseismic and historical evidence currently available for each of these types of behavior on subduction zone megathrust faults worldwide. Due to the unique level of paleoseismic and paleogeodetic detail provided by the coral microatoll technique, the Sumatran Sunda megathrust provides one of the most complete records over multiple seismic cycles. Most subduction zones with sufficient data exhibit examples of persistent and frequent segmentation, with cycle patterns 1, 3, and 4 on different segments. Pattern 2 is generally confined to overlap zones between segments. This catalog of seismic cycle observations provides a basis for exploring and modeling root causes of rupture segmentation and cycle behavior. Researchers should expect to discover similar behavior styles on other megathrust faults and perhaps major crustal faults around the world.

Geologic map and cross sections of the Embudo Fault Zone in the Southern Taos Valley, Taos County, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bauer, Paul W.; Kelson, Keith I.; Grauch, V.J.S.; Drenth, Benjamin J.; Johnson, Peggy S.; Aby, Scott B.; Felix, Brigitte

2016-01-01

The southern Taos Valley encompasses the physiographic and geologic transition zone between the Picuris Mountains and the San Luis Basin of the Rio Grande rift. The Embudo fault zone is the rift transfer structure that has accommodated the kinematic disparities between the San Luis Basin and the Española Basin during Neogene rift extension. The eastern terminus of the transfer zone coincides with the intersection of four major fault zones (Embudo, Sangre de Cristo, Los Cordovas, and Picuris-Pecos), resulting in an area of extreme geologic and hydrogeologic complexities in both the basin-fill deposits and the bedrock. Although sections of the Embudo fault zone are locally exposed in the bedrock of the Picuris Mountains and in the late Cenozoic sedimentary units along the top of the Picuris piedmont, the full proportions of the fault zone have remained elusive due to a pervasive cover of Quaternary surficial deposits. We combined insights derived from the latest geologic mapping of the area with deep borehole data and high-resolution aeromagnetic and gravity models to develop a detailed stratigraphic/structural model of the rift basin in the southern Taos Valley area. The four fault systems in the study area overlap in various ways in time and space. Our geologic model states that the Picuris-Pecos fault system exists in the basement rocks (Picuris formation and older units) of the rift, where it is progressively down dropped and offset to the west by each Embudo fault strand between the Picuris Mountains and the Rio Pueblo de Taos. In this model, the Miranda graben exists in the subsurface as a series of offset basement blocks between the Ponce de Leon neighborhood and the Rio Pueblo de Taos. In the study area, the Embudo faults are pervasive structures between the Picuris Mountains and the Rio Pueblo de Taos, affecting all geologic units that are older than the Quaternary surficial deposits. The Los Cordovas faults are thought to represent the late Tertiary to Quaternary reactivation of the old and deeply buried Picuris-Pecos faults. If so, then the Los Cordovas structures may extend southward under the Picuris piedmont, where they form growth faults as they merge downward into the Picuris-Pecos bedrock faults. The exceptionally high density of cross-cutting faults in the study area has severely disrupted the stratigraphy of the Picuris formation and the Santa Fe Group. The Picuris formation exists at the surface in the Miranda and Rio Grande del Rancho grabens, and locally along the top of the Picuris piedmont. In the subsurface, it deepens rapidly from the mountain front into the rift basin. In a similar manner, the Tesuque and Chamita Formations are shallowly exposed close to the mountain front, but are down dropped into the basin along the Embudo faults. The Ojo Caliente Sandstone Member of the Tesuque Formation appears to be thickest in the northwestern study area, and thins toward the south and the east. In the study area, the Lama formation thins westward and southward. The Servilleta Basalt is generally thickest to the north and northwest, thins under the Picuris piedmont, and terminates along a major, linear, buried strand of the Embudo fault zone, demonstrating that the Servilleta flows were spatially and temporally related to Embudo fault activity.

Geomorphic Evidence of a Complex late-Cenozoic Uplift and Lateral Displacement History Along the 2013 M7.7 Baluchistan, Pakistan Strike-slip Rupture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harbor, D. J.; Barnhart, W. D.

2017-12-01

The 2013 M7.7 Baluchistan earthquake in southern Pakistan ruptured 200 km of the north-dipping Hoshab reverse fault with dominantly lateral motion, clearly at odds with the regional topography created by previous reverse fault offsets. The kinematics of this earthquake led to the hypotheses that the Hoshab fault may alternatively slip in a reverse and lateral sense (bi-modal slip), and that the southeast Makran rotates as a uniform block around the fault (ball-and-socket rotation). Here, we use river profiles, regional relief, fault locations, and detailed geomorphic maps derived from optical imagery and DEMs to evaluate the recent uplift history of this region. We find that late Cenozoic fault zone geomorphology supports a spatially complex transition from lateral-dominated offsets in the NE to reverse-dominated offsets in the SW. Additionally, fault zone geomorphology suggests that the location of the Hoshab fault itself may change through time, leading to active incision of footwall alluvial fans and pediments. Stream profiles likewise record incision patterns that vary along the Hoshab fault. Incision and deposition in the SW are illustrative of relative footwall subsidence, consistent with recent uplift on the Hoshab fault; whereas incision and deposition in the NE are illustrative of relative footwall uplift consistent with ongoing regional uplift due to ball-and-socket rotations and dominantly lateral offsets along the northern Hoshab fault. The largest streams also record multiple, discrete, base-level drops, including the presence of convex-up river profiles in the hanging wall of the Hoshab fault. These profiles along hanging wall streams highlight a complex spatial and temporal history of reverse offset, lateral channel offset, and base-level resetting in regional streams that are altogether inconsistent with the kinematics of the 2013 earthquake alone, but that are consistent with the bi-modal slip model. Additionally, the evidence of footwall uplift in the NE is consistent with regional uplift due to ball-and-socket rotations superimposed on the Hoshab fault. These results indicate that the styles of fault slip in the Makran change in time and space in response to ongoing convergence and block rotations despite negligible uplift during the 2013 earthquake.

Extrapolating surface structures to depth in transpressional systems: the role of rheology and convergence angle deduced from analogue experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, S. Y.; Neubauer, F.; Willingshofer, E.; Sokoutis, D.

2014-12-01

The internal structure of major strike-slip faults is still poorly understood, particularly how the deep structure could be inferred from its surface expression (Molnar and Dayem, 2011). Previous analogue experiments suggest that the convergence angle is the most influential factor (Leever et al., 2011). Further analogue modeling may allow a better understanding how to extrapolate surface structures to the subsurface geometry of strike-slip faults. Various scenarios of analogue experiments were designed to represent strike-slip faults in nature from different geological settings. As such key parameters, which are investigated in this study include: (a) the angle of convergence, (b) the thickness of brittle layer, (c) the influence of a rheological weak layer within the crust, and (d) influence of a thick and rheologically weak layer at the base of the crust. The latter aimed to simulate the effect of a hot metamorphic core complex or an alignment of uprising plutons bordered by a transtensional/transpressional strike-slip fault. The preliminary results show that convergence angle significantly influences the overall geometry of the transpressive system with greater convergence angles resulting in wider fault zones and higher elevation. Different positions, densities and viscosities of weak rheological layers have not only different surface expressions but also affect the fault geometry in the subsurface. For instance, rheological weak material in the bottom layer results in stretching when experiment reaches a certain displacement and a buildup of a less segmented, wide positive flower structure. At the surface, a wide fault valley in the middle of the fault zone is the reflection of stretching along the velocity discontinuity at depth. In models with a thin and rheologically weaker layer in the middle of the brittle layer, deformation is distributed over more faults and the geometry of the fault zone below and above the weak zone shows significant differences. This latter experiment has significantly similar phenomena in reality, such as few pressure ridges along Altyn fault. The experimental results underline the need to understand the role of the convergence angle and the influence of rheology on fault evolution, in order to connect between surface deformation and subsurface geometry.

Geometry and architecture of faults in a syn-rift normal fault array: The Nukhul half-graben, Suez rift, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Paul; Gawthorpe, Rob L.; Hodgetts, David; Rarity, Franklin; Sharp, Ian R.

2009-08-01

The geometry and architecture of a well exposed syn-rift normal fault array in the Suez rift is examined. At pre-rift level, the Nukhul fault consists of a single zone of intense deformation up to 10 m wide, with a significant monocline in the hanging wall and much more limited folding in the footwall. At syn-rift level, the fault zone is characterised by a single discrete fault zone less than 2 m wide, with damage zone faults up to approximately 200 m into the hanging wall, and with no significant monocline developed. The evolution of the fault from a buried structure with associated fault-propagation folding, to a surface-breaking structure with associated surface faulting, has led to enhanced bedding-parallel slip at lower levels that is absent at higher levels. Strain is enhanced at breached relay ramps and bends inherited from pre-existing structures that were reactivated during rifting. Damage zone faults observed within the pre-rift show ramp-flat geometries associated with contrast in competency of the layers cut and commonly contain zones of scaly shale or clay smear. Damage zone faults within the syn-rift are commonly very straight, and may be discrete fault planes with no visible fault rock at the scale of observation, or contain relatively thin and simple zones of scaly shale or gouge. The geometric and architectural evolution of the fault array is interpreted to be the result of (i) the evolution from distributed trishear deformation during upward propagation of buried fault tips to surface faulting after faults breach the surface; (ii) differences in deformation response between lithified pre-rift units that display high competence contrasts during deformation, and unlithified syn-rift units that display low competence contrasts during deformation, and; (iii) the history of segmentation, growth and linkage of the faults that make up the fault array. This has important implications for fluid flow in fault zones.

Subduction zone locking, strain partitioning, intraplate deformation and their implications to Seismic Hazards in South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galgana, G. A.; Mahdyiar, M.; Shen-Tu, B.; Pontbriand, C. W.; Klein, E.; Wang, F.; Shabestari, K.; Yang, W.

2014-12-01

We analyze active crustal deformation in South America (SA) using published GPS observations and historic seismicity along the Nazca Trench and the active Ecuador-Colombia-Venezuela Plate boundary Zone. GPS-constrained kinematisc models that incorporate block and continuum techniques are used to assess patterns of regional tectonic deformation and its implications to seismic potential. We determine interplate coupling distributions, fault slip-rates, and intraplate crustal strain rates in combination with historic earthquakes within 40 seismic zones crust to provide moment rate constraints. Along the Nazca subduction zone, we resolve a series of highly coupled patches, interpreted as high-friction producing "asperities" beneath the coasts of Ecuador, Peru and Chile. These include areas responsible for the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule Earthquake and the 2014 Mw 8.2 Iquique Earthquake. Predicted tectonic block motions and fault slip rates reveal that the northern part of South America deforms rapidly, with crustal fault slip rates as much as ~20 mm/a. Fault slip and locking patterns reveal that the Oca Ancón-Pilar-Boconó fault system plays a key role in absorbing most of the complex eastward and southward convergence patterns in northeastern Colombia and Venezuela, while the near-parallel system of faults in eastern Colombia and Ecuador absorb part of the transpressional motion due to the ~55 mm/a Nazca-SA plate convergence. These kinematic models, in combination with historic seismicity rates, provide moment deficit rates that reveal regions with high seismic potential, such as coastal Ecuador, Bucaramanga, Arica and Antofagasta. We eventually use the combined information from moment rates and fault coupling patterns to further constrain stochastic seismic hazard models of the region by implementing realistic trench rupture scenarios (see Mahdyiar et al., this volume).

Seismic images of a Grenvillian terrane boundary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Milkereit, B.; Forsyth, D. A.; Green, A.G.; Davidson, A.; Hanmer, S.; Hutchinson, Deborah R.; Hinze, W. J.; Mereu, R.F.

1992-01-01

A series of gently dipping reflection zones extending to mid-crustal depths is recorded by seismic data from Lakes Ontario and Erie. These prominent reflection zones define a broad complex of southeast-dipping ductile thrust faults in the interior of the Grenville orogen. One major reflection zone provides the first image of a proposed Grenvillian suture—the listric boundary zone between allochthonous terranes of the Central Gneiss and Central Metasedimentary belts. Curvilinear bands of reflections that may represent "ramp folds" and "ramp anticlines" that originally formed in a deep crustal-scale duplex abut several faults. Vertical stacking of some curvilinear features suggests coeval or later out-of-sequence faulting of imbricated and folded thrust sheets. Grenvillian structure reflections are overlain by a thin, wedge-shaped package of shallow-dipping reflections that probably originates from sediments deposited in a local half graben developed during a period of post-Grenville extension. This is the first seismic evidence for such extension in this region, which could have occurred during terminal collapse of the Grenville orogen, or could have marked the beginning of pre-Appalachian continental rifting.

Frictional melting experiments investigate coseismic behaviour of pseudotachylyte-bearing faults in the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone, UK.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, L.; De Paola, N.; Nielsen, S. B.; Holdsworth, R.; Lloyd, G. E. E.; Phillips, R. J.; Walcott, R.

2015-12-01

Recent experimental studies, performed at seismic slip rates (≥ 1 m/s), suggest that the friction coefficient of seismic faults is significantly lower than at sub-seismic (< 1 mm/s) speeds. Microstructural observations, integrated with theoretical studies, suggest that the weakening of seismic faults could be due to a range of thermally-activated mechanisms (e.g. gel, nanopowder and melt lubrication, thermal pressurization, viscous flow), triggered by frictional heating in the slip zone. The presence of pseudotachylyte within both exhumed fault zones and experimental slip zones in crystalline rocks suggests that lubrication plays a key role in controlling dynamic weakening during rupture propagation. The Outer Hebrides Fault Zone (OHFZ), UK contains abundant pseudotachylyte along faults cutting varying gneissic lithologies. Our field observations suggest that the mineralogy of the protolith determines volume, composition and viscosity of the frictional melt, which then affects the coseismic weakening behaviour of the fault and has important implications for the magnitudes and distribution of stress drops during slip episodes. High velocity friction experiments at 18 MPa axial load, 1.3 ms-1 and up to 10 m slip were run on quartzo-feldspathic, metabasic and mylonitic samples, taken from the OHFZ in an attempt to replicate its coseismic frictional behaviour. These were configured in cores of a single lithology, or in mixed cores with two rock types juxtaposed. All lithologies produce a general trend of frictional evolution, where an initial peak followed by transient weakening precedes a second peak which then decays to a steady state. Metabasic and felsic single-lithology samples both produce sharper frictional peaks, at values of μ = 0.19 and μ= 0.37 respectively, than the broader and smaller (μ= 0.15) peak produced by a mixed basic-felsic sample. In addition, both single-lithology peaks occur within 0.2 m slip, whereas the combined-lithology sample displays a slower transition to the steady state, with the peak occurring after almost 2 m. Our results show that the frictional behaviour of faults in crystalline rocks, where different lithologies are in contact, is complex. Protolith composition determines the physical properties of the melt, which controls the evolution of coseismic friction.

Crustal thinning and exhumation along a fossil magma-poor distal margin preserved in Corsica: A hot rift to drift transition?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beltrando, Marco; Zibra, Ivan; Montanini, Alessandra; Tribuzio, Riccardo

2013-05-01

Rift-related thinning of continental basement along distal margins is likely achieved through the combined activity of ductile shear zones and brittle faults. While extensional detachments responsible for the latest stages of exhumation are being increasingly recognized, rift-related shear zones have never been sampled in ODP sites and have only rarely been identified in fossil distal margins preserved in orogenic belts. Here we report evidence of the Jurassic multi-stage crustal thinning preserved in the Santa Lucia nappe (Alpine Corsica), where amphibolite facies shearing persisted into the rift to drift transition. In this nappe, Lower Permian meta-gabbros to meta-gabbro-norites of the Mafic Complex are separated from Lower Permian granitoids of the Diorite-Granite Complex by a 100-250 m wide shear zone. Fine-grained syn-kinematic andesine + Mg-hornblende assemblages in meta-tonalites of the Diorite-Granite Complex indicate shearing at T = 710 ± 40 °C at P < 0.5 GPa, followed by deformation at greenschist facies conditions. 40Ar/39Ar step-heating analyses on amphiboles reveal that shearing at amphibolite facies conditions possibly began at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and persisted until t < 188 Ma, with the Mafic Complex cooling rapidly at the footwall of the Diorite-Granite Complex at ca. 165.4 ± 1.7 Ma. Final exhumation to the basin floor was accommodated by low-angle detachment faulting, responsible for the 1-10 m thick damage zone locally capping the Mafic Complex. The top basement surface is onlapped at a low angle by undeformed Mesozoic sandstone, locally containing clasts of footwall rocks. Existing constraints from the neighboring Corsica ophiolites suggest an age of ca. 165-160 Ma for these final stages of exhumation of the Santa Lucia basement. These results imply that middle to lower crustal rocks can be cooled and exhumed rapidly in the last stages of rifting, when significant crustal thinning is accommodated in less than 5 Myr through the consecutive activity of extensional shear zones and detachment faults. High thermal gradients may delay the switch from ductile shear zone- to detachment-dominated crustal thinning, thus preventing the exhumation of middle and lower crustal rocks until the final stages of rifting.

Resolving the deep electrical resistivity structure at Central Pontides, Northern Turkey by three-dimensional magnetotelluric modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Özaydın, Sinan; Bülent Tank, Sabri; Karaş, Mustafa; Sandvol, Eric

2017-04-01

Wide-band magnetotelluric (MT) (360 Hz - 1860 sec) data were acquired at 25 sites along a north - south aligned profile cutting across the Central Pontides, which are made up of highly metamorphosed formations and their tectonic boundaries including: a Lower Cretaceous-aged turbidite sequence, Central Pontides Metamorphic Supercomplex (CPMS), North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) and Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture Zone (IAESZ). Dimensionality analyses over all observation points demonstrated high electrical anisotropy, which indicates complex geological and tectonic structures. This dimensional complexity and presence of the electrically conductive Black Sea augmented the requirement for a three-dimensional analysis. Inverse modeling routines, ModEM (Egbert and Kelbert, 2012) and WSINV3DMT (Siripunvaraporn et al., 2005) were utilized to reveal the geo-electrical implications over this unusually complicated region. Interpretations of the resultant models are summarized as follows: (i) Çangaldaǧ and Domuzdaǧ complexes appear as highly resistive bodies bounded by north dipping faults. (ii) Highly conductive Tosya Basin sediments overlain the ophiolitic materials as a thin cover located at the south of the NAFZ. (iii) North Anatolian Fault and some auxiliary faults within the system exhibit conductive-resistive interfaces that reach to lower crustal levels. (iv) IAESZ is a clear feature marked by the resistivity contrast between NAFZ-related sedimentary basins and Neo-Tethyan ophiolites.

Nondestructive continuous physical property measurements of core samples recovered from hole B, Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirono, Tetsuro; Yeh, En-Chao; Lin, Weiren; Sone, Hiroki; Mishima, Toshiaki; Soh, Wonn; Hashimoto, Yoshitaka; Matsubayashi, Osamu; Aoike, Kan; Ito, Hisao; Kinoshita, Masataka; Murayama, Masafumi; Song, Sheng-Rong; Ma, Kuo-Fong; Hung, Jih-Hao; Wang, Chien-Ying; Tsai, Yi-Ben; Kondo, Tomomi; Nishimura, Masahiro; Moriya, Soichi; Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Fujiki, Toru; Maeda, Lena; Muraki, Hiroaki; Kuramoto, Toshikatsu; Sugiyama, Kazuhiro; Sugawara, Toshikatsu

2007-07-01

The Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling Project was undertaken in 2002 to investigate the faulting mechanism of the 1999 Mw 7.6 Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake. Hole B penetrated the Chelungpu fault, and core samples were recovered from between 948.42- and 1352.60-m depth. Three major zones, designated FZB1136 (fault zone at 1136-m depth in hole B), FZB1194, and FZB1243, were recognized in the core samples as active fault zones within the Chelungpu fault. Nondestructive continuous physical property measurements, conducted on all core samples, revealed that the three major fault zones were characterized by low gamma ray attenuation (GRA) densities and high magnetic susceptibilities. Extensive fracturing and cracks within the fault zones and/or loss of atoms with high atomic number, but not a measurement artifact, might have caused the low GRA densities, whereas the high magnetic susceptibility values might have resulted from the formation of magnetic minerals from paramagnetic minerals by frictional heating. Minor fault zones were characterized by low GRA densities and no change in magnetic susceptibility, and the latter may indicate that these minor zones experienced relatively low frictional heating. Magnetic susceptibility in a fault zone may be key to the determination that frictional heating occurred during an earthquake on the fault.

The Chunky Gal Mountain fault-detachment-normal fault providing evidence for Early-to-Middle Paleozoic extensional unroofing of the eastern Blue Ridge, or folded thrust

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hatcher, R.D. Jr.

1993-03-01

The Chunky Gal Mountain fault (CGMF), located in the western Blue Ridge of southern NC and northern GA, contains unequivocal evidence for hanging wall-down-to-the-west movement. The 50 m-thick fault zone here consists of a series of shear zones in the footwall in a mass of mylonitized garnet-rich biotite gneiss. The main contact with the hanging wall reveals both a contrast in rock type and truncation of fabrics. Above the fault are amphibolite, ultramafic rocks, and minor metasandstone and pelitic schist of the Buck Creek mafic-ultramafic complex, while the footwall contains complexly folded metasandstone, pelitic schist, and calcsilicate pods of themore » Coleman River Formation. In the present orientation, the mylonitic foliation in the footwall rocks of the GGMF is subvertical; foliation in the hanging wall is subhorizontal at road level. These rocks were metamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies assemblages, and, after emplacement of the CGMF, were cut by brittle faults and trondhjemite dikes that contain no obvious tectonic fabric. Movement on the CGMF occurred near the thermal peak because enough heat remained in the rocks after movement to statically anneal the mylonite microfabric, but mesoscopic rotated porphyroclasts, rotated (dragged) earlier foliation, and some S-C fabrics clearly indicate the shear sense and vergence of this structure. Shear zones related to the CGMF transposed earlier fabrics, although some relicts preserving earlier structures remain in the shear zones. These rotated but untransposed relicts of amphibolite and garnet-rich biotite gneiss mylonite may indicate locally higher strain rates in subsidiary shear zones. The thermal/mechanical properties of the CGMF make it difficult to connect to the Shope Fork or Soque River thrusts farther south and east. Thus the hanging-wall-down configuration provides an alternative hypothesis that the CGMF may be a detachment-normal fault related to Taconian extensional unroofing of the Appalachians.« less

High-frequency spectral falloff of earthquakes, fractal dimension of complex rupture, b value, and the scaling of strength on faults

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frankel, A.

1991-01-01

The high-frequency falloff ??-y of earthquake displacement spectra and the b value of aftershock sequences are attributed to the character of spatially varying strength along fault zones. I assume that the high frequency energy of a main shock is produced by a self-similar distribution of subevents, where the number of subevents with radii greater than R is proportional to R-D, D being the fractal dimension. In the model, an earthquake is composed of a hierarchical set of smaller earthquakes. The static stress drop is parameterized to be proportional to R??, and strength is assumed to be proportional to static stress drop. I find that a distribution of subevents with D = 2 and stress drop independent of seismic moment (?? = 0) produces a main shock with an ??-2 falloff, if the subevent areas fill the rupture area of the main shock. By equating subevents to "islands' of high stress of a random, self-similar stress field on a fault, I relate D to the scaling of strength on a fault, such that D = 2 - ??. Thus D = 2 corresponds to constant stress drop scaling (?? = 0) and scale-invariant fault strength. A self-similar model of aftershock rupture zones on a fault is used to determine the relationship between the b value, the size distribution of aftershock rupture zones, and the scaling of strength on a fault. -from Author

Transpressional Rupture Cascade of the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura Earthquake, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wenbin; Feng, Guangcai; Meng, Lingsen; Zhang, Ailin; Ampuero, Jean Paul; Bürgmann, Roland; Fang, Lihua

2018-03-01

Large earthquakes often do not occur on a simple planar fault but involve rupture of multiple geometrically complex faults. The 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake, New Zealand, involved the rupture of at least 21 faults, propagating from southwest to northeast for about 180 km. Here we combine space geodesy and seismology techniques to study subsurface fault geometry, slip distribution, and the kinematics of the rupture. Our finite-fault slip model indicates that the fault motion changes from predominantly right-lateral slip near the epicenter to transpressional slip in the northeast with a maximum coseismic surface displacement of about 10 m near the intersection between the Kekerengu and Papatea faults. Teleseismic back projection imaging shows that rupture speed was overall slow (1.4 km/s) but faster on individual fault segments (approximately 2 km/s) and that the conjugate, oblique-reverse, north striking faults released the largest high-frequency energy. We show that the linking Conway-Charwell faults aided in propagation of rupture across the step over from the Humps fault zone to the Hope fault. Fault slip cascaded along the Jordan Thrust, Kekerengu, and Needles faults, causing stress perturbations that activated two major conjugate faults, the Hundalee and Papatea faults. Our results shed important light on the study of earthquakes and seismic hazard evaluation in geometrically complex fault systems.

Active tectonics of the northern Mojave Desert: The 2017 Desert Symposium field trip road log

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, David; Reynolds, R.E.; Phelps, Geoffrey; Honke, Jeff; Cyr, Andrew J.; Buesch, David C.; Schmidt, Kevin M.; Losson, G.

2017-01-01

The 2017 Desert Symposium field trip will highlight recent work by the U.S. Geological Survey geologists and geophysicists, who have been mapping young sediment and geomorphology associated with active tectonic features in the least well-known part of the eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). This area, stretching from Barstow eastward in a giant arc to end near the Granite Mountains on the south and the Avawatz Mountains on the north (Fig. 1-1), encompasses the two major structural components of the ECSZ—east-striking sinistral faults and northwest-striking dextral faults—as well as reverseoblique and normal-oblique faults that are associated with topographic highs and sags, respectively. In addition, folds and stepovers (both restraining stepovers that form pop-up structures and releasing stepovers that create narrow basins) have been identified. The ECSZ is a segment in the ‘soft’ distributed deformation of the North American plate east of the San Andreas fault (Fig. 1-1), where it takes up approximately 20-25% of plate motion in a broad zone of right-lateral shear (Sauber et al., 1994) The ECSZ (sensu strictu) begins in the Joshua Tree area and passes north through the Mojave Desert, past the Owens Valley-to-Death Valley swath and northward, where it is termed the Walker Lane. It has been defined as the locus of active faulting (Dokka and Travis, 1990), but when the full history from about 10 Ma forward is considered, it lies in a broader zone of right shear that passes westward in the Mojave Desert to the San Andreas fault (Mojave strike-slip province of Miller and Yount, 2002) and passes eastward to the Nevada state line or beyond (Miller, this volume).We will visit several accessible highlights for newly studied faults, signs of young deformation, and packages of syntectonic sediments. These pieces of a complex active tectonic puzzle have yielded some answers to longstanding questions such as: How is fault slip transfer in this area accommodated between northwest-striking dextral faults and eaststriking sinistral faults?How is active deformation on the Ludlow fault transferred northward, presumably to connect to the southern Death Valley fault zone?When were faults in this area of the central Mojave Desert initiated?Are faults in this area more or less active than faults in the ECSZ to the west?What is the role of NNW-striking faults and when did they form?How has fault slip changed over time? Locations and fault names are provided in figure 1-2. Important turns and locations are identified with locations in the projection: UTM, zone 11; datum NAD 83: (578530 3917335).

Slip complexity and frictional heterogeneities in dynamic fault models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bizzarri, A.

2005-12-01

The numerical modeling of earthquake rupture requires the specification of the fault system geometry, the mechanical properties of the media surrounding the fault, the initial conditions and the constitutive law for fault friction. The latter accounts for the fault zone properties and allows for the description of processes of nucleation, propagation, healing and arrest of a spontaneous rupture. In this work I solve the fundamental elasto-dynamic equation for a planar fault, adopting different constitutive equations (slip-dependent and rate- and state-dependent friction laws). We show that the slip patterns may be complicated by different causes. The spatial heterogeneities of constitutive parameters are able to cause the healing of slip, like barrier-healing or slip pulses. Our numerical experiments show that the heterogeneities of the parameter L affect the dynamic rupture propagation and weakly modify the dynamic stress drop and the rupture velocity. The heterogeneity of a and b parameters affects the dynamic rupture propagation in a more complex way: a velocity strengthening area (a > b) can arrest a dynamic rupture, but can be driven to an instability if suddenly loaded by the dynamic rupture front. Our simulations provide a picture of the complex interactions between fault patches having different frictional properties. Moreover, the slip distribution on the fault plane is complicated considering the effects of the rake rotation during the propagation: depending on the position on the fault plane, the orientation of instantaneous total dynamic traction can change with time with respect to the imposed initial stress direction. These temporal rake rotations depend on the amplitude of the initial stress and on its distribution. They also depend on the curvature and direction of the rupture front with respect to the imposed initial stress direction: this explains why rake rotations are mostly located near the rupture front and within the cohesive zone, where the breakdown processes take places. Finally, the rupture behavior, the fault slip distribution and the traction evolution may be changed and complicated including additional physical phenomena, like thermal pressurization of pore fluid (due to frictional heating). Our results involve interesting implications for slip duration and fracture energy.

Interpretation of VLF-EM & VLF-R data using tipper and impedance analyses: A case study from Candi Umbul-Telomoyo, Magelang, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prastyani, Erina; Niasari, Sintia Windhi

2017-07-01

The goal of all geophysical survey techniques is to image the properties of the Earth's subsurface. Very Low Frequency (VLF) is one of the geophysical survey technique that has been commonly used for ore exploration and mapping faults or fracture zones. Faults or fracture zones are necessary components in providing the fluid pathway in geothermal systems. The Candi Umbul-Telomoyo is one of the geothermal prospect sites in Indonesia, which is located in Magelang, Central Java. Recent studies hypothesized that this site was an outflow area of Telomoyo volcano geothermal complex. We used the VLF-EM and VLF-R techniques to infer faults or fracture zones that might be a path for geothermal fluids in the Candi Umbul-Telomoyo. From the measurements, we got tilt angle, ellipticity, primary and secondary magnetic fieldfor VLF-EM data; and apparent resistivity, phase angle, electric and magnetic field for VLF-R data. To interpret the data, we used tipper and impedance analyses. The result of both analyses show similarities in the directions and positions of anomalous current concentrations. We conclude these anomalous current concentrations as faults. Our interpretation is agreeing with the Geologic Map of the Semarang and Magelang Quadrangles that shows the expected fault beneath the Mt. Telomoyo.

New access to the deep interior of the Nankai accretionary complex and comprehensive characterization of subduction inputs and recent mega splay fault activity (IODP-NanTroSEIZE Expedition 338)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strasser, Michael; Moore, Gregory F.; Kanagawa, Kyuichi; Dugan, Brandon; Fabbri, Olivier; Toczko, Sean; Maeda, Lena

2013-04-01

The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) is a coordinated, multi-expedition Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drilling project designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. IODP Expedition 338 (1 October 2012 - 13 January 2013), extended riser Hole C0002F from 856 meters below the sea floor (mbsf) to 2005 mbsf. Site C0002 is the centerpiece of the NanTroSEIZE project, and is planned to be deepened to eventually reach the seismogenic fault zone during upcoming drilling expeditions. The original Exp. 338 operational plan to case the hole to 3600 mbsf had to be revised as sudden changes in sea conditions resulted in damage to parts of the riser system, thus the hole was suspended at 2005 mbsf but left for future re-entry. The revised operation plan included additional riserless logging and coring of key targets not sampled during previous NanTroSEIZE expeditions, but relevant to comprehensively characterize the alteration stage of the oceanic basement input to the subduction zone, the early stage of Kumano Basin evolution and the recent activity of the shallow mega splay fault zone system and submarine landslides. Here we present preliminary results from IODP Exp. 338: Logging While Drilling (LWD), mud gas monitoring and analysis on cuttings from the deep riser hole characterize two lithological units within the internal accretionary prism, separated by a prominent fault zone at ~1640 mbsf. Internal style of deformation, downhole increase of thermogenically formed formation gas and evidence for mechanical compaction and cementation document a complex structural evolution and provide unprecedented insights into the mechanical state and behavior of the wedge at depth. Additionally, multiple samples of the unconformity between the Kumano Basin and accretionary prism at Site C0002 shed new light on this debatable unconformity boundary and suggest variable erosional processes active on small spatial scales. Results from riserless drilling at input Site C0012 include 178.7 m of detailed LWD characterization of the oceanic basement, indicating an upper ~100 m zone of altered pillow basalts and sheet flow deposits, and a lower, presumably less altered basement unit without indication for interlayered sediment horizons. Low angle faults identified in X-ray Computed Tomography images and structural investigation on cores from Site C0022, located in the slope basin immediately seaward of the megasplay fault zone, indicate splay-fault-related, out-of-sequence thrusting within slope basin sediments and shed new light on recent activity of the megasplay. Lastly, Exp. 338 added additional coring to improve our understanding of submarine landslides in the slope basins seaward of the splay fault and yields new LWD data to characterize in situ internal structures and properties of mass-transport deposits as it relates to the dynamics and kinematics of submarine landslides.

Features and dimensions of the Hayward Fault Zone in the Strawberry and Blackberry Creek Area, Berkeley, California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, P.L.

1995-03-01

This report presents an examination of the geometry of the Hayward fault adjacent to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and University of California campuses in central Berkeley. The fault crosses inside the eastern border of the UC campus. Most subtle geomorphic (landform) expressions of the fault have been removed by development and by the natural processes of landsliding and erosion. Some clear expressions of the fault remain however, and these are key to mapping the main trace through the campus area. In addition, original geomorphic evidence of the fault`s location was recovered from large scale mapping of the site dating frommore » 1873 to 1897. Before construction obscured and removed natural landforms, the fault was expressed by a linear, northwest-tending zone of fault-related geomorphic features. There existed well-defined and subtle stream offsets and beheaded channels, fault scarps, and a prominent ``shutter ridge``. To improve our confidence in fault locations interpreted from landforms, we referred to clear fault exposures revealed in trenching, revealed during the construction of the Foothill Housing Complex, and revealed along the length of the Lawson Adit mining tunnel. Also utilized were the locations of offset cultural features. At several locations across the study area, distress features in buildings and streets have been used to precisely locate the fault. Recent published mapping of the fault (Lienkaemper, 1992) was principally used for reference to evidence of the fault`s location to the northwest and southeast of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.« less

Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013 offshore British Columbia-southeastern Alaska and vicinity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hayes, Gavin P.; Smoczyk, Gregory M.; Ooms, Jonathan G.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Benz, Harley M.; Villaseñor, Antonio

2014-01-01

The tectonics of the Pacific margin of North America between Vancouver Island and south-central Alaska are dominated by the northwest motion of the Pacific plate with respect to the North America plate at a velocity of approximately 50 mm/yr. In the south of this mapped region, convergence between the northern extent of the Juan de Fuca plate (also known as the Explorer microplate) and North America plate dominate. North from the Explorer, Pacific, and North America plate triple junction, Pacific:North America motion is accommodated along the ~650-km-long Queen Charlotte fault system. Offshore of Haida Gwaii and to the southwest, the obliquity of the Pacific:North America plate motion vector creates a transpressional regime, and a complex mixture of strike-slip and convergent (underthrusting) tectonics. North of the Haida Gwaii islands, plate motion is roughly parallel to the plate boundary, resulting in almost pure dextral strike-slip motion along the Queen Charlotte fault. To the north, the Queen Charlotte fault splits into multiple structures, continuing offshore of southwestern Alaska as the Fairweather fault, and branching east into the Chatham Strait and Denali faults through the interior of Alaska. The plate boundary north and west of the Fairweather fault ultimately continues as the Alaska-Aleutians subduction zone, where Pacific plate lithosphere subducts beneath the North America plate at the Aleutians Trench. The transition is complex, and involves intraplate structures such as the Transition fault. The Pacific margin offshore British Columbia is one of the most active seismic zones in North America and has hosted a number of large earthquakes historically.

Can compliant fault zones be used to measure absolute stresses in the upper crust?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hearn, E. H.; Fialko, Y.

2009-04-01

Geodetic and seismic observations reveal long-lived zones with reduced elastic moduli along active crustal faults. These fault zones localize strain from nearby earthquakes, consistent with the response of a compliant, elastic layer. Fault zone trapped wave studies documented a small reduction in P and S wave velocities along the Johnson Valley Fault caused by the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake. This reduction presumably perturbed a permanent compliant structure associated with the fault. The inferred changes in the fault zone compliance may produce a measurable deformation in response to background (tectonic) stresses. This deformation should have the same sense as the background stress, rather than the coseismic stress change. Here we investigate how the observed deformation of compliant zones in the Mojave Desert can be used to constrain the fault zone structure and stresses in the upper crust. We find that gravitational contraction of the coseismically softened zones should cause centimeters of coseismic subsidence of both the compliant zones and the surrounding region, unless the compliant fault zones are shallow and narrow, or essentially incompressible. We prefer the latter interpretation because profiles of line of sight displacements across compliant zones cannot be fit by a narrow, shallow compliant zone. Strain of the Camp Rock and Pinto Mountain fault zones during the Hector Mine and Landers earthquakes suggests that background deviatoric stresses are broadly consistent with Mohr-Coulomb theory in the Mojave upper crust (with μ ≥ 0.7). Large uncertainties in Mojave compliant zone properties and geometry preclude more precise estimates of crustal stresses in this region. With improved imaging of the geometry and elastic properties of compliant zones, and with precise measurements of their strain in response to future earthquakes, the modeling approach we describe here may eventually provide robust estimates of absolute crustal stress.

A lidar, GIS and basic spatial statistic application for the study of ravine and palaeo-ravine evolution in the upper Vipava valley, SW Slovenia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popit, Tomislav; Rožič, Boštjan; Šmuc, Andrej; Kokalj, Žiga; Verbovšek, Timotej; Košir, Adrijan

2014-01-01

The analysis of high resolution airborne lidar topography represents an essential tool for the geomorphological investigation of surface features. Here we present a detailed lidar-based geomorphological analysis of the ravines cut into the slopes of the upper Vipava valley, NW Slovenia. The NE slopes are defined by an Oligocene thrust-front of Mesozoic carbonates overthrusted on Tertiary flysch and covered by numerous fan-shaped Quaternary gravity flows, deposited in palaeo-ravines cut into the flysch base rock. In contrast, the opposite SW slopes are composed solely of flysch. The large dextral-slip Vipava fault extending in the NW-SE direction is present in the central part of the valley. Our research revealed that although the ravines on both slopes of the Vipava valley are lithologically and tectonically controlled, significant statistical differences in their directions exist. Thus, ravines on opposite slopes are not solely related to the Vipava fault system deformation, but instead reflect a more complex tectonic setting. We believe that the ravines are controlled by second-order faults and fault zones that connect the Vipava fault with adjacent faults. On the SW slopes, these include connecting faults between the Vipava and the southwestern Raša fault, with the ravines on the NE slopes formed in fault zones connecting the Vipava and northeastern Predjama faults.

Dependence of residual displacements on the width and depth of compliant fault zones: a 3D study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, J.; Duan, B.

2011-12-01

Compliant fault zones have been detected along active faults by seismic investigations (trapped waves and travel time analysis) and InSAR observations. However, the width and depth extent of compliant fault zones are still under debate in the community. Numerical models of dynamic rupture build a bridge between theories and the geological and geophysical observations. Theoretical 2D plane-strain studies of elastic and inelastic response of compliant fault zones to nearby earthquake have been conducted by Duan [2010] and Duan et al [2010]. In this study, we further extend the experiments to 3D with a focus on elastic response. We are specifically interested in how residual displacements depend on the structure and properties of complaint fault zones, in particular on the width and depth extent. We conduct numerical experiments on various types of fault-zone models, including fault zones with a constant width along depth, with decreasing widths along depth, and with Hanning taper profiles of velocity reduction. . Our preliminary results suggest 1) the width of anomalous horizontal residual displacement is only indicative of the width of a fault zone near the surface, and 2) the vertical residual displacement contains information of the depth extent of compliant fault zones.

A broader classification of damage zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peacock, D. C. P.; Dimmen, V.; Rotevatn, A.; Sanderson, D. J.

2017-09-01

Damage zones have previously been classified in terms of their positions at fault tips, walls or areas of linkage, with the latter being described in terms of sub-parallel and synchronously active faults. We broaden the idea of linkage to include structures around the intersections of non-parallel and/or non-synchronous faults. These interaction damage zones can be divided into approaching damage zones, where the faults kinematically interact but are not physically connected, and intersection damage zones, where the faults either abut or cross-cut. The damage zone concept is applied to other settings in which strain or displacement variations are taken up by a range of structures, such as at fault bends. It is recommended that a prefix can be added to a wide range of damage zones, to describe the locations in which they formed, e.g., approaching, intersection and fault bend damage zone. Such interpretations are commonly based on limited knowledge of the 3D geometries of the structures, such as from exposure surfaces, and there may be spatial variations. For example, approaching faults and related damage seen in outcrop may be intersecting elsewhere on the fault planes. Dilation in intersection damage zones can represent narrow and localised channels for fluid flow, and such dilation can be influenced by post-faulting stress patterns.

Internal architecture, permeability structure, and hydrologic significance of contrasting fault-zone types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawling, Geoffrey C.; Goodwin, Laurel B.; Wilson, John L.

2001-01-01

The Sand Hill fault is a steeply dipping, large-displacement normal fault that cuts poorly lithified Tertiary sediments of the Albuquerque basin, New Mexico, United States. The fault zone does not contain macroscopic fractures; the basic structural element is the deformation band. The fault core is composed of foliated clay flanked by structurally and lithologically heterogeneous mixed zones, in turn flanked by damage zones. Structures present within these fault-zone architectural elements are different from those in brittle faults formed in lithified sedimentary and crystalline rocks that do contain fractures. These differences are reflected in the permeability structure of the Sand Hill fault. Equivalent permeability calculations indicate that large-displacement faults in poorly lithified sediments have little potential to act as vertical-flow conduits and have a much greater effect on horizontal flow than faults with fractures.

Metamorphic and structural evidence for significant vertical displacement along the Ross Lake fault zone, a major orogen-parallel shear zone in the Cordillera of western North America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baldwin, J.A.; Whitney, D.L.; Hurlow, H.A.

1997-01-01

Results of an investigation of the petrology and structure of the Skymo complex and adjacent terranes constrain the amount, timing, and sense of motion on a segment of the > 600-km-long Late Cretaceous - early Tertiary Ross Lake fault zone (RLFZ), a major orogen-parallel shear zone in the Cordillera of western North America. In the study area in the North Cascades, Washington state, the RLFZ accommodated significant pre-middle Eocene vertical displacement, and it juxtaposes the Skymo complex with upper amphibolite facies (650??-690??C and 6-7 kbar) Skagit Gneiss of the North Cascades crystalline core to the SW and andalusite-bearing phyllite of the Little Jack terrane (Intermontane superterrane) to the NE. The two main lithologic units of the Skymo complex, a primitive mafic intrusion and a fault-bounded block of granulite facies metasedimentary rocks, are unique in the North Cascades. Granulite facies conditions were attained during high-temperature (> 800??C), low pressure (??? 4 kbar) contact metamorphism associated with intrusion of the mafic magma. P-T estimates and reaction textures in garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss suggest that contact metamorphism followed earlier, higher pressure regional metamorphism. There is no evidence that the Skagit Gneiss experienced high-T - low-P contact metamorphism. In the Little Jack terrane, however, texturally late cordierite ?? spinel and partial replacement of andalusite by sillimanite near the terrane's fault contact with Skymo gabbro suggest that the Little Jack terrane experienced high-T (??? 600??C) - low-P (??? 4 kbar) contact metamorphism following earlier low-grade regional metamorphism. Similarities in the protoliths of metasedimentary rocks in the Skymo and Little Jack indicate that they may be part of the same terrane. Differences in pressure estimates for the Little Jack versus Skymo for regional metamorphism that preceded contact metamorphism indicate vertical displacement of ??? 10 km (west side up) on the strand of the RLFZ that now separates the two structural blocks. High-angle faults in the study area are dextral-reverse mylonitic shear zones that experienced later brittle normal slip. Vertical motion on these shear zones before intrusion of Skymo gabbro can account for metamorphic discontinuities indicated by P-T results. The terranes have also been internally deformed by nonintersecting but coeval dextral and sinistral shear zones that formed after the terranes were brought together in the RLFZ and intruded by Eocene dikes. These results show that the RLFZ has accommodated significant vertical displacement but perhaps no more than tens of kilometers of early Tertiary lateral movement. Structural evidence for earlier, large-magnitude strike-slip displacement is not preserved.

Development of fluid overpressures in crustal faults and implications for earthquakes mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leclère, Henri; Cappa, Frédéric; Faulkner, Daniel; Armitage, Peter; Blake, Oshaine; Fabbri, Olivier

2013-04-01

The development and maintenance of fluid overpressures strongly influence the mechanical behavior of the crust and especially crustal fault zones. The mechanisms allowing fluid pressure build-up are still open questions, and their influence on tectonic and fault weakening processes remain unclear. The determination of the hydraulic and mechanical properties of crustal fault zone elements is a key aspect to improve our understanding of the fluid-tectonic interactions and more particularly the role of fluids in fault mechanics and earthquake triggering. Here we address this question combining geological observations, laboratory experiments and hydromechanical models of an active crustal fault-zone in the Ubaye-Argentera area (southeastern France). Previous studies showed that the fluids located in the fault zone developed overpressures between 7 and 26 MPa, that triggered intense seismic swarms (i.e. 16,000 events in 2003-2004) (Jenatton et al., 2007; Daniel et al., 2011; Leclère et al., 2012). The fault-zone studied here is located in the Argentera external crystalline massif and is connected to regional NW-SE steeply-dipping dextral strike-slip faults with an offset of several kilometers. The fault zone cuts through migmatitic gneisses composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite and minor muscovite. It exposes several anastomosed core zones surrounded by damage zones with a pluri-decametric total width. The core zones are made up of centimetric to pluridecimetric phyllosilicate-rich gouge layers while the damage zones are composed of pluri-metric phyllonitic rock derived from mylonite. The permeability and elastic moduli of the host rock, damage zone and fault core were measured from plugs with a diameter of 20 mm and lengths between 26 to 51 mm, using a high-pressure hydrostatic fluid-flow apparatus. Measurements were made with confining pressures ranging from 30 to 210 MPa and using argon pore fluid pressure of 20 MPa. Data show a variation of the permeability values of one order of magnitude between host rock and fault zone and a decrease of 50% of the elastic properties between host rock and core zone. The heterogeneity of properties is related to the development of different microstructures across the fault-zone during the tectonic history. From these physical property values and the fault zone architecture, we analyze the effects of sudden mechanical loading on the development of fluid overpressures in fault-zone. To do this, we use a series of 1-D hydromechanical numerical models to show that sudden mechanical stress increase is a viable mechanism for fluid overpressuring in fault-zone with spatially-varying elastic and hydraulic properties. Based on these results, we discuss the implications for earthquake triggering.on crustal-scale faults.

Gravity anomaly and density structure of the San Andreas fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chi-Yuen; Rui, Feng; Zhengsheng, Yao; Xingjue, Shi

1986-01-01

A densely spaced gravity survey across the San andreas fault zone was conducted near Bear Valley, about 180 km south of San Francisco, along a cross-section where a detailed seismic reflection profile was previously made by McEvilly (1981). With Feng and McEvilly's velocity structure (1983) of the fault zone at this cross-section as a constraint, the density structure of the fault zone is obtained through inversion of the gravity data by a method used by Parker (1973) and Oldenburg (1974). Although the resulting density picture cannot be unique, it is better constrained and contains more detailed information about the structure of the fault than was previously possible. The most striking feature of the resulting density structure is a deeply seated tongue of low-density material within the fault zone, probably representing a wedge of fault gouge between the two moving plates, which projects from the surface to the base of the seismogenic zone. From reasonable assumptions concerning the density of the solid grains and the state of saturation of the fault zone the average porosity of this low-density fault gouge is estimated as about 12%. Stress-induced cracks are not expected to create so much porosity under the pressures in the deep fault zone. Large-scaled removal of fault-zone material by hydrothermal alteration, dissolution, and subsequent fluid transport may have occurred to produce this pronounced density deficiency. In addition, a broad, funnel-shaped belt of low density appears about the upper part of the fault zone, which probably represents a belt of extensively shattered wall rocks.

Vibroseis Monitoring of San Andreas Fault in California

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Korneev, Valeri; Nadeau, Robert

2004-06-11

A unique data set of seismograms for 720 source-receiver paths has been collected as part of a controlled source Vibroseis experiment San Andreas Fault (SAF) at Parkfield. In the experiment, seismic waves repeatedly illuminated the epicentral region of the expected M6 event at Parkfield from June 1987 until November 1996. For this effort, a large shear-wave vibrator was interfaced with the 3-component (3-C) borehole High-Resolution Seismic Network (HRSN), providing precisely timed collection of data for detailed studies of changes in wave propagation associated with stress and strain accumulation in the fault zone (FZ). Data collected by the borehole network weremore » examined for evidence of changes associated with the nucleation process of the anticipated M6 earthquake at Parkfield. These investigations reported significant traveltime changes in the S coda for paths crossing the fault zone southeast of the epicenter and above the rupture zone of the 1966 M6 earthquake. Analysis and modeling of these data and comparison with observed changes in creep, water level, microseismicity, slip-at-depth and propagation from characteristic repeating microearthquakes showed temporal variations in a variety of wave propagation attributes that were synchronous with changes in deformation and local seismicity patterns. Numerical modeling suggests 200 meters as an effective thickness of SAF. The observed variations can be explained by velocity 6 percent velocity variation within SAF core. Numerical modeling studies and a growing number of observations have argued for the propagation of fault-zone guided waves (FZGW) within a SAF zone that is 100 to 200 m wide at seismogenic depths and with 20 to 40 percent lower shear-wave velocity than the adjacent unfaulted rock. Guided wave amplitude tomographic inversion for SAF using microearthquakes, shows clearly that FZGW are significantly less attenuated in a well-defined region of the FZ. This region plunges to the northwest along the northwest boundary of the region of highest moment release and separates locked and slipping sections of the SAF at depth, as determined independently from geodesy, seismicity and the recurrence rates of characteristically repeating microearthquakes. The mechanism for low FZGW attenuation in the zone is possibly due to dewatering by fracture closure and/or fault-normal compression, or changes in fracture orientation due to a complex stress or strain field at the boundary between creeping and locked zones of the San Andreas Fault. Temporal changes of FZGW correlates with changes in overall seismicity. Active monitoring of changes in FZGW has a potential for imaging and detecting of changes in stress within FZ cores. Since FZGW primarily propagate in the low-velocity core region of fault zones, they sample the most active zone of fault deformation and provide greater structural detail of the inner fault core than body waves which propagate primarily outside of the central core region. FZGW also can be used for FZ continuity studies.« less

What is the earthquake fracture energy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Toro, G.; Nielsen, S. B.; Passelegue, F. X.; Spagnuolo, E.; Bistacchi, A.; Fondriest, M.; Murphy, S.; Aretusini, S.; Demurtas, M.

2016-12-01

The energy budget of an earthquake is one of the main open questions in earthquake physics. During seismic rupture propagation, the elastic strain energy stored in the rock volume that bounds the fault is converted into (1) gravitational work (relative movement of the wall rocks bounding the fault), (2) in- and off-fault damage of the fault zone rocks (due to rupture propagation and frictional sliding), (3) frictional heating and, of course, (4) seismic radiated energy. The difficulty in the budget determination arises from the measurement of some parameters (e.g., the temperature increase in the slipping zone which constraints the frictional heat), from the not well constrained size of the energy sinks (e.g., how large is the rock volume involved in off-fault damage?) and from the continuous exchange of energy from different sinks (for instance, fragmentation and grain size reduction may result from both the passage of the rupture front and frictional heating). Field geology studies, microstructural investigations, experiments and modelling may yield some hints. Here we discuss (1) the discrepancies arising from the comparison of the fracture energy measured in experiments reproducing seismic slip with the one estimated from seismic inversion for natural earthquakes and (2) the off-fault damage induced by the diffusion of frictional heat during simulated seismic slip in the laboratory. Our analysis suggests, for instance, that the so called earthquake fracture energy (1) is mainly frictional heat for small slips and (2), with increasing slip, is controlled by the geometrical complexity and other plastic processes occurring in the damage zone. As a consequence, because faults are rapidly and efficiently lubricated upon fast slip initiation, the dominant dissipation mechanism in large earthquakes may not be friction but be the off-fault damage due to fault segmentation and stress concentrations in a growing region around the fracture tip.

A geological evidence of very low frequency earthquake inferred from vitrinite thermal records across a microfault within on-land accretionary complex.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morita, K.; Hashimoto, Y.; Hirose, T.; Hamada, Y.; Kitamura, M.

2014-12-01

Generation of friction heat associated with fault slip is controlled by friction, slip distance and fault thickness. Nature of fault slip can be estimated from the record of frictional heating along a fault (e.g., Fulton et al., 2012). Purpose of this study is to detect the record of frictional heating along a microfault observed in on-land accretionary complex, Shimanto Belt, SW Japan using vitrinite reflectance (Ro) and to examine the characteristics of fault slip in deeper subduction zone. The study area is located in Nonokawa formation, the Cretaceous Shimanto Belt, in Kochi Prefecture, Southwest Japan. We found a carbonaceous material concentrated layer (CMCL) in the formation. Some micro-faults cut the layer. The thickness of CMCL is about 3-4m. Ro of host rock is about 0.98-1.1% and of fault rock is over 1.2%. Kitamura et al. (2012) pointed out that fracturing energy may control the high Ro within fault zone. To avoid the effect of fracturing on Ro, we tired to detect a diffusion pattern of frictional heating in host rocks. Distribution of Ro is mapped in thin sections to make the Ro-distance pattern perpendicular to the fault plane. Within the fracture zone, abnormally high Ro (about 2.0% or above) was observed. Ro was 1.25% at the wall of fracture zone and decreases to 1.1% at about 5cm from the wall. We interpreted that the Ro-distance pattern was resulted from the thermal diffusion. Using this diffusion pattern, the characteristic fault parameters, such as friction, slip rate and rise time (Tr) was examined. We set parameters Q (= friction times slip rate). We have simulated frictional heating and Ro maturation on the basis of the method by Sweeny and Burnham (1990). Grid search was conducted to find the best fitted combination of Q and Tr at the smallest residual between simulated Ro and observed Ro. In the result, we estimated about 1500 (Pa m/s) of Q and about 130000(s) of Tr. Because the base temperature is about 185˚C based on the 1.1% of Ro, the depth of fault activity can be corresponded to about 6 km. The effective pressure is estimated about 94MPa. If we put friction coefficient as 0.4-0.6, the friction is about 37.6-56.5MPa. Therefore, slip rate is calculated to be about 27-40μm/s. This very slow slip rate is consistent with that for very low frequency earthquake (VLFe) reported by Sugioka et al. (2012).

Faulting of gas-hydrate-bearing marine sediments - contribution to permeability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dillon, William P.; Holbrook, W.S.; Drury, Rebecca; Gettrust, Joseph; Hutchinson, Deborah; Booth, James; Taylor, Michael

1997-01-01

Extensive faulting is observed in sediments containing high concentrations of methane hydrate off the southeastern coast of the United States. Faults that break the sea floor show evidence of both extension and shortening; mud diapirs are also present. The zone of recent faulting apparently extends from the ocean floor down to the base of gas-hydrate stability. We infer that the faulting resulted from excess pore pressure in gas trapped beneath the gas hydrate-beating layer and/or weakening and mobilization of sediments in the region just below the gas-hydrate stability zone. In addition to the zone of surface faults, we identified two buried zones of faulting, that may have similar origins. Subsurface faulted zones appear to act as gas traps.

3D Model of the Tuscarora Geothermal Area

DOE Data Explorer

Faulds, James E.

2013-12-31

The Tuscarora geothermal system sits within a ~15 km wide left-step in a major west-dipping range-bounding normal fault system. The step over is defined by the Independence Mountains fault zone and the Bull Runs Mountains fault zone which overlap along strike. Strain is transferred between these major fault segments via and array of northerly striking normal faults with offsets of 10s to 100s of meters and strike lengths of less than 5 km. These faults within the step over are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the range-bounding fault zones between which they reside. Faults within the broad step define an anticlinal accommodation zone wherein east-dipping faults mainly occupy western half of the accommodation zone and west-dipping faults lie in the eastern half of the accommodation zone. The 3D model of Tuscarora encompasses 70 small-offset normal faults that define the accommodation zone and a portion of the Independence Mountains fault zone, which dips beneath the geothermal field. The geothermal system resides in the axial part of the accommodation, straddling the two fault dip domains. The Tuscarora 3D geologic model consists of 10 stratigraphic units. Unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium has eroded down into bedrock units, the youngest and stratigraphically highest bedrock units are middle Miocene rhyolite and dacite flows regionally correlated with the Jarbidge Rhyolite and modeled with uniform cumulative thickness of ~350 m. Underlying these lava flows are Eocene volcanic rocks of the Big Cottonwood Canyon caldera. These units are modeled as intracaldera deposits, including domes, flows, and thick ash deposits that change in thickness and locally pinch out. The Paleozoic basement of consists metasedimenary and metavolcanic rocks, dominated by argillite, siltstone, limestone, quartzite, and metabasalt of the Schoonover and Snow Canyon Formations. Paleozoic formations are lumped in a single basement unit in the model. Fault blocks in the eastern portion of the model are tilted 5-30 degrees toward the Independence Mountains fault zone. Fault blocks in the western portion of the model are tilted toward steeply east-dipping normal faults. These opposing fault block dips define a shallow extensional anticline. Geothermal production is from 4 closely-spaced wells, that exploit a west-dipping, NNE-striking fault zone near the axial part of the accommodation zone.

Structural Analysis of the Exhumed SEMP Fault Zone, Austria: Towards an Understanding of Fault Zone Architecture Throughout the Seismogenic Crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frost, E. K.; Dolan, J. F.; Sammis, C.; Hacker, B.; Ratschbacher, L.

2006-12-01

One of the most exciting and important frontiers in earthquake science is the linkage between the internal structure and the mechanical behavior of fault zones. In particular, little is known about how fault-zone structure varies as a function of depth, from near-surface conditions down through the seismogenic crust and into the ductile lower crust. Such understanding is vital if we are to understand the mechanical instabilities that control the nucleation and propagation of seismic ruptures. This imperative has led us to the Oligo-Miocene Salzach-Ennstal-Mariazell-Puchberg [SEMP] fault zone in Austria, a major left-lateral strike-slip fault that has been exhumed differentially such that it exposes a continuum of structural levels along strike. This exhumed fault system provides a unique opportunity to systematically examine depth-dependent changes in fault-zone geometry and structure along a single fault. In order to establish the structure of the fault zone in the seismogenic crust, we are studying exposures of this fault at a variety of exhumation levels, from <1 km near the eastern end of the fault, downward through the seismogenic crust, across the brittle-ductile transition, and into the uppermost part of the lower crust in western Austria. Here we present our results from one of these study sites, a spectacular exposure of the fault zone near the town of Gstatterboden in central Austria. The fault, which at this location has been exhumed from a depth of ~ 2-3 km, juxtaposes limestone of the Wettersteinkalk on the south with dolomite of the Ramsaudolomit on the north. We conducted two detailed structural traverses over a fault-perpendicular width of over 200 m. Analysis of the density and orientation of outcrop scale features, such as faults and fractures, reveals a highly asymmetric pattern of fault zone damage. Dolomite to the north of the fault is extensively shattered, while the limestone unit to the south shows only minor evidence of fault damage. Additionally, measurements of damage intensity throughout the dolomite indicate little change in strain away from the fault. While some of our observations may be explained by the brittle nature of dolomite, they are also compatible with models of dynamic rupture on elastically asymmetric faults. Analysis of grain size distributions in pilot samples of the dolomite breccia are fractal with a dimension of 2, indicating significant shear strain. Further microscale work will delimit the extent of this high-strain zone and complement macroscale observations of damage intensity. Ongoing lab studies will analyze structural transects across the SEMP fault zone at outcrops exhumed from the brittle-ductile transition. Combining these results with a companion study by Cole et al. in the Tauern Window, we will be able to create a synoptic view of the SEMP fault zone from top to bottom - a view that describes how the fault zone varies in its characteristics at different depths.

Effect of fault roughness on aftershock distribution and post co-seismic strain accumulation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aslam, K.; Daub, E. G.

2017-12-01

We perform physics-based simulations of earthquake rupture propagation on geometrically complex strike-slip faults. We consider many different realization of the fault roughness and obtain heterogeneous stress fields by performing dynamic rupture simulation of large earthquakes. We calculate the Coulomb failure function (CFF) for all these realizations so that we can quantify zones of stress increase/shadows surrounding the main fault and compare our results to seismic catalogs. To do this comparison, we use relocated earthquake catalogs from Northern and Southern California. We specify the range of fault roughness parameters based on past observational studies. The Hurst exponent (H) varies in range from 0.5 to 1 and RMS height to wavelength ratio ( RMS deviation of a fault profile from planarity) has values between 10-2 to 10-3. For any realization of fault roughness, the Probability density function (PDF) values relative to the mean CFF change show a wider spread near the fault and this spread squeezes into a narrow band as we move away from fault. For lower value of RMS ratio ( 10-3), we see bigger zones of stress change near the hypocenter and for higher value of RMS ratio ( 10-2), we see alternate zones of stress increase/decrease surrounding the fault to have comparable lengths. We also couple short-term dynamic rupture simulation with long-term tectonic modelling. We do this by giving the stress output from one of the dynamic rupture simulation (of a single realization of fault roughness) to long term tectonic model (LTM) as initial condition and then run LTM over duration of seismic cycle. This short term and long term coupling enables us to understand how heterogeneous stresses due to fault geometry influence the dynamics of strain accumulation in the post-seismic and inter-seismic phase of seismic cycle.

Audio-frequency magnetotelluric imaging of the Hijima fault, Yamasaki fault system, southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaguchi, S.; Ogawa, Y.; Fuji-Ta, K.; Ujihara, N.; Inokuchi, H.; Oshiman, N.

2010-04-01

An audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) survey was undertaken at ten sites along a transect across the Hijima fault, a major segment of the Yamasaki fault system, Japan. The data were subjected to dimensionality analysis, following which two-dimensional inversions for the TE and TM modes were carried out. This model is characterized by (1) a clear resistivity boundary that coincides with the downward projection of the surface trace of the Hijima fault, (2) a resistive zone (>500 Ω m) that corresponds to Mesozoic sediment, and (3) shallow and deep two highly conductive zones (30-40 Ω m) along the fault. The shallow conductive zone is a common feature of the Yamasaki fault system, whereas the deep conductor is a newly discovered feature at depths of 800-1,800 m to the southwest of the fault. The conductor is truncated by the Hijima fault to the northeast, and its upper boundary is the resistive zone. Both conductors are interpreted to represent a combination of clay minerals and a fluid network within a fault-related fracture zone. In terms of the development of the fluid networks, the fault core of the Hijima fault and the highly resistive zone may play important roles as barriers to fluid flow on the northeast and upper sides of the conductive zones, respectively.

Mountain front migration and drainage captures related to fault segment linkage and growth: The Polopos transpressive fault zone (southeastern Betics, SE Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giaconia, Flavio; Booth-Rea, Guillermo; Martínez-Martínez, José Miguel; Azañón, José Miguel; Pérez-Romero, Joaquín; Villegas, Irene

2013-01-01

The Polopos E-W- to ESE-WNW-oriented dextral-reverse fault zone is formed by the North Alhamilla reverse fault and the North and South Gafarillos dextral faults. It is a conjugate fault system of the sinistral NNE-SSW Palomares fault zone, active from the late most Tortonian (≈7 Ma) up to the late Pleistocene (≥70 ky) in the southeastern Betics. The helicoidal geometry of the fault zone permits to shift SE-directed movement along the South Cabrera reverse fault to NW-directed shortening along the North Alhamilla reverse fault via vertical Gafarillos fault segments, in between. Since the Messinian, fault activity migrated southwards forming the South Gafarillos fault and displacing the active fault-related mountain-front from the north to the south of Sierra de Polopos; whilst recent activity of the North Alhamilla reverse fault migrated westwards. The Polopos fault zone determined the differential uplift between the Sierra Alhamilla and the Tabernas-Sorbas basin promoting the middle Pleistocene capture that occurred in the southern margin of the Sorbas basin. Continued tectonic uplift of the Sierra Alhamilla-Polopos and Cabrera anticlinoria and local subsidence associated to the Palomares fault zone in the Vera basin promoted the headward erosion of the Aguas river drainage that captured the Sorbas basin during the late Pleistocene.

Controls on Patterns of Repeated Fault Rupture: Examples From the Denali and Bear River Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, D. P.; Hecker, S.

2013-12-01

A requirement for estimating seismic hazards is assigning magnitudes to earthquake sources. This relies on anticipating rupture length and slip along faults. Fundamental questions include whether lengths of past surface ruptures can be reasonably determined from fault zone characteristics and whether the variability in length and slip during repeated faulting can be constrained. To address these issues, we look at rupture characteristics and their possible controls from examples in very different tectonic settings: the high slip rate (≥15 mm/yr) Denali fault system, Alaska, and the recently activated Bear River normal fault, Wyoming-Utah. The 2002 rupture of the central Denali fault (CDF) is associated with two noteworthy geometric features. First, rupture initiated where the Susitna Glacier thrust fault (SG) intersects the CDF at depth, near the apex of a structurally complex restraining bend along the Denali. Paleoseismic data show that for the past 700 years the timing of large surface ruptures on the Denali fault west of the 2002 rupture has been distinct from those along the CDF. For the past ~6ka the frequency of SG to Denali ruptures has been ~1:12, indicating that this complexity of the 2002 rupture has not been common. Second, rupture propagated off of one strike-slip fault (CDF) onto another (the Totschunda fault, TF), an occurrence that seldom has been observed. LiDAR mapping of the intersection shows direct connectivity of the two faults--the CDF simply branches into both the TF and the eastern Denali fault (EDF). Differences in the timing of earthquakes during the past 700-800 years at sites surrounding this intersection, and estimates of accumulated slip from slip rates, indicate that for the 2002 rupture sufficient strain had accumulated on the TF to favor its failure. In contrast, the penultimate CDF rupture, with the same slip distribution as in 2002, appears to have stopped at or near the branch point, implying that neither the TF nor the EDF was stressed sufficiently to fail at that time. The Bear River fault zone (BRFZ) is a young normal fault along the eastern margin of basin-range extension that appears to have reactivated a ramp in the Laramide-age Darby-Hogsback thrust. The entire Cenozoic history of the BRFZ may consist of only two surface-rupturing events in the late Holocene (one at ~5 ka and the most recent at ~2.5 ka). The 40-km-long fault comprises synthetic and antithetic scarps extending across a zone up to 5 km wide. Remote sensing, including airborne LiDAR, and field studies show that, despite the complexity, the pattern of faulting was similar (in location and amount) for each of the two events and, at the south end, was strongly influenced by the east-west-trending Uinta Arch. Pre-existing structure clearly has exerted a first-order control on moment release on this immature fault. As shown by these examples, data on timing of surface ruptures, coseismic slip, slip rate, and fault geometry can provide a basis to constrain lengths of past and future earthquake ruptures, including possible alternative rupture scenarios. The difficult question for hazard analysis is whether the available data capture the full range of behavior and with what relative frequency do the alternatives occur?

Fethiye-Burdur Fault Zone (SW Turkey): a myth?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaymakci, Nuretdin; Langereis, Cornelis; Özkaptan, Murat; Özacar, Arda A.; Gülyüz, Erhan; Uzel, Bora; Sözbilir, Hasan

2017-04-01

Fethiye Burdur Fault Zone (FBFZ) is first proposed by Dumont et al. (1979) as a sinistral strike-slip fault zone as the NE continuation of Pliny-Strabo trench in to the Anatolian Block. The fault zone supposed to accommodate at least 100 km sinistral displacement between the Menderes Massif and the Beydaǧları platform during the exhumation of the Menderes Massif, mainly during the late Miocene. Based on GPS velocities Barka and Reilinger (1997) proposed that the fault zone is still active and accommodates sinistral displacement. In order to test the presence and to unravel its kinematics we have conducted a rigorous paleomagnetic study containing more than 3000 paleomagnetic samples collected from 88 locations and 11700 fault slip data collected from 198 locations distributed evenly all over SW Anatolia spanning from Middle Miocene to Late Pliocene. The obtained rotation senses and amounts indicate slight (around 20°) counter-clockwise rotations distributed uniformly almost whole SW Anatolia and there is no change in the rotation senses and amounts on either side of the FBFZ implying no differential rotation within the zone. Additionally, the slickenside pitches and constructed paleostress configurations, along the so called FBFZ and also within the 300 km diameter of the proposed fault zone, indicated that almost all the faults, oriented parallel to subparallel to the zone, are normal in character. The fault slip measurements are also consistent with earthquake focal mechanisms suggesting active extension in the region. We have not encountered any significant strike-slip motion in the region to support presence and transcurrent nature of the FBFZ. On the contrary, the region is dominated by extensional deformation and strike-slip components are observed only on the NW-SE striking faults which are transfer faults that accommodated extension and normal motion. Therefore, we claim that the sinistral Fethiye Burdur Fault (Zone) is a myth and there is no tangible evidence to support the existence of such a strike-slip fault zone. The research for this paper is supported by TUBITAK - Grant Number 111Y239. Key words: Fethiye Burdu Fault Zone, Paleomagnetism, paleostress inversion, normal fault, Strike-slip fault, SW Turkey

Tectonics, recent geodynamics and seismicity of Azerbaijan part of the Greater Caucasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aliyev, Fuad; Kangarli, Talat; Rahimov, Fuad; Murtuzov, Zaur; Aliyev, Ziya

2016-04-01

Transition area of the Eastern Caucasus - Caspian Megadepression corresponds to a periclinal submergence zone of the mountain folded structure of the Greater Caucasus under Pliocene-Holocenic sedimentary complex of Caspian megabasin. Being a part of Alpine-Himalayan folded belt, Greater Caucasus has formed during alpine stage of tectogenesis under geodynamic conditions of convergent interactions between Northern and Southern Caucasus continental microplates. This process has been accompanied by pseudosubduction of the first plate under the second with formation of allochtonous accretion prism above underthrust zone. Modern folding and napping structure of the orogeny has formed as a result of the horizontal movements of different phases and subphases of alpine tectogenesis, that are presented represented by Late Cimmerian - Wallachian tectonic phases within Azerbaijan territory. Limited by meridional fault-slip zones, Caspian megadepression present itself as a young structure that layered on sublatitudinal convergent zone and developed during Late Miocene (10 million years ago) as a flexure zone between two indenters which actively move northward provoking their separation from the African continent and Arabian plate in the west and secession from Central Iranian plate of the Lut block in the east. The acting movement of Arabian plate to the north results in accumulation of the horizontal stress at the current stage of tectogenesis. Current process reveals itself both in the fragmentation of Southern and Northern Caucasus continental microplates into various-size blocks along the general and anti-Caucasus trended faults, and in consideration horizontal and vertical movements within the convergence zone. All these factors define the complexity of geodynamic condition revealed here, in which seismic activity of a transition zone become apparent. There exist the seismic zones here that are confined both to a convergence line and to the fault zones that confine Caspian megadepression or complicate its' inner structure. Under lateral compression conditions, the small-size dynamic blocks that form the inner structure of the earth crust in a transition zone is standing as a reason of formation of the transpressive deformations, which combine moving along bordering of transversal dislocations with the compression structures like Main Caucasus strike faults in a trend of convergent (pseudosubduction) interaction of Southern and Northern Caucasus continental microplates. During such regime a multiple elastic stress accumulation zones are developing, that are confined to mentioned dislocations and their connection knots. Namely, exceeding of a breakage point of the rocks by accumulated elastic deformations, results in earthquakes and destructions in such tectonically vulnerable transition zones.

A Simplified Model for Multiphase Leakage through Faults with Applications for CO2 Storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, F. E.; Doster, F.

2017-12-01

In the context of geological CO2 storage, faults in the subsurface could affect storage security by acting as high permeability pathways which allow CO2 to flow upwards and away from the storage formation. To assess the likelihood of leakage through faults and the impacts faults might have on storage security numerical models are required. However, faults are complex geological features, usually consisting of a fault core surrounded by a highly fractured damage zone. A direct representation of these in a numerical model would require very fine grid resolution and would be computationally expensive. Here, we present the development of a reduced complexity model for fault flow using the vertically integrated formulation. This model captures the main features of the flow but does not require us to resolve the vertical dimension, nor the fault in the horizontal dimension, explicitly. It is thus less computationally expensive than full resolution models. Consequently, we can quickly model many realisations for parameter uncertainty studies of CO2 injection into faulted reservoirs. We develop the model based on explicitly simulating local 3D representations of faults for characteristic scenarios using the Matlab Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST). We have assessed the impact of variables such as fault geometry, porosity and permeability on multiphase leakage rates.

Characterization of the Hosgri Fault Zone and adjacent structures in the offshore Santa Maria Basin, south-central California: Chapter CC of Evolution of sedimentary basins/onshore oil and gas investigations - Santa Maria province

USGS Publications Warehouse

Willingham, C. Richard; Rietman, Jan D.; Heck, Ronald G.; Lettis, William R.

2013-01-01

The Hosgri Fault Zone trends subparallel to the south-central California coast for 110 km from north of Point Estero to south of Purisima Point and forms the eastern margin of the present offshore Santa Maria Basin. Knowledge of the attributes of the Hosgri Fault Zone is important for petroleum development, seismic engineering, and environmental planning in the region. Because it lies offshore along its entire reach, our characterizations of the Hosgri Fault Zone and adjacent structures are primarily based on the analysis of over 10,000 km of common-depth-point marine seismic reflection data collected from a 5,000-km2 area of the central and eastern parts of the offshore Santa Maria Basin. We describe and illustrate the along-strike and downdip geometry of the Hosgri Fault Zone over its entire length and provide examples of interpreted seismic reflection records and a map of the structural trends of the fault zone and adjacent structures in the eastern offshore Santa Maria Basin. The seismic data are integrated with offshore well and seafloor geologic data to describe the age and seismic appearance of offshore geologic units and marker horizons. We develop a basin-wide seismic velocity model for depth conversions and map three major unconformities along the eastern offshore Santa Maria Basin. Accompanying plates include maps that are also presented as figures in the report. Appendix A provides microfossil data from selected wells and appendix B includes uninterpreted copies of the annotated seismic record sections illustrated in the chapter. Features of the Hosgri Fault Zone documented in this investigation are suggestive of both lateral and reverse slip. Characteristics indicative of lateral slip include (1) the linear to curvilinear character of the mapped trace of the fault zone, (2) changes in structural trend along and across the fault zone that diminish in magnitude toward the ends of the fault zone, (3) localized compressional and extensional structures characteristic of constraining and releasing bends and stepovers, (4) changes in the sense and magnitude of vertical separation along strike within the fault zone, and (5) changes in downdip geometry between the major traces and segments of the fault zone. Characteristics indicative of reverse slip include (1) reverse fault geometries that occur across major strands of the fault zone and (2) fault-bend folds and localized thrust faults that occur along the northern and southern reaches of the fault. Analyses of high-resolution, subbottom profiler and side-scan sonar records indicate localized Holocene activity along most of the extent of the fault zone. Collectively, these features are the basis of our characterization of the Hosgri Fault Zone as an active, 110-km-long, convergent right-oblique slip (transpressional) fault with identified northern and southern terminations. This interpretation is consistent with recently published analyses of onshore geologic data, regional tectonic kinematic models, and instrumental seismicity.

Structure of the San Andreas Fault Zone in the Salton Trough Region of Southern California: A Comparison with San Andreas Fault Structure in the Loma Prieta Area of Central California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuis, G. S.; Catchings, R.; Scheirer, D. S.; Goldman, M.; Zhang, E.; Bauer, K.

2016-12-01

The San Andreas fault (SAF) in the northern Salton Trough, or Coachella Valley, in southern California, appears non-vertical and non-planar. In cross section, it consists of a steeply dipping segment (75 deg dip NE) from the surface to 6- to 9-km depth, and a moderately dipping segment below 6- to 9-km depth (50-55 deg dip NE). It also appears to branch upward into a flower-like structure beginning below about 10-km depth. Images of the SAF zone in the Coachella Valley have been obtained from analysis of steep reflections, earthquakes, modeling of potential-field data, and P-wave tomography. Review of seismological and geodetic research on the 1989 M 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake, in central California (e.g., U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1550), shows several features of SAF zone structure similar to those seen in the northern Salton Trough. Aftershocks in the Loma Prieta epicentral area form two chief clusters, a tabular zone extending from 18- to 9-km depth and a complex cluster above 5-km depth. The deeper cluster has been interpreted to surround the chief rupture plane, which dips 65-70 deg SW. When double-difference earthquake locations are plotted, the shallower cluster contains tabular subclusters that appear to connect the main rupture with the surface traces of the Sargent and Berrocal faults. In addition, a diffuse cluster may surround a steep to vertical fault connecting the main rupture to the surface trace of the SAF. These interpreted fault connections from the main rupture to surface fault traces appear to define a flower-like structure, not unlike that seen above the moderately dipping segment of the SAF in the Coachella Valley. But importantly, the SAF, interpreted here to include the main rupture plane, appears segmented, as in the Coachella Valley, with a moderately dipping segment below 9-km depth and a steep to vertical segment above that depth. We hope to clarify fault-zone structure in the Loma Prieta area by reanalyzing active-source data collected after the earthquake for steep reflections.

Long streamer waveform tomography imaging of the Sanak Basin, Alaska subduction zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roche, Pierre-Henri; Delescluse, Matthias; Becel, Anne; Nedimovic, Mladen; Shillington, Donna; Webb, Spahr; Kuehn, Harold

2017-04-01

The Alaska subduction zone is prone to large megathrust earthquakes, including several large tsunamigenic events in the historical record (e.g. the 1964 Mw 9.2 and the 1946 Mw 8.6 earthquakes). Along the Alaska Peninsula trench, seismic coupling varies from fully locked to the east to weakly coupled to the West, with apparent aseismic slip in the Shumagin Gap and Unimak rupture zone. Overlapping the Shumagin gap and the Unimak area, the Sanak basin is a Miocene basin formed by a large-scale normal fault recently imaged by the ALEUT 2011 cruise and clearly rooting in the subduction interface at 30 km depth (Becel et al., submitted). Recent activity on this normal fault is detected at the seafloor of the Sanak Basin by a 5 m scarp in the multibeam bathymetry data. As this normal fault may be associated with faults involved in the 1946 tsunami earthquake, it is particularly important to try to decipher its history in the Sanak basin, where sediments record the fault activity. MCS data processing and interpretation shows evidence for the activity of the fault from Miocene to recent geological times. Very limited knowledge of the sedimentation rates and ages as well as complexities due to submarine landslides and channel depositions make it difficult to quantify the present day fault activity with respect to the Miocene fault activity. In addition, the mechanical behaviour of a normal splay fault system requires low to zero effective friction and probably involves fluids. High-resolution seismic velocity imaging can help with both the interpretation of complex sedimentary deposition and fluid detection. To obtain such a high resolution velocity field, we use two 45-km-long MCS profiles from the ALEUT 2011 cruise acquired with an 8-km-long streamer towed at 12 m depth to enhance low frequencies with shots fired from a large, tuned airgun array (6600 cu.in.). The two profiles extend from the shelf break to mid slope and encompass the normal splay fault emerging at 1 km water depth. At these depths, refracted arrivals are recorded on the second half of the streamer and a traveltime tomography inversion of the first refracted arrivals is possible. To quantify the uncertainties of the inversion results, starting from a smoothed RMS velocity model from the reflection data analysis, we perform a Monte-Carlo analysis using 360 randomly perturbed initial models and perturbed traveltime picks. We use the converging models as input for a Monte-Carlo analysis of acoustic frequency domain waveform tomography. We show that the model resolution is high in the faulted area ( 100m) and the uncertainty is low. We image a complex pattern of low velocities around and away from the fault corresponding to mass transport deposits and possible fluid flow through the fault, in agreement with low reflectivity of the multibeam data and the presence of pockmarks.

Fault zone structure and fluid-rock interaction of a high angle normal fault in Carrara marble (NW Tuscany, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molli, G.; Cortecci, G.; Vaselli, L.; Ottria, G.; Cortopassi, A.; Dinelli, E.; Mussi, M.; Barbieri, M.

2010-09-01

We studied the geometry, intensity of deformation and fluid-rock interaction of a high angle normal fault within Carrara marble in the Alpi Apuane NW Tuscany, Italy. The fault is comprised of a core bounded by two major, non-parallel slip surfaces. The fault core, marked by crush breccia and cataclasites, asymmetrically grades to the host protolith through a damage zone, which is well developed only in the footwall block. On the contrary, the transition from the fault core to the hangingwall protolith is sharply defined by the upper main slip surface. Faulting was associated with fluid-rock interaction, as evidenced by kinematically related veins observable in the damage zone and fluid channelling within the fault core, where an orange-brownish cataclasite matrix can be observed. A chemical and isotopic study of veins and different structural elements of the fault zone (protolith, damage zone and fault core), including a mathematical model, was performed to document type, role, and activity of fluid-rock interactions during deformation. The results of our studies suggested that deformation pattern was mainly controlled by processes associated with a linking-damage zone at a fault tip, development of a fault core, localization and channelling of fluids within the fault zone. Syn-kinematic microstructural modification of calcite microfabric possibly played a role in confining fluid percolation.

The Devils Mountain Fault zone: An active Cascadia upper plate zone of deformation, Pacific Northwest of North America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrie, J. Vaughn; Greene, H. Gary

2018-02-01

The Devils Mountain Fault Zone (DMFZ) extends east to west from Washington State to just south of Victoria, British Columbia, in the northern Strait of Juan de Fuca of Canada and the USA. Recently collected geophysical data were used to map this fault zone in detail, which show the main fault trace, and associated primary and secondary (conjugate) strands, and extensive northeast-southwest oriented folding that occurs within a 6 km wide deformation zone. The fault zone has been active in the Holocene as seen in the offset and disrupted upper Quaternary strata, seafloor displacement, and deformation within sediment cores taken close to the seafloor expression of the faults. Data suggest that the present DMFZ and the re-activated Leech River Fault may be part of the same fault system. Based on the length and previously estimated slip rates of the fault zone in Washington State, the DMFZ appears to have the potential of producing a strong earthquake, perhaps as large as magnitude 7.5 or greater, within 2 km of the city of Victoria.

Heterogeneity in the Fault Damage Zone: a Field Study on the Borrego Fault, B.C., Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostermeijer, G.; Mitchell, T. M.; Dorsey, M. T.; Browning, J.; Rockwell, T. K.; Aben, F. M.; Fletcher, J. M.; Brantut, N.

2017-12-01

The nature and distribution of damage around faults, and its impacts on fault zone properties has been a hot topic of research over the past decade. Understanding the mechanisms that control the formation of off fault damage can shed light on the processes during the seismic cycle, and the nature of fault zone development. Recent published work has identified three broad zones of damage around most faults based on the type, intensity, and extent of fracturing; Tip, Wall, and Linking damage. Although these zones are able to adequately characterise the general distribution of damage, little has been done to identify the nature of damage heterogeneity within those zones, often simplifying the distribution to fit log-normal linear decay trends. Here, we attempt to characterise the distribution of fractures that make up the wall damage around seismogenic faults. To do so, we investigate an extensive two dimensional fracture network exposed on a river cut platform along the Borrego Fault, BC, Mexico, 5m wide, and extending 20m from the fault core into the damage zone. High resolution fracture mapping of the outcrop, covering scales ranging three orders of magnitude (cm to m), has allowed for detailed observations of the 2D damage distribution within the fault damage zone. Damage profiles were obtained along several 1D transects perpendicular to the fault and micro-damage was examined from thin-sections at various locations around the outcrop for comparison. Analysis of the resulting fracture network indicates heterogeneities in damage intensity at decimetre scales resulting from a patchy distribution of high and low intensity corridors and clusters. Such patchiness may contribute to inconsistencies in damage zone widths defined along 1D transects and the observed variability of fracture densities around decay trends. How this distribution develops with fault maturity and the scaling of heterogeneities above and below the observed range will likely play a key role in understanding the evolution of fault damage, it's feedback into the seismic cycle, and impact on fluid migration in fault zones. The dataset from the Borrego Fault offers a unique opportunity to study the distribution of fault damage in-situ, and provide field observations towards improving fault zone models.

The 2010 M w 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake Sequence, Baja California, Mexico and Southernmost California, USA: Active Seismotectonics along the Mexican Pacific Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauksson, Egill; Stock, Joann; Hutton, Kate; Yang, Wenzheng; Vidal-Villegas, J. Antonio; Kanamori, Hiroo

2011-08-01

The El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake sequence started with a few foreshocks in March 2010, and a second sequence of 15 foreshocks of M > 2 (up to M4.4) that occurred during the 24 h preceding the mainshock. The foreshocks occurred along a north-south trend near the mainshock epicenter. The M w 7.2 mainshock on April 4 exhibited complex faulting, possibly starting with a ~M6 normal faulting event, followed ~15 s later by the main event, which included simultaneous normal and right-lateral strike-slip faulting. The aftershock zone extends for 120 km from the south end of the Elsinore fault zone north of the US-Mexico border almost to the northern tip of the Gulf of California. The waveform-relocated aftershocks form two abutting clusters, each about 50 km long, as well as a 10 km north-south aftershock zone just north of the epicenter of the mainshock. Even though the Baja California data are included, the magnitude of completeness and the hypocentral errors increase gradually with distance south of the international border. The spatial distribution of large aftershocks is asymmetric with five M5+ aftershocks located to the south of the mainshock, and only one M5.7 aftershock, but numerous smaller aftershocks to the north. Further, the northwest aftershock cluster exhibits complex faulting on both northwest and northeast planes. Thus, the aftershocks also express a complex pattern of stress release along strike. The overall rate of decay of the aftershocks is similar to the rate of decay of a generic California aftershock sequence. In addition, some triggered seismicity was recorded along the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults to the north, but significant northward migration of aftershocks has not occurred. The synthesis of the El Mayor-Cucapah sequence reveals transtensional regional tectonics, including the westward growth of the Mexicali Valley and the transfer of Pacific-North America plate motion from the Gulf of California in the south into the southernmost San Andreas fault system to the north. We propose that the location of the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah, as well as the 1992 Landers and 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes, may have been controlled by the bends in the plate boundary.

The Honey Lake fault zone, northeastern California: Its nature, age, and displacement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wagner, D.L.; Saucedo, G.J.; Grose, T.L.T.

The Honey Lake fault zone of northeastern California is composed of en echelon, northwest trending faults that form the boundary between the Sierra Nevada and the Basin Ranges provinces. As such the Honey Lake fault zone can be considered part of the Sierra Nevada frontal fault system. It is also part of the Walker Lane of Nevada. Faults of the Honey Lake zone are vertical with right-lateral oblique displacements. The cumulative vertical component of displacement along the fault zone is on the order of 800 m and right-lateral displacement is at least 10 km (6 miles) but could be considerablymore » more. Oligocene to Miocene (30 to 22 Ma) age rhyolite tuffs can be correlated across the zone, but mid-Miocene andesites do not appear to be correlative indicating the faulting began in early to mid-Miocene time. Volcanic rocks intruded along faults of the zone, dated at 16 to 8 Ma, further suggest that faulting in the Honey Lake zone was initiated during mid-Miocene time. Late Quaternary to Holocene activity is indicated by offset of the 12,000 year old Lake Lahontan high stand shoreline and the surface rupture associated with the 1950 Fort Sage earthquake.« less

Weak ductile shear zone beneath the western North Anatolian Fault Zone: inferences from earthquake cycle model constrained by geodetic observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamasaki, T.; Wright, T. J.; Houseman, G. A.

2013-12-01

After large earthquakes, rapid postseismic transient motions are commonly observed. Later in the loading cycle, strain is typically focused in narrow regions around the fault. In simple two-layer models of the loading cycle for strike-slip faults, rapid post-seismic transients require low viscosities beneath the elastic layer, but localized strain later in the cycle implies high viscosities in the crust. To explain this apparent paradox, complex transient rheologies have been invoked. Here we test an alternative hypothesis in which spatial variations in material properties of the crust can explain the geodetic observations. We use a 3D viscoelastic finite element code to examine two simple models of periodic fault slip: a stratified model in which crustal viscosity decreases exponentially with depth below an upper elastic layer, and a block model in which a low viscosity domain centered beneath the fault is embedded in a higher viscosity background representing normal crust. We test these models using GPS data acquired before and after the 1999 Izmit/Duzce earthquakes on the North Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey). The model with depth-dependent viscosity can show both high postseismic velocities, and preseismic localization of the deformation, if the viscosity contrast from top to bottom of layer exceeds a factor of about 104. However, with no lateral variations in viscosity, this model cannot explain the proximity to the fault of maximum postseismic velocities. In contrast, the model which includes a localized weak zone beneath the faulted elastic lid can explain all the observations, if the weak zone extends down to mid-crustal levels and outward to 10 or 20 km from the fault. The non-dimensional ratio of relaxation time to earthquake repeat time, τ/Δt, is the critical parameter in controlling the observed deformation. In the weak-zone model, τ/Δt should be in the range 0.005 to 0.01 in the weak domain, and larger than ~ 1.0 elsewhere. This implies a viscosity in the weak zone of ~ 1018×0.3 Pa s, and larger than ~ 1020 Pa s outside this region. Models with sharp boundaries to the weak zone fit the data better than those with a smooth increase of viscosity away from the fault. Thus abrupt changes in material properties, such as those that might result from grain-size reduction, may be required in addition to any effect from shear heating. Unlike some previous models, we do not require non-linear stress-dependent viscosities. Our models imply that geodetic strain rates decay to a quasi-steady state within about 10% of the inter-earthquake period (years or decades) and that interseismic geodetic observations can therefore be used to infer the long-term geological slip rate, provided there has not been a recent earthquake. Rheologies inferred from postseismic studies alone likely reflect the rheology of the weak zone beneath the fault, and should not be used to infer the strength profile of normal lithosphere.

Subsurface geometry and evolution of the Seattle fault zone and the Seattle Basin, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

ten Brink, Uri S.; Molzer, P.C.; Fisher, M.A.; Blakely, R.J.; Bucknam, R.C.; Parsons, T.; Crosson, R.S.; Creager, K.C.

2002-01-01

The Seattle fault, a large, seismically active, east-west-striking fault zone under Seattle, is the best-studied fault within the tectonically active Puget Lowland in western Washington, yet its subsurface geometry and evolution are not well constrained. We combine several analysis and modeling approaches to study the fault geometry and evolution, including depth-converted, deep-seismic-reflection images, P-wave-velocity field, gravity data, elastic modeling of shoreline uplift from a late Holocene earthquake, and kinematic fault restoration. We propose that the Seattle thrust or reverse fault is accompanied by a shallow, antithetic reverse fault that emerges south of the main fault. The wedge enclosed by the two faults is subject to an enhanced uplift, as indicated by the boxcar shape of the shoreline uplift from the last major earthquake on the fault zone. The Seattle Basin is interpreted as a flexural basin at the footwall of the Seattle fault zone. Basin stratigraphy and the regional tectonic history lead us to suggest that the Seattle fault zone initiated as a reverse fault during the middle Miocene, concurrently with changes in the regional stress field, to absorb some of the north-south shortening of the Cascadia forearc. Kingston Arch, 30 km north of the Seattle fault zone, is interpreted as a more recent disruption arising within the basin, probably due to the development of a blind reverse fault.

Regional Characteristics of Stress State of Main Seismic Active Faults in Mid-Northern Part of Sichuan-Yunnan Block

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiwei, W.; Yaling, W.

2017-12-01

We restore the seismic source spectrums of 1012 earthquakes(2.0 ≤ ML ≤ 5.0) in the mid-northern part of Sichuan-Yunnan seismic block(26 ° N-33 ° N, 99 ° E-104 ° E),then calculate the source parameters.Based on the regional seismic tectonic background, the distribution of active faults and seismicity, the study area is divided into four statistical units (Z1 Jinshajiang and Litang fault zone, Z2 Xianshuihe fault zone, Z3 Anninghe-Zemuhe fault zone, Z4 Lijiang-Xiaojinhe fault zone). Seismic source stress drop results show the following, (1)The stress at the end of the Jinshajiang fault is low, strong earthquake activity rare.Stress-strain loading deceases gradually from northwest to southeast along Litang fault, the northwest section which is relatively locked is more likely to accumulate strain than southeast section. (2)Stress drop of Z2 is divided by Kangding, the southern section is low and northern section is high. Southern section (Kangding-Shimian) is difficult to accumulate higher strain in the short term, but in northern section (Garzê-Kangding), moderate and strong earthquakes have not filled the gaps of seismic moment release, there is still a high stress accumulation in partial section. (3)High stress-drop events were concentrated on Z3, strain accumulation of this unit is strong, and stress level is the highest, earthquake risk is high. (4)On Z4, stress drop characteristics of different magnitude earthquakes are not the same, which is related to complex tectonic setting, the specific reasons still need to be discussed deeply.The study also show that, (1)Stress drops display a systematic change with different faults and locations, high stress-drop events occurs mostly on the fault intersection area. Faults without locking condition and mainly creep, are mainly characterized by low stress drop. (2)Contrasting to what is commonly thought that "strike-slip faults are not easy to accumulate stress ", Z2 and Z3 all exhibit high stress levels, which may be due to that the magnitude and intensity of medium-strong earthquakes are not enough to release the accumulated energy. On the other hand, when the tectonic unit blocking fault movement and its contribution to accumulation of stress play a key role, the earthquake of same magnitude will release higher stress drop.

Seismic Velocity and Elastic Properties of Plate Boundary Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeppson, Tamara N.

The elastic properties of fault zone rock at depth play a key role in rupture nucleation, propagation, and the magnitude of fault slip. Materials that lie within major plate boundary fault zones often have very different material properties than standard crustal rock values. In order to understand the mechanics of faulting at plate boundaries, we need to both measure these properties and understand how they govern the behavior of different types of faults. Mature fault zones tend to be identified in large-scale geophysical field studies as zones with low seismic velocity and/or electrical resistivity. These anomalous properties are related to two important mechanisms: (1) mechanical or diagenetic alteration of the rock materials and/or (2) pore fluid pressure and stress effects. However, in remotely-sensed and large-length-scale data it is difficult to determine which of these mechanisms are affecting the measured properties. The objective of this dissertation research is to characterize the seismic velocity and elastic properties of fault zone rocks at a range of scales, with a focus on understanding why the fault zone properties are different from those of the surrounding rock and the potential effects on earthquake rupture and fault slip. To do this I performed ultrasonic velocity experiments under elevated pressure conditions on drill core and outcrops samples from three plate boundary fault zones: the San Andreas Fault, California, USA; the Alpine Fault, South Island, New Zealand; and the Japan Trench megathrust, Japan. Additionally, I compared laboratory measurements to sonic log and large-scale seismic data to examine the scale-dependence of the measured properties. The results of this study provide the most comprehensive characterization of the seismic velocities and elastic properties of fault zone rocks currently available. My work shows that fault zone rocks at mature plate boundary faults tend to be significantly more compliant than surrounding crustal rocks and quantifies that relationship. The results of this study are particularly relevant to the interpretation of field-scale seismic datasets at major fault zones. Additionally, the results of this study provide constraints on elastic properties used in dynamic rupture models.

On the initiation of subduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, Steve; Phillips, Roger J.

1991-01-01

Estimates of shear resistance associated with lithospheric thrusting and convergence represent lower bounds on the force necessary to promote trench formation. Three environments proposed as preferential sites of incipient subduction are investigated: passive continental margins, transform faults/fracture zones, and extinct ridges. None of these are predicted to convert into subduction zones simply by the accumulation of local gravitational stresses. Subduction cannot initiate through the foundering of dense oceanic lithosphere immediately adjacent to passive continental margins. The attempted subduction of buoyant material at a mature trench can result in large compressional forces in both subducting and overriding plates. This is the only tectonic force sufficient to trigger the nucleation of a new subduction zone. The ubiquitous distribution of transform faults and fracture zones, combined with the common proximity of these features to mature subduction complexes, suggests that they may represent the most likely sites of trench formation if they are even marginally weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.

Fault zone reverberations from cross-correlations of earthquake waveforms and seismic noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillers, Gregor; Campillo, Michel

2016-03-01

Seismic wavefields interact with low-velocity fault damage zones. Waveforms of ballistic fault zone head waves, trapped waves, reflected waves and signatures of trapped noise can provide important information on structural and mechanical fault zone properties. Here we extend the class of observable fault zone waves and reconstruct in-fault reverberations or multiples in a strike-slip faulting environment. Manifestations of the reverberations are significant, consistent wave fronts in the coda of cross-correlation functions that are obtained from scattered earthquake waveforms and seismic noise recorded by a linear fault zone array. The physical reconstruction of Green's functions is evident from the high similarity between the signals obtained from the two different scattered wavefields. Modal partitioning of the reverberation wavefield can be tuned using different data normalization techniques. The results imply that fault zones create their own ambiance, and that the here reconstructed reverberations are a key seismic signature of wear zones. Using synthetic waveform modelling we show that reverberations can be used for the imaging of structural units by estimating the location, extend and magnitude of lateral velocity contrasts. The robust reconstruction of the reverberations from noise records suggests the possibility to resolve the response of the damage zone material to various external and internal loading mechanisms.

Geological process of the slow earthquakes -A hypothesis from an ancient plate boundary fault rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitamura, Y.; Kimura, G.; Kawabata, K.

2012-12-01

We present an integrated model of the deformation along the subduction plate boundary from the trench to the seismogenic zone. Over years of field based research in the Shimanto Belt accretionary complex, southwest Japan, yielded breaking-through discoveries on plate boundary processes, for example, the first finding of pseudotachylyte in the accretionary prism (Ikesawa et al., 2003). Our aim here is to unveil the geological aspects of slow earthquakes and the related plate boundary processes. Studied tectonic mélanges in the Shimanto Belt are regarded as fossils of plate boundary fault zone in subduction zone. We traced material from different depths along subduction channel using samples from on-land outcrops and ocean drilling cores. As a result, a series of progressive deformation down to the down-dip limit of the seismogenic zone was revealed. Detailed geological survey and structural analyses enabled us to separate superimposed deformation events during subduction. Material involved in the plate boundary deformation is mainly an alternation of sand and mud. As they have different competency and are suffered by simple shear stress field, sandstones break apart in flowing mudstones. We distinguished several stages of these deformations in sandstones and recognized progress in the intensity of deformation with increment of underthrusting. It is also known that the studied Mugi mélange bears pseudotachylyte in its upper bounding fault. Our conclusion illustrates that the subduction channel around the depth of the seismogenic zone forms a thick plate boundary fault zone, where there is a clear segregation in deformation style: a fast and episodic slip at the upper boundary fault and a slow and continuous deformation within the zone. The former fast deformation corresponds to the plate boundary earthquakes and the latter to the slow earthquakes. We further examined numerically whether this plate boundary fault rock is capable of releasing seismic moment enough to fit the observed slow earthquakes. The shallow very low frequent earthquakes (VLFs) are chosen to be modeled and our estimation satisfies the natural data. We emphasize that the plate boundary is not a plane but a zone. Geological setting is a clue for differentiating slow and normal earthquakes. We propose to focus on the three-dimensional fault zone comprising numbers of microfaults as the source of slow earthquakes instead of planar plate boundary. Our results also make an impact on the study of seismic energy balance because we show a possibility to give an absolute value of them from geological approach, which could not have been achieved with seismology.

The interplay of fold mechanisms and basement weaknesses at the transition between Laramide basement-involved arches, north-central Wyoming, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neely, Thomas G.; Erslev, Eric A.

2009-09-01

Horizontally-shortened, basement-involved foreland orogens commonly exhibit anastomosing networks of bifurcating basement highs (here called arches) whose structural culminations are linked by complex transition zones of diversely-oriented faults and folds. The 3D geometry and kinematics of the southern Beartooth arch transition zone of north-central Wyoming were studied to understand the fold mechanisms and control on basement-involved arches. Data from 1581 slickensided minor faults are consistent with a single regional shortening direction of 065°. Evidence for oblique-slip, vertical axis rotations and stress refraction at anomalously-oriented folds suggests formation over reactivated pre-existing weaknesses. Restorable cross-sections and 3D surfaces, constrained by surface, well, and seismic data, document blind, ENE-directed basement thrusting and associated thin-skinned backthrusting and folding along the Beartooth and Oregon Basin fault systems. Between these systems, the basement-cored Rattlesnake Mountain backthrust followed basement weaknesses and rotated a basement chip toward the basin before the ENE-directed Line Creek fault system broke through and connected the Beartooth and Oregon Basin fault systems. Slip was transferred at the terminations of the Rattlesnake Mountain fault block by pivoting to the north and tear faulting to the south. In summary, unidirectional Laramide compression and pre-existing basement weaknesses combined with fault-propagation and rotational fault-bend folding to create an irregular yet continuous basement arch transition.

Fault-zone guided waves from explosions in the San Andreas fault at Parkfield and Cienega Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Li, Y.-G.; Ellsworth, W.L.; Thurber, C.H.; Malin, P.E.; Aki, K.

1997-01-01

Fault-zone guided waves were successfully excited by near-surface explosions in the San Andreas fault zone both at Parkfield and Cienega Valley, central California. The guided waves were observed on linear, three-component seismic arrays deployed across the fault trace. These waves were not excited by explosions located outside the fault zone. The amplitude spectra of guided waves show a maximum peak at 2 Hz at Parkfield and 3 Hz at Cienega Valley. The guided wave amplitude decays sharply with observation distance from the fault trace. The explosion-excited fault-zone guided waves are similar to those generated by earthquakes at Parkfield but have lower frequencies and travel more slowly. These observations suggest that the fault-zone wave guide has lower seismic velocities as it approaches the surface at Parkfield. We have modeled the waveforms as S waves trapped in a low-velocity wave guide sandwiched between high-velocity wall rocks, resulting in Love-type fault-zone guided waves. While the results are nonunique, the Parkfield data are adequately fit by a shallow wave guide 170 m wide with an S velocity 0.85 km/sec and an apparent Q ??? 30 to 40. At Cienega Valley, the fault-zone wave guide appears to be about 120 m wide with an S velocity 0.7 km/sec and a Q ??? 30.

Geologic evolution of the Kastel trough and its implications on the Adiyaman oil fields, SE Turkey

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coskun, Bu.

1990-05-01

Oil field developments of the Adiyaman area one of the main oil producing zones in southeast Turkey, have been highly influenced by geologic evolution of the Kastel trough which is situated in front of the suture zone between the Arabian and Anatolian plates. The Upper Cretaceous movements created many paleostructural trends in the Kastel trough where important dolomitic and porous reservoirs exist. The most important tectonic event, which appeared during the Upper Cretaceous movements, is the accumulation of the Kocali-Karadut ophiolitic complex, advancing from the north to the south in the Kastel trough, where heavy materials caused formation of amore » structural model favoring generation and migration and entrapment of oil in the reservoir rocks. Due to the presence of the Kocali-Karadut complex in the Kastel trough the following zones have been distinguished. (1) North Uplift Area. Situated under the allochthonous units, many thrust and reverse faults characterize this zone. The presence of paleohighs, where primary dolomites develop, allows the appearance of some oil fields in the region. This is the main future exploration zone in southeast Turkey. (2) Accumulation Area. Advancing from the north to the south, the allochthonous Kocali-Karadut complex filled the Kastel trough creating a deep graben whose flanks present generally normal faults. (3) Structural Belt. Important paleohighs constitute an exploration trend in this zone where dolomitic and porous carbonates contain actual oil fields. (4) South Accumulation Area. Distant from the Arabian-Anatolian suture zone, regional tectonics and sedimentology show this zone remained deeply buried during geologic time; good source rocks were deposited during the Cretaceous. (5) South Uplift Area. This area corresponds to the northern flank of the huge regional Mardin high in southeast Turkey where new oil fields have been discovered.« less

Shallow seismic structure of Kunlun fault zone in northern Tibetan Plateau, China: Implications for the 2001 M s8.1 Kunlun earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wang, Chun-Yong; Mooney, W.D.; Ding, Z.; Yang, J.; Yao, Z.; Lou, H.

2009-01-01

The shallow seismic velocity structure of the Kunlun fault zone (KLFZ) was jointly deduced from seismic refraction profiling and the records of trapped waves that were excited by five explosions. The data were collected after the 2001 Kunlun M s8.1 earthquake in the northern Tibetan Plateau. Seismic phases for the in-line record sections (26 records up to a distance of 15 km) along the fault zone were analysed, and 1-D P- and S-wave velocity models of shallow crust within the fault zone were determined by using the seismic refraction method. Sixteen seismic stations were deployed along the off-line profile perpendicular to the fault zone. Fault-zone trapped waves appear clearly on the record sections, which were simulated with a 3-D finite difference algorithm. Quantitative analysis of the correlation coefficients of the synthetic and observed trapped waveforms indicates that the Kunlun fault-zone width is 300 m, and S-wave quality factor Q within the fault zone is 15. Significantly, S-wave velocities within the fault zone are reduced by 30-45 per cent from surrounding rocks to a depth of at least 1-2 km, while P-wave velocities are reduced by 7-20 per cent. A fault-zone with such P- and S-low velocities is an indication of high fluid pressure because Vs is affected more than Vp. The low-velocity and low-Q zone in the KLFZ model is the effect of multiple ruptures along the fault trace of the 2001 M s8.1 Kunlun earthquake. ?? 2009 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2009 RAS.

Structural Evolution of Transform Fault Zones in Thick Oceanic Crust of Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J. A.; Brandsdottir, B.; Horst, A. J.; Farrell, J.

2017-12-01

Spreading centers in Iceland are offset from the regional trend of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by the Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in the north and the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) in the south. Rift propagation away from the center of the Iceland hotspot, has resulted in migration of these transform faults to the N and S, respectively. As they migrate, new transform faults develop in older crust between offset spreading centers. Active transform faults, and abandoned transform structures left in their wakes, show features that reflect different amounts (and durations) of slip that can be viewed as a series of snapshots of different stages of transform fault evolution in thick, oceanic crust. This crust has a highly anisotropic, spreading fabric with pervasive zones of weakness created by spreading-related normal faults, fissures and dike margins oriented parallel to the spreading centers where they formed. These structures have a strong influence on the mechanical properties of the crust. By integrating available data, we suggest a series of stages of transform development: 1) Formation of an oblique rift (or leaky transform) with magmatic centers, linked by bookshelf fault zones (antithetic strike-slip faults at a high angle to the spreading direction) (Grimsey Fault Zone, youngest part of the TFZ); 2) broad zone of conjugate faulting (tens of km) (Hreppar Block N of the SISZ); 3) narrower ( 20 km) zone of bookshelf faulting aligned with the spreading direction (SISZ); 4) mature, narrow ( 1 km) through-going transform fault zone bounded by deformation (bookshelf faulting and block rotations) distributed over 10 km to either side (Húsavík-Flatey Fault Zone in the TFZ). With progressive slip, the transform zone becomes progressively narrower and more closely aligned with the spreading direction. The transform and non-transform (beyond spreading centers) domains may be truncated by renewed propagation and separated by subsequent spreading. This perspective provides an analog for the evolution of migrating transforms along mid-ocean ridge spreading centers or other places where plate boundary rearrangements result in the formation of a new transform fault in highly anisotropic oceanic crust.

Earthquake Rupture at Focal Depth, Part I: Structure and Rupture of the Pretorius Fault, TauTona Mine, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heesakkers, V.; Murphy, S.; Reches, Z.

2011-12-01

We analyze the structure of the Archaean Pretorius fault in TauTona mine, South Africa, as well as the rupture-zone that recently reactivated it. The analysis is part of the Natural Earthquake Laboratory in South African Mines (NELSAM) project that utilizes the access to 3.6 km depth provided by the mining operations. The Pretorius fault is a ~10 km long, oblique-strike-slip fault with displacement of up to 200 m that crosscuts fine to very coarse grain quartzitic rocks in TauTona mine. We identify here three structural zones within the fault-zone: (1) an outer damage zone, ~100 m wide, of brittle deformation manifested by multiple, widely spaced fractures and faults with slip up to 3 m; (2) an inner damage zone, 25-30 m wide, with high density of anastomosing conjugate sets of fault segments and fractures, many of which carry cataclasite zones; and (3) a dominant segment, with a cataclasite zone up to 50 cm thick that accommodated most of the Archaean slip of the Pretorius fault, and is regarded as the `principal slip zone' (PSZ). This fault-zone structure indicates that during its Archaean activity, the Pretorius fault entered the mature fault stage in which many slip events were localized along a single, PSZ. The mining operations continuously induce earthquakes, including the 2004, M2.2 event that rejuvenated the Pretorius fault in the NELSAM project area. Our analysis of the M2.2 rupture-zone shows that (1) slip occurred exclusively along four, pre-existing large, quasi-planer segments of the ancient fault-zone; (2) the slipping segments contain brittle cataclasite zones up to 0.5 m thick; (3) these segments are not parallel to each other; (4) gouge zones, 1-5 mm thick, composed of white `rock-flour' formed almost exclusively along the cataclasite-host rock contacts of the slipping segments; (5) locally, new, fresh fractures branched from the slipping segments and propagated in mixed shear-tensile mode; (6) the maximum observed shear displacement is 25 mm in oblique-normal slip. The mechanical analysis of this rupture-zone is presented in Part II (H eesakkers et al., Earthquake Rupture at Focal Depth, Part II: Mechanics of the 2004 M2.2 Earthquake Along the Pretorius Fault, TauTona mine, South Africa 2011, this volume).

Surface faulting along the Superstition Hills fault zone and nearby faults associated with the earthquakes of 24 November 1987

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sharp, R.V.

1989-01-01

The M6.2 Elmore Desert Ranch earthquake of 24 November 1987 was associated spatially and probably temporally with left-lateral surface rupture on many northeast-trending faults in and near the Superstition Hills in western Imperial Valley. Three curving discontinuous principal zones of rupture among these breaks extended northeastward from near the Superstition Hills fault zone as far as 9km; the maximum observed surface slip, 12.5cm, was on the northern of the three, the Elmore Ranch fault, at a point near the epicenter. Twelve hours after the Elmore Ranch earthquake, the M6.6 Superstition Hills earthquake occurred near the northwest end of the right-lateral Superstition Hills fault zone. We measured displacements over 339 days at as many as 296 sites along the Superstition Hills fault zone, and repeated measurements at 49 sites provided sufficient data to fit with a simple power law. The overall distributions of right-lateral displacement at 1 day and the estimated final slip are nearly symmetrical about the midpoint of the surface rupture. The average estimated final right-lateral slip for the Superstition Hills fault zone is ~54cm. The average left-lateral slip for the conjugate faults trending northeastward is ~23cm. The southernmost ruptured member of the Superstition Hills fault zone, newly named the Wienert fault, extends the known length of the zone by about 4km. -from Authors

Active faulting on the Wallula fault zone within the Olympic-Wallowa lineament, Washington State, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sherrod, Brian; Blakely, Richard J.; Lasher, John P.; Lamb, Andrew P.; Mahan, Shannon; Foit, Franklin F.; Barnett, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

The Wallula fault zone is an integral feature of the Olympic-Wallowa lineament, an ∼500-km-long topographic lineament oblique to the Cascadia plate boundary, extending from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Walla Walla, Washington. The structure and past earthquake activity of the Wallula fault zone are important because of nearby infrastructure, and also because the fault zone defines part of the Olympic-Wallowa lineament in south-central Washington and suggests that the Olympic-Wallowa lineament may have a structural origin. We used aeromagnetic and ground magnetic data to locate the trace of the Wallula fault zone in the subsurface and map a quarry exposure of the Wallula fault zone near Finley, Washington, to investigate past earthquakes along the fault. We mapped three main packages of rocks and unconsolidated sediments in an ∼10-m-high quarry exposure. Our mapping suggests at least three late Pleistocene earthquakes with surface rupture, and an episode of liquefaction in the Holocene along the Wallula fault zone. Faint striae on the master fault surface are subhorizontal and suggest reverse dextral oblique motion for these earthquakes, consistent with dextral offset on the Wallula fault zone inferred from offset aeromagnetic anomalies associated with ca. 8.5 Ma basalt dikes. Magnetic surveys show that the Wallula fault actually lies 350 m to the southwest of the trace shown on published maps, passes directly through deformed late Pleistocene or younger deposits exposed at Finley quarry, and extends uninterrupted over 120 km.

Variable post-Paleozoic deformation detected by seismic reflection profiling across the northwestern "prong" of New Madrid seismic zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

McBride, J.H.; Pugin, Andre J.M.; Nelson, W.J.; Larson, T.H.; Sargent, S.L.; Devera, J.A.; Denny, F.B.; Woolery, E.W.

2003-01-01

High-resolution shallow seismic reflection profiles across the northwesternmost part of the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) and northwestern margin of the Reelfoot rift, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the northern Mississippi embayment, reveal intense structural deformation that apparently took place during the late Paleozoic and/or Mesozoic up to near the end of the Cretaceous Period. The seismic profiles were sited on both sides of the northeast-trending Olmsted fault, defined by varying elevations of the top of Mississippian (locally base of Cretaceous) bedrock. The trend of this fault is close to and parallel with an unusually straight segment of the Ohio River and is approximately on trend with the westernmost of two groups of northeast-aligned epicenters ("prongs") in the NMSZ. Initially suspected on the basis of pre-existing borehole data, the deformation along the fault has been confirmed by four seismic reflection profiles, combined with some new information from drilling. The new data reveal (1) many high-angle normal and reverse faults expressed as narrow grabens and anticlines (suggesting both extensional and compressional regimes) that involved the largest displacements during the late Cretaceous (McNairy); (2) a different style of deformation involving probably more horizontal displacements (i.e., thrusting) that occurred at the end of this phase near the end of McNairy deposition, with some fault offsets of Paleocene and younger units; (3) zones of steeply dipping faults that bound chaotic blocks similar to that observed previously from the nearby Commerce geophysical lineament (CGL); and (4) complex internal deformation stratigraphically restricted to the McNairy, suggestive of major sediment liquefaction or landsliding. Our results thus confirm the prevalence of complex Cretaceous deformations continuing up into Tertiary strata near the northern terminus of the NMSZ. ?? 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Fluid-rock interaction recorded in fault rocks of the Nobeoka Thrust, fossilized megasplay fault in an ancient accretionary complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, R.; Yamaguchi, A.; Fukuchi, R.; Kitamura, Y.; Kimura, G.; Hamada, Y.; Ashi, J.; Ishikawa, T.

2017-12-01

The relationship between faulting and fluid behavior has been in debate. In this study, we clarify the fluid-rock interaction in the Nobeoka Thrust by major/trace element composition analysis using the boring core of the Nobeoka Thrust, an exhumed analogue of an ancient megasplay fault in Shimanto accretionary complex, southwest Japan. The hanging wall and the footwall of the Nobeoka Thrust show difference in lithology and metamorphic grade, and their maximum burial temperature is estimated from vitrinite reflectance analysis to be 320 330°C and 250 270°C, respectively (Kondo et al., 2005). The fault zone was formed in a fluid-rich condition, as evidenced by warm fluid migration suggested by fluid inclusion analysis (Kondo et al., 2005), implosion brecciation accompanied by carbonate precipitation followed by formation of pseudotachylyte (Okamoto et al., 2006), ankerite veins coseismically formed under reducing conditions (Yamaguchi et al., 2011), and quartz veins recording stress rotation in seismic cycles (Otsubo et al., 2016). In this study, first we analyzed the major/trace element composition across the principal slip zone (PSZ) of the Nobeoka Thrust by using fragments of borehole cores penetrated through the Nobeoka Thrust. Many elements fluctuated just above the PSZ, whereas K increase and Na, Si decrease suggesting illitization of plagioclase, as well as positive anomalies in Li and Cs were found within the PSZ. For more detail understanding, we observed polished slabs and thin sections of the PSZ. Although grain size reduction of deformed clast and weak development of foliation were observed entirely in the PSZ by macroscopic observation, remarkable development of composite planar fabric nor evidence of friction melting were absent. In this presentation, we show the result of major/trace element composition corresponding to the internal structure of PSZ, and discuss fluid-rock interaction and its impact to megasplay fault activity in subduction zones.

Evidence of a major fault zone along the California-Nevada state line 35 deg 30 min to 36 deg 30 min north latitude

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liggett, M. A.; Childs, J. F.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Geologic reconnaissance guided by analysis of ERTS-1 and Apollo-9 satellite imagery and intermediate scale photography from X-15 and U-2 aircraft has confirmed the presence of a major fault zone along the California-Nevada state line, between 35 deg 30 min and 36 deg 30 min north latitude. The name Pahrump Fault Zone has been suggested for this feature after the valley in which it is best exposed. Field reconnaissance has indicated the existence of previously unreported faults cutting bedrock along range fronts, and displacing Tertiary and Quaternary basin sediments. Gravity data support the interpretation of regional structural discontinuity along this zone. Individual fault traces within the Pahrump Fault Zone form generally left-stepping en echelon patterns. These fault patterns, the apparent offset of a Laramide age thrust fault, and possible drag folding along a major fault break suggest a component of right lateral displacement. The trend and postulated movement of the Pahrump Fault Zone are similar to the adjacent Las Vegas Shear Zone and Death Valley-Furnace Creek Faults, which are parts of a regional strike slip system in the southern Basin-Range Province.

Deformation Record Associated To The Valdoviño Fault (Variscan Orogeny, NW Iberia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llana-Funez, S.; Fernández, F. J.

2013-12-01

The Valdoviño Fault is a subvertical left-lateral strike-slip fault that exceeding a hundred kms in length formed in the late stages of the Variscan orogeny in NW Iberia. The fault cuts through the pile of allochthonous thrust sheets that conform the suture zone of the orogen and constitutes the eastern boundary of one of them, the Ordenes complex. In the section along the Atlantic coast, the fault core has a thickness of about 100 m in width with foliated rocks showing a subvertical attitude. It is formed by several rock types, beginning from the west these are: coarse grained foliated granitoids, tectonic breccia with fragments of high grade mafic rocks, fine-grained gneiss, serpentinites, fine-grained amphibolites and two-mica granites. The fault zone samples some of the lithologies found to the base of the Ordenes complex, emplaced and deformed prior to the nucleation of the Valdoviño Fault. Intense deformation produces extreme grain comminution particularly in felsic and basic rocks. Planolinear fabrics are predominant, with a subhorizontal lineation. The intensity of the deformation and the reduction in thickness of the various lithotypes is interpreted as indicative of the amount of strain accumulated during its tectonic history. Two types of tectonites stand out along the trace of the fault: the tectonic breccias at the coastal section (nucleated in basic rocks and in serpentinites) and the SC fabrics in syntectonic granitoids. Both evidence different deformation conditions during the activity of the fault. The band of tectonic breccias developed in basic rocks is a few meters thick and has a number of mm-thick ultracataclasites cutting sharply the breccia. The ultracataclasites show one straight side that cuts through the various components of the breccias (either earlier fault rocks as fragments of metabasites). The slipping surfaces all have a subvertical attitude consistent to the current orientation of the major fault. Earlier ultracataclastic bands are fractured and deformed prior to be overprinted by late ultracataclastic bands, indicating that the fracturing process that produces the extreme grain comminution was recurrent and repeated in time. These slipping surfaces show no clear indication about the sense of shear during fast movements, although more distributed cataclastic deformation in between single slip events seem compatible in places with left-lateral movement. The Valdoviño fault is intruded by two types of granitoids: granodiorites and two-mica granites. Courrieux (1984) showed the distribution in map view of sinistral SC fabrics, predominantly in the granitoid to the east of the Valdoviño Fault. Towards the core of the fault zone strain intensity increases to the point of obliterating the S fabric, developing thicker shear zones with extreme grain size reduction. Isolated mica fish and porphyroclasts of feldspar indicate clearly a left-lateral sense of shear. Work in progress aims to relate the timing of the slip events in the basic breccias with respect to the development of ultramilonitic SC fabrics in the granitoids. Ultimately we aim to establish the nature and conditions of tectonic activity along the Valdoviño Fault.

Formation of an active thrust triangle zone associated with structural inversion in a subduction setting, eastern New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Philip M.; Nicol, Andrew

2004-02-01

We analyze a thrust triangle zone, which underlies the continental shelf of Hawke Bay, eastern New Zealand, within the Hikurangi subduction margin. This triangle zone differs from many other examples in that it is active, 90 km from the leading edge of the overriding plate, and formed due to polyphase deformation involving opposed dipping thrust duplex and backthrust, with the later structure forming in response to inversion of an extensional graben. The component structures of the zone mainly developed sequentially rather than synchronously. High-quality marine seismic reflection lines, tied to well and seabed samples, reveal the three-dimensional structure of the zone, together with its 25 Myr evolution and late Quaternary activity. The triangle zone occurs in the lateral overlap between a stack of NW dipping blind thrusts, and a principal backthrust, the Kidnappers fault. The NW dipping thrusts initiated in the early-middle Miocene during the early stages of subduction, with subsequent thrust duplex formation producing major uplift and erosion in the late Miocene-early Pliocene. The active backthrust formed during the late Miocene to early Pliocene as a thin-skinned listric extensional fault confined to the cover sequence. Structural inversion of the extensional fault commenced in the early-middle Pliocene, produced the backthrust and marks the formation of the thrust triangle zone. The thrust duplex and backthrust accrued strain following inversion; however, the later structure accommodated most of the surface deformation in the Quaternary. Section balancing of the triangle zone together with a detailed analysis of reverse displacements along the backthrust reveal spatial and temporal variations of strain accumulation on the two principal components of the zone. Although the formation of the triangle zone is strongly influenced by regional tectonics of the subduction system, these variations may also, in part, reflect local fault interaction. For example, high Quaternary displacement rates on the backthrust accounts for ˜70% of the displacement loss that occurs on the southern segments of the overlapping, Lachlan fault. Understanding the tectonic evolution of such complex, polyphase thrust triangle zones requires the preservation of growth strata that record sequential deformation history. In the absence of such data, synchroneity of opposed dipping thrusts in triangle zones cannot be assumed.

Synthetic velocity gradient map of the San Francisco Bay region, California, supports use of average block velocities to estimate fault slip rate where effective locking depth is small relative to inter-fault distance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graymer, R. W.; Simpson, R. W.

2014-12-01

Graymer and Simpson (2013, AGU Fall Meeting) showed that in a simple 2D multi-fault system (vertical, parallel, strike-slip faults bounding blocks without strong material property contrasts) slip rate on block-bounding faults can be reasonably estimated by the difference between the mean velocity of adjacent blocks if the ratio of the effective locking depth to the distance between the faults is 1/3 or less ("effective" locking depth is a synthetic parameter taking into account actual locking depth, fault creep, and material properties of the fault zone). To check the validity of that observation for a more complex 3D fault system and a realistic distribution of observation stations, we developed a synthetic suite of GPS velocities from a dislocation model, with station location and fault parameters based on the San Francisco Bay region. Initial results show that if the effective locking depth is set at the base of the seismogenic zone (about 12-15 km), about 1/2 the interfault distance, the resulting synthetic velocity observations, when clustered, do a poor job of returning the input fault slip rates. However, if the apparent locking depth is set at 1/2 the distance to the base of the seismogenic zone, or about 1/4 the interfault distance, the synthetic velocity field does a good job of returning the input slip rates except where the fault is in a strong restraining orientation relative to block motion or where block velocity is not well defined (for example west of the northern San Andreas Fault where there are no observations to the west in the ocean). The question remains as to where in the real world a low effective locking depth could usefully model fault behavior. Further tests are planned to define the conditions where average cluster-defined block velocities can be used to reliably estimate slip rates on block-bounding faults. These rates are an important ingredient in earthquake hazard estimation, and another tool to provide them should be useful.

Aftershocks illuminate the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake causative fault zone and nearby active faults

USGS Publications Warehouse

Horton, J. Wright; Shah, Anjana K.; McNamara, Daniel E.; Snyder, Stephen L.; Carter, Aina M

2015-01-01

Deployment of temporary seismic stations after the 2011 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake produced a well-recorded aftershock sequence. The majority of aftershocks are in a tabular cluster that delineates the previously unknown Quail fault zone. Quail fault zone aftershocks range from ~3 to 8 km in depth and are in a 1-km-thick zone striking ~036° and dipping ~50°SE, consistent with a 028°, 50°SE main-shock nodal plane having mostly reverse slip. This cluster extends ~10 km along strike. The Quail fault zone projects to the surface in gneiss of the Ordovician Chopawamsic Formation just southeast of the Ordovician–Silurian Ellisville Granodiorite pluton tail. The following three clusters of shallow (<3 km) aftershocks illuminate other faults. (1) An elongate cluster of early aftershocks, ~10 km east of the Quail fault zone, extends 8 km from Fredericks Hall, strikes ~035°–039°, and appears to be roughly vertical. The Fredericks Hall fault may be a strand or splay of the older Lakeside fault zone, which to the south spans a width of several kilometers. (2) A cluster of later aftershocks ~3 km northeast of Cuckoo delineates a fault near the eastern contact of the Ordovician Quantico Formation. (3) An elongate cluster of late aftershocks ~1 km northwest of the Quail fault zone aftershock cluster delineates the northwest fault (described herein), which is temporally distinct, dips more steeply, and has a more northeastward strike. Some aftershock-illuminated faults coincide with preexisting units or structures evident from radiometric anomalies, suggesting tectonic inheritance or reactivation.

Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Considering an Active Leech River Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kukovica, J.; Molnar, S.; Ghofrani, H.

2017-12-01

The Leech River fault is situated on Vancouver Island near the city of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The 60km transpressional reverse fault zone runs east to west along the southern tip of Vancouver Island, dividing the lithologic units of Jurassic-Cretaceous Leech River Complex schists to the north and Eocene Metchosin Formation basalts to the south. This fault system poses a considerable hazard due to its proximity to Victoria and 3 major hydroelectric dams. The Canadian seismic hazard model for the 2015 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) considered the fault system to be inactive. However, recent paleoseismic evidence suggests there to be at least 2 surface-rupturing events to have exceeded a moment magnitude (M) of 6.5 within the last 15,000 years (Morell et al. 2017). We perform a Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) for the city of Victoria with consideration of the Leech River fault as an active source. A PSHA for Victoria which replicates the 2015 NBCC estimates is accomplished to calibrate our PSHA procedure. The same seismic source zones, magnitude recurrence parameters, and Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs) are used. We replicate the uniform hazard spectrum for a probability of exceedance of 2% in 50 years for a 500 km radial area around Victoria. An active Leech River fault zone is then added; known length and dip. We are determining magnitude recurrence parameters based on a Gutenberg-Richter relationship for the Leech River fault from various catalogues of the recorded seismicity (M 2-3) within the fault's vicinity and the proposed paleoseismic events. We seek to understand whether inclusion of an active Leech River fault source will significantly increase the probabilistic seismic hazard for Victoria. Morell et al. 2017. Quaternary rupture of a crustal fault beneath Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. GSA Today, 27, doi: 10.1130/GSATG291A.1

What electrical measurements can say about changes in fault systems.

PubMed Central

Madden, T R; Mackie, R L

1996-01-01

Earthquake zones in the upper crust are usually more conductive than the surrounding rocks, and electrical geophysical measurements can be used to map these zones. Magnetotelluric (MT) measurements across fault zones that are parallel to the coast and not too far away can also give some important information about the lower crustal zone. This is because the long-period electric currents coming from the ocean gradually leak into the mantle, but the lower crust is usually very resistive and very little leakage takes place. If a lower crustal zone is less resistive it will be a leakage zone, and this can be seen because the MT phase will change as the ocean currents leave the upper crust. The San Andreas Fault is parallel to the ocean boundary and close enough to have a lot of extra ocean currents crossing the zone. The Loma Prieta zone, after the earthquake, showed a lot of ocean electric current leakage, suggesting that the lower crust under the fault zone was much more conductive than normal. It is hard to believe that water, which is responsible for the conductivity, had time to get into the lower crustal zone, so it was probably always there, but not well connected. If this is true, then the poorly connected water would be at a pressure close to the rock pressure, and it may play a role in modifying the fluid pressure in the upper crust fault zone. We also have telluric measurements across the San Andreas Fault near Palmdale from 1979 to 1990, and beginning in 1985 we saw changes in the telluric signals on the fault zone and east of the fault zone compared with the signals west of the fault zone. These measurements were probably seeing a better connection of the lower crust fluids taking place, and this may result in a fluid flow from the lower crust to the upper crust. This could be a factor in changing the strength of the upper crust fault zone. PMID:11607664

Apparent stress, fault maturity and seismic hazard for normal-fault earthquakes at subduction zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Choy, G.L.; Kirby, S.H.

2004-01-01

The behavior of apparent stress for normal-fault earthquakes at subduction zones is derived by examining the apparent stress (?? a = ??Es/Mo, where E s is radiated energy and Mo is seismic moment) of all globally distributed shallow (depth, ?? 1 MPa) are also generally intraslab, but occur where the lithosphere has just begun subduction beneath the overriding plate. They usually occur in cold slabs near trenches where the direction of plate motion across the trench is oblique to the trench axis, or where there are local contortions or geometrical complexities of the plate boundary. Lower ??a (< 1 MPa) is associated with events occurring at the outer rise (OR) complex (between the OR and the trench axis), as well as with intracrustal events occurring just landward of the trench. The average apparent stress of intraslab-normal-fault earthquakes is considerably higher than the average apparent stress of interplate-thrust-fault earthquakes. In turn, the average ?? a of strike-slip earthquakes in intraoceanic environments is considerably higher than that of intraslab-normal-fault earthquakes. The variation of average ??a with focal mechanism and tectonic regime suggests that the level of ?? a is related to fault maturity. Lower stress drops are needed to rupture mature faults such as those found at plate interfaces that have been smoothed by large cumulative displacements (from hundreds to thousands of kilometres). In contrast, immature faults, such as those on which intraslab-normal-fault earthquakes generally occur, are found in cold and intact lithosphere in which total fault displacement has been much less (from hundreds of metres to a few kilometres). Also, faults on which high ??a oceanic strike-slip earthquakes occur are predominantly intraplate or at evolving ends of transforms. At subduction zones, earthquakes occurring on immature faults are likely to be more hazardous as they tend to generate higher amounts of radiated energy per unit of moment than earthquakes occurring on mature faults. We have identified earthquake pairs in which an interplate-thrust and an intraslab-normal earthquake occurred remarkably close in space and time. The intraslab-normal member of each pair radiated anomalously high amounts of energy compared to its thrust-fault counterpart. These intraslab earthquakes probably ruptured intact slab mantle and are dramatic examples in which Mc (an energy magnitude) is shown to be a far better estimate of the potential for earthquake damage than Mw. This discovery may help explain why loss of life as a result of intraslab earthquakes was greater in the 20th century in Latin America than the fatalities associated with interplate-thrust events that represented much higher total moment release. ?? 2004 RAS.

Micro-scale damage characterized within part of a dismembered positive flower structure, San Jacinto fault, southern California, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peppard, Daniel W.; Webb, Heather N.; Dennis, Kristen; Vierra, Emma; Girty, Gary H.; Rockwell, Thomas K.; Blanton, Chelsea M.; Brown, Jack F.; Goldstein, Ariella I.; Kastama, Keith W.; Korte-Nahabedian, Mark A.; Puckett, Dan; Richter, Addison K.

2018-07-01

To better understand the processes that control sub-grain fracturing in fault damage zones, we studied micro-scale damage in sandstones adjacent to the San Jacinto fault (SJF) where it is exhumed from a total depth of ∼220 m beneath a northeast-verging thrust that comprises part of a relic and dismembered flower structure. The thrust places high grade gneiss of the pre-middle Cretaceous Burnt Valley complex over sedimentary rocks of the Pleistocene Bautista Formation. An ∼10-12 cm thick zone of cataclasite is present along the northeast side of the fault adjacent to a narrow black ultracataclasite core. Non-pervasive microscopic damage, characterized by pulverized sand grains, extends outward from the zone of cataclasites tens of meters. Such textures are better developed in sandstones that contain <18% matrix. Hence, a difference in rheology, rather than proximity to the fault core appears to control deformation patterns in sandstones of the Bautista Formation. At the time of formation, confining pressure is estimated to have been ∼6 MPa; hence, loading produced by over thrusting is not likely the cause of intragranular fragmentation in the footwall. Alternatively, strong oscillating stresses produced during dynamic rupture of large earthquakes on the San Jacinto fault likely caused very high point stresses at grain contacts that allowed for fracturing. Such high point stresses along grain contacts is the primary factor in the development of the observed pulverized grains.

Quaternary crustal deformation along a major branch of the San Andreas fault in central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weber, G.E.; Lajoie, K.R.; Wehmiller, J.F.

1979-01-01

Deformed marine terraces and alluvial deposits record Quaternary crustal deformation along segments of a major, seismically active branch of the San Andreas fault which extends 190 km SSE roughly parallel to the California coastline from Bolinas Lagoon to the Point Sur area. Most of this complex fault zone lies offshore (mapped by others using acoustical techniques), but a 4-km segment (Seal Cove fault) near Half Moon Bay and a 26-km segment (San Gregorio fault) between San Gregorio and Point Ano Nuevo lie onshore. At Half Moon Bay, right-lateral slip and N-S horizontal compression are expressed by a broad, synclinal warp in the first (lowest: 125 ka?) and second marine terraces on the NE side of the Seal Cove fault. This structure plunges to the west at an oblique angle into the fault plane. Linear, joint0controlled stream courses draining the coastal uplands are deflected toward the topographic depression along the synclinal axis where they emerge from the hills to cross the lowest terrace. Streams crossing the downwarped part of this terrace adjacent to Half Moon Bay are depositing alluvial fans, whereas streams crossing the uplifted southern limb of the syncline southwest of the bay are deeply incised. Minimum crustal shortening across this syncline parallel to the fault is 0.7% over the past 125 ka, based on deformation of the shoreline angle of the first terrace. Between San Gregorio and Point Ano Nuevo the entire fault zone is 2.5-3.0 km wide and has three primary traces or zones of faulting consisting of numerous en-echelon and anastomozing secondary fault traces. Lateral discontinuities and variable deformation of well-preserved marine terrace sequences help define major structural blocks and document differential motions in this area and south to Santa Cruz. Vertical displacement occurs on all of the fault traces, but is small compared to horizontal displacement. Some blocks within the fault zone are intensely faulted and steeply tilted. One major block 0.8 km wide east of Point Ano Nuevo is downdropped as much as 20 m between two primary traces to form a graben presently filling with Holocene deposits. Where exposed in the sea cliff, these deposits are folded into a vertical attitude adjacent to the fault plane forming the south-west margin of the graben. Near Point Ano Nuevo sedimentary deposits and fault rubble beneath a secondary high-angle reverse fault record three and possibly six distinct offset events in the past 125 ka. The three primary fault traces offset in a right-lateral sense the shoreline angles of the two lowest terraces east of Point Ano Nuevo. The rates of displacement on the three traces are similar. The average rate of horizontal offset across the entire zone is between 0.63 and 1.30 cm/yr, based on an amino-acid age estimate of 125 ka for the first terrace, and a reasonable guess of 200-400 ka for the second terrace. Rates of this magnitude make up a significant part of the deficit between long-term relative plate motions (estimated by others to be about 6 cm/yr) and present displacement rates along other parts of the San Andreas fault system (about 3.2 cm/yr). Northwestward tilt and convergence of six marine terraces northeast of Ano Nuevo (southwest side of the fault zone) indicate continuous gentle warping associated with right-lateral displacement since early or middle Pleistocene time. Minimum local crustal shortening of this block parallel to the fault is 0.2% based on tilt of the highest terrace. Five major, evenly spaced terraces southeast of Ano Nuevo on the southwest flank of Mt. Ben Lomond (northeast side of the fault zone) rise to an elevation of 240 m, indicating relatively constant uplift (about 0.19 m/ka and southwestward tilt since Early or Middle Pleistocene time (Bradley and Griggs, 1976). ?? 1979.

Fault compaction and overpressured faults: results from a 3-D model of a ductile fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fitzenz, D. D.; Miller, S. A.

2003-10-01

A model of a ductile fault zone is incorporated into a forward 3-D earthquake model to better constrain fault-zone hydraulics. The conceptual framework of the model fault zone was chosen such that two distinct parts are recognized. The fault core, characterized by a relatively low permeability, is composed of a coseismic fault surface embedded in a visco-elastic volume that can creep and compact. The fault core is surrounded by, and mostly sealed from, a high permeability damaged zone. The model fault properties correspond explicitly to those of the coseismic fault core. Porosity and pore pressure evolve to account for the viscous compaction of the fault core, while stresses evolve in response to the applied tectonic loading and to shear creep of the fault itself. A small diffusive leakage is allowed in and out of the fault zone. Coseismically, porosity is created to account for frictional dilatancy. We show in the case of a 3-D fault model with no in-plane flow and constant fluid compressibility, pore pressures do not drop to hydrostatic levels after a seismic rupture, leading to an overpressured weak fault. Since pore pressure plays a key role in the fault behaviour, we investigate coseismic hydraulic property changes. In the full 3-D model, pore pressures vary instantaneously by the poroelastic effect during the propagation of the rupture. Once the stress state stabilizes, pore pressures are incrementally redistributed in the failed patch. We show that the significant effect of pressure-dependent fluid compressibility in the no in-plane flow case becomes a secondary effect when the other spatial dimensions are considered because in-plane flow with a near-lithostatically pressured neighbourhood equilibrates at a pressure much higher than hydrostatic levels, forming persistent high-pressure fluid compartments. If the observed faults are not all overpressured and weak, other mechanisms, not included in this model, must be at work in nature, which need to be investigated. Significant leakage perpendicular to the fault strike (in the case of a young fault), or cracks hydraulically linking the fault core to the damaged zone (for a mature fault) are probable mechanisms for keeping the faults strong and might play a significant role in modulating fault pore pressures. Therefore, fault-normal hydraulic properties of fault zones should be a future focus of field and numerical experiments.

Subsurface imaging in a sector of Cerro Prieto transform fault near to pull-apart basin, Mexicali Valley, Baja California, Mexico, based on crooked lines 2D seismic reflection.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mares-Agüero, M. A.; González-Escobar, M.; Arregui, S.

2016-12-01

In the transition zone between San Andres continental transformation system and the coupled transform faults system and rifting of Gulf of California is located the Cerro Prieto pull-apart basin delimitated by Imperial fault (northeast) and Cerro Prieto fault (CPF) (southwest), this last, is the limit west of Cerro Prieto geothermic field (CPGF). Crooked lines 2D seismic reflection, covering a portion near the intersection of CPF and CPGF are processed and interpreted. The seismic data were obtained in the early 80's by Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX). By decades, technical and investigation works in Cerro Prieto geothermic field and its vicinity had mapped faults at several depths but do not stablish a clear limit where this faults and CPF interact due the complex hydrothermal effects imaging the subsurface. The profiles showing the presence of a zone of uplift effect due to CPF. Considering the proximity of the profiles to CPF, it is surprising almost total absence of faults. A strong reflector around 2 km of depth, it is present in all profiles. This seismic reflector is considered a layer of shale, result of the correlation with a well located in the same region.

Geology and structure of the North Boqueron Bay-Punta Montalva Fault System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roig Silva, Coral Marie

The North Boqueron Bay-Punta Montalva Fault Zone is an active fault system that cuts across the Lajas Valley in southwestern Puerto Rico. The fault zone has been recognized and mapped based upon detailed analysis of geophysical data, satellite images and field mapping. The fault zone consists of a series of Cretaceous bedrock faults that reactivated and deformed Miocene limestone and Quaternary alluvial fan sediments. The fault zone is seismically active (ML < 5.0) with numerous locally felt earthquakes. Focal mechanism solutions and structural field data suggest strain partitioning with predominantly east-west left-lateral displacements with small normal faults oriented mostly toward the northeast. Evidence for recent displacement consists of fractures and small normal faults oriented mostly northeast found in intermittent streams that cut through the Quaternary alluvial fan deposits along the southern margin of the Lajas Valley, Areas of preferred erosion, within the alluvial fan, trend toward the west-northwest parallel to the on-land projection of the North Boqueron Bay Fault. Beyond the faulted alluvial fan and southeast of the Lajas Valley, the Northern Boqueron Bay Fault joins with the Punta Montalva Fault. The Punta Montalva Fault is defined by a strong topographic WNW lineament along which stream channels are displaced left laterally 200 meters and Miocene strata are steeply tilted to the south. Along the western end of the fault zone in northern Boqueron Bay, the older strata are only tilted 3° south and are covered by flat lying Holocene sediments. Focal mechanisms solutions along the western end suggest NW-SE shortening, which is inconsistent with left lateral strain partitioning along the fault zone. The limited deformation of older strata and inconsistent strain partitioning may be explained by a westerly propagation of the fault system from the southwest end. The limited geomorphic structural expression along the North Boqueron Bay Fault segment could also be because most of the displacement along the fault zone is older than the Holocene and that the rate of displacement is low, such that the development of fault escarpments and deformation all along the fault zone has yet to occur.

What lies beneath: geophysical mapping of a concealed Precambrian intrusive complex along the Iowa–Minnesota border

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drenth, Benjamin J.; Anderson, Raymond R.; Schulz, Klaus J.; Feinberg, Joshua M.; Chandler, Val W.; Cannon, William F.

2015-01-01

Large-amplitude gravity and magnetic highs over northeast Iowa are interpreted to reflect a buried intrusive complex composed of mafic–ultramafic rocks, the northeast Iowa intrusive complex (NEIIC), intruding Yavapai province (1.8–1.72 Ga) rocks. The age of the complex is unproven, although it has been considered to be Keweenawan (∼1.1 Ga). Because only four boreholes reach the complex, which is covered by 200–700 m of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, geophysical methods are critical to developing a better understanding of the nature and mineral resource potential of the NEIIC. Lithologic and cross-cutting relations interpreted from high-resolution aeromagnetic and airborne gravity gradient data are presented in the form of a preliminary geologic map of the basement Precambrian rocks. Numerous magnetic anomalies are coincident with airborne gravity gradient (AGG) highs, indicating widespread strongly magnetized and dense rocks of likely mafic–ultramafic composition. A Yavapai-age metagabbro unit is interpreted to be part of a layered intrusion with subvertical dip. Another presumed Yavapai unit has low density and weak magnetization, observations consistent with felsic plutons. Northeast-trending, linear magnetic lows are interpreted to reflect reversely magnetized diabase dikes and have properties consistent with Keweenawan rocks. The interpreted dikes are cut in places by normally magnetized mafic–ultramafic rocks, suggesting that the latter represent younger Keweenawan rocks. Distinctive horseshoe-shaped magnetic and AGG highs correspond with a known gabbro, and surround rocks with weaker magnetization and lower density. Here, informally called the Decorah complex, the source body has notable geophysical similarities to Keweenawan alkaline ring complexes, such as the Coldwell and Killala Lake complexes, and Mesoproterozoic anorogenic complexes, such as the Kiglapait, Hettasch, and Voisey’s Bay intrusions in Labrador. Results presented here suggest that much of the NEIIC is composed of such complexes, and broadly speaking, may be a discontinuous group of several intrusive bodies. Most units are cut by suspected northwest-trending faults imaged as magnetic lineaments, and one produces apparent sinistral fault separation of a dike in the eastern part of the survey area. The location, trend, and apparent sinistral sense of motion are consistent with the suspected faults being part of the Belle Plaine fault zone, a complex transform fault zone within the Midcontinent rift system that is here proposed to correspond with a major structural discontinuity.

Previously unrecognized now-inactive strand of the North Anatolian fault in the Thrace basin

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perincek, D.

1988-08-01

The North Anatolian fault is a major 1,200 km-long transform fault bounding the Anatolian plate to the north. It formed in late middle Miocene time as a broad shear zone with a number of strands splaying westward in a horsetail fashion. Later, movement became localized along the stem, and the southerly and northerly splays became inactive. One such right-lateral, now-inactive splay is the west-northwest-striking Thrace strike-slip fault system, consisting of three subparallel strike-slip faults. From north to south these are the Kirklareli, Lueleburgaz, and Babaeski fault zones, extending {plus minus} 130 km along the strike. The Thrace fault zone probablymore » connected with the presently active northern strand of the North Anatolian fault in the Sea of Marmara in the southeast and may have joined the Plovdiv graben zone in Bulgaria in the northwest. The Thrace basin in which the Thrace fault system is located, is Cenozoic with a sedimentary basin fill from middle Eocene to Pliocene. The Thrace fault system formed in pre-Pliocene time and had become inactive by the Pliocene. Strike-slip fault zones with normal and reverse separation are detected by seismic reflection profiles and subsurface data. Releasing bend extensional structures (e.g., near the town of Lueleburgaz) and restraining bend compressional structures (near Vakiflar-1 well) are abundant on the fault zones. Umurca and Hamitabad fields are en echelon structures on the Lueleburgaz fault zone. The Thrace strike-slip fault system has itself a horsetail shape, the various strands of which become younger southward. The entire system died before the Pliocene, and motion on the North Anatolian fault zone began to be accommodated in the Sea of Marmara region. Thus the Thrace fault system represents the oldest strand of the North Anatolian fault in the west.« less

Influence of mineralogy and microstructures on strain localization and fault zone architecture of the Alpine Fault, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichiba, T.; Kaneki, S.; Hirono, T.; Oohashi, K.; Schuck, B.; Janssen, C.; Schleicher, A.; Toy, V.; Dresen, G.

2017-12-01

The Alpine Fault on New Zealand's South Island is an oblique, dextral strike-slip fault that accommodated the majority of displacement between the Pacific and the Australian Plates and presents the biggest seismic hazard in the region. Along its central segment, the hanging wall comprises greenschist and amphibolite facies Alpine Schists. Exhumation from 35 km depth, along a SE-dipping detachment, lead to mylonitization which was subsequently overprinted by brittle deformation and finally resulted in the fault's 1 km wide damage zone. The geomechanical behavior of a fault is affected by the internal structure of its fault zone. Consequently, studying processes controlling fault zone architecture allows assessing the seismic hazard of a fault. Here we present the results of a combined microstructural (SEM and TEM), mineralogical (XRD) and geochemical (XRF) investigation of outcrop samples originating from several locations along the Alpine Fault, the aim of which is to evaluate the influence of mineralogical composition, alteration and pre-existing fabric on strain localization and to identify the controls on the fault zone architecture, particularly the locus of brittle deformation in P, T and t space. Field observations reveal that the fault's principal slip zone (PSZ) is either a thin (< 1 cm to < 7 cm) layered structure or a relatively thick (10s cm) package lacking a detectable macroscopic fabric. Lithological and related rheological contrasts are widely assumed to govern strain localization. However, our preliminary results suggest that qualitative mineralogical composition has only minor impact on fault zone architecture. Quantities of individual mineral phases differ markedly between fault damage zone and fault core at specific sites, but the quantitative composition of identical structural units such as the fault core, is similar in all samples. This indicates that the degree of strain localization at the Alpine Fault might be controlled by small initial heterogeneities in texture and fabric or a combination of these, rather than in mineralogy. Further microstructural investigations are needed to test this hypothesis.

Evolution of the Rodgers Creek–Maacama right-lateral fault system and associated basins east of the northward-migrating Mendocino Triple Junction, northern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

McLaughlin, Robert J.; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.; Wagner, David L.; Fleck, Robert J.; Langenheim, V.E.; Jachens, Robert C.; Clahan, Kevin; Allen, James R.

2012-01-01

The Rodgers Creek–Maacama fault system in the northern California Coast Ranges (United States) takes up substantial right-lateral motion within the wide transform boundary between the Pacific and North American plates, over a slab window that has opened northward beneath the Coast Ranges. The fault system evolved in several right steps and splays preceded and accompanied by extension, volcanism, and strike-slip basin development. Fault and basin geometries have changed with time, in places with younger basins and faults overprinting older structures. Along-strike and successional changes in fault and basin geometry at the southern end of the fault system probably are adjustments to frequent fault zone reorganizations in response to Mendocino Triple Junction migration and northward transit of a major releasing bend in the northern San Andreas fault. The earliest Rodgers Creek fault zone displacement is interpreted to have occurred ca. 7 Ma along extensional basin-forming faults that splayed northwest from a west-northwest proto-Hayward fault zone, opening a transtensional basin west of Santa Rosa. After ca. 5 Ma, the early transtensional basin was compressed and extensional faults were reactivated as thrusts that uplifted the northeast side of the basin. After ca. 2.78 Ma, the Rodgers Creek fault zone again splayed from the earlier extensional and thrust faults to steeper dipping faults with more north-northwest orientations. In conjunction with the changes in orientation and slip mode, the Rodgers Creek fault zone dextral slip rate increased from ∼2–4 mm/yr 7–3 Ma, to 5–8 mm/yr after 3 Ma. The Maacama fault zone is shown from several data sets to have initiated ca. 3.2 Ma and has slipped right-laterally at ∼5–8 mm/yr since its initiation. The initial Maacama fault zone splayed northeastward from the south end of the Rodgers Creek fault zone, accompanied by the opening of several strike-slip basins, some of which were later uplifted and compressed during late-stage fault zone reorganization. The Santa Rosa pull-apart basin formed ca. 1 Ma, during the reorganization of the right stepover geometry of the Rodgers Creek–Maacama fault system, when the maturely evolved overlapping geometry of the northern Rodgers Creek and Maacama fault zones was overprinted by a less evolved, non-overlapping stepover geometry. The Rodgers Creek–Maacama fault system has contributed at least 44–53 km of right-lateral displacement to the East Bay fault system south of San Pablo Bay since 7 Ma, at a minimum rate of 6.1–7.8 mm/yr.

A shallow fault-zone structure illuminated by trapped waves in the Karadere-Duzce branch of the North Anatolian Fault, western Turkey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ben-Zion, Y.; Peng, Z.; Okaya, D.; Seeber, L.; Armbruster, J.G.; Ozer, N.; Michael, A.J.; Baris, S.; Aktar, M.

2003-01-01

We discuss the subsurface structure of the Karadere-Duzce branch of the North Anatolian Fault based on analysis of a large seismic data set recorded by a local PASSCAL network in the 6 months following the Mw = 7.4 1999 Izmit earthquake. Seismograms observed at stations located in the immediate vicinity of the rupture zone show motion amplification and long-period oscillations in both P- and S-wave trains that do not exist in nearby off-fault stations. Examination of thousands of waveforms reveals that these characteristics are commonly generated by events that are well outside the fault zone. The anomalous features in fault-zone seismograms produced by events not necessarily in the fault may be referred to generally as fault-zone-related site effects. The oscillatory shear wave trains after the direct S arrival in these seismograms are analysed as trapped waves propagating in a low-velocity fault-zone layer. The time difference between the S arrival and trapped waves group does not grow systematically with increasing source-receiver separation along the fault. These observations imply that the trapping of seismic energy in the Karadere-Duzce rupture zone is generated by a shallow fault-zone layer. Traveltime analysis and synthetic waveform modelling indicate that the depth of the trapping structure is approximately 3-4 km. The synthetic waveform modelling indicates further that the shallow trapping structure has effective waveguide properties consisting of thickness of the order of 100 m, a velocity decrease relative to the surrounding rock of approximately 50 per cent and an S-wave quality factor of 10-15. The results are supported by large 2-D and 3-D parameter space studies and are compatible with recent analyses of trapped waves in a number of other faults and rupture zones. The inferred shallow trapping structure is likely to be a common structural element of fault zones and may correspond to the top part of a flower-type structure. The motion amplification associated with fault-zone-related site effects increases the seismic shaking hazard near fault-zone structures. The effect may be significant since the volume of sources capable of generating motion amplification in shallow trapping structures is large.

Development of Hydrologic Characterization Technology of Fault Zones (in Japanese; English)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karasaki, Kenzi; Onishi, Tiemi; Wu, Yu-Shu

2008-03-31

Through an extensive literature survey we find that there is very limited amount of work on fault zone hydrology, particularly in the field using borehole testing. The common elements of a fault include a core, and damage zones. The core usually acts as a barrier to the flow across it, whereas the damage zone controls the flow either parallel to the strike or dip of a fault. In most of cases the damage zone isthe one that is controlling the flow in the fault zone and the surroundings. The permeability of damage zone is in the range of two tomore » three orders of magnitude higher than the protolith. The fault core can have permeability up to seven orders of magnitude lower than the damage zone. The fault types (normal, reverse, and strike-slip) by themselves do not appear to be a clear classifier of the hydrology of fault zones. However, there still remains a possibility that other additional geologic attributes and scaling relationships can be used to predict or bracket the range of hydrologic behavior of fault zones. AMT (Audio frequency Magneto Telluric) and seismic reflection techniques are often used to locate faults. Geochemical signatures and temperature distributions are often used to identify flow domains and/or directions. ALSM (Airborne Laser Swath Mapping) or LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) method may prove to be a powerful tool for identifying lineaments in place of the traditional photogrammetry. Nonetheless not much work has been done to characterize the hydrologic properties of faults by directly testing them using pump tests. There are some uncertainties involved in analyzing pressure transients of pump tests: both low permeability and high permeability faults exhibit similar pressure responses. A physically based conceptual and numerical model is presented for simulating fluid and heat flow and solute transport through fractured fault zones using a multiple-continuum medium approach. Data from the Horonobe URL site are analyzed to demonstrate the proposed approach and to examine the flow direction and magnitude on both sides of a suspected fault. We describe a strategy for effective characterization of fault zone hydrology. We recommend conducting a long term pump test followed by a long term buildup test. We do not recommend isolating the borehole into too many intervals. We do recommend ensuring durability and redundancy for long term monitoring.« less

The continuation of the Kazerun fault system across the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (Iran)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safaei, Homayon

2009-08-01

The Kazerun (or Kazerun-Qatar) fault system is a north-trending dextral strike-slip fault zone in the Zagros mountain belt of Iran. It probably originated as a structure in the Panafrican basement. This fault system played an important role in the sedimentation and deformation of the Phanerozoic cover sequence and is still seismically active. No previous studies have reported the continuation of this important and ancient fault system northward across the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone. The Isfahan fault system is a north-trending dextral strike-slip fault across the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone that passes west of Isfahan city and is here recognized for the first time. This important fault system is about 220 km long and is seismically active in the basement as well as the sedimentary cover sequence. This fault system terminates to the south near the Main Zagros Thrust and to the north at the southern boundary of the Urumieh-Dokhtar zone. The Isfahan fault system is the boundary between the northern and southern parts of Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, which have fundamentally different stratigraphy, petrology, geomorphology, and geodynamic histories. Similarities in the orientations, kinematics, and geologic histories of the Isfahan and Kazerun faults and the way they affect the magnetic basement suggest that they are related. In fact, the Isfahan fault is a continuation of the Kazerun fault across the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone that has been offset by about 50 km of dextral strike-slip displacement along the Main Zagros Thrust.

Geomorphic expression of strike-slip faults: field observations vs. analog experiments: preliminary results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, S. Y.; Neubauer, F.; Genser, J.

2012-04-01

The aim of this project is to study the surface expression of strike-slip faults with main aim to find rules how these structures can be extrapolated to depth. In the first step, several basic properties of the fault architecture are in focus: (1) Is it possible to define the fault architecture by studying surface structures of the damage zone vs. the fault core, particularly the width of the damage zone? (2) Which second order structures define the damage zone of strike-slip faults, and how relate these to such reported in basement fault strike-slip analog experiments? (3) Beside classical fault bend structures, is there a systematic along-strike variation of the damage zone width and to which properties relates the variation of the damage zone width. We study the above mentioned properties on the dextral Altyn fault, which is one of the largest strike-slip on Earth with the advantage to have developed in a fully arid climate. The Altyn fault includes a ca. 250 to 600 m wide fault valley, usually with the trace of actual fault in its center. The fault valley is confined by basement highs, from which alluvial fans develop towards the center of the fault valley. The active fault trace is marked by small scale pressure ridges and offset of alluvial fans. The fault valley confining basement highs are several kilometer long and ca. 0.5 to 1 km wide and confined by rotated dextral anti-Riedel faults and internally structured by a regular fracture pattern. Dextral anti-Riedel faults are often cut by Riedel faults. Consequently, the Altyn fault comprises a several km wide damage zone. The fault core zone is a barrier to fluid flow, and the few springs of the region are located on the margin of the fault valley implying the fractured basement highs as the reservoir. Consequently, the southern Silk Road was using the Altyn fault valley. The preliminary data show that two or more orders of structures exist. Small-scale develop during a single earthquake. These finally accumulate to a several 100 m wide fault core, which is in part exposed at surface to arid climate and a km wide damage zone. The basic structures of analog experiments can be well transferred to nature, although along strike changes are common due to fault bending and fracture failure of country rocks.

Subsurface structures of the active reverse fault zones in Japan inferred from gravity anomalies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, N.; Sawada, A.; Hiramatsu, Y.; Okada, S.; Tanaka, T.; Honda, R.

2016-12-01

The object of our study is to examine subsurface features such as continuity, segmentation and faulting type, of the active reverse fault zones. We use the gravity data published by the Gravity Research Group in Southwest Japan (2001), the Geographical Survey Institute (2006), Yamamoto et al. (2011), Honda et al. (2012), and the Geological Survey of Japan, AIST (2013) in this study. We obtained the Bouguer anomalies through terrain corrections with 10 m DEM (Sawada et al. 2015) under the assumed density of 2670 kg/m3, a band-pass filtering, and removal of linear trend. Several derivatives and structural parameters calculated from a gravity gradient tensor are applied to highlight the features, such as a first horizontal derivatives (HD), a first vertical derivatives (VD), a normalized total horizontal derivative (TDX), a dip angle (β), and a dimensionality index (Di). We analyzed 43 reverse fault zones in northeast Japan and the northern part of southwest Japan among major active fault zones selected by Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion. As the results, the subsurface structural boundaries clearly appear along the faults at 21 faults zones. The weak correlations appear at 13 fault zones, and no correlations are recognized at 9 fault zones. For example, in the Itoigawa-Shizuoka tectonic line, the subsurface structure boundary seems to extend further north than the surface trace. Also, a left stepping structure of the fault around Hakuba is more clearly observed with HD. The subsurface structures, which detected as the higher values of HD, are distributed on the east side of the surface rupture in the north segments and on the west side in the south segments, indicating a change of the dip direction, the east dipping to the west dipping, from north to south. In the Yokote basin fault zone, the subsurface structural boundary are clearly detected with HD, VD and TDX along the fault zone in the north segment, but less clearly in the south segment. Also, Di implies the existence of 3D-like structure with E-W trend around the segment boundary. The distribution of dip angle β along the fault zone implies a reverse faulting, corresponding to the faulting type of this fault zone reported by previous studies.

A 3-D view of field-scale fault-zone cementation from geologically ground-truthed electrical resistivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, H.; Spinelli, G. A.; Mozley, P.

2015-12-01

Fault-zones are an important control on fluid flow, affecting groundwater supply, hydrocarbon/contaminant migration, and waste/carbon storage. However, current models of fault seal are inadequate, primarily focusing on juxtaposition and entrainment effects, despite the recognition that fault-zone cementation is common and can dramatically reduce permeability. We map the 3D cementation patterns of the variably cemented Loma Blanca fault from the land surface to ~40 m depth, using electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP). The carbonate-cemented fault zone is a region of anomalously low normalized chargeability, relative to the surrounding host material. Zones of low-normalized chargeability immediately under the exposed cement provide the first ground-truth that a cemented fault yields an observable IP anomaly. Low-normalized chargeability extends down from the surface exposure, surrounded by zones of high-normalized chargeability, at an orientation consistent with normal faults in the region; this likely indicates cementation of the fault zone at depth, which could be confirmed by drilling and coring. Our observations are consistent with: 1) the expectation that carbonate cement in a sandstone should lower normalized chargeability by reducing pore-surface area and bridging gaps in the pore space, and 2) laboratory experiments confirming that calcite precipitation within a column of glass beads decreases polarization magnitude. The ability to characterize spatial variations in the degree of fault-zone cementation with resistivity and IP has exciting implications for improving predictive models of the hydrogeologic impacts of cementation within faults.

Interaction between fault systems in a complex tectonic setting: Insights from InSAR and Teleseismic analysis of the 2015 Lake Saurez and 2016 Muji fault earthquake sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanjundiah, P.; Barbot, S.; Wei, S.; Tapponnier, P.; Feng, W.; Wang, T.

2017-12-01

The Pamir Plateau is a complex and important component of the India-Eurasia Collision zone. Despite being similar to the Tibetan plateau in elevation and collision processes, quite a bit is still unknown about the structure and the tectonic processes occurring in this region. We aim to better understand the structure, stress and deformation patterns in the northern and central Pamir plateau by analysing InSAR, teleseismic, and optical data for two large earthquakes that occurred in this region between December 2015 (Mw 7.2, Lake Saurez) and November 2016 (Mw 6.6 Muji Fault). We constrain the fault geometry by precisely relocating aftershocks using the double difference technique implemented in HypoDD (Waldhauser & Ellsworth 2000). We used Okada's (1992) Green Functions to invert for slip on the fault with a rectangular dislocation and edgreen to numerically invert for the slip in a layered medium (Wang et al. 2005). The combined datasets highlight the existence of an oblique fault between two major thrust fault systems i.e. the Darwas & the Karakoram faults. The December 2015 event highlights complexity in this fault system. The combination of data sets used in this study highlights the existence of a seismic gap south of Lake Karakul as well as coupling between the Muji and Darwas-Karakoram fault systems. We emphasise the role of smaller faults and their interactions in accommodating the overall strain and tectonics in the Pamir region and their effect on estimating local seismic hazard.

3D Reservoir Modeling of Semutang Gas Field: A lonely Gas field in Chittagong-Tripura Fold Belt, with Integrated Well Log, 2D Seismic Reflectivity and Attributes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salehin, Z.; Woobaidullah, A. S. M.; Snigdha, S. S.

2015-12-01

Bengal Basin with its prolific gas rich province provides needed energy to Bangladesh. Present energy situation demands more Hydrocarbon explorations. Only 'Semutang' is discovered in the high amplitude structures, where rest of are in the gentle to moderate structures of western part of Chittagong-Tripura Fold Belt. But it has some major thrust faults which have strongly breached the reservoir zone. The major objectives of this research are interpretation of gas horizons and faults, then to perform velocity model, structural and property modeling to obtain reservoir properties. It is needed to properly identify the faults and reservoir heterogeneities. 3D modeling is widely used to reveal the subsurface structure in faulted zone where planning and development drilling is major challenge. Thirteen 2D seismic and six well logs have been used to identify six gas bearing horizons and a network of faults and to map the structure at reservoir level. Variance attributes were used to identify faults. Velocity model is performed for domain conversion. Synthetics were prepared from two wells where sonic and density logs are available. Well to seismic tie at reservoir zone shows good match with Direct Hydrocarbon Indicator on seismic section. Vsh, porosity, water saturation and permeability have been calculated and various cross plots among porosity logs have been shown. Structural modeling is used to make zone and layering accordance with minimum sand thickness. Fault model shows the possible fault network, those liable for several dry wells. Facies model have been constrained with Sequential Indicator Simulation method to show the facies distribution along the depth surfaces. Petrophysical models have been prepared with Sequential Gaussian Simulation to estimate petrophysical parameters away from the existing wells to other parts of the field and to observe heterogeneities in reservoir. Average porosity map for each gas zone were constructed. The outcomes of the research are an improved subsurface image of the seismic data (model), a porosity prediction for the reservoir, a reservoir quality map and also a fault map. The result shows a complex geologic model which may contribute to the economic potential of the field. For better understanding, 3D seismic survey, uncertainty and attributes analysis are necessary.

Southeastern extension of the Lake Basin fault zone in south- central Montana: implications for coal and hydrocarbon exploration ( USA).

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robinson, L.N.; Barnum, B.E.

1986-01-01

The Lake Basin fault zone consists mainly of en echelon NE-striking normal faults that have been interpreted to be surface expressions of left-lateral movement along a basement wrench fault. Information gathered from recent field mapping of coal beds and from shallow, closely-spaced drill holes resulted in detailed coal bed correlations, which revealed another linear zone of en echelon faulting directly on the extended trend of the Lake Basin fault zone. This faulted area, referred to as the Sarpy Creek area, is located 48 km E of Hardin, Montana. It is about 16 km long, 13 km wide, and contains 21 en echelon normal faults that have an average strike of N 63oE. We therefore extend the Lake Basin fault zone 32 km farther SE than previously mapped to include the Sarpy Creek area. The Ash Creek oil field, Wyoming, 97 km due S of the Sarpy Creek area, produces from faulted anticlinal structues that have been interpreted to be genetically related to the primary wrench-fault system known as the Nye-Bowler fault zone. The structural similarities between the Sarpy Creek area and the Ash Creek area indicate that the Sarpy Creek area is a possible site for hydrocarbon accumulation.-from Authors

Scissoring Fault Rupture Properties along the Median Tectonic Line Fault Zone, Southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, M.; Nishizaka, N.; Onishi, K.; Sakamoto, J.; Takahashi, K.

2017-12-01

The Median Tectonic Line fault zone (hereinafter MTLFZ) is the longest and most active fault zone in Japan. The MTLFZ is a 400-km-long trench parallel right-lateral strike-slip fault accommodating lateral slip components of the Philippine Sea plate oblique subduction beneath the Eurasian plate [Fitch, 1972; Yeats, 1996]. Complex fault geometry evolves along the MTLFZ. The geomorphic and geological characteristics show a remarkable change through the MTLFZ. Extensional step-overs and pull-apart basins and a pop-up structure develop in western and eastern parts of the MTLFZ, respectively. It is like a "scissoring fault properties". We can point out two main factors to form scissoring fault properties along the MTLFZ. One is a regional stress condition, and another is a preexisting fault. The direction of σ1 anticlockwise rotate from N170°E [Famin et al., 2014] in the eastern Shikoku to Kinki areas and N100°E [Research Group for Crustral Stress in Western Japan, 1980] in central Shikoku to N85°E [Onishi et al., 2016] in western Shikoku. According to the rotation of principal stress directions, the western and eastern parts of the MTLFZ are to be a transtension and compression regime, respectively. The MTLFZ formed as a terrain boundary at Cretaceous, and has evolved with a long active history. The fault style has changed variously, such as left-lateral, thrust, normal and right-lateral. Under the structural condition of a preexisting fault being, the rupture does not completely conform to Anderson's theory for a newly formed fault, as the theory would require either purely dip-slip motion on the 45° dipping fault or strike-slip motion on a vertical fault. The fault rupture of the 2013 Barochistan earthquake in Pakistan is a rare example of large strike-slip reactivation on a relatively low angle dipping fault (thrust fault), though many strike-slip faults have vertical plane generally [Avouac et al., 2014]. In this presentation, we, firstly, show deep subsurface structures of the MTLFZ based on newly obtained data and previous research results. And then, we discuss how the relationship between the surface fault geometry and the deep subsurface structures changes through the MTLFZ which is under the heterogeneous regional stress condition.

A kinematic model for the evolution of the Eastern California Shear Zone and Garlock Fault, Mojave Desert, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixon, Timothy H.; Xie, Surui

2018-07-01

The Eastern California shear zone in the Mojave Desert, California, accommodates nearly a quarter of Pacific-North America plate motion. In south-central Mojave, the shear zone consists of six active faults, with the central Calico fault having the fastest slip rate. However, faults to the east of the Calico fault have larger total offsets. We explain this pattern of slip rate and total offset with a model involving a crustal block (the Mojave Block) that migrates eastward relative to a shear zone at depth whose position and orientation is fixed by the Coachella segment of the San Andreas fault (SAF), southwest of the transpressive "big bend" in the SAF. Both the shear zone and the Garlock fault are assumed to be a direct result of this restraining bend, and consequent strain redistribution. The model explains several aspects of local and regional tectonics, may apply to other transpressive continental plate boundary zones, and may improve seismic hazard estimates in these zones.

Seismotectonic zoning of Azerbaijan territory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kangarli, Talat; Aliyev, Ali; Aliyev, Fuad; Rahimov, Fuad

2017-04-01

Studying of the space-time correlation and consequences effect between tectonic events and other geological processes that have created modern earth structure still remains as one of the most important problems in geology. This problem is especially important for the East Caucasus-South Caspian geodynamic zone. Being situated at the eastern part of the Caucasian strait, this zone refers to a center of Alpine-Himalayan active folded belt, and is known as a complex tectonic unit with jointing heterogeneous structural-substantial complexes arising from different branches of the belt (Doburja-Caucasus-Kopetdag from the north and Pyrenean-Alborz from the south with Kura and South Caspian zone). According to GPS and precise leveling data, activity of regional geodynamic processes shows intensive horizontal and vertical movements of the Earth's crust as conditioned by collision of the Arabian and Eurasian continental plates continuing since the end of Miocene. So far studies related to the regional of geology-geophysical data, periodically used for the geological and tectonic modeling of the environment mainly based on the fixing ideology. There still remains a number of uncertainties in solution of issues related to regional geology, tectonics and magmatism, structure and interrelation of different structural zones, space-time interrelations between onshore and offshore complexes, etc. At the same time large dataset produced by surface geological surveys, deep geological mapping of on- and offshore areas with the use of seismic and electrical reconnaissance and geophysical field zoning methods, deep well drilling and remote sensing activities. Conducted new studies produced results including differentiation of formerly unknown nappe complexes of the different ages and scales within the structure of mountain-fold zones, identification of new zones containing ophiolites in their section, outlining of currently active faulting areas, geophysical interpretation of the deep structure of Greater and Lesser Caucasus, detailed description of the deep structure of Caspian zone, Kur and Caspian megadepressions, identification of nappe-folded structure of the Absheron Peninsula and the Absheron threshold at the border of Middle and South Caspian, justification of the possible hydrocarbon concentration at the tectonically stratified substantial complexes of mountain and foothill areas, etc. Based on the outcomes of implemented researches, some general conclusions and schemes were drawn for some parts of the project region within the plate tectonics conceptual frameworks, to include the territories of Lesser Caucasus and South Caspian. Analysis and comparison of these data with macroseismic and instrumental data allowed us to conduct seismotectonic studies in a region and develop a new scheme of seismotectonic map with outlined recent and forecasted seismic activity. There also correlated foci zones of earthquakes with subhorizontal and subvertical borders in earth crust, which shows their structure-dynamic relationship. In the one hand, the earthquake foci zones belong to the faults of the basement which extend to sedimentary cover and their intersection knots. On the other hand, there appearing inner-block seismogenic levels, namely, in seismic generation acts all the earth crust: tectonic stress results on movements along fault zones, as well as lateral displacements along non-stable contacts of the structure-substance complexes of different competency.

The offshore Palos Verdes fault zone near San Pedro, Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, M.A.; Normark, W.R.; Langenheim, V.E.; Calvert, A.J.; Sliter, R.

2004-01-01

High-resolution seismic-reflection data are combined with a variety of other geophysical and geological data to interpret the offshore structure and earthquake hazards of the San Pedro shelf, near Los Angeles, California. Prominent structures investigated include the Wilmington graben, the Palos Verdes fault zone, various faults below the west part of the San Pedro shelf and slope, and the deep-water San Pedro basin. The structure of the Palos Verdes fault zone changes markedly along strike southeastward across the San Pedro shelf and slope. Under the north part of the shelf, this fault zone includes several strands, with the main strand dipping west. Under the slope, the main fault strands exhibit normal separation and mostly dip east. To the southeast near Lasuen Knoll, the Palos Verdes fault zone locally is low angle, but elsewhere near this knoll, the fault dips steeply. Fresh seafloor scarps near Lasuen Knoll indicate recent fault movement. We explain the observed structural variation along the Palos Verdes fault zone as the result of changes in strike and fault geometry along a master right-lateral strike-slip fault at depth. Complicated movement along this deep fault zone is suggested by the possible wave-cut terraces on Lasuen Knoll, which indicate subaerial exposure during the last sea level lowstand and subsequent subsidence of the knoll. Modeling of aeromagnetic data indicates a large magnetic body under the west part of the San Pedro shelf and upper slope. We interpret this body to be thick basalt of probable Miocene age. This basalt mass appears to have affected the pattern of rock deformation, perhaps because the basalt was more competent during deformation than the sedimentary rocks that encased the basalt. West of the Palos Verdes fault zone, other northwest-striking faults deform the outer shelf and slope. Evidence for recent movement along these faults is equivocal, because we lack age dates on deformed or offset sediment.

Fluid Overpressure and Earthquakes Triggering in the Natural Laboratory of the Northern Apennines: Integration of Field and Laboratory Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Paola, N.; Collettini, C.; Faulkner, D.

2007-12-01

The integration of seismic reflection profiles with well-located earthquakes show that the mainshocks of the 1997-1998 Colfiorito seismic sequence (Central Italy) nucleated at a depth of ~6 km within the Triassic Evaporites (TE, anhydrites and dolostones), where CO2 at near lithostatic pressure has been encountered in two deep boreholes (4 km). In order to investigate the deformation processes operating at depth in the source region of the Colfiorito earthquakes we have characterized: 1) fault zone structure by studying exhumed outcrops of the temperature, 100 MPa confining pressure (Pc), and range of pore fluid pressures (Pf). Permeability and porosity development was continuously measured throughout the deformation experiments. The architecture of large fault zones within the TE is given by a distinct fault core, where most of the shear strain has been accommodated, surrounded by a geometrically complex and heterogeneous damage zone. Brittle deformation within the fault core is extremely localized along principal slip surfaces associated with dolomite rich cataclasite seams, running parallel to the fault zone. The damage zone is characterized by adjacent zones of heavily fractured rocks (dolostones) and foliated rocks displaying little fracturing (anhydrites). Static permeability measurements on anhydrite samples show increasing values of permeability for decreasing values of Pe, (k = 10E-20 - 10E-22 m2). During single cycle loading tests the permeability values immediately prior to failure are about three orders of magnitude higher than the initial values. The field data suggests that during the seismic cycle, the permeability of the dolostones, within the damage zone, is likely to be high and controlled by mesoscale fracture patterns. Conversely, the permeability of the anhydrites, due to the absence of mesoscale fracture patterns within Ca-sulphates layers, may be potentially as low as the values measured in the lab experiments (k = 10E-17 - 10E-22 m2). This suggests that fluid overpressure can be maintained in this lithology, within the damage zone, as far as the co-seismic period. Our observations and results can be applied to explain the seismicity of the Northern Apennines and other regions where fluids overpressures play a key role in triggering fault instability and earthquakes.

Fluid Overpressure and Earthquakes Triggering in the Natural Laboratory of the Northern Apennines: Integration of Field and Laboratory Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Paola, N.; Collettini, C.; Faulkner, D.

2004-12-01

The integration of seismic reflection profiles with well-located earthquakes show that the mainshocks of the 1997-1998 Colfiorito seismic sequence (Central Italy) nucleated at a depth of ~6 km within the Triassic Evaporites (TE, anhydrites and dolostones), where CO2 at near lithostatic pressure has been encountered in two deep boreholes (4 km). In order to investigate the deformation processes operating at depth in the source region of the Colfiorito earthquakes we have characterized: 1) fault zone structure by studying exhumed outcrops of the temperature, 100 MPa confining pressure (Pc), and range of pore fluid pressures (Pf). Permeability and porosity development was continuously measured throughout the deformation experiments. The architecture of large fault zones within the TE is given by a distinct fault core, where most of the shear strain has been accommodated, surrounded by a geometrically complex and heterogeneous damage zone. Brittle deformation within the fault core is extremely localized along principal slip surfaces associated with dolomite rich cataclasite seams, running parallel to the fault zone. The damage zone is characterized by adjacent zones of heavily fractured rocks (dolostones) and foliated rocks displaying little fracturing (anhydrites). Static permeability measurements on anhydrite samples show increasing values of permeability for decreasing values of Pe, (k = 10E-20 - 10E-22 m2). During single cycle loading tests the permeability values immediately prior to failure are about three orders of magnitude higher than the initial values. The field data suggests that during the seismic cycle, the permeability of the dolostones, within the damage zone, is likely to be high and controlled by mesoscale fracture patterns. Conversely, the permeability of the anhydrites, due to the absence of mesoscale fracture patterns within Ca-sulphates layers, may be potentially as low as the values measured in the lab experiments (k = 10E-17 - 10E-22 m2). This suggests that fluid overpressure can be maintained in this lithology, within the damage zone, as far as the co-seismic period. Our observations and results can be applied to explain the seismicity of the Northern Apennines and other regions where fluids overpressures play a key role in triggering fault instability and earthquakes.

Determination of the relationship between major fault and zinc mineralization using fractal modeling in the Behabad fault zone, central Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, Ahmad; Afzal, Peyman; Mirzaei Ilani, Shapour; Aliyari, Farhang

2017-10-01

The aim of this study is to determine a relationship between zinc mineralization and a major fault in the Behabad area, central Iran, using the Concentration-Distance to Major Fault (C-DMF), Area of Mineralized Zone-Distance to Major Fault (AMZ-DMF), and Concentration-Area (C-A) fractal models for Zn deposit/mine classification according to their distance from the Behabad fault. Application of the C-DMF and the AMZ-DMF models for Zn mineralization classification in the Behabad fault zone reveals that the main Zn deposits have a good correlation with the major fault in the area. The distance from the known zinc deposits/mines with Zn values higher than 29% and the area of the mineralized zone of more than 900 m2 to the major fault is lower than 1 km, which shows a positive correlation between Zn mineralization and the structural zone. As a result, the AMZ-DMF and C-DMF fractal models can be utilized for the delineation and the recognition of different mineralized zones in different types of magmatic and hydrothermal deposits.

Strategies and Rubrics for Teaching Chaos and Complex Systems Theories as Elaborating, Self-Organizing, and Fractionating Evolutionary Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fichter, Lynn S.; Pyle, E. J.; Whitmeyer, S. J.

2010-01-01

To say Earth systems are complex, is not the same as saying they are a complex system. A complex system, in the technical sense, is a group of -agents (individual interacting units, like birds in a flock, sand grains in a ripple, or individual units of friction along a fault zone), existing far from equilibrium, interacting through positive and…

A structural transect across the Mongolian Western Altai: Active transpressional mountain building in central Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickson Cunningham, W.; Windley, Brian F.; Dorjnamjaa, D.; Badamgarov, G.; Saandar, M.

1996-02-01

We present results from the first detailed geological transect across the Mongolian Western Altai using modern methods of structural geology and fault kinematic analysis. Our purpose was to document the structures responsible for Cenozoic uplift of the range in order to better understand processes of intracontinental mountain building. Historical right-lateral strike-slip and oblique-slip earthquakes have previously been documented from the Western Altai, and many mountain fronts are marked by active fault scarps indicating current tectonic activity and uplift. The dominant structures in the range are long (>200 km) NNW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults. Our transect can be divided into three separate domains that contain active, right-lateral strike-slip master faults and thrust faults with opposing vergence. The current deformation regime is thus transpressional. Each domain has an asymmetric flower structure cross-sectional geometry, and the transect as a whole is interpreted as three separate large flower structures. The mechanism of uplift along the transect appears to be horizontal and vertical growth of flower structures rooted into the dominant right-lateral strike-slip faults. The major Bulgan Fault forms the southern structural boundary to the range and is a 3.5-km-wide brittle-ductile zone that has accommodated reverse and left-lateral strike-slip displacements. It appears to be linked to the North Gobi Fault Zone to the east and Irtysh Fault zone to the west and thus may be over 900 km in length. Two major ductile left-lateral extensional shear zones were identified in the interior of the range that appear to be preserved structures related to a regional Paleozoic or Mesozoic extensional event. Basement rocks along the transect are dominantly metavolcanic, metasedimentary, or intrusive units probably representing a Paleozoic accretionary prism and arc complex. The extent to which Cenozoic uplift has been accommodated by reactivation of older structures and inversion of older basins is unknown and will require further study. As previously suggested by others, Cenozoic uplift of the Altai is interpreted to be due to NE-SW directed compressional stress resulting from the Indo-Eurasian collision 2500 km to the south.

The 7.9 Denali Fault, Alaska Earthquake of November 3, 2002: Aftershock Locations, Moment Tensors and Focal Mechanisms from the Regional Seismic Network Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratchkovski, N. A.; Hansen, R. A.; Kore, K. R.

2003-04-01

The largest earthquake ever recorded on the Denali fault system (magnitude 7.9) struck central Alaska on November 3, 2002. It was preceded by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake on October 23. This earlier earthquake and its zone of aftershocks were located ~20 km to the west of the 7.9 quake. Aftershock locations and surface slip observations from the 7.9 quake indicate that the rupture was predominately unilateral in the eastward direction. The geologists mapped a ~300-km-long rupture and measured maximum offsets of 8.8 meters. The 7.9 event ruptured three different faults. The rupture began on the northeast trending Susitna Glacier Thrust fault, a splay fault south of the Denali fault. Then the rupture transferred to the Denali fault and propagated eastward for 220 km. At about 143W the rupture moved onto the adjacent southeast-trending Totschunda fault and propagated for another 55 km. The cumulative length of the 6.7 and 7.9 aftershock zones along the Denali and Totschunda faults is about 380 km. The earthquakes were recorded and processed by the Alaska Earthquake Information Center (AEIC). The AEIC acquires and processes data from the Alaska Seismic Network, consisting of over 350 seismograph stations. Nearly 40 of these sites are equipped with the broad-band sensors, some of which also have strong motion sensors. The rest of the stations are either 1 or 3-component short-period instruments. The data from these stations are collected, processed and archived at the AEIC. The AEIC staff installed a temporary seismic network of 6 instruments following the 6.7 earthquake and an additional 20 stations following the 7.9 earthquake. Prior to the 7.9 Denali Fault event, the AEIC was locating 35 to 50 events per day. After the event, the processing load increased to over 300 events per day during the first week following the event. In this presentation, we will present and interpret the aftershock location patterns, first motion focal mechanism solutions, and regional seismic moment tensors for the larger events. We used the double difference method to relocate aftershocks of both the 6.7 and 7.9 events. The relocated aftershocks indicate complex faulting along the rupture zone. The aftershocks are located not only along the main rupture zone, but also illuminate multiple splay faults north and south of the Denali fault. We calculated principal stress directions along the Denali fault both before and after the 7.9 event from the focal mechanisms. The stress orientations before and after the event are nearly identical. The maximum horizontal compressive stress is nearly normal to the trace of the Denali fault and rotates gradually from NW orientation at the western end of the rupture zone to NE orientation near the junction with the Totschunda fault.

Talc friction in the temperature range 25°–400 °C: relevance for fault-zone weakening

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Diane E.; Lockner, David A.

2008-01-01

Talc has a temperature–pressure range of stability that extends from surficial to eclogite-facies conditions, making it of potential significance in a variety of faulting environments. Talc has been identified in exhumed subduction zone thrusts, in fault gouge collected from oceanic transform and detachment faults associated with rift systems, and recently in serpentinite from the central creeping section of the San Andreas fault. Typically, talc crystallized in the active fault zones as a result of the reaction of ultramafic rocks with silica-saturated hydrothermal fluids. This mode of formation of talc is a prime example of a fault-zone weakening process. Because of its velocity-strengthening behavior, talc may play a role in stabilizing slip at depth in subduction zones and in the creeping faults of central and northern California that are associated with ophiolitic rocks.

Dynamic Evolution Of Off-Fault Medium During An Earthquake: A Micromechanics Based Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Marion Y.; Bhat, Harsha S.

2018-05-01

Geophysical observations show a dramatic drop of seismic wave speeds in the shallow off-fault medium following earthquake ruptures. Seismic ruptures generate, or reactivate, damage around faults that alter the constitutive response of the surrounding medium, which in turn modifies the earthquake itself, the seismic radiation, and the near-fault ground motion. We present a micromechanics based constitutive model that accounts for dynamic evolution of elastic moduli at high-strain rates. We consider 2D in-plane models, with a 1D right lateral fault featuring slip-weakening friction law. The two scenarios studied here assume uniform initial off-fault damage and an observationally motivated exponential decay of initial damage with fault normal distance. Both scenarios produce dynamic damage that is consistent with geological observations. A small difference in initial damage actively impacts the final damage pattern. The second numerical experiment, in particular, highlights the complex feedback that exists between the evolving medium and the seismic event. We show that there is a unique off-fault damage pattern associated with supershear transition of an earthquake rupture that could be potentially seen as a geological signature of this transition. These scenarios presented here underline the importance of incorporating the complex structure of fault zone systems in dynamic models of earthquakes.

Dynamic Evolution Of Off-Fault Medium During An Earthquake: A Micromechanics Based Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, M. Y.; Bhat, H. S.

2017-12-01

Geophysical observations show a dramatic drop of seismic wave speeds in the shallow off-fault medium following earthquake ruptures. Seismic ruptures generate, or reactivate, damage around faults that alter the constitutive response of the surrounding medium, which in turn modifies the earthquake itself, the seismic radiation, and the near-fault ground motion. We present a micromechanics based constitutive model that accounts for dynamic evolution of elastic moduli at high-strain rates. We consider 2D in-plane models, with a 1D right lateral fault featuring slip-weakening friction law. The two scenarios studied here assume uniform initial off-fault damage and an observationally motivated exponential decay of initial damage with fault normal distance. Both scenarios produce dynamic damage that is consistent with geological observations. A small difference in initial damage actively impacts the final damage pattern. The second numerical experiment, in particular, highlights the complex feedback that exists between the evolving medium and the seismic event. We show that there is a unique off-fault damage pattern associated with supershear transition of an earthquake rupture that could be potentially seen as a geological signature of this transition. These scenarios presented here underline the importance of incorporating the complex structure of fault zone systems in dynamic models of earthquakes.

Laboratory Evidence of Strength Recovery of Healed Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masuda, K.

2015-12-01

Fault zones consist of a fault core and a surrounding damage zone. Fault zones are typically characterized by the presence of many healed surfaces, the strength of which is unknown. If a healed fault recovers its strength such that its cohesion is equal to or greater than that of the host rock, repeated cycles of fracture and healing may be one mechanism producing wide fault zones. I present laboratory evidence supporting the strength recovery of healed fault surface, obtained by AE monitoring, strain measurements and X-ray CT techniques. The loading experiment was performed with a specimen collected from an exhumed fault zone. Healed surfaces of the rock sample were interpreted to be parallel to slip surfaces. The specimen was a cylinder with 50 mm diameter and 100 mm long. The long axis of the specimen was inclined with respect to the orientation of the healed surfaces. The compression test used a constant loading rate under 50 MPa of confining pressure. Macroscopic failure occurred when the applied differential stress reached 439 MPa. The macro-fracture surface created during the experiment was very close to the preexisting plane. The AE hypocenters closely match the locations of the preexisting healed surface and the new fault plane. The experiment also revealed details of the initial stage of fault development. The new fault zone developed near, but not precisely on the preexisting healed fault plane. An area of heterogeneous structure where stress appears to have concentrated, was where the AEs began, and it was also where the fracture started. This means that the healed surface was not a weak surface and that healing strengthened the fault such that its cohesion was equal to or greater than that of the intact host rock. These results suggest that repeated cycles of fracture and healing may be the main mechanism creating wide fault zones with multiple fault cores and damage zones.

Late Quaternary faulting along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, California and Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brogan, George E.; Kellogg, Karl; Slemmons, D. Burton; Terhune, Christina L.

1991-01-01

The Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, in California and Nevada, has a variety of impressive late Quaternary neotectonic features that record a long history of recurrent earthquake-induced faulting. Although no neotectonic features of unequivocal historical age are known, paleoseismic features from multiple late Quaternary events of surface faulting are well developed throughout the length of the system. Comparison of scarp heights to amount of horizontal offset of stream channels and the relationships of both scarps and channels to the ages of different geomorphic surfaces demonstrate that Quaternary faulting along the northwest-trending Furnace Creek fault zone is predominantly right lateral, whereas that along the north-trending Death Valley fault zone is predominantly normal. These observations are compatible with tectonic models of Death Valley as a northwest-trending pull-apart basin. The largest late Quaternary scarps along the Furnace Creek fault zone, with vertical separation of late Pleistocene surfaces of as much as 64 m (meters), are in Fish Lake Valley. Despite the predominance of normal faulting along the Death Valley fault zone, vertical offset of late Pleistocene surfaces along the Death Valley fault zone apparently does not exceed about 15 m. Evidence for four to six separate late Holocene faulting events along the Furnace Creek fault zone and three or more late Holocene events along the Death Valley fault zone are indicated by rupturing of Q1B (about 200-2,000 years old) geomorphic surfaces. Probably the youngest neotectonic feature observed along the Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault system, possibly historic in age, is vegetation lineaments in southernmost Fish Lake Valley. Near-historic faulting in Death Valley, within several kilometers south of Furnace Creek Ranch, is represented by (1) a 2,000-year-old lake shoreline that is cut by sinuous scarps, and (2) a system of young scarps with free-faceted faces (representing several faulting events) that cuts Q1B surfaces.

Late Quaternary strike-slip along the Taohuala Shan-Ayouqi fault zone and its tectonic implications in the Hexi Corridor and the southern Gobi Alashan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jing-xing; Zheng, Wen-jun; Zhang, Pei-zhen; Lei, Qi-yun; Wang, Xu-long; Wang, Wei-tao; Li, Xin-nan; Zhang, Ning

2017-11-01

The Hexi Corridor and the southern Gobi Alashan are composed of discontinuous a set of active faults with various strikes and slip motions that are located to the north of the northern Tibetan Plateau. Despite growing understanding of the geometry and kinematics of these active faults, the late Quaternary deformation pattern in the Hexi Corridor and the southern Gobi Alashan remains controversial. The active E-W trending Taohuala Shan-Ayouqi fault zone is located in the southern Gobi Alashan. Study of the geometry and nature of slip along this fault zone holds crucial value for better understanding the regional deformation pattern. Field investigations combined with high-resolution imagery show that the Taohuala Shan fault and the E-W trending faults within the Ayouqi fault zone (F2 and F5) are left-lateral strike-slip faults, whereas the NW or WNW-trending faults within the Ayouqi fault zone (F1 and F3) are reverse faults. We collected Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and cosmogenic exposure age dating samples from offset alluvial fan surfaces, and estimated a vertical slip rate of 0.1-0.3 mm/yr, and a strike-slip rate of 0.14-0.93 mm/yr for the Taohuala Shan fault. Strata revealed in a trench excavated across the major fault (F5) in the Ayouqi fault zone and OSL dating results indicate that the most recent earthquake occurred between ca. 11.05 ± 0.52 ka and ca. 4.06 ± 0.29 ka. The geometry and kinematics of the Taohuala Shan-Ayouqi fault zone enable us to build a deformation pattern for the entire Hexi Corridor and the southern Gobi Alashan, which suggest that this region experiences northeastward oblique extrusion of the northern Tibetan Plateau. These left-lateral strike-slip faults in the region are driven by oblique compression but not associated with the northeastward extension of the Altyn Tagh fault.

Fracture zone drilling through Atotsugawa fault in central Japan - geological and geophysical structure -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omura, K.; Yamashita, F.; Yamada, R.; Matsuda, T.; Fukuyama, E.; Kubo, A.; Takai, K.; Ikeda, R.; Mizuochi, Y.

2004-12-01

Drilling is an effective method to investigate the structure and physical state in and around the active fault zone, such as, stress and strength distribution, geological structure and materials properties. In particular, the structure in the fault zone is important to understand where and how the stress accumulates during the earthquake cycle. In previous studies, we did integrate investigation on active faults in central Japan by drilling and geophysical prospecting. Those faults are estimated to be at different stage in the earthquake cycle, i.e., Nojima fault which appeared on the surface by the 1995 Great Kobe earthquake (M=7.2), the Neodani fault which appeared by the 1891 Nobi earth-quake (M=8.0), the Atera fault, of which some parts have seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9), and Gofukuji Fault that is considered to have activated about 1200 years ago. Each faults showed characteristic features of fracture zone structure according to their geological and geophysical situations. In a present study, we did core recovery and down hole measurements at the Atotsugawa fault, central Japan, that is considered to have activated at 1858 Hida earthquake (M=7.0). The Atotsugawa fault is characterized by active seismicity along the fault. But, at the same time, the shallow region in the central segment of the fault seems to have low seismicity. The high seismicity segment and low seismicity segments may have different mechanical, physical and material properties. A 350m depth borehole was drilled vertically beside the surface trace of the fault in the low seismicity segment. Recovered cores were overall heavily fractured and altered rocks. In the cores, we observed many shear planes holding fault gouge. Logging data showed that the apparent resistance was about 100 - 600 ohm-m, density was about 2.0 - 2.5g/cm3, P wave velocity was approximately 3.0 - 4.0 km/sec, neutron porosity was 20 - 40 %. Results of physical logging show features of fault fracture zone that were the same as the fault fracture zones of other active faults that we have drilled previously. By the BHTV logging, we detected many fractures of which the strikes are not only parallel to the fault trace bur also oblique to the fault trace. The observations of cores and logging data indicate that the borehole passed in the fracture zone down to the bottom, and that the fracture zone has complicate internal structure including foliation not parallel to the fault trace. The core samples are significant for further investigation on material properties in the fracture zone. And we need data of geophysical prospecting to infer the deeper structure of the fracture zone.

Integrating geology and geomorphology; the key to unlocking Quaternary tectonic framework of the San Andreas Fault zone in the San Gorgonio Pass region, southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kendrick, K. J.; Matti, J. C.

2012-12-01

The San Gorgonio Pass (SGP) region of southern California is a locus of long-continued Quaternary deformation and landscape evolution within a structural complexity, colloquially referred to as a knot in the San Andreas Fault (SAF) zone. The geomorphology of the SGP region reflects the complex history of geologic events involved in the formation and resolution of this structural knot. We recognize five morphologically distinct terrains in and around SGP; the San Gorgonio Block (SGB), Yucaipa Ridge (YRB), Pisgah Peak (PPB), Kitching Peak (KPB), and Devil's Garden blocks (DGB). Morphometric analyses, including drainage density, hypsometry, topographic profiles, and stream-power measurements and discontinuities, consistently demonstrate distinctions between the blocks. Our focus in this study is on the KPB and PPB terrains, both developed in crystalline rocks of San Gabriel Mountains type. KPB is bounded on the north by the Mission Creek strand of the SAF and on the east by the Whitewater Fault; PPB is bounded on the north by the San Bernardino strand of the SAF, which continues southeastward into the core of SGP and there separates PPB from KPB. KPB has significantly greater topographic relief than PPB, and the two blocks have internal morphometric and geologic characteristics that differ significantly. Canyons in KPB lack thick Quaternary alluvial fills, and hillslopes have shed numerous bedrock landslides. Canyons in PPB contain large volumes of Middle-Pleistocene through Holocene alluvium, associated with areally extensive relict geomorphic surfaces. We use the geomorphic differences, along with geologic factors, to reconstruct tectonically driven landscape evolution over the last 100-200 Ka years. The KPB and PPB both are bounded southward by contractional structures of the San Gorgonio Pass Fault zone (SGPFZ), but geologic complexity within this zone differs markedly south of each block. South of KPB, the SGPFZ consists of multiple thrust-fault strands, some older than 500 ka, has a wide spatial footprint along a N-S axis, and Holocene alluvium is disrupted by numerous fault scarps. By contrast, south of PPB the SGPFZ consists of fewer thrust-fault strands, has a relatively narrow footprint, and faults breaking Holocene deposits are uncommon. The San Bernardino strand of the SAF intersects the SGPFZ at about the boundary between these two domains. Morphometric data indicate that the KPB has undergone significantly greater uplift than the PPB since inception of the San Bernardino strand, proposed by Matti and Morton (1993) to have occurred at ~125ka. Age estimates associated with the PPB and DGB allow us to broadly estimate relative uplift rates. Drainage reconstruction of the Whitewater River and its tributaries across the YRB likewise allow us to validate and refine the uplift estimated by Spotila and others (2001). YRB has been uplifted relative to SGB since the inception of the Mill Creek Strand of the SAF.

Transient cnoidal waves explain the formation and geometry of fault damage zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veveakis, Manolis; Schrank, Christoph

2017-04-01

The spatial footprint of a brittle fault is usually dominated by a wide area of deformation bands and fractures surrounding a narrow, highly deformed fault core. This diffuse damage zone relates to the deformation history of a fault, including its seismicity, and has a significant impact on flow and mechanical properties of faulted rock. Here, we propose a new mechanical model for damage-zone formation. It builds on a novel mathematical theory postulating fundamental material instabilities in solids with internal mass transfer associated with volumetric deformation due to elastoviscoplastic p-waves termed cnoidal waves. We show that transient cnoidal waves triggered by fault slip events can explain the characteristic distribution and extent of deformation bands and fractures within natural fault damage zones. Our model suggests that an overpressure wave propagating away from the slipping fault and the material properties of the host rock control damage-zone geometry. Hence, cnoidal-wave theory may open a new chapter for predicting seismicity, material and geometrical properties as well as the location of brittle faults.

Oblique reactivation of lithosphere-scale lineaments controls rift physiography - the upper-crustal expression of the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone, offshore southern Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, Thomas B.; Jackson, Christopher A.-L.; Bell, Rebecca E.; Duffy, Oliver B.

2018-04-01

Pre-existing structures within sub-crustal lithosphere may localise stresses during subsequent tectonic events, resulting in complex fault systems at upper-crustal levels. As these sub-crustal structures are difficult to resolve at great depths, the evolution of kinematically and perhaps geometrically linked upper-crustal fault populations can offer insights into their deformation history, including when and how they reactivate and accommodate stresses during later tectonic events. In this study, we use borehole-constrained 2-D and 3-D seismic reflection data to investigate the structural development of the Farsund Basin, offshore southern Norway. We use throw-length (T-x) analysis and fault displacement backstripping techniques to determine the geometric and kinematic evolution of N-S- and E-W-striking upper-crustal fault populations during the multiphase evolution of the Farsund Basin. N-S-striking faults were active during the Triassic, prior to a period of sinistral strike-slip activity along E-W-striking faults during the Early Jurassic, which represented a hitherto undocumented phase of activity in this area. These E-W-striking upper-crustal faults are later obliquely reactivated under a dextral stress regime during the Early Cretaceous, with new faults also propagating away from pre-existing ones, representing a switch to a predominantly dextral sense of motion. The E-W faults within the Farsund Basin are interpreted to extend through the crust to the Moho and link with the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone, a lithosphere-scale lineament, identified within the sub-crustal lithosphere, that extends > 1000 km across central Europe. Based on this geometric linkage, we infer that the E-W-striking faults represent the upper-crustal component of the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone and that the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone represents a long-lived lithosphere-scale lineament that is periodically reactivated throughout its protracted geological history. The upper-crustal component of the lineament is reactivated in a range of tectonic styles, including both sinistral and dextral strike-slip motions, with the geometry and kinematics of these faults often inconsistent with what may otherwise be inferred from regional tectonics alone. Understanding these different styles of reactivation not only allows us to better understand the influence of sub-crustal lithospheric structure on rifting but also offers insights into the prevailing stress field during regional tectonic events.

Miocene extension and extensional folding in an anticlinal segment of the Black Mountains accommodation zone, Colorado River extensional corridor, southwestern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Varga, R.J.; Faulds, J.E.; Snee, L.W.; Harlan, S.S.; Bettison-Varga, L.

2004-01-01

Recent studies demonstrate that rifts are characterized by linked tilt domains, each containing a consistent polarity of normal faults and stratal tilt directions, and that the transition between domains is typically through formation of accommodation zones and generally not through production of throughgoing transfer faults. The mid-Miocene Black Mountains accommodation zone of southern Nevada and western Arizona is a well-exposed example of an accommodation zone linking two regionally extensive and opposing tilt domains. In the southeastern part of this zone near Kingman, Arizona, east dipping normal faults of the Whipple tilt domain and west dipping normal faults of the Lake Mead domain coalesce across a relatively narrow region characterized by a series of linked, extensional folds. The geometry of these folds in this strike-parallel portion of the accommodation zone is dictated by the geometry of the interdigitating normal faults of opposed polarity. Synclines formed where normal faults of opposite polarity face away from each other whereas anticlines formed where the opposed normal faults face each other. Opposed normal faults with small overlaps produced short folds with axial trends at significant angles to regional strike directions, whereas large fault overlaps produce elongate folds parallel to faults. Analysis of faults shows that the folds are purely extensional and result from east/northeast stretching and fault-related tilting. The structural geometry of this portion of the accommodation zone mirrors that of the Black Mountains accommodation zone more regionally, with both transverse and strike-parallel antithetic segments. Normal faults of both tilt domains lose displacement and terminate within the accommodation zone northwest of Kingman, Arizona. However, isotopic dating of growth sequences and crosscutting relationships show that the initiation of the two fault systems in this area was not entirely synchronous and that west dipping faults of the Lake Mead domain began to form between 1 m.y. to 0.2 m.y. prior to east dipping faults of the Whipple domain. The accommodation zone formed above an active and evolving magmatic center that, prior to rifting, produced intermediate-composition volcanic rocks and that, during rifting, produced voluminous rhyolite and basalt magmas. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.

Vertical-axis rotations and deformation along the active strike-slip El Tigre Fault (Precordillera of San Juan, Argentina) assessed through palaeomagnetism and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fazzito, Sabrina Y.; Rapalini, Augusto E.; Cortés, José M.; Terrizzano, Carla M.

2017-03-01

Palaeomagnetic data from poorly consolidated to non-consolidated late Cenozoic sediments along the central segment of the active El Tigre Fault (Central-Western Precordillera of the San Juan Province, Argentina) demonstrate broad cumulative deformation up to 450 m from the fault trace and reveal clockwise and anticlockwise vertical-axis rotations of variable magnitude. This deformation has affected in different amounts Miocene to late Pleistocene samples and indicates a complex kinematic pattern. Several inherited linear structures in the shear zone that are oblique to the El Tigre Fault may have acted as block boundary faults. Displacement along these faults may have resulted in a complex pattern of rotations. The maximum magnitude of rotation is a function of the age of the sediments sampled, with largest values corresponding to middle Miocene-lower Pliocene deposits and minimum values obtained from late Pleistocene deposits. The kinematic study is complemented by low-field anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data to show that the local strain regime suggests a N-S stretching direction, subparallel to the strike of the main fault.

Integrated geophysical and geological study of the tectonic framework of the 38th parallel lineament in the vicinity of its intersection with the extension of the New Madrid fault zone. Annual progress report, fiscal year 1979

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Braile, L.W.; Hinze, W.J.; Sexton, J.L.

1979-09-01

An integrated gravity, magnetic, crustal seismic refraction, and basement geology study is being conducted of the northeastern extension of the New Madrid Fault Zone in the vicinity of the 38th Parallel Lineament. Gravity and magnetic anomaly maps prepared of this area plus regional seismicity suggest that the basement structural feature associated with the New Madrid seismicity extends northeasterly into southern Indiana to at least 39/sup 0/N latitude. Gravity and subsurface data indicate that the Rough Creek Fault Zone, a major element of the 38th Parallel Lineament, is the northern boundary of a complex graben which formed in late Precambrian-early Paleozoicmore » time and since has been reactivated. Surface wave studies indicate that the crustal thickness of the northern Mississippi Embayment is probably in the range of 50 to 55 km, and the structure of the crust obtained from these studies is highly suggestive of a failed rift. 40 figures, 3 tables.« less

Kinematics of shallow backthrusts in the Seattle fault zone, Washington State

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pratt, Thomas L.; Troost, K.G.; Odum, Jackson K.; Stephenson, William J.

2015-01-01

Near-surface thrust fault splays and antithetic backthrusts at the tips of major thrust fault systems can distribute slip across multiple shallow fault strands, complicating earthquake hazard analyses based on studies of surface faulting. The shallow expression of the fault strands forming the Seattle fault zone of Washington State shows the structural relationships and interactions between such fault strands. Paleoseismic studies document an ∼7000 yr history of earthquakes on multiple faults within the Seattle fault zone, with some backthrusts inferred to rupture in small (M ∼5.5–6.0) earthquakes at times other than during earthquakes on the main thrust faults. We interpret seismic-reflection profiles to show three main thrust faults, one of which is a blind thrust fault directly beneath downtown Seattle, and four small backthrusts within the Seattle fault zone. We then model fault slip, constrained by shallow deformation, to show that the Seattle fault forms a fault propagation fold rather than the alternatively proposed roof thrust system. Fault slip modeling shows that back-thrust ruptures driven by moderate (M ∼6.5–6.7) earthquakes on the main thrust faults are consistent with the paleoseismic data. The results indicate that paleoseismic data from the back-thrust ruptures reveal the times of moderate earthquakes on the main fault system, rather than indicating smaller (M ∼5.5–6.0) earthquakes involving only the backthrusts. Estimates of cumulative shortening during known Seattle fault zone earthquakes support the inference that the Seattle fault has been the major seismic hazard in the northern Cascadia forearc in the late Holocene.

Spatiotemporal Patterns of Fault Slip Rates Across the Central Sierra Nevada Frontal Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rood, D. H.; Burbank, D.; Finkel, R. C.

2010-12-01

We examine patterns in fault slip rates through time and space across the transition from the Sierra Nevada to the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt. At each of four sites along the eastern Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone between 38-39° N latitude, geomorphic markers, such as glacial moraines and outwash terraces, are displaced by a suite of range-front normal faults. Using geomorphic mapping, surveying, and Be-10 surface exposure dating, we define mean fault slip rates, and by utilizing markers of different ages (generally, ~20 ka and ~150 ka), we examine rates through time and interactions among multiple faults over 10-100 ky timescales. At each site for which data are available for the last ~150 ky, mean slip rates across the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone have probably not varied by more than a factor of two over time spans equal to half of the total time interval (~20 ky and ~150 ky timescales): 0.3 ± 0.1 mm/yr (mode and 95% CI) at both Buckeye Creek in the Bridgeport basin and Sonora Junction; and 0.4 +0.3/-0.1 mm/yr along the West Fork of the Carson River at Woodfords. Our data permit that rates are relatively constant over the time scales examined. In contrast, slip rates are highly variable in space over the last ~20 ky. Slip rates decrease by a factor of 3-5 northward over a distance of ~20 km between the northern Mono Basin (1.3 +0.6/-0.3 mm/yr at Lundy Canyon site) and the Bridgeport Basin (0.3 ± 0.1 mm/yr). The 3-fold decrease in the slip rate on the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone northward from Mono Basin reflects a change in the character of faulting north of the Mina Deflection as extension is transferred eastward onto normal faults between the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane belt. A compilation of regional deformation rates reveal that the spatial pattern of extension rates changes along strike of the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt. South of the Mina Deflection, extension is accommodated within a diffuse zone of normal and oblique faults, with extension rates increasing northward on the Fish Lake Valley fault. Where faults of the Eastern California Shear Zone terminate northward into the Mina Deflection, extension rates increase northward along the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone to ~0.7 mm/yr in northern Mono Basin. This spatial pattern suggests that extension is transferred from faults systems to the east (e.g. Fish Lake Valley fault) and localized on the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone as Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt faulting is transferred through the Mina Deflection.

Fracture zones constrained by neutral surfaces in a fault-related fold: Insights from the Kelasu tectonic zone, Kuqa Depression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Shuai; Hou, Guiting; Zheng, Chunfang

2017-11-01

Stress variation associated with folding is one of the controlling factors in the development of tectonic fractures, however, little attention has been paid to the influence of neutral surfaces during folding on fracture distribution in a fault-related fold. In this study, we take the Cretaceous Bashijiqike Formation in the Kuqa Depression as an example and analyze the distribution of tectonic fractures in fault-related folds by core observation and logging data analysis. Three fracture zones are identified in a fault-related fold: a tensile zone, a transition zone and a compressive zone, which may be constrained by two neutral surfaces of fold. Well correlation reveals that the tensile zone and the transition zone reach the maximum thickness at the fold hinge and get thinner in the fold limbs. A 2D viscoelastic stress field model of a fault-related fold was constructed to further investigate the mechanism of fracturing. Statistical and numerical analysis reveal that the tensile zone and the transition zone become thicker with decreasing interlimb angle. Stress variation associated with folding is the first level of control over the general pattern of fracture distribution while faulting is a secondary control over the development of local fractures in a fault-related fold.

An outline of tectonic, igneous, and metamorphic events in the Goshute-Toano Range between Silver Zone Pass and White Horse Pass, Elko County, Nevada; a history of superposed contractional and extensional deformation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ketner, Keith Brindley; Day, Warren C.; Elrick, Maya; Vaag, Myra K.; Zimmerman, Robert A.; Snee, Lawrence W.; Saltus, Richard W.; Repetski, John E.; Wardlaw, Bruce R.; Taylor, Michael E.; Harris, Anita G.

1998-01-01

Seven kinds of fault-bounded tracts are described. One of the tracts provides a good example of Mesozoic contractional folding and faulting; six exemplify various aspects of Miocene extensional faulting. Massive landslide deposits resulting from Tertiary faulting are described. Mesozoic intrusive rocks and extensive exposures of Miocene volcanic rocks are described and dated. The age ranges of stratigraphic units were based on numerous conodont collections, and ages of igneous rocks were determined by argon/argon and fission-track methods. The geologic complexity of the Goshute-Toano Range provides opportunities for many additional productive structural studies.

Microstructural investigations on carbonate fault core rocks in active extensional fault zones from the central Apennines (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cortinovis, Silvia; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Storti, Fabrizio

2017-04-01

The study of the microstructural and petrophysical evolution of cataclasites and gouges has a fundamental impact on both hydraulic and frictional properties of fault zones. In the last decades, growing attention has been payed to the characterization of carbonate fault core rocks due to the nucleation and propagation of coseismic ruptures in carbonate successions (e.g., Umbria-Marche 1997, L'Aquila 2009, Amatrice 2016 earthquakes in Central Apennines, Italy). Among several physical parameters, grain size and shape in fault core rocks are expected to control the way of sliding along the slip surfaces in active fault zones, thus influencing the propagation of coseismic ruptures during earthquakes. Nevertheless, the role of grain size and shape distribution evolution in controlling the weakening or strengthening behavior in seismogenic fault zones is still not fully understood also because a comprehensive database from natural fault cores is still missing. In this contribution, we present a preliminary study of seismogenic extensional fault zones in Central Apennines by combining detailed filed mapping with grain size and microstructural analysis of fault core rocks. Field mapping was aimed to describe the structural architecture of fault systems and the along-strike fault rock distribution and fracturing variations. In the laboratory we used a Malvern Mastersizer 3000 granulometer to obtain a precise grain size characterization of loose fault rocks combined with sieving for coarser size classes. In addition, we employed image analysis on thin sections to quantify the grain shape and size in cemented fault core rocks. The studied fault zones consist of an up to 5-10 m-thick fault core where most of slip is accommodated, surrounded by a tens-of-meters wide fractured damage zone. Fault core rocks consist of (1) loose to partially cemented breccias characterized by different grain size (from several cm up to mm) and variable grain shape (from very angular to sub-rounded), and (2) very fine-grained gouges (< 1 mm) localized along major and minor mirror-like slip surfaces. Damage zones mostly consist of fractured rocks and, locally, pulverized rocks. Collectively, field observations and laboratory analyses indicate that within the fault cores of the studied fault zones, grain size progressively decreases approaching the master slip surfaces. Furthermore, grain shape changes from very angular to sub-rounded clasts moving toward the master slip surfaces. These features suggest that the progressive evolution of grain size and shape distributions within fault cores may have determined the development of strain localization by the softening and cushioning effects of smaller particles in loose fault rocks.

Thick-skinned tectonics within the intracontinental easternmost Atlas foreland-and-thrust belt (Tunisia): Meso-Cenozoic kinematics and implications for regional geodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belkhiria, W.; Boussiga, H.; Inoubli, M. H.

2017-05-01

The transition zone between western and central Mediterranean domains presents a key area to investigate kinematic interactions within the adjacent orogen systems such as the easternmost Atlas foreland-and-thrust belt. Gravity and seismic data revealed a highly structured basement, characterizing a series of structural highs and lows delimited by high-angle N-S, E-W, and NW-SE extensional faults. This basement architecture is inherited from successive extensional events related to the openings of the Triassic-Early Cretaceous Tethys oceans (i.e., Alpine Tethys, Ligurian Tethys, and Mesogea). Throughout this period, this mosaic of continental blocks significantly controlled the thickness and facies distributions. Early stages of diapirism took place along these basement faults and allowed maximum subsidence in minibasins revealed by the development of growth strata. In response to the Late Cretaceous-Eocene shortenings, these extensional faults have been reactivated as trasnpressional shear zones, giving rise to narrow pop-up structures. In addition, gravity modeling indicates crustal thinning and deep-rooted faults affecting the crust south of the Zaghouan Thrust and along E-W transfer zones. From the late Miocene, a drastic change in the stress regime is attributed to the effect of the adjacent Sicily channel on the study area. This promotes crustal thinning, basin subsidence, and channeling up of mantle-derived helium along lithospheric-scale weak zones. Our results give rise to new insights into the reactivation of inherited weakness zones of southern Tethys margin in response to the complex interaction between African and Eurasian plates accommodated by subduction, rollback, collision, and slab segmentation.

Three-dimensional models of deformation near strike-slip faults

USGS Publications Warehouse

ten Brink, Uri S.; Katzman, Rafael; Lin, J.

1996-01-01

We use three-dimensional elastic models to help guide the kinematic interpretation of crustal deformation associated with strike-slip faults. Deformation of the brittle upper crust in the vicinity of strike-slip fault systems is modeled with the assumption that upper crustal deformation is driven by the relative plate motion in the upper mantle. The driving motion is represented by displacement that is specified on the bottom of a 15-km-thick elastic upper crust everywhere except in a zone of finite width in the vicinity of the faults, which we term the "shear zone." Stress-free basal boundary conditions are specified within the shear zone. The basal driving displacement is either pure strike slip or strike slip with a small oblique component, and the geometry of the fault system includes a single fault, several parallel faults, and overlapping en echelon faults. We examine the variations in deformation due to changes in the width of the shear zone and due to changes in the shear strength of the faults. In models with weak faults the width of the shear zone has a considerable effect on the surficial extent and amplitude of the vertical and horizontal deformation and on the amount of rotation around horizontal and vertical axes. Strong fault models have more localized deformation at the tip of the faults, and the deformation is partly distributed outside the fault zone. The dimensions of large basins along strike-slip faults, such as the Rukwa and Dead Sea basins, and the absence of uplift around pull-apart basins fit models with weak faults better than models with strong faults. Our models also suggest that the length-to-width ratio of pull-apart basins depends on the width of the shear zone and the shear strength of the faults and is not constant as previously suggested. We show that pure strike-slip motion can produce tectonic features, such as elongate half grabens along a single fault, rotated blocks at the ends of parallel faults, or extension perpendicular to overlapping en echelon faults, which can be misinterpreted to indicate a regional component of extension. Zones of subsidence or uplift can become wider than expected for transform plate boundaries when a minor component of oblique motion is added to a system of parallel strike-slip faults.

Three-dimensional models of deformation near strike-slip faults

USGS Publications Warehouse

ten Brink, Uri S.; Katzman, Rafael; Lin, Jian

1996-01-01

We use three-dimensional elastic models to help guide the kinematic interpretation of crustal deformation associated with strike-slip faults. Deformation of the brittle upper crust in the vicinity of strike-slip fault systems is modeled with the assumption that upper crustal deformation is driven by the relative plate motion in the upper mantle. The driving motion is represented by displacement that is specified on the bottom of a 15-km-thick elastic upper crust everywhere except in a zone of finite width in the vicinity of the faults, which we term the “shear zone.” Stress-free basal boundary conditions are specified within the shear zone. The basal driving displacement is either pure strike slip or strike slip with a small oblique component, and the geometry of the fault system includes a single fault, several parallel faults, and overlapping en echelon faults. We examine the variations in deformation due to changes in the width of the shear zone and due to changes in the shear strength of the faults. In models with weak faults the width of the shear zone has a considerable effect on the surficial extent and amplitude of the vertical and horizontal deformation and on the amount of rotation around horizontal and vertical axes. Strong fault models have more localized deformation at the tip of the faults, and the deformation is partly distributed outside the fault zone. The dimensions of large basins along strike-slip faults, such as the Rukwa and Dead Sea basins, and the absence of uplift around pull-apart basins fit models with weak faults better than models with strong faults. Our models also suggest that the length-to-width ratio of pull-apart basins depends on the width of the shear zone and the shear strength of the faults and is not constant as previously suggested. We show that pure strike-slip motion can produce tectonic features, such as elongate half grabens along a single fault, rotated blocks at the ends of parallel faults, or extension perpendicular to overlapping en echelon faults, which can be misinterpreted to indicate a regional component of extension. Zones of subsidence or uplift can become wider than expected for transform plate boundaries when a minor component of oblique motion is added to a system of parallel strike-slip faults.

Late Quaternary activity of the Ecemiş Fault Zone, Turkey; implications from cosmogenic 36Cl dating of offset alluvial fans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akif Sarıkaya, Mehmet; Yıldırım, Cengiz; Çiner, Attila

2014-05-01

The Ecemiş Fault Zone is the southernmost segment of the Central Anatolian Fault Zone. The tectonic trough of the fault zone defines the boundary between the Central and Eastern Taurides Ranges. The presence of faulted alluvial fans and colluvium within this trough provide favorable conditions to unravel the Late Quaternary slip-rate of the fault zone by cosmogenic surface exposure dating. In this context, we focused on the main strand of the fault zone and also on the Cevizlik Fault that delimits the mountain front of the Aladaǧlar, Eastern Taurides. Geomorphic mapping and topographic surveying indicate four different alluvial fan levels deposited along the main strand. Our topographic survey reveals 60±5 m horizontal and 18±2 m vertical displacement of the oldest fan surface (AF1) associated with the main strand of the fault zone. We dated the surface of the AF1 with 13 cosmogenic 36Cl samples. Our results indicate that the AF1 surface was abandoned maximum 105.3±1.5 ka ago. Accordingly, we propose 0.57±0.05 mm/yr horizontal and 0.17±0.02 mm/yr vertical mean slip-rates since 100 ka for the main strand. On the other hand, we measured 20±2 m vertical displacement on the colluvium along the Cevizlik Fault. The surface exposure age of the colluvium yielded 21.9±0.3 ka that translates to 0.91±0.09 mm/yr vertical slip-rate for the Cevizlik Fault. Our results reveal significant Quaternary deformation, and low strain rates might indicate very long earthquake recurrence intervals along the fault zone.

The 1992 Landers earthquake sequence; seismological observations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Egill Hauksson,; Jones, Lucile M.; Hutton, Kate; Eberhart-Phillips, Donna

1993-01-01

The (MW6.1, 7.3, 6.2) 1992 Landers earthquakes began on April 23 with the MW6.1 1992 Joshua Tree preshock and form the most substantial earthquake sequence to occur in California in the last 40 years. This sequence ruptured almost 100 km of both surficial and concealed faults and caused aftershocks over an area 100 km wide by 180 km long. The faulting was predominantly strike slip and three main events in the sequence had unilateral rupture to the north away from the San Andreas fault. The MW6.1 Joshua Tree preshock at 33°N58′ and 116°W19′ on 0451 UT April 23 was preceded by a tightly clustered foreshock sequence (M≤4.6) beginning 2 hours before the mainshock and followed by a large aftershock sequence with more than 6000 aftershocks. The aftershocks extended along a northerly trend from about 10 km north of the San Andreas fault, northwest of Indio, to the east-striking Pinto Mountain fault. The Mw7.3 Landers mainshock occurred at 34°N13′ and 116°W26′ at 1158 UT, June 28, 1992, and was preceded for 12 hours by 25 small M≤3 earthquakes at the mainshock epicenter. The distribution of more than 20,000 aftershocks, analyzed in this study, and short-period focal mechanisms illuminate a complex sequence of faulting. The aftershocks extend 60 km to the north of the mainshock epicenter along a system of at least five different surficial faults, and 40 km to the south, crossing the Pinto Mountain fault through the Joshua Tree aftershock zone towards the San Andreas fault near Indio. The rupture initiated in the depth range of 3–6 km, similar to previous M∼5 earthquakes in the region, although the maximum depth of aftershocks is about 15 km. The mainshock focal mechanism showed right-lateral strike-slip faulting with a strike of N10°W on an almost vertical fault. The rupture formed an arclike zone well defined by both surficial faulting and aftershocks, with more westerly faulting to the north. This change in strike is accomplished by jumping across dilational jogs connecting surficial faults with strikes rotated progressively to the west. A 20-km-long linear cluster of aftershocks occurred 10–20 km north of Barstow, or 30–40 km north of the end of the mainshock rupture. The most prominent off-fault aftershock cluster occurred 30 km to the west of the Landers mainshock. The largest aftershock was within this cluster, the Mw6.2 Big Bear aftershock occurring at 34°N10′ and 116°W49′ at 1505 UT June 28. It exhibited left-lateral strike-slip faulting on a northeast striking and steeply dipping plane. The Big Bear aftershocks form a linear trend extending 20 km to the northeast with a scattered distribution to the north. The Landers mainshock occurred near the southernmost extent of the Eastern California Shear Zone, an 80-km-wide, more than 400-km-long zone of deformation. This zone extends into the Death Valley region and accommodates about 10 to 20% of the plate motion between the Pacific and North American plates. The Joshua Tree preshock, its aftershocks, and Landers aftershocks form a previously missing link that connects the Eastern California Shear Zone to the southern San Andreas fault.

Seismotectonics of the Loma Prieta, California, region determined from three-dimensional Vp, Vp/Vs, and seismicity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eberhart-Phillips, D.; Michael, A.J.

1998-01-01

Three-dimensional Vp and Vp/Vs velocity models for the Loma Prieta region were developed from the inversion of local travel time data (21,925 P arrivals and 1,116 S arrivals) from earthquakes, refraction shots, and blasts recorded on 1700 stations from the Northern California Seismic Network and numerous portable seismograph deployments. The velocity and density models and microearthquake hypocenters reveal a complex structure that includes a San Andreas fault extending to the base of the seismogenic layer. A body with high Vp extends the length of the rupture and fills the 5 km wide volume between the Loma Prieta mainshock rupture and the San Andreas and Sargent faults. We suggest that this body controls both the pattern of background seismicity on the San Andreas and Sargent faults and the extent of rupture during the mainshock, thus explaining how the background seismicity outlined the along-strike and depth extent of the mainshock rupture on a different fault plane 5 km away. New aftershock focal mechanisms, based on three-dimensional ray tracing through the velocity model, support a heterogeneous postseismic stress field and can not resolve a uniform fault normal compression. The subvertical (or steeply dipping) San Andreas fault and the fault surfaces that ruptured in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake are both parts of the San Andreas fault zone and this section of the fault zone does not have a single type of characteristic event.

Off-fault plasticity in three-dimensional dynamic rupture simulations using a modal Discontinuous Galerkin method on unstructured meshes: Implementation, verification, and application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wollherr, Stephanie; Gabriel, Alice-Agnes; Uphoff, Carsten

2018-05-01

The dynamics and potential size of earthquakes depend crucially on rupture transfers between adjacent fault segments. To accurately describe earthquake source dynamics, numerical models can account for realistic fault geometries and rheologies such as nonlinear inelastic processes off the slip interface. We present implementation, verification, and application of off-fault Drucker-Prager plasticity in the open source software SeisSol (www.seissol.org). SeisSol is based on an arbitrary high-order derivative modal Discontinuous Galerkin (ADER-DG) method using unstructured, tetrahedral meshes specifically suited for complex geometries. Two implementation approaches are detailed, modelling plastic failure either employing sub-elemental quadrature points or switching to nodal basis coefficients. At fine fault discretizations the nodal basis approach is up to 6 times more efficient in terms of computational costs while yielding comparable accuracy. Both methods are verified in community benchmark problems and by three dimensional numerical h- and p-refinement studies with heterogeneous initial stresses. We observe no spectral convergence for on-fault quantities with respect to a given reference solution, but rather discuss a limitation to low-order convergence for heterogeneous 3D dynamic rupture problems. For simulations including plasticity, a high fault resolution may be less crucial than commonly assumed, due to the regularization of peak slip rate and an increase of the minimum cohesive zone width. In large-scale dynamic rupture simulations based on the 1992 Landers earthquake, we observe high rupture complexity including reverse slip, direct branching, and dynamic triggering. The spatio-temporal distribution of rupture transfers are altered distinctively by plastic energy absorption, correlated with locations of geometrical fault complexity. Computational cost increases by 7% when accounting for off-fault plasticity in the demonstrating application. Our results imply that the combination of fully 3D dynamic modelling, complex fault geometries, and off-fault plastic yielding is important to realistically capture dynamic rupture transfers in natural fault systems.

Geometry and kinematics of adhesive wear in brittle strike-slip fault zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanson, Mark T.

2005-05-01

Detailed outcrop surface mapping in Late Paleozoic cataclastic strike-slip faults of coastal Maine shows that asymmetric sidewall ripouts, 0.1-200 m in length, are a significant component of many mapped faults and an important wall rock deformation mechanism during faulting. The geometry of these structures ranges from simple lenses to elongate slabs cut out of the sidewalls of strike-slip faults by a lateral jump of the active zone of slip during adhesion along a section of the main fault. The new irregular trace of the active fault after this jump creates an indenting asperity that is forced to plow through the adjoining wall rock during continued adhesion or be cut off by renewed motion along the main section of the fault. Ripout translation during adhesion sets up the structural asymmetry with trailing extensional and leading contractional ends to the ripout block. The inactive section of the main fault trace at the trailing end can develop a 'sag' or 'half-graben' type geometry due to block movement along the scallop-shaped connecting ramp to the flanking ripout fault. Leading contractional ramps can develop 'thrust' type imbrication and forces the 'humpback' geometry to the ripout slab due to distortion of the inactive main fault surface by ripout translation. Similar asymmetric ripout geometries are recognized in many other major crustal scale strike-slip fault zones worldwide. Ripout structures in the 5-500 km length range can be found on the Atacama fault system of northern Chile, the Qujiang and Xiaojiang fault zones in western China, the Yalakom-Hozameen fault zone in British Columbia and the San Andreas fault system in southern California. For active crustal-scale faults the surface expression of ripout translation includes a coupled system of extensional trailing ramps as normal oblique-slip faults with pull-apart basin sedimentation and contractional leading ramps as oblique thrust or high angle reverse faults with associated uplift and erosion. The sidewall ripout model, as a mechanism for adhesive wear during fault zone deformation, can be useful in studies of fault zone geometry, kinematics and evolution from outcrop- to crustal-scales.

Observations of fault zone heterogeneity effects on stress alteration and slip nucleation during a fault reactivation experiment in the Mont Terri rock laboratory, Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nussbaum, C.; Guglielmi, Y.

2016-12-01

The FS experiment at the Mont Terri underground research laboratory consists of a series of controlled field stimulation tests conducted in a fault zone intersecting a shale formation. The Main Fault is a secondary order reverse fault that formed during the creation of the Jura fold-and-thrust belt, associated to a large décollement. The fault zone is up to 6 m wide, with micron-thick shear zones, calcite veins, scaly clay and clay gouge. We conducted fluid injection tests in 4 packed-off borehole intervals across the Main Fault using mHPP probes that allow to monitor 3D displacement between two points anchored to the borehole walls at the same time as fluid pressure and flow rate. While pressurizing the intervals above injection pressures of 3.9 to 5.3 MPa, there is an irreversible change in the displacements magnitude and orientation associated to the hydraulic opening of natural shear planes oriented N59 to N69 and dipping 39 to 58°. Displacements of 0.01 mm to larger than 0.1 mm were captured, the highest value being observed at the interface between the low permeable fault core and the damage zone. Contrasted fault movements were observed, mainly dilatant in the fault core, highly dilatant-normal slip at the fault core-damage zone interface and low dilatant-strike-slip-reverse in the damage-to-intact zones. First using a slip-tendency approach based on Coulomb reactivation potential of fault planes, we computed a stress tensor orientation for each test. The input parameters are the measured displacement vectors above the hydraulic opening pressure and the detailed fault geometry of each intervals. All measurements from the damage zone can be explained by a stress tensor in strike-slip regime. Fault movements measured at the core-damage zone interface and within the fault core are in agreement with the same stress orientations but changed as normal faulting, explaining the significant dilatant movements. We then conducted dynamic hydromechanical simulations of the Coulomb stress variations on discrete fault planes, considering the injection pressure variations with time in the packed-off sections as the source parameters. Results suggest that the fault architecture and heterogeneity play an important role on the local stress variation at the core-damage zone interface, favouring slip activation below sigma 3.

Seismotectonics of the Hindukush and Baluchistan arc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, R. K.; Mukhopadhyay, M.; Bhanja, A. K.

1980-07-01

A seismicity map of that part of the Pakistan-Afghanistan region lying between the latitudes 28° to 38°N and longitudes 66° to 75°E is given using all available data for the period 1890-1970. The earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above were considered in the preparation of this map. On the basis of this map, it is observed that the seismicity pattern over the well-known Hindukush region is quite complex. Two prominent, mutually orthogonal, seismicity lineaments, namely the northvestern and the north-eastern trends, characterize the Hindukush area. The northwestern trend appears to extend from the Main Boundary Fault of the Kashmir Himalaya on the southeast to the plains of the Amu Darya in Uzbekistan on the northwest beyond the Hindukush. The Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges of Pakistan are well-defined zones of intermontane seismicity exhibiting north-south alignment. Thirty-two new focal-mechanism solutions for the above-mentioned region have been determined. These, together with the results obtained by earlier workers, suggest the pre-dominance of strike-slip faulting in the area. The Hazara Mountains, the Sulaiman wrench zone and the Kirthar wrench zone, as well as the supposed extension of the Murray ridge up to the Karachi coast, appear to be mostly undergoing strike-slip movements. In the Hindukush region, thrust and strike-slip faulting are found to be equally prevalent. Almost all the thrust-type mechanisms belonging to the Hindukush area have both the nodal planes in the NW-SE direction for shallow as well as intermediate depth earthquakes. The dip of P-axes for the events indicating thrust type mechanisms rarely exceeds 35°. The direction of the seismic slip vector obtained through thrust type solutions is always directed towards the northeast. The epicentral pattern together with these results suggest a deep-seated fault zone paralleling the northwesterly seismic zone underneath the Hindukush. This NW-lineament has a preference for thrust faulting, and it appears to extend from the vicinity of the Main Boundary Fault of the Kashmir Himalaya on the southeast of Uzbekistan on the northwest through Hindukush. Almost orthogonal to this NW-seismic zone, there is a NE-seismic lineament in which there is a preference for strike-slip faulting. The above results are discussed from the point of view of convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates in the light of plate tectonics theory.

Geometry of the Nojima fault at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan - I. A simple damage structure inferred from borehole core permeability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lockner, David A.; Tanaka, Hidemi; Ito, Hisao; Ikeda, Ryuji; Omura, Kentaro; Naka, Hisanobu

2009-01-01

The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, M = 7.2, ruptured the Nojima fault in southwest Japan. We have studied core samples taken from two scientific drillholes that crossed the fault zone SW of the epicentral region on Awaji Island. The shallower hole, drilled by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ), was started 75 m to the SE of the surface trace of the Nojima fault and crossed the fault at a depth of 624 m. A deeper hole, drilled by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) was started 302 m to the SE of the fault and crossed fault strands below a depth of 1140 m. We have measured strength and matrix permeability of core samples taken from these two drillholes. We find a strong correlation between permeability and proximity to the fault zone shear axes. The half-width of the high permeability zone (approximately 15 to 25 m) is in good agreement with the fault zone width inferred from trapped seismic wave analysis and other evidence. The fault zone core or shear axis contains clays with permeabilities of approximately 0.1 to 1 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (10 to 30 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Within a few meters of the fault zone core, the rock is highly fractured but has sustained little net shear. Matrix permeability of this zone is approximately 30 to 60 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (300 to 1000 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Outside this damage zone, matrix permeability drops below 0.01 microdarcy. The clay-rich core material has the lowest strength with a coefficient of friction of approximately 0.55. Shear strength increases with distance from the shear axis. These permeability and strength observations reveal a simple fault zone structure with a relatively weak fine-grained core surrounded by a damage zone of fractured rock. In this case, the damage zone will act as a high-permeability conduit for vertical and horizontal flow in the plane of the fault. The fine-grained core region, however, will impede fluid flow across the fault.

Subsurface structural interpretation by applying trishear algorithm: An example from the Lenghu5 fold-and-thrust belt, Qaidam Basin, Northern Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pei, Yangwen; Paton, Douglas A.; Wu, Kongyou; Xie, Liujuan

2017-08-01

The application of trishear algorithm, in which deformation occurs in a triangle zone in front of a propagating fault tip, is often used to understand fault related folding. In comparison to kink-band methods, a key characteristic of trishear algorithm is that non-uniform deformation within the triangle zone allows the layer thickness and horizon length to change during deformation, which is commonly observed in natural structures. An example from the Lenghu5 fold-and-thrust belt (Qaidam Basin, Northern Tibetan Plateau) is interpreted to help understand how to employ trishear forward modelling to improve the accuracy of seismic interpretation. High resolution fieldwork data, including high-angle dips, 'dragging structures', thinning hanging-wall and thickening footwall, are used to determined best-fit trishear model to explain the deformation happened to the Lenghu5 fold-and-thrust belt. We also consider the factors that increase the complexity of trishear models, including: (a) fault-dip changes and (b) pre-existing faults. We integrate fault dip change and pre-existing faults to predict subsurface structures that are apparently under seismic resolution. The analogue analysis by trishear models indicates that the Lenghu5 fold-and-thrust belt is controlled by an upward-steepening reverse fault above a pre-existing opposite-thrusting fault in deeper subsurface. The validity of the trishear model is confirmed by the high accordance between the model and the high-resolution fieldwork. The validated trishear forward model provides geometric constraints to the faults and horizons in the seismic section, e.g., fault cutoffs and fault tip position, faults' intersecting relationship and horizon/fault cross-cutting relationship. The subsurface prediction using trishear algorithm can significantly increase the accuracy of seismic interpretation, particularly in seismic sections with low signal/noise ratio.

Active faults and minor plates in NE Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozhurin, Andrey I.; Zelenin, Egor A.

2014-05-01

Stated nearly 40 yr ago the uncertainty with plate boundaries location in NE Asia (Chapman, Solomon, 1976) still remains unresolved. Based on the prepositions that a plate boundary must, first, reveal itself in linear sets of active structures, and, second, be continuous and closed, we have undertaken interpretation of medium-resolution KH-9 Hexagon satellite imageries, mostly in stereoscopic regime, for nearly the entire region of NE Asia. Main findings are as follows. There are two major active fault zones in the region north of the Bering Sea. One of them, the Khatyrka-Vyvenka zone, stretches NE to ENE skirting the Bering Sea from the Kamchatka isthmus to the Navarin Cape. Judging by the kinematics of the Olyutorsky 2006 earthquake fault, the fault zones move both right-laterally and reversely. The second active fault zone, the Lankovaya-Omolon zone, starts close to the NE margin of the Okhotsk Sea and extends NE up to nearly the margin of the Chukcha Sea. The fault zone is mostly right-lateral, with topographically expressed cumulative horizontal offsets amounting to 2.5-2.6 km. There may be a third NE-SW zone between the major two coinciding with the Penzhina Range as several active faults found in the southern termination of the Range indicate. The two active fault zones divide the NE Asia area into two large domains, which both could be parts of the Bering Sea plate internally broken and with uncertain western limit. Another variant implies the Khatyrka-Vyvenka zone as the Bering Sea plate northern limit, and the Lankovaya-Omolon zone as separating an additional minor plate from the North-American plate. The choice is actually not crucial, and more important is that both variants leave the question of where the Bering Sea plate boundary is in Alaska. The Lankovaya-Omolon zone stretches just across the proposed northern boundary of the Okhorsk Sea plate. NW of the zone, there is a prominent left-lateral Ulakhan fault, which is commonly interpreted to be a portion of the plate northern boundary. With this, we have discovered no active faults or fault zones of the Ulakhan fault strike, which could be the portion of the boundary between the Lankovaya-Omolon zone and either the western margin of the Komandor basin or the westernmost Aleutians. We conclude that there is a certain disagreement between active faulting pattern and plate models for NE Asia, relating to the extent of the plates and missing portions of the plate boundaries. The research was supported by grant # 110500136-a from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.

Geophysical characterization of transtensional fault systems in the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, M.; Keranen, K. M.; Stockli, D. F.; Feldman, J. D.; Keller, G. R.

2011-12-01

The Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) and Walker Lane belt (WL) accommodate ~25% of plate motion between the North American and Pacific plates. Faults within the Mina deflection link the ECSZ and the WL, transferring strain from the Owens Valley and Death Valley-Fish Lake Valley fault systems to the transcurrent faults of the central Walker Lane. During the mid to late Miocene the majority of strain between these systems was transferred through the Silver Peak-Lone Mountain (SPLM) extensional complex via a shallowly dipping detachment. Strain transfer has since primarily migrated north to the Mina Deflection; however, high-angle faults bounding sedimentary basins and discrepancies between geodetic and geologic models indicate that the SPLM complex may still actively transfer a portion of the strain from the ECSZ to the WL on a younger set of faults. Establishing the pattern and amount of active strain transfer within the SPLM region is required for a full accounting of strain accommodation, and provides insight into strain partitioning at the basin scale within a broader transtensional zone. To map the active structures in and near Clayton Valley, within the SPLM region, we collected seismic reflection and refraction profiles and a dense grid of gravity readings that were merged with existing gravity data. The primary goals were to determine the geometry of the high-angle fault system, the amount and sense of offset along each fault set, connectivity of the faults, and the relationship of these faults to the Miocene detachment. Seismic reflection profiles imaged the high-angle basin-bounding normal faults and the detachment in both the footwall and hanging wall. The extensional basin is ~1 km deep, with a steep southeastern boundary, a gentle slope to the northwest, and a sharp boundary on the northwest side, suggestive of another fault system. Two subparallel dip-slip faults bound the southeast (deeper) basin margin with a large lateral velocity change (from ~2.0 km/sec in the basin fill to 4.5-5.5 km/sec in the footwall) across the basin-bounding normal fault system. Very fast (approaching 6.0 km/sec) basement underlies the basin fill. The residual gravity anomaly indicates that Clayton Valley is divided into a shallower northern basin, imaged by the seismic lines, and a deeper, more asymmetric southern basin. Faults within Clayton Valley are curvilinear in nature, similar to faults observed in other step-over systems (e.g., the Mina Deflection). Gravity profiles support the seismic reflection interpretation and indicate a high angle fault (>60 degrees) bounding the northern sub-basin on its southeast margin, with a shallower fault bounding it to the northwest. A basement high trends west-northwest and separates the northern and southern basins, and is likely bounded on its southern edge by a predominantly strike-slip fault crossing the valley. Much of the strain accommodated within the southern sub-basin appears to be transferred into southern Big Smoky Valley, northwest of Clayton Valley, via these dextral strike-slip faults that obliquely cross Clayton Valley.

Structural architecture and petrophysical properties of the Rocca di Neto extensional fault zone developed in the shallow marine sediments of the Crotone Basin (Southern Apennines, Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pizzati, Mattia; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Iacumin, Paola; Swennen, Rudy; Storti, Fabrizio

2017-04-01

In this contribution we describe the architecture and petrophysical properties of the Rocca di Neto extensional fault zone in loose and poorly lithified sediments, located in the Crotone forearc basin (south Italy). To this end, we combined fieldwork with microstructural observations, grain size analysis, and in situ permeability measurements. The studied fault zone has an estimated maximum displacement of 80-90 m and separates early Pleistocene age (Gelasian) sands in the footwall from middle Pleistocene (Calabrian) silty clay in the hangingwall. The analysed outcrop consists of about 70 m section through the fault zone mostly developed in the footwall block. Fault zone consists of four different structural domains characterized by distinctive features: (1) <1 m-thick fault core (where the majority of the displacement is accommodated) in which bedding is transposed into foliation imparted by grain preferential orientation and some black gouges decorate the main slip surfaces; (2) zone of tectonic mixing characterized by a set of closely spaced and anastomosed deformation bands parallel to the main slip surface; (3) about 8 m-thick footwall damage zone characterized by synthetic and antithetic sets of deformation bands; (4) zone of background deformation with a few, widely-spaced conjugate minor faults and deformation bands. The boundary between the relatively undeformed sediments and the damage zone is not sharp and it is characterized by a progressive decrease in deformation intensity. The silty clay in the hangingwall damage zone is characterized by minor faults. Grain size and microstructural data indicate that particulate flow with little amount of cataclasis is the dominant deformation mechanism in both fault core rocks and deformation bands. Permeability of undeformed sediments is about 70000 mD, whereas the permeability in deformation bands ranges from 1000 to 18000 mD; within the fault core rocks permeability is reduced up to 3-4 orders of magnitude respect to the undeformed domains. Structural and petrophysical data suggest that the Rocca di Neto fault zone may compartmentalize the footwall block due to both juxtaposition of clay-rich lithology in the hangingwall and the development of low permeability fault core rocks.

Width of surface rupture zone for thrust earthquakes: implications for earthquake fault zoning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boncio, Paolo; Liberi, Francesca; Caldarella, Martina; Nurminen, Fiia-Charlotta

2018-01-01

The criteria for zoning the surface fault rupture hazard (SFRH) along thrust faults are defined by analysing the characteristics of the areas of coseismic surface faulting in thrust earthquakes. Normal and strike-slip faults have been deeply studied by other authors concerning the SFRH, while thrust faults have not been studied with comparable attention. Surface faulting data were compiled for 11 well-studied historic thrust earthquakes occurred globally (5.4 ≤ M ≤ 7.9). Several different types of coseismic fault scarps characterize the analysed earthquakes, depending on the topography, fault geometry and near-surface materials (simple and hanging wall collapse scarps, pressure ridges, fold scarps and thrust or pressure ridges with bending-moment or flexural-slip fault ruptures due to large-scale folding). For all the earthquakes, the distance of distributed ruptures from the principal fault rupture (r) and the width of the rupture zone (WRZ) were compiled directly from the literature or measured systematically in GIS-georeferenced published maps. Overall, surface ruptures can occur up to large distances from the main fault ( ˜ 2150 m on the footwall and ˜ 3100 m on the hanging wall). Most of the ruptures occur on the hanging wall, preferentially in the vicinity of the principal fault trace ( > ˜ 50 % at distances < ˜ 250 m). The widest WRZ are recorded where sympathetic slip (Sy) on distant faults occurs, and/or where bending-moment (B-M) or flexural-slip (F-S) fault ruptures, associated with large-scale folds (hundreds of metres to kilometres in wavelength), are present. A positive relation between the earthquake magnitude and the total WRZ is evident, while a clear correlation between the vertical displacement on the principal fault and the total WRZ is not found. The distribution of surface ruptures is fitted with probability density functions, in order to define a criterion to remove outliers (e.g. 90 % probability of the cumulative distribution function) and define the zone where the likelihood of having surface ruptures is the highest. This might help in sizing the zones of SFRH during seismic microzonation (SM) mapping. In order to shape zones of SFRH, a very detailed earthquake geologic study of the fault is necessary (the highest level of SM, i.e. Level 3 SM according to Italian guidelines). In the absence of such a very detailed study (basic SM, i.e. Level 1 SM of Italian guidelines) a width of ˜ 840 m (90 % probability from "simple thrust" database of distributed ruptures, excluding B-M, F-S and Sy fault ruptures) is suggested to be sufficiently precautionary. For more detailed SM, where the fault is carefully mapped, one must consider that the highest SFRH is concentrated in a narrow zone, ˜ 60 m in width, that should be considered as a fault avoidance zone (more than one-third of the distributed ruptures are expected to occur within this zone). The fault rupture hazard zones should be asymmetric compared to the trace of the principal fault. The average footwall to hanging wall ratio (FW : HW) is close to 1 : 2 in all analysed cases. These criteria are applicable to "simple thrust" faults, without considering possible B-M or F-S fault ruptures due to large-scale folding, and without considering sympathetic slip on distant faults. Areas potentially susceptible to B-M or F-S fault ruptures should have their own zones of fault rupture hazard that can be defined by detailed knowledge of the structural setting of the area (shape, wavelength, tightness and lithology of the thrust-related large-scale folds) and by geomorphic evidence of past secondary faulting. Distant active faults, potentially susceptible to sympathetic triggering, should be zoned as separate principal faults. The entire database of distributed ruptures (including B-M, F-S and Sy fault ruptures) can be useful in poorly known areas, in order to assess the extent of the area within which potential sources of fault displacement hazard can be present. The results from this study and the database made available in the Supplement can be used for improving the attenuation relationships for distributed faulting, with possible applications in probabilistic studies of fault displacement hazard.

Structural controls of the Tuscarora geothermal field, Elko County, Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dering, G.; Faulds, J. E.

2012-12-01

Tuscarora is an amagmatic geothermal system located ~90 km northwest of Elko, Nevada, in the northern part of the Basin and Range province ~15 km southeast of the Snake River Plain. Detailed geologic mapping, structural analysis, and well data have been integrated to identify the structural controls of the Tuscarora geothermal system. The structural framework of the geothermal field is defined by NNW- to NNE-striking normal faults that are approximately orthogonal to the present extension direction. Boiling springs, fumaroles, and siliceous sinter emanate from a single NNE-striking, west-dipping normal fault. Normal faults west of these hydrothermal features mostly dip steeply east, whereas normal faults east of the springs primarily dip west. Thus, the springs, fumaroles, and sinter straddle a zone of interaction between fault sets that dip toward each other, classified as a strike-parallel anticlinal accommodation zone. Faults within the geothermal area are mostly discontinuous along strike with offsets of tens to hundreds of meters, whereas the adjacent range-bounding fault systems of the Bull Run and Independence Mountains accommodate several kilometers of displacement. The geothermal field lies within a broad step over between the southward terminating west-dipping Bull Run fault zone and the northward terminating west-dipping Independence Mountains fault zone. Neither of these major fault zones is known to host high temperature geothermal systems. The accommodation zone lies within the broad step over and contains both east-dipping antithetic and west-dipping synthetic faults. Accommodation zones are relatively common structural components of extended terranes that transfer strain between oppositely dipping fault sets via a network of subsidiary normal faults. This study has identified the hinge zone of an anticlinal accommodation zone as the site most conducive to fluid up-flow. The recognition of this specific portion of an accommodation zone as a favorable structural setting for geothermal activity may be a useful exploration tool for development of drilling targets in extensional terranes, as well as for developing geologic models of known geothermal fields. This type of information may ultimately help to reduce the risks of targeting successful geothermal wells in such settings.

A Hydrous Seismogenic Fault Rock Indicating A Coupled Lubrication Mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okamoto, S.; Kimura, G.; Takizawa, S.; Yamaguchi, H.

2005-12-01

In the seismogenic subduction zone, the predominant mechanisms have been considered to be fluid induced weakening mechanisms without frictional melting because the subduction zone is fundamentally quite hydrous under low temperature conditions. However, recently geological evidence of frictional melting has been increasingly reported from several ancient accretionary prisms uplifted from seismogenic depths of subduction zones (Ikesawa et al., 2003; Austrheim and Andersen, 2004; Rowe et al., 2004; Kitamura et al., 2005) but relationship between conflicting mechanisms; e.g. thermal pressurization of fluid and frictional melting is still unclear. We found a new exposure of pseudotachylyte from a fossilized out-of-sequence thrust (OOST) , Nobeoka thrust in the accretionary complex, Kyushu, southwest Japan. Hanging-wall and foot-wall are experienced heating up to maximum temperature of about 320/deg and about 250/deg, respectively. Hanging-wall rocks of the thrust are composed of shales and sandstones deformed plastically. Foot-wall rocks are composed of shale matrix melange with sandstone and basaltic blocks deformed in a brittle fashion (Kondo et al, 2005). The psudotachylyte was found from one of the subsidiary faults in the hanging wall at about 10 m above the fault core of the Nobeoka thrust. The fault is about 1mm in width, and planer rupture surface. The fault maintains only one-time slip event because several slip surfaces and overlapped slip textures are not identified. The fault shows three deformation stages: The first is plastic deformation of phyllitic host rocks; the second is asymmetric cracking formed especially in the foot-wall of the fault. The cracks are filled by implosion breccia hosted by fine carbonate minerals; the third is frictional melting producing pseudotachylyte. Implosion breccia with cracking suggests that thermal pressurization of fluid and hydro-fracturing proceeded frictional melting.

Structural controls on fluid circulation at the Caviahue-Copahue Volcanic Complex (CCVC) geothermal area (Chile-Argentina), revealed by soil CO2 and temperature, self-potential, and helium isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roulleau, Emilie; Bravo, Francisco; Pinti, Daniele L.; Barde-Cabusson, Stéphanie; Pizarro, Marcela; Tardani, Daniele; Muñoz, Carlos; Sanchez, Juan; Sano, Yuji; Takahata, Naoto; de la Cal, Federico; Esteban, Carlos; Morata, Diego

2017-07-01

Natural geothermal systems are limited areas characterized by anomalously high heat flow caused by recent tectonic or magmatic activity. The heat source at depth is the result of the emplacement of magma bodies, controlled by the regional volcano-tectonic setting. In contrast, at a local scale a well-developed fault-fracture network favors the development of hydrothermal cells, and promotes the vertical advection of fluids and heat. The Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ), straddling Chile and Argentina, has an important, yet unexplored and undeveloped geothermal potential. Studies on the lithological and tectonic controls of the hydrothermal circulation are therefore important for a correct assessment of the geothermal potential of the region. Here, new and dense self-potential (SP), soil CO2 and temperature (T) measurements, and helium isotope data measured in fumaroles and thermal springs from the geothermal area located in the north-eastern flank of the Copahue volcanic edifice, within the Caviahue Caldera (the Caviahue-Copahue Volcanic Complex - CCVC) are presented. Our results allowed to the constraint of the structural origin of the active thermal areas and the understanding of the evolution of the geothermal system. NE-striking faults in the area, characterized by a combination of SP, CO2, and T maxima and high 3He/4He ratios (up to 8.16 ± 0.21Ra, whereas atmospheric Ra is 1.382 × 10- 6), promote the formation of vertical permeability preferential pathways for fluid circulation. WNW-striking faults represent low-permeability pathways for hydrothermal fluid ascent, but promote infiltration of meteoric water at shallow depths, which dilute the hydrothermal input. The region is scattered with SP, CO2, and T minima, representing self-sealed zones characterized by impermeable altered rocks at depth, which create local barriers for fluid ascent. The NE-striking faults seem to be associated with the upflowing zones of the geothermal system, where the boiling process produces a high vapor-dominated zone close to the surface, whereas the WNW-striking faults could act as a boundary of the Copahue geothermal area to the south.

Spatial and Temporal Variation of in-situ Stress in and around Active Fault zones in Central Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, R.; Omura, K.; Matsuda, T.; Iio, Y.

2002-12-01

In the "Active Fault Zone Drilling Project in Japan," we have compared the relationship between the stress concentration state and the heterogeneous strength of an earthquake fault zone in different conditions. The Nojima fault which appeared on the surface by the 1995 Great Kobe earthquake (M=7.2) and the Neodani fault which appeared by the 1891 Nobi earthquake (M=8.0), have been drilled through their fault fracture zones. A similar experiment conducted on and research of the Atera fault, of which some parts have seemed to be dislocated by the 1586 Tensyo earthquake (M=7.9). We can use a deep borehole as a reliable tool to understand overall fault structure and composed materials directly. Additionally, the stress states in and around the fault fractured zones were obtained from in-situ stress measurements by the hydraulic fracturing method. Important phenomena such as rapid stress drop in the fault fracture zones were observed in the Neodani well (1300 m deep) and the Nojima well (1800 m) of the fault zone drillings, as well as in the Ashio well (2,000 m) in the focal area. In the Atera fault project, we have conducted integrated investigations by surface geophysical survey and drilling around the Atera fault. Four boreholes (400 m to 600 m deep) were located on a line crossing the fracture zone of the Atera fault. We noted that the stress magnitude decreases in the area closer to the center of the fracture zone. Furthermore the orientation of the maximum horizontal compressive stress was almost reverse of the fault moving direction. These results support the idea that the differential stress is extremely small at narrow zones adjoining fracture zones. We also noted that the frictional strength of the crust adjacent to the faults is high and the level of shear stress in the crust adjacent to the faults is principally controlled by the frictional strength of rock. We argue that the stress state observed in these sites exists only if the faults are quite "weak." As a temporal variation of stresses, crustal stress was recorded from 1978 to before the Kobe earthquake in and around the area where the earthquake occurred. By examining this data, the change in tectonic stress gradually increased prior to the earthquake. After the earthquake, the same boreholes were once again used to obtain new data. From these measurements, we were able to determine that there was a definite drop in the crustal stress in the area and that there was a change in the direction of the principal stresses. The continual measuring is essential to estimate the absolute stress magnitude that initiate earthquakes and control their propagation.

Sedimentary record of relay zone evolution, Central Corinth Rift (Greece): Role of fault propagation and structural inheritance.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemelsdaël, Romain; Ford, Mary; Meyer, Nicolas

2013-04-01

Relay zones along rift border fault systems form topographic lows that are considered to allow the transfer of sediment from the footwall into hanging wall depocentres. Present knowledge focuses on the modifications of drainage patterns and sediment pathways across relay zones, however their vertical motion during growth and interaction of faults segments is not well documented. 3D models of fault growth and linkage are also under debate. The Corinth rift (Greece) is an ideal natural laboratory for the study of fault system evolution. Fault activity and rift depocentres migrated northward during Pliocene to Recent N-S extension. We report on the evolution of a relay zone in the currently active southern rift margin fault system from Pleistocene to present-day. The relay zone lies between the E-W East Helike (EHF) and Derveni faults (DF) that lie just offshore and around the town of Akrata. During its evolution the relay zone captured the antecedent Krathis river which continued to deposit Gilbert-type deltas across the relay zone during fault interaction, breaching and post linkage phases. Moreover our work underlines the role that pre-existing structure in the location of the transfer zone. Offshore fault geometry and kinematics, and sediment distribution were defined by interpretation and depth conversion of high resolution seismic profiles (from Maurice Ewing 2001 geophysical survey). Early lateral propagation of the EHF is recorded by synsedimentary fault propagation folds while the DF records tilted block geometries since initiation. Within the relay zone beds are gradually tilted toward the basin before breaching. These different styles of deformation highlight mechanical contrasts and upper crustal partition associated with the development of the Akrata relay zone. Onshore detailed lithostratigraphy, structure and geomorphological features record sedimentation across the subsiding relay ramp and subsequent footwall uplift after breaching. The area is characterised by the successive deposition of the northward prograding Platanos Gilbert-type delta (Middle group; deposited in hangingwall of the Pirgaki-Mamoussia fault) and the NE to E prograding Akrata Gilbert-type delta (Upper group). The Akrata Gilbert-type delta records progressive rotation and lengthening of the relay ramp as the East Helike fault and Derveni fault propagated laterally (from around 0.8 Ma) and started to overlap. The relay ramp was then breached by the Krathis fault (around 0.45 Ma) and the latter reactivated a NW-SE oriented inherited structure. Onshore-offshore correlation and profile restoration of the Upper group demonstrate the presence of this pre-existing structure (detachment fault?) below the Akrata relay zone that was responsible for significant eastward thickening in early rift sediments (Lower to Middle group). Our evolution model is consistent with the 'isolated fault' model where a fault array initially develops from growth of kinematically independent fault segments and fault displacement gradually accumulates during pre- and post-linkage stages. Despite the prominent control of pre-existing fabrics on the location of the transfer zone, lateral fault propagation and interaction can be well documented.

Late Cenozoic thermochronology and exhumation history of central Anatolia: Implications for the timing and nature of transition from collision to escape tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomson, S. N.; Lefebvre, C.; Umhoefer, P. J.; Darin, M. H.; Whitney, D.; Teyssier, C. P.

2016-12-01

The central part of the Anatolian microplate in Turkey forms a complex tectonic zone situated between ongoing convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian plates to the east, and lateral escape of the Anatolian microplate as a rigid block to the west facilitated by two major strike-slip faults (the North and East Anatolian fault zones) that transitions westward into an extensional tectonic regime in western Turkey and the Aegean Sea related to subduction retreat. However, the geodynamic processes behind the transition from collision to escape, and the timing and nature of this transition, are complex and remain poorly understood. To gain a better understanding of the timing and nature of this transition, including the debated timing of ca. 35-20 Ma onset of collision between Arabia and Eurasia, we have undertaken a comprehensive low-temperature thermochronologic study in central Turkey to provide a record of exhumation patterns. We have collected over 150 samples, focused on the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex (CACC), the Central Anatolian fault zone (CAFZ - proposed as a major lithosphere-scale structure that may also be related to onset of tectonic escape), and Eocene to Neogene sedimentary basins. Results include 113 apatite fission track (FT) ages (62 bedrock ages and 51 detrital ages), 26 detrital zircon FT ages, 218 apatite (U-Th)/He (He) ages from 84 mostly bedrock samples, and 15 zircon He ages from 6 bedrock samples. Our most significant new finding is identification of an early Miocene (ca. 22-15 Ma) phase of rapid cooling seen in the CACC. These cooling ages are localized in the footwalls of several large high-angle NW-SE trending normal faults, and imply significant footwall uplift and exhumation at this time. This early Miocene exhumation is restricted to entirely west of the CAFZ, and supports this fault marking a major tectonic transition active at this time. East of the CAFZ, AFT ages in sedimentary rocks show Eocene and older detrital ages despite much higher elevations (up to 3000m) suggesting uplift of the fault block east of CAFZ occurred since the late Miocene. An earlier Eocene (40-35 Ma) phase of cooling and exhumation is identified in deformed Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary rocks either side of the CAFZ likely related to a regional episode of shortening during final closure of the inner Tauride suture.

Interactions between Polygonal Normal Faults and Larger Normal Faults, Offshore Nova Scotia, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, T. Q. H.; Withjack, M. O.; Hanafi, B. R.

2017-12-01

Polygonal faults, small normal faults with polygonal arrangements that form in fine-grained sedimentary rocks, can influence ground-water flow and hydrocarbon migration. Using well and 3D seismic-reflection data, we have examined the interactions between polygonal faults and larger normal faults on the passive margin of offshore Nova Scotia, Canada. The larger normal faults strike approximately E-W to NE-SW. Growth strata indicate that the larger normal faults were active in the Late Cretaceous (i.e., during the deposition of the Wyandot Formation) and during the Cenozoic. The polygonal faults were also active during the Cenozoic because they affect the top of the Wyandot Formation, a fine-grained carbonate sedimentary rock, and the overlying Cenozoic strata. Thus, the larger normal faults and the polygonal faults were both active during the Cenozoic. The polygonal faults far from the larger normal faults have a wide range of orientations. Near the larger normal faults, however, most polygonal faults have preferred orientations, either striking parallel or perpendicular to the larger normal faults. Some polygonal faults nucleated at the tip of a larger normal fault, propagated outward, and linked with a second larger normal fault. The strike of these polygonal faults changed as they propagated outward, ranging from parallel to the strike of the original larger normal fault to orthogonal to the strike of the second larger normal fault. These polygonal faults hard-linked the larger normal faults at and above the level of the Wyandot Formation but not below it. We argue that the larger normal faults created stress-enhancement and stress-reorientation zones for the polygonal faults. Numerous small, polygonal faults formed in the stress-enhancement zones near the tips of larger normal faults. Stress-reorientation zones surrounded the larger normal faults far from their tips. Fewer polygonal faults are present in these zones, and, more importantly, most polygonal faults in these zones were either parallel or perpendicular to the larger faults.

Rheological structure of the lithosphere in plate boundary strike-slip fault zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzaras, Vasileios; Tikoff, Basil; Kruckenberg, Seth C.; Newman, Julie; Titus, Sarah J.; Withers, Anthony C.; Drury, Martyn R.

2016-04-01

How well constrained is the rheological structure of the lithosphere in plate boundary strike-slip fault systems? Further, how do lithospheric layers, with rheologically distinct behaviors, interact within the strike-slip fault zones? To address these questions, we present rheological observations from the mantle sections of two lithospheric-scale, strike-slip fault zones. Xenoliths from ˜40 km depth (970-1100 ° C) beneath the San Andreas fault system (SAF) provide critical constraints on the mechanical stratification of the lithosphere in this continental transform fault. Samples from the Bogota Peninsula shear zone (BPSZ, New Caledonia), which is an exhumed oceanic transform fault, provide insights on lateral variations in mantle strength and viscosity across the fault zone at a depth corresponding to deformation temperatures of ˜900 ° C. Olivine recrystallized grain size piezometry suggests that the shear stress in the SAF upper mantle is 5-9 MPa and in the BPSZ is 4-10 MPa. Thus, the mantle strength in both fault zones is comparable to the crustal strength (˜10 MPa) of seismogenic strike-slip faults in the SAF system. Across the BPSZ, shear stress increases from 4 MPa in the surrounding rocks to 10 MPa in the mylonites, which comprise the core of the shear zone. Further, the BPSZ is characterized by at least one order of magnitude difference in the viscosity between the mylonites (1018 Paṡs) and the surrounding rocks (1019 Paṡs). Mantle viscosity in both the BPSZ mylonites and the SAF (7.0ṡ1018-3.1ṡ1020 Paṡs) is relatively low. To explain our observations from these two strike-slip fault zones, we propose the "lithospheric feedback" model in which the upper crust and lithospheric mantle act together as an integrated system. Mantle flow controls displacement and the upper crust controls the stress magnitude in the system. Our stress data combined with data that are now available for the middle and lower crustal sections of other transcurrent fault systems support the prediction for constant shear strength (˜10 MPa) throughout the lithosphere; the stress magnitude is controlled by the shear strength of the upper crustal faults. Fault rupture in the upper crust induces displacement rate loading of the upper mantle, which in turn, causes strain localization in the mantle shear zone beneath the strike-slip fault. Such forced localization leads to higher stresses and strain rates in the shear zone compared to the surrounding rocks. Low mantle viscosity within the shear zone is critical for facilitating mantle flow, which induces widespread crustal deformation and displacement loading. The lithospheric feedback model suggests that strike-slip fault zones are not mechanically stratified in terms of shear stress, and that it is the time-dependent interaction of the different lithospheric layers - rather than their relative strengths - that governs the rheological behavior of the plate boundary, strike-slip fault zones.

Evaluation of frictional melting on the basis of trace element analyses of fault rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, T.; Ujiie, K.

2016-12-01

Pseudotachylytes (solidified frictional melts produced during seismic slip) found in exhumed accretionary complexes are considered to have formed originally at seismogenic depths, and help our understanding of the dynamics of earthquake faulting in subduction zones. The frictional melting should affect rock chemistry. Actually, major element compositions of unaltered pseudotachylyte matrix in the Shimanto accretionary complex are reported to be similar to that of illite, implying disequilibrium melting in the slip zone (Ujiie et al., 2007). Bulk-rock trace element analyses of the pseudotachylyte-bearing fault rocks also revealed their shift to the clay-mineral-like compositions (Honda et al., 2011). Toward better understanding of the frictional melting using chemical means, we carried out detailed major and trace element analyses for pseudotachylyte-bearing dark veins and surrounding host rocks from the Mugi area of the Shimanto accretionary complex (Ujiie et al., 2007). About one milligram each of samples was collected from a rock chip along the microstructure by using the PC-controlled micro-drilling apparatus, and then analyzed by ICP-MS. Host rocks showed a series of compositional trends controlled by mixing of detrital sedimentary components. Unaltered part of the pseudotachylyte vein, on the other hand, showed striking enrichment of fluid-immobile trace elements, consistent with selective melting of fine-grained, clay-rich matrix of the fault rock. Importantly, completely altered parts of the dark veins exhibit essentially the same characteristics as the unaltered part, indicating that the trace element composition of the pseudotachylyte is well preserved even after considerable alteration in the later stages. These results demonstrate that trace element and structural analyses are useful to detect preexistence of pseudotachylytes resulting from selective frictional melting of clay minerals. It has been controversial that pseudotachylytes are rarely formed or rarely preserved. Trace element analyses on clay-rich localized slipping zones shed light on this topic. References: Ujiie et al. (2007) J. Struct. Geol. 29, 599-613; Honda et al. (2011) GRL 38, L06310.

Fault imprint in clay units: magnetic fabric, structural and mineralogical signature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, Eva; Homberg, Catherine; Schnyder, Johann; Person, Alain; du Peloux1, Arthur; Dick, Pierre

2014-05-01

Fault-induced deformations in clay units can be difficult to decipher because strain markers are not always visible at outcrop scale or using geophysical methods. Previous studies have indicated that the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (ASM) provides a powerful and rapid technique to investigate tectonic deformation in clay units even when they appear quite homogenous and undeformed at the outcrop scale (Lee et al. 1990, Mattei et al. 1997). We report here a study based on ASM, structural analysis and magnetic and clay mineralogy from two boreholes (TF1 and ASM1)drilled horizontally in the Experimental Station of Tournemire of the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in Aveyron (France). The boreholes intersect a N-S trending strike-slip fault from west to east. The ASM study indicates the evolution of the magnetic fabric from the undeformed host rock to the fault core. Also, all the fractures cutting the studied interval of the core have been measured as well as the slip vectors which are generally well preserved. In the two boreholes, the undeformed sediments outside the fault zone are characterized by an oblate fabric, a sub-vertical minimum susceptibility axis (k3) perpendicular to the bedding plane and without magnetic lineation. Within the fault zone, a tilt in the bedding plane has been observed in two boreholes TF1 and ASM1. In addition, in the TF1 core, the fault area presents a tectonic fabric characterized by a triaxial AMS ellipsoid. Moreover, the magnetic lineation increases and k3 switches from a vertical to a sub-horizontal plane. This kind of fabric has not been observed in borehole ASM1. The structural analysis of the individual fractures making the fault zone indicates a complex tectonic history with different imprint in the two fault segments cut by the two boreholes. The large majority of fractures correspond to dextral strike-slip faults but normal and reverse movements were observed and are more or less frequent depending on the borehole. Notably, many fractures are low angle faults (dip<45°) and may bear both strike-slip or normal striae. The mineralogical study based on X-ray diffraction analysis, have pointed out some variations in clay minerals associations nearby the deformed zones that may be the result of fluid circulation along the fault system which is in agreement with the presence of goethite determined by low magnetic temperature measurements. This multi-proxi study, combining ASM, petrostructural and mineralogical approaches has highlighted the heterogeneity of the fault, but also its past role as a drain to fluid circulation.

Seismic Evidence of A Widely Distributed West Napa Fault Zone, Hendry Winery, Napa, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, M.; Catchings, R.; Chan, J. H.; Criley, C.

2015-12-01

Following the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, surface rupture was mapped along the West Napa Fault Zone (WNFZ) for a distance of ~ 14 km and locally within zones up to ~ 2 km wide. Near the northern end of the surface rupture, however, several strands coalesced to form a narrow, ~100-m-wide zone of surface rupture. To determine the location, width, and shallow (upper few hundred meters) geometry of the fault zone, we acquired an active-source seismic survey across the northern surface rupture in February 2015. We acquired both P- and S-wave data, from which we developed reflection images and tomographic images of Vp, Vs, Vp/Vs, and Poisson's ratio of the upper 100 m. We also used small explosive charges within surface ruptures located ~600 m north of our seismic array to record fault-zone guided waves. Our data indicate that at the latitude of the Hendry Winery, the WNFZ is characterized by at least five fault traces that are spaced 60 to 200 m apart. Zones of low-Vs, low-Vp/Vs, and disrupted reflectors highlight the fault traces on the tomography and reflection images. On peak-ground-velocity (PGV) plots, the most pronounced high-amplitude guided-wave seismic energy coincides precisely with the mapped surface ruptures, and the guided waves also show discrete high PGV zones associated with unmapped fault traces east of the surface ruptures. Although the surface ruptures of the WNFZ were observed only over a 100-m-wide zone at the Hendry Winery, our data indicate that the fault zone is at least 400 m wide, which is probably a minimum width given the 400-m length of our seismic profile. Slip on the WNFZ is generally considered to be low relative to most other Bay Area faults, but we suggest that the West Napa Fault is a zone of widely distributed shear, and to fully account for the total slip on the WNFZ, slip on all traces of this wide fault zone must be considered.

What do data used to develop ground-motion prediction equations tell us about motions near faults?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Boore, David M.

2014-01-01

A large database of ground motions from shallow earthquakes occurring in active tectonic regions around the world, recently developed in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Center’s NGA-West2 project, has been used to investigate what such a database can say about the properties and processes of crustal fault zones. There are a relatively small number of near-rupture records, implying that few recordings in the database are within crustal fault zones, but the records that do exist emphasize the complexity of ground-motion amplitudes and polarization close to individual faults. On average over the whole data set, however, the scaling of ground motions with magnitude at a fixed distance, and the distance dependence of the ground motions, seem to be largely consistent with simple seismological models of source scaling, path propagation effects, and local site amplification. The data show that ground motions close to large faults, as measured by elastic response spectra, tend to saturate and become essentially constant for short periods. This saturation seems to be primarily a geometrical effect, due to the increasing size of the rupture surface with magnitude, and not due to a breakdown in self similarity.

Potential seismic hazards and tectonics of the upper Cook Inlet basin, Alaska, based on analysis of Pliocene and younger deformation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haeussler, Peter J.; Bruhn, Ronald L.; Pratt, Thomas L.

2000-01-01

The Cook Inlet basin is a northeast-trending forearc basin above the Aleutian subduction zone in southern Alaska. Folds in Cook Inlet are complex, discontinuous structures with variable shape and vergence that probably developed by right-transpressional deformation on oblique-slip faults extending downward into Mesozoic basement beneath the Tertiary basin. The most recent episode of deformation may have began as early as late Miocene time, but most of the deformation occurred after deposition of much of the Pliocene Sterling Formation. Deformation continued into Quaternary time, and many structures are probably still active. One structure, the Castle Mountain fault, has Holocene fault scarps, an adjacent anticline with flower structure, and historical seismicity. If other structures in Cook Inlet are active, blind faults coring fault-propagation folds may generate Mw 6–7+ earthquakes. Dextral transpression of Cook Inlet appears to have been driven by coupling between the North American and Pacific plates along the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, and by lateral escape of the forearc to the southwest, due to collision and indentation of the Yakutat terrane 300 km to the east of the basin.

What Do Data Used to Develop Ground-Motion Prediction Equations Tell Us About Motions Near Faults?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boore, David M.

2014-11-01

A large database of ground motions from shallow earthquakes occurring in active tectonic regions around the world, recently developed in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Center's NGA-West2 project, has been used to investigate what such a database can say about the properties and processes of crustal fault zones. There are a relatively small number of near-rupture records, implying that few recordings in the database are within crustal fault zones, but the records that do exist emphasize the complexity of ground-motion amplitudes and polarization close to individual faults. On average over the whole data set, however, the scaling of ground motions with magnitude at a fixed distance, and the distance dependence of the ground motions, seem to be largely consistent with simple seismological models of source scaling, path propagation effects, and local site amplification. The data show that ground motions close to large faults, as measured by elastic response spectra, tend to saturate and become essentially constant for short periods. This saturation seems to be primarily a geometrical effect, due to the increasing size of the rupture surface with magnitude, and not due to a breakdown in self similarity.

Three-Dimensional Mantle Flow Near an Oceanic Paleotransform Fault System: Geological Constraints From the Bogota Peninsula, New Caledonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzaras, V.; Kruckenberg, S. C.; Titus, S.; Tikoff, B.; Teyssier, C. P.; Drury, M. R.

2016-12-01

We provide geological constraints on mantle deformation across a system of two oceanic paleotransform faults exposed in the Bogota Peninsula area, New Caledonia. Mantle deformation occurred at depths corresponding to temperatures of 900 oC and is highly heterogeneous. The paleotransform faults consist of mylonitic shear zones ( 1 km wide), and are surrounded by broader areas in which rotation of both the shape fabric (foliation and lineation) and olivine crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) takes place. Outside the plaeotransform faults, mantle flows oblique to the strike of the mylonitic zones and is characterized by lateral variations in the flow direction. To further constrain the kinematics and type of deformation, we determine the orientation of the crystallographic vorticity axes as an independent tool for constraining deformation geometry (e.g., simple shear, transpression, transtension). The observed mantle flow is associated to lateral variations in: 1) the geometry and degree of anisotropy of spinel shape fabric; 2) olivine CPO type; 3) amount of stretching; and 4) the orientation of the crystallographic vorticity axes. Upper mantle in the vicinity of oceanic transform faults may be characterized by complex, three-dimensional flow patterns and deformation geometries deviating from simple shear.

Map of the Rinconada and Reliz Fault Zones, Salinas River Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosenberg, Lewis I.; Clark, Joseph C.

2009-01-01

The Rinconada Fault and its related faults constitute a major structural element of the Salinas River valley, which is known regionally, and referred to herein, as the 'Salinas Valley'. The Rinconada Fault extends 230 km from King City in the north to the Big Pine Fault in the south. At the south end of the map area near Santa Margarita, the Rinconada Fault separates granitic and metamorphic crystalline rocks of the Salinian Block to the northeast from the subduction-zone assemblage of the Franciscan Complex to the southwest. Northwestward, the Rinconada Fault lies entirely within the Salinian Block and generally divides this region into two physiographically and structurally distinct areas, the Santa Lucia Range to the west and the Salinas Valley to the east. The Reliz Fault, which continues as a right stepover from the Rinconada Fault, trends northwestward along the northeastern base of the Sierra de Salinas of the Santa Lucia Range and beyond for 60 km to the vicinity of Spreckels, where it is largely concealed. Aeromagnetic data suggest that the Reliz Fault continues northwestward another 25 km into Monterey Bay, where it aligns with a high-definition magnetic boundary. Geomorphic evidence of late Quaternary movement along the Rinconada and Reliz Fault Zones has been documented by Tinsley (1975), Dibblee (1976, 1979), Hart (1976, 1985), and Klaus (1999). Although definitive geologic evidence of Holocene surface rupture has not been found on these faults, they were regarded as an earthquake source for the California Geological Survey [formerly, California Division of Mines and Geology]/U.S. Geological Survey (CGS/USGS) Probabilistic Seismic Hazards Assessment because of their postulated slip rate of 1+-1 mm/yr and their calculated maximum magnitude of 7.3. Except for published reports by Durham (1965, 1974), Dibblee (1976), and Hart (1976), most information on these faults is unpublished or is contained in theses, field trip guides, and other types of reports. Therefore, the main purpose of this project is to compile and synthesize this body of knowledge into a comprehensive report for the geologic community. This report follows the format of Dibblee (1976) and includes discussions of the sections of the Rinconada Fault and of the Reliz Fault, as well as their Neogene history and key localities. Accompanying this report is a geologic map database of the faults, key localities, and earthquake epicenters, in ESRI shapefile format.

Raman spectra of carbonaceous materials in a fault zone in the Longmenshan thrust belt, China; comparisons with those of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kouketsu, Yui; Shimizu, Ichiko; Wang, Yu; Yao, Lu; Ma, Shengli; Shimamoto, Toshihiko

2017-03-01

We analyzed micro-Raman spectra of carbonaceous materials (CM) in natural and experimentally deformed fault rocks from Longmenshan fault zone that caused the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, to characterize degree of disordering of CM in a fault zone. Raman spectral parameters for 12 samples from a fault zone in Shenxigou, Sichuan, China, all show low-grade structures with no graphite. Low crystallinity and δ13C values (-24‰ to -25‰) suggest that CM in fault zone originated from host rocks (Late Triassic Xujiahe Formation). Full width at half maximum values of main spectral bands (D1 and D2), and relative intensities of two subbands (D3 and D4) of CM were variable with sample locations. However, Raman parameters of measured fault rocks fall on established trends of graphitization in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. An empirical geothermometer gives temperatures of 160-230 °C for fault rocks in Shenxigou, and these temperatures were lower for highly sheared gouge than those for less deformed fault breccia at inner parts of the fault zone. The lower temperature and less crystallinity of CM in gouge might have been caused by the mechanical destruction of CM by severe shearing deformation, or may be due to mixing of host rocks on the footwall. CM in gouge deformed in high-velocity experiments exhibits slight changes towards graphitization characterized by reduction of D3 and D4 intensities. Thus low crystallinity of CM in natural gouge cannot be explained by our experimental results. Graphite formation during seismic fault motion is extremely local or did not occur in the study area, and the CM crystallinity from shallow to deep fault zones may be predicted as a first approximation from the graphitization trend in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. If that case, graphite may lower the friction of shear zones at temperatures above 300 °C, deeper than the lower part of seismogenic zone.

Low-Temperature Fault Creep: Strong vs. Weak, Steady vs. Episodic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, K.; Gao, X.

2017-12-01

Unless we understand how faults creep, we do not fully understand how they produce earthquakes. However, most of the physics and geology of low-temperature creep is not known. There are two end-member types of low-temperature creep: weak creep of smooth faults and strong creep of rough faults, with a spectrum of intermediate modes in between. Most conceptual and numerical models deal with weak creep, assuming a very smooth fault with a gouge typically weakened by hydrous minerals (Harris, 2017). Less understood is strong creep. For subduction zones, strong creep appears to be common and is often associated with the subduction of large geometrical irregularities such as seamounts and aseismic ridges (Wang and Bilek, 2014). These irregularities generate fracture systems as they push against the resistance of brittle rocks. The resultant heterogeneous stress and structural environment makes it very difficult to lock the fault. The geodetically observed creep under such conditions is accomplished by the complex deformation of a 3D damage zone. Strong-creeping faults dissipate more heat than faults that produce great earthquakes (Gao and Wang, 2014). Although an integrated frictional strength of the fault is still a useful concept, the creeping mechanism is very different from frictional slip of a velocity-strengthening smooth fault. Cataclasis and pressure-solution creep in the fracture systems must be important processes in strong creep. Strong creep is necessarily non-steady and produces small and medium earthquakes. Strong creep of a megathrust can also promote the occurrence of a very special type of weak creep - episodic slow slip around the mantle wedge corner accompanied with tremor (ETS). An example is Hikurangi, where strong creep causes the frictional-viscous transition along the plate interface to occur much shallower than the mantle wedge corner, a necessary condition for ETS (Gao and Wang, 2017). Gao and Wang (2014), Strength of stick-slip and creeping subduction megathrusts from heat flow observations, Science. Gao and Wang (2017), Rheological separation of the megathrust seismogenic zone and Episodic Tremor and Slip, Nature. Harris (2017), Large earthquakes and creeping faults, Rev. Geophys. Wang and Bilek (2014), Fault creep caused by subduction of rough seafloor relief, Tectonophysics.

Infrastructure and mechanical properties of a fault zone in sandstone as an outcrop analogue of a potential geothermal reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, J. F.; Meier, S.; Philipp, S. L.

2013-12-01

Due to high drilling costs of geothermal projects, it is economically sensible to assess the potential suitability of a reservoir prior to drilling. Fault zones are of particular importance, because they may enhance fluid flow, or be flow barriers, respectively, depending on their particular infrastructure. Outcrop analogue studies are useful to analyze the fault zone infrastructure and thereby increase the predictability of fluid flow behavior across fault zones in the corresponding deep reservoir. The main aims of the present study are to 1) analyze the infrastructure and the differences of fracture system parameters in fault zones and 2) determine the mechanical properties of the faulted rocks. We measure fracture frequencies as well as orientations, lengths and apertures and take representative rock samples for each facies to obtain Young's modulus, compressive and tensile strengths in the laboratory. Since fractures reduce the stiffnesses of in situ rock masses we use an inverse correlation of the number of discontinuities to calculate effective (in situ) Young's moduli to investigate the variation of mechanical properties in fault zones. In addition we determine the rebound hardness, which correlates with the compressive strength measured in the laboratory, with a 'Schmidt-Hammer' in the field because this allows detailed maps of mechanical property variations within fault zones. Here we present the first results for a fault zone in the Triassic Lower Bunter of the Upper Rhine Graben in France. The outcrop at Cleebourg exposes the damage zone of the footwall and a clear developed fault core of a NNW-SSE-striking normal fault. The approximately 15 m wide fault core consists of fault gouge, slip zones, deformation bands and host rock lenses. Intensive deformation close to the core led to the formation of a distal fault core, a 5 m wide zone with disturbed layering and high fracture frequency. The damage zone also contains more fractures than the host rock. Fracture frequency and connectivity clearly increase near the fault core where the reservoir permeability may thus be higher, the effective Young's modulus lower. Similarly the Schmidt-Hammer measurements show that the rebound hardness, or the compressive strength, respectively, decreases near the fault core. This Project is part of the Research- and Development Project 'AuGE' (Outcrop Analogue Studies in Geothermal Exploration). Project partners are the companies Geothermal Engeneering GmbH as well as the Universities of Heidelberg and Erlangen. We thank the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safty (BMU) for funding the project in the framework of the 5th Energy Research Program (FKZ: 0325302). Also thanks to the owner of the quarry for the permission to perform our field studies.

Surface faulting near Livermore, California, associated with the January 1980 earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bonilla, Manuel G.; Lienkaemper, James J.; Tinsley, John C.

1980-01-01

The earthquakes of 24 January (Ms 5.8) 1980 north of Livermore, California, and 26 January (Ms 5.2), were accompanied by surface faulting in the Greenville fault zone and apparently in the Las Positas fault zone also. The surface faulting was discontinuous and of small displacement. The main rupture within the Greenville fault zone trended about N.38°W. It was at least 4.2 km long and may have extended southward to Interstate Highway 580, giving a possible length of 6.2 km; both of these lengths included more gaps than observed surface rupture. Maximum displacements measured by us were about 25 mm of right slip (including afterslip through 28 January); vertical components of as much as 50 mm were seen locally, but these included gravity effects of unknown amount. The main break within the Greenville fault zones is very close to a fault strand mapped by Herd (1977, and unpublished data). A subsidiary break within the Greenville fault zone was about 0.5 km. long, had a general trend of N.46°W., and lay 0.12 to 0.25 km east of the main break. It was characterized by extension of as much as 40 mm and right slip of as much as 20 mm. This break was no more than 25 m from a fault mapped by Herd (unpublished data). Another break within the Greenville fault zone lay about 0.3 km southwest of the projection of the main break and trended about N33°W. It was at least 0.3 km long and showed mostly extension, but at several places a right-lateral component (up to 5 mm) was seen. This break was 80 to 100 m from a strand of the Greenville fault mapped by Herd (1977). Extensional fractures within the Greenville fault zone on the frontage roads north and south of Interstate Highway 580 may be related to regional extension or other processes, but do not seem to have resulted from faulting of the usual kind. One exception in this group is a fracture at the east side of Livermore valley which showed progressive increase in right-lateral displacement in February and March, 1980, and is directly on the projection of a fault in the Greenville fault zone mapped by Herd (1977). A group of more than 20 extensional fractures in Laughlin Road 1 km north of Interstate 580 probably are related to small tectonic displacements on faults in the Greenville fault zone. They are adjacent and parallel to two faults mapped by Herd (1977), are diagonal to the road, and most of them developed between 25 and 29 January, a period that included the Ms 5.2 shock of 26 January. Observations at two locations indicate tectonic displacement on the Las Positas fault zone as mapped by Herd (1977). At Vasco Road a prominent break on a strand of the fault showed about 0.5 mm of left-lateral strike slip on 7 February. An alinement array across this and other fractures at the locality indicates about 6 mm of left-lateral displacement occurred between 21 February and 26 March. On Tesla Road several right-stepping fractures, one of which showed 1.5 mm of left-lateral strike slip, lie on or close tp previously mapped strands of the Las Positas fault zone. The evidence at these two localities indicates that tectonic surface displacement occurred along at least 1.1 km of the Las Positas fault zone.

Crustal structure and relocated earthquakes in the Puget Lowland, Washington, from high-resolution seismic tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Wagoner, T. M.; Crosson, R. S.; Creager, K. C.; Medema, G.; Preston, L.; Symons, N. P.; Brocher, T. M.

2002-12-01

The availability of regional earthquake data from the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN), together with active source data from the Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS) seismic experiments, has allowed us to construct a new high-resolution 3-D, P wave velocity model of the crust to a depth of about 30 km in the central Puget Lowland. In our method, earthquake hypocenters and velocity model are jointly coupled in a fully nonlinear tomographic inversion. Active source data constrain the upper 10-15 km of the model, and earthquakes constrain the deepest portion of the model. A number of sedimentary basins are imaged, including the previously unrecognized Muckleshoot basin, and the previously incompletely defined Possession and Sequim basins. Various features of the shallow crust are imaged in detail and their structural transitions to the mid and lower crust are revealed. These include the Tacoma basin and fault zone, the Seattle basin and fault zone, the Seattle and Port Ludlow velocity highs, the Port Townsend basin, the Kingston Arch, and the Crescent basement, which is arched beneath the Lowland from its surface exposure in the eastern Olympics. Strong lateral velocity gradients, consistent with the existence of previously inferred faults, are observed, bounding the southern Port Townsend basin, the western edge of the Seattle basin beneath Dabob Bay, and portions of the Port Ludlow velocity high and the Tacoma basin. Significant velocity gradients are not observed across the southern Whidbey Island fault, the Lofall fault, or along most of the inferred location of the Hood Canal fault. Using improved earthquake locations resulting from our inversion, we determined focal mechanisms for a number of the best recorded earthquakes in the data set, revealing a complex pattern of deformation dominated by general arc-parallel regional tectonic compression. Most earthquakes occur in the basement rocks inferred to be the lower Tertiary Crescent formation. The sedimentary basins and the eastern part of the Olympic subduction complex are largely devoid of earthquakes. Clear association of hypocenters and focal mechanisms with previously mapped or proposed faults is difficult; however, seismicity, structure, and focal mechanisms associated with the Seattle fault zone suggest a possible high-angle mode of deformation with the north side up. We suggest that this deformation may be driven by isostatic readjustment of the Seattle basin.

Crustal structure and relocated earthquakes in the Puget Lowland, Washington, from high-resolution seismic tomography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Wagoner, T. M.; Crosson, R.S.; Creager, K.C.; Medema, G.; Preston, L.; Symons, N.P.; Brocher, T.M.

2002-01-01

The availability of regional earthquake data from the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN), together with active source data from the Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS) seismic experiments, has allowed us to construct a new high-resolution 3-D, P wave velocity model of the crust to a depth of about 30 km in the central Puget Lowland. In our method, earthquake hypocenters and velocity model are jointly coupled in a fully nonlinear tomographic inversion. Active source data constrain the upper 10-15 km of the model, and earthquakes constrain the deepest portion of the model. A number of sedimentary basins are imaged, including the previously unrecognized Muckleshoot basin, and the previously incompletely defined Possession and Sequim basins. Various features of the shallow crust are imaged in detail and their structural transitions to the mid and lower crust are revealed. These include the Tacoma basin and fault zone, the Seattle basin and fault zone, the Seattle and Port Ludlow velocity highs, the Port Townsend basin, the Kingston Arch, and the Crescent basement, which is arched beneath the Lowland from its surface exposure in the eastern Olympics. Strong lateral velocity gradients, consistent with the existence of previously inferred faults, are observed, bounding the southern Port Townsend basin, the western edge of the Seattle basin beneath Dabob Bay, and portions of the Port Ludlow velocity high and the Tacoma basin. Significant velocity gradients are not observed across the southern Whidbey Island fault, the Lofall fault, or along most of the inferred location of the Hood Canal fault. Using improved earthquake locations resulting from our inversion, we determined focal mechanisms for a number of the best recorded earthquakes in the data set, revealing a complex pattern of deformation dominated by general arc-parallel regional tectonic compression. Most earthquakes occur in the basement rocks inferred to be the lower Tertiary Crescent formation. The sedimentary basins and the eastern part of the Olympic subduction complex are largely devoid of earthquakes. Clear association of hypocenters and focal mechanisms with previously mapped or proposed faults is difficult; however, seismicity, structure, and focal mechanisms associated with the Seattle fault zone suggest a possible high-angle mode of deformation with the north side up. We suggest that this deformation may be driven by isostatic readjustment of the Seattle basin.

Active tectonics of the Imperial Valley, southern California: fault damage zones, complex basins and buried faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persaud, P.; Ma, Y.; Stock, J. M.; Hole, J. A.; Fuis, G. S.; Han, L.

2016-12-01

Ongoing oblique slip at the Pacific-North America plate boundary in the Salton Trough produced the Imperial Valley. Deformation in this seismically active area is distributed across a complex network of exposed and buried faults resulting in a largely unmapped seismic hazard beneath the growing population centers of El Centro, Calexico and Mexicali. To better understand the shallow crustal structure in this region and the connectivity of faults and seismicity lineaments, we used data primarily from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) to construct a P-wave velocity profile to 15 km depth, and a 3-D velocity model down to 8 km depth including the Brawley Geothermal area. We obtained detailed images of a complex wedge-shaped basin at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault system. Two deep subbasins (VP <5.65 km/s) are located in the western part of the larger Imperial Valley basin, where seismicity trends and active faults play a significant role in shaping the basin edge. Our 3-D VP model reveals previously unrecognized NE-striking cross faults that are interacting with the dominant NW-striking faults to control deformation. New findings in our profile include localized regions of low VP (thickening of a 5.65-5.85 km/s layer) near faults or seismicity lineaments interpreted as possibly faulting-related. Our 3-D model and basement map reveal velocity highs associated with the geothermal areas in the eastern valley. The improved seismic velocity model from this study, and the identification of important unmapped faults or buried interfaces will help refine the seismic hazard for parts of Imperial County, California.

The earthquake potential of the New Madrid seismic zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tuttle, Martitia P.; Schweig, Eugene S.; Sims, John D.; Lafferty, Robert H.; Wolf, Lorraine W.; Haynes, Marion L.

2002-01-01

The fault system responsible for New Madrid seismicity has generated temporally clustered very large earthquakes in A.D. 900 ± 100 years and A.D. 1450 ± 150 years as well as in 1811–1812. Given the uncertainties in dating liquefaction features, the time between the past three New Madrid events may be as short as 200 years and as long as 800 years, with an average of 500 years. This advance in understanding the Late Holocene history of the New Madrid seismic zone and thus, the contemporary tectonic behavior of the associated fault system was made through studies of hundreds of earthquake-induced liquefaction features at more than 250 sites across the New Madrid region. We have found evidence that prehistoric sand blows, like those that formed during the 1811–1812 earthquakes, are probably compound structures resulting from multiple earthquakes closely clustered in time or earthquake sequences. From the spatial distribution and size of sand blows and their sedimentary units, we infer the source zones and estimate the magnitudes of earthquakes within each sequence and thereby characterize the detailed behavior of the fault system. It appears that fault rupture was complex and that the central branch of the seismic zone produced very large earthquakes during the A.D. 900 and A.D. 1450 events as well as in 1811–1812. On the basis of a minimum recurrence rate of 200 years, we are now entering the period during which the next 1811–1812-type event could occur.

Continuous permeability measurements record healing inside the Wenchuan earthquake fault zone.

PubMed

Xue, Lian; Li, Hai-Bing; Brodsky, Emily E; Xu, Zhi-Qing; Kano, Yasuyuki; Wang, Huan; Mori, James J; Si, Jia-Liang; Pei, Jun-Ling; Zhang, Wei; Yang, Guang; Sun, Zhi-Ming; Huang, Yao

2013-06-28

Permeability controls fluid flow in fault zones and is a proxy for rock damage after an earthquake. We used the tidal response of water level in a deep borehole to track permeability for 18 months in the damage zone of the causative fault of the 2008 moment magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The unusually high measured hydraulic diffusivity of 2.4 × 10(-2) square meters per second implies a major role for water circulation in the fault zone. For most of the observation period, the permeability decreased rapidly as the fault healed. The trend was interrupted by abrupt permeability increases attributable to shaking from remote earthquakes. These direct measurements of the fault zone reveal a process of punctuated recovery as healing and damage interact in the aftermath of a major earthquake.

Tectonic evolution of the Troodos Ophiolite within the Tethyan Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dilek, Yildirim; Thy, Peter; Moores, Eldridge M.; Ramsden, Todd W.

1990-08-01

A new tectonic model reconciles conflicting structural and geochemical evidence for the origin of the Troodos ophiolite, a well-preserved remnant of Neotethyan oceanic crust. Grabens and normal faults within the sheeted dike complex and the extrusive sequence of the Troodos ophiolite resemble those of oceanic spreading centers. Diverse intrusive and tectonic contact relationships between the sheeted dike complex and the underlying plutonic sequence indicate multiple and episodic intrusion of magma and along- and across-strike variation in volcanic and tectonic activity during development of oceanic crust. Coupled with the existence of the Arakapas transform fault to the south, these structural and intrusive relationships suggest origin at an intersection between a spreading center and a transform fault. The arclike chemistry of sheeted dikes and related extrusive rocks and the inferred highly depleted and hydrous nature of the mantle source of the late stage intrusive and extrusive rocks argue, however, for generation of part of the ophiolite within a subduction zone environment. Regional reconstructions suggest that the Mesozoic Neotethys may have evolved as a marginal basin both to the Afro-Arabian continent and the Paleotethyan ocean over an active or recently active south dipping subduction zone. The Troodos ophiolite and other eastern Mediterranean ophiolites, whose magma compositions were affected by the subducted Paleotethyan slab, may have formed along east-west trending spreading centers separated by north-south trending transform faults within this marginal basin. A rapid change in relative plate motion in late Cretaceous time between Eurasia and Afro-Arabia created a regional compressive regime that may have resulted in plate boundary reorganizations within the Neotethyan realm and in initiation of north dipping subduction zone(s) beneath the Troodos and other ophiolites in the region. The apparent forearc setting of the Troodos ophiolite is a consequence of this intraoceanic displacement after its formation and thus is unrelated to its generation.

Reactivation versus reworking of the active continental margin during the Zagros collision: Mahallat-Muteh-Laybid complexes, Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aflaki, Mahtab; Shabanian, Esmaeil; Davoodi, Zeinab; Mohajjel, Mohammad

2017-06-01

Reactivation of long-lived basement faults has significant influences on further deformation of collision zones. Three major inherited pre-collisional NW-, N- and NE-trending basement discontinuities have played important roles on the structural and tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Iranian micro-continent in the northeastern part of the Gondwana super-continent. Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (SSZ), known as the metamorphic belt of the Zagros orogeny, marks the SW margin of the Central Iran. SSZ is formed as a result of the Arabia-Eurasia collision and its general trend of deformation coincides with the NW structural trend of the collision. The NE-trending Mahallat, Muteh and Laybid complexes in the middle part of the NW-trending SSZ are the exception and have a trend almost normal to the NW-trending Zagros. A combined methodology of remote sensing, geometric and kinematics analyses complemented by field work was used to reconstruct the history of deformation in the Zagros hinterland since the earlier stages of collision to the present-day. Our results reveal the key role of the preexisting discontinuities of the Iranian basement in both the kinematics and structural pattern of the middle part of the SSZ. These basement faults have acted as main boundary conditions changing the collisional fabric perpendicular to its overall trend. Progressive deformation and the related changes during collision have caused drastic changes in the kinematics of the boundary faults. The establishment of dextral transtension in the SSZ has had secondary influences on the pattern of deformation by local clockwise rotation and localized dextral shear in the southern parts of the area of interest. This study highlights the significance of long-lived pre-existing structures in the deformation of collision zones. Such basement faults are capable to change both the pattern and kinematics of deformation of the adjacent areas involved in a continental collision.

Structure of a normal seismogenic fault zone in carbonates: The Vado di Corno Fault, Campo Imperatore, Central Apennines (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demurtas, Matteo; Fondriest, Michele; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Clemenzi, Luca; Storti, Fabrizio; Bistacchi, Andrea; Di Toro, Giulio

2016-09-01

The Vado di Corno Fault Zone (VCFZ) is an active extensional fault cutting through carbonates in the Italian Central Apennines. The fault zone was exhumed from ∼2 km depth and accommodated a normal throw of ∼2 km since Early-Pleistocene. In the studied area, the master fault of the VCFZ dips N210/54° and juxtaposes Quaternary colluvial deposits in the hangingwall with cataclastic dolostones in the footwall. Detailed mapping of the fault zone rocks within the ∼300 m thick footwall-block evidenced the presence of five main structural units (Low Strain Damage Zone, High Strain Damage Zone, Breccia Unit, Cataclastic Unit 1 and Cataclastic Unit 2). The Breccia Unit results from the Pleistocene extensional reactivation of a pre-existing Pliocene thrust. The Cataclastic Unit 1 forms a ∼40 m thick band lining the master fault and recording in-situ shattering due to the propagation of multiple seismic ruptures. Seismic faulting is suggested also by the occurrence of mirror-like slip surfaces, highly localized sheared calcite-bearing veins and fluidized cataclasites. The VCFZ architecture compares well with seismological studies of the L'Aquila 2009 seismic sequence (mainshock MW 6.1), which imaged the reactivation of shallow-seated low-angle normal faults (Breccia Unit) cut by major high-angle normal faults (Cataclastic Units).

Submarine gas seepage in a mixed contractional and shear deformation regime: Cases from the Hikurangi oblique-subduction margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plaza-Faverola, Andreia; Pecher, Ingo; Crutchley, Gareth; Barnes, Philip M.; Bünz, Stefan; Golding, Thomas; Klaeschen, Dirk; Papenberg, Cord; Bialas, Joerg

2014-02-01

Gas seepage from marine sediments has implications for understanding feedbacks between the global carbon reservoir, seabed ecology, and climate change. Although the relationship between hydrates, gas chimneys, and seafloor seepage is well established, the nature of fluid sources and plumbing mechanisms controlling fluid escape into the hydrate zone and up to the seafloor remain one of the least understood components of fluid migration systems. In this study, we present the analysis of new three-dimensional high-resolution seismic data acquired to investigate fluid migration systems sustaining active seafloor seepage at Omakere Ridge, on the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. The analysis reveals at high resolution, complex overprinting fault structures (i.e., protothrusts, normal faults from flexural extension, and shallow (<1 km) arrays of oblique shear structures) implicated in fluid migration within the gas hydrate stability zone in an area of 2 × 7 km. In addition to fluid migration systems sustaining seafloor seepage on both sides of a central thrust fault, the data show seismic evidence for subseafloor gas-rich fluid accumulation associated with proto-thrusts and extensional faults. In these latter systems fluid pressure dissipation through time has been favored, hindering the development of gas chimneys. We discuss the elements of the distinct fluid migration systems and the influence that a complex partitioning of stress may have on the evolution of fluid flow systems in active subduction margins.

Numerical modeling of fluid flow in a fault zone: a case of study from Majella Mountain (Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romano, Valentina; Battaglia, Maurizio; Bigi, Sabina; De'Haven Hyman, Jeffrey; Valocchi, Albert J.

2017-04-01

The study of fluid flow in fractured rocks plays a key role in reservoir management, including CO2 sequestration and waste isolation. We present a numerical model of fluid flow in a fault zone, based on field data acquired in Majella Mountain, in the Central Apennines (Italy). This fault zone is considered a good analogue for the massive presence of fluid migration in the form of tar. Faults are mechanical features and cause permeability heterogeneities in the upper crust, so they strongly influence fluid flow. The distribution of the main components (core, damage zone) can lead the fault zone to act as a conduit, a barrier, or a combined conduit-barrier system. We integrated existing information and our own structural surveys of the area to better identify the major fault features (e.g., type of fractures, statistical properties, geometrical and petro-physical characteristics). In our model the damage zones of the fault are described as discretely fractured medium, while the core of the fault as a porous one. Our model utilizes the dfnWorks code, a parallelized computational suite, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), that generates three dimensional Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) of the damage zones of the fault and characterizes its hydraulic parameters. The challenge of the study is the coupling between the discrete domain of the damage zones and the continuum one of the core. The field investigations and the basic computational workflow will be described, along with preliminary results of fluid flow simulation at the scale of the fault.

Multifaulting in a tectonic syntaxis revealed by InSAR: The case of the Ziarat earthquake sequence (Pakistan)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinel-Puysségur, B.; Grandin, R.; Bollinger, L.; Baudry, C.

2014-07-01

On 28-29 October 2008, within 12 h, two similar Mw = 6.4 strike-slip earthquakes struck Baluchistan (Pakistan), as part of a complex seismic sequence. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data reveal that the peak of surface displacement is near the Ziarat anticline, a large active fold affected by Quaternary strike-slip faulting. All coseismic interferograms integrate the deformation due to both earthquakes. As their causative faults ruptured close to each other, the individual signals cannot be separated. According to their focal mechanisms, each earthquake may have activated a NE-SW sinistral or a NW-SE dextral fault segment, which leads to four possible scenarios of fault orientations. A nonlinear inversion of the InSAR data set allows rejecting two scenarios. The best slip distributions on the two fault segments for the two remaining scenarios are determined by linear inversion. Stress-change modeling favors a scenario involving two abutting conjugate strike-slip faults. Two other fault segments accommodated left-lateral strike slip during the seismic sequence. The activated fault system includes multiple fault segments with different orientations and little surface expression. This may highlight, at a smaller scale, the distributed, possibly transient character of deformation within a broader right-lateral shear zone. It suggests that the activated faults delineate a small tectonic block extruding and subtly rotating within the shear zone. It occurs in the vicinity of the local tectonic syntaxis where orogenic structures sharply turn around a vertical axis. These mechanisms could participate in the long-term migration of active tectonic structures within this kinematically unstable tectonic syntaxis.

The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault Zone - The Knife-Edged Pacific-North American Plate Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greene, H. G.; Barrie, J. V. J.; Brothers, D. S.; Nishenko, S. P.; Conway, K.; Enkin, R.; Conrad, J. E.; Maier, K. L.; Stacy, C.

2016-12-01

Recent investigations of the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather (QC-FW) Fault zone using multibeam echosounder bathymetric and 3.5-kHz sub-bottom profile data show that the fault zone is primarily represented by a single linear structure with small, localized pull-apart basins suggestive of transtension. Water column acoustical data imaged gas plumes concentrated along the fault zone with plume columns extending as much as 700 m above the crest of mud volcanoes. Piston cores indicate that the fault zone cuts hard-packed dense sands that have been dated as Pleistocene in age. The newly discovered fluids associated with the southern half of the fault zone and volcanic edifices with oceanic and continental plate petrologic affinities suggest that the QC-FW is a leaky transform system. Two independent investigations, one in the north part and one in the central part of the fault zone, using two different types of piercing points, found that the slip rate along at least a 200 km length was consistent at between 40-55 mm/yr. since about 14 ka, equivalent to the relative plate motion between the Pacific and North American plates in the NE Pacific region. We surmise that the QC-FW is accommodating most, if not all, of relative motion along a single primary strand without any detectable partitioning of motion onto other faults. This right-lateral strike-slip fault zone is expressed on the seafloor as a very straight feature that probably represents nearly pure strike-slip motion.

Seismic constraints on the architecture of the Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon fault: Implications for the length and magnitude of future earthquake ruptures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahakian, Valerie; Bormann, Jayne; Driscoll, Neal; Harding, Alistair; Kent, Graham; Wesnousky, Steve

2017-03-01

The Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon (NIRC) fault zone is an active strike-slip fault system within the Pacific-North American plate boundary in Southern California, located in close proximity to populated regions of San Diego, Orange, and Los Angeles counties. Prior to this study, the NIRC fault zone's continuity and geometry were not well constrained. Nested marine seismic reflection data with different vertical resolutions are employed to characterize the offshore fault architecture. Four main fault strands are identified offshore, separated by three main stepovers along strike, all of which are 2 km or less in width. Empirical studies of historical ruptures worldwide show that earthquakes have ruptured through stepovers with this offset. Models of Coulomb stress change along the fault zone are presented to examine the potential extent of future earthquake ruptures on the fault zone, which appear to be dependent on the location of rupture initiation and fault geometry at the stepovers. These modeling results show that the southernmost stepover between the La Jolla and Torrey Pines fault strands may act as an inhibitor to throughgoing rupture due to the stepover width and change in fault geometry across the stepover; however, these results still suggest that rupture along the entire fault zone is possible.

Size matters: The effects of displacement magnitude on the fluid flow properties of faults in poorly lithified sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loveless, S. E.; Bense, V.; Turner, J.

2011-12-01

Many aquifers worldwide occur in poorly lithified sediments, often in regions that experience active tectonic deformation. Faulting of these sediments introduces heterogeneities that may affect aquifer porosity and permeability, and consequently subsurface fluid flow and groundwater storage. The specific hydrogeological effects of faults depend upon the fault architecture and deformation mechanisms. These are controlled by factors such as rheology, stratigraphy and burial depth. Here, we analyse fault permeability in poorly lithified sediments as a function of fault displacement. We have carried out detailed outcrop studies of minor normal faults at five study sites within the rapidly extending Corinth rift, Central Greece. Gravel conglomerates of giant Gilbert delta facies form productive but localised shallow aquifers within the region. Exposures reveal dense (average 20 faults per 100 m) networks of minor (0.1 to 50 m displacement) normal faults within the uplifted sequences, proximal to many of the crustal-scale normal faults. Analysis of 42 faults shows that fault zones are primarily composed of smeared beds that can either retain their definition or mix with surrounding sediment. Lenses or blocks of sediment are common in fault zones that cut beds with contrasting rheology, and a few faults have a clay core and/or damage zone. Fault thickness increases at a rate of about 0.4 m per 10 m increase in displacement. Comparison of sediment micro-structures from the field, hand samples and thin sections show grain-scale sediment mixing, fracturing of clasts, and in some cases cementation, within fault zones. In faults with displacements >12 m we also find a number of roughly parallel, highly indurated shear planes, up to 20 mm in thickness, composed of highly fragmented clasts and a fine grained matrix. Image analysis of thin sections from hand samples collected in the field was used to quantify the porosity of fault zones and adjacent undeformed sediment. These data show a reduction in average porosity from 21% (± 4) in undisturbed sediments to 14% (± 8) within fault zones. We find that fault zone porosity decreases by approximately 5% per 1 m displacement (up to 2 m displacement), as sediments undergo greater micro-scale deformation. Porosity within the shear planes of larger displacement faults (> 12 m) is significantly less than 5%. In summary, with an increase in fault displacement there is an increase in fault thickness and decrease in fault zone porosity, in addition to the occurrence of extremely low porosity shear planes. Consequently, the impact of faults in poorly lithified sediment on fluid flow is, to a large degree, dependent upon the magnitude of fault displacement.

Role of the Precambrian Mughese Shear Zone on Cenozoic faulting along the Rukwa-Malawi Rift segment of the East African Rift System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heilman, E.; Kolawole, F.; Mayle, M.; Atekwana, E. A.; Abdelsalam, M. G.

2017-12-01

We address the longstanding question of the role of long-lived basement structures in strain accommodation within active rift systems. Studies have highlighted the influence of pre-existing zones of lithospheric weakness in modulating faulting and fault kinematics. Here, we investigate the role of the Neoproterozoic Mughese Shear Zone (MSZ) in Cenozoic rifting along the Rukwa-Malawi rift segment of the East African Rift System (EARS). Detailed analyses of Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM and filtered aeromagnetic data allowed us to determine the relationship between rift-related basement-rooted normal faults and the MSZ fabric extending along the southern boundary of the Rukwa-Malawi Rift North Basin. Our results show that the magnetic lineaments defining the MSZ coincide with the collinear Rukwa Rift border fault (Ufipa Fault), a dextral strike-slip fault (Mughese Fault), and the North Basin hinge-zone fault (Mbiri Fault). Fault-scarp and minimum fault-throw analyses reveal that within the Rukwa Rift, the Ufipa Border Fault has been accommodating significant displacement relative to the Lupa Border Fault, which represents the northeastern border fault of the Rukwa Rift. Our analysis also shows that within the North Basin half-graben, the Mbiri Fault has accommodated the most vertical displacement relative to other faults along the half-graben hinge zone. We propose that the Cenozoic reactivation along the MSZ facilitated significant normal slip displacement along the Ufipa Border Fault and the Mbiri Fault, and minor dextral strike-slip between the two faults. We suggest that the fault kinematics along the Rukwa-Malawi Rift is the result of reactivation of the MSZ through regional oblique extension.

The Maritsa strike-slip shear zone between Kostenets and Krichim towns, South Bulgaria — Structural, petrographic and isotope geochronology study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naydenov, Kalin; Peytcheva, Irena; von Quadt, Albrecht; Sarov, Stoyan; Kolcheva, Krastina; Dimov, Dimo

2013-06-01

The present study describes the characteristics of the Maritsa Shear Zone (MSZ), a major tectonic element in the Balkanides in South Central Bulgaria. Metamorphic rocks of four lithotectonic units — Madan, Chepinska, Asenitsa and Thrace units crop out in the study area. Strike-slip ductile deformation in MSZ affects the Thrace Lithotectonic Unit (TLU) for up to 15 km. The stratigraphy of this unit is divided in two: Parvenets succession and variegated succession. U-Pb zircon dating reveals Late Jurassic protolith age for metagranitoids and metagabbros of the variegated succession. For its metasedimentary part Triassic to Upper Jurassic age is suggested based on the strontium isotope signature of the marbles. The Parvenets succession affiliates to the Variscan metamorphic basement of Europe. The metamorphic evolution of the zone is subdivided into synmetamorphic strike-slip deformations and annealing stages. The ductile shearing occurred in greenschist to lower amphibolite facies between 130 Ma (discordant U-Pb ages) and 82-78 Ma (late-syntectonic granites). This stage is connected with the oblique collision of the Rhodope Late Jurassic arc with the European platform. With the docking of the arc and the triggering of the strike-slip movements, MSZ represents an orogen-scale border between the Rhodope south-vergent thrust complex and the north-vergent deformations in the Srednogorie and Sakar-Strandzha zones. During the Late Cretaceous MSZ is the contact between the Srednogorie magmatic arc (part of the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Srednogorie Belt) and the Rhodopean metamorphic core complexes. NW-SE dextral faulting characterized the brittle tectonics along the zone. Strike-slip faults of the southern border of the TLU are transferred into reverse faults, along which the TLU overthrusted Oligocene sediments. MSZ is an orogen-scale transpressional shear zone and an important border in the structure of the Balkanides. This multidisciplinary research emphasizes its role as a major tectonic element by presenting new structural, petrographic and isotope geochronology data.

Spatiotemporal patterns of fault slip rates across the Central Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rood, Dylan H.; Burbank, Douglas W.; Finkel, Robert C.

2011-01-01

Patterns in fault slip rates through time and space are examined across the transition from the Sierra Nevada to the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt. At each of four sites along the eastern Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone between 38 and 39° N latitude, geomorphic markers, such as glacial moraines and outwash terraces, are displaced by a suite of range-front normal faults. Using geomorphic mapping, surveying, and 10Be surface exposure dating, mean fault slip rates are defined, and by utilizing markers of different ages (generally, ~ 20 ka and ~ 150 ka), rates through time and interactions among multiple faults are examined over 10 4-10 5 year timescales. At each site for which data are available for the last ~ 150 ky, mean slip rates across the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone have probably not varied by more than a factor of two over time spans equal to half of the total time interval (~ 20 ky and ~ 150 ky timescales): 0.3 ± 0.1 mm year - 1 (mode and 95% CI) at both Buckeye Creek in the Bridgeport basin and Sonora Junction; and 0.4 + 0.3/-0.1 mm year - 1 along the West Fork of the Carson River at Woodfords. Data permit rates that are relatively constant over the time scales examined. In contrast, slip rates are highly variable in space over the last ~ 20 ky. Slip rates decrease by a factor of 3-5 northward over a distance of ~ 20 km between the northern Mono Basin (1.3 + 0.6/-0.3 mm year - 1 at Lundy Canyon site) to the Bridgeport Basin (0.3 ± 0.1 mm year - 1 ). The 3-fold decrease in the slip rate on the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone northward from Mono Basin is indicative of a change in the character of faulting north of the Mina Deflection as extension is transferred eastward onto normal faults between the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane belt. A compilation of regional deformation rates reveals that the spatial pattern of extension rates changes along strike of the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt. South of the Mina Deflection, extension is accommodated within a diffuse zone of normal and oblique faults, with extension rates increasing northward on the Fish Lake Valley fault. Where faults of the Eastern California Shear Zone terminate northward into the Mina Deflection, extension rates increase northward along the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone to ~ 0.7 mm year - 1 in northern Mono Basin. This spatial pattern suggests that extension is transferred from more easterly fault systems, e.g., Fish Lake Valley fault, and localized on the Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone as the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane belt faulting is transferred through the Mina Deflection.

Inverse scattering pre-stack depth imaging and it's comparison to some depth migration methods for imaging rich fault complex structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurhandoko, Bagus Endar B.; Sukmana, Indriani; Mubarok, Syahrul; Deny, Agus; Widowati, Sri; Kurniadi, Rizal

2012-06-01

Migration is important issue for seismic imaging in complex structure. In this decade, depth imaging becomes important tools for producing accurate image in depth imaging instead of time domain imaging. The challenge of depth migration method, however, is in revealing the complex structure of subsurface. There are many methods of depth migration with their advantages and weaknesses. In this paper, we show our propose method of pre-stack depth migration based on time domain inverse scattering wave equation. Hopefully this method can be as solution for imaging complex structure in Indonesia, especially in rich thrusting fault zones. In this research, we develop a recent advance wave equation migration based on time domain inverse scattering wave which use more natural wave propagation using scattering wave. This wave equation pre-stack depth migration use time domain inverse scattering wave equation based on Helmholtz equation. To provide true amplitude recovery, an inverse of divergence procedure and recovering transmission loss are considered of pre-stack migration. Benchmarking the propose inverse scattering pre-stack depth migration with the other migration methods are also presented, i.e.: wave equation pre-stack depth migration, waveequation depth migration, and pre-stack time migration method. This inverse scattering pre-stack depth migration could image successfully the rich fault zone which consist extremely dip and resulting superior quality of seismic image. The image quality of inverse scattering migration is much better than the others migration methods.

Post-Miocene Right Separation on the San Gabriel and Vasquez Creek Faults, with Supporting Chronostratigraphy, Western San Gabriel Mountains, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beyer, Larry A.; McCulloh, Thane H.; Denison, Rodger E.; Morin, Ronald W.; Enrico, Roy J.; Barron, John A.; Fleck, Robert J.

2009-01-01

The right lateral San Gabriel Fault Zone in southern California extends from the northwestern corner of the Ridge Basin southeastward to the eastern end of the San Gabriel Mountains. It bifurcates to the southeast in the northwestern San Gabriel Mountains. The northern and older branch curves eastward in the range interior. The southern younger branch, the Vasquez Creek Fault, curves southeastward to merge with the Sierra Madre Fault Zone, which separates the San Gabriel Mountains from the northern Los Angeles Basin margin. An isolated exposure of partly macrofossiliferous nearshore shallow-marine sandstone, designated the Gold Canyon beds, is part of the southwest wall of the fault zone 5.5 km northwest of the bifurcation. These beds contain multiple subordinate breccia-conglomerate lenses and are overlain unconformably by folded Pliocene-Pleistocene Saugus Formation fanglomerate. The San Gabriel Fault Zone cuts both units. Marine macrofossils from the Gold Canyon beds give an age of 5.2+-0.3 Ma by 87Sr/86Sr analyses. Magnetic polarity stratigraphy dates deposition of the overlying Saugus Formation to between 2.6 Ma and 0.78 Ma. Distinctive metaplutonic rocks of the Mount Lowe intrusive suite in the San Gabriel Range are the source of certain clasts in both the Gold Canyon beds and Saugus Formation. Angular clasts of nondurable Paleocene sandstone also occur in the Gold Canyon beds. The large size and angularity of some of the largest of both clast types in breccia-conglomerate lenses of the beds suggest landslides or debris flows from steep terrain. Sources of Mount Lowe clasts, originally to the north or northeast, are now displaced southeastward by faulting and are located between the San Gabriel and Vasquez Creek faults, indicating as much as 12+-2 km of post-Miocene Vasquez Creek Fault right separation, in accord with some prior estimates. Post-Miocene right slip thus transferred onto the Vasquez Creek Fault southeast of the bifurcation. The right separation on the Vasquez Creek Fault adds to the generally accepted 22-23 km of middle-late Miocene right separation established for the San Gabriel Fault east of the bifurcation, resulting in total right separation of 34-35 km northwest of the bifurcation. Clast sizes and lithologies in Saugus Formation deformed alluvial fan deposits in the Gold and Little Tujunga Canyons area indicate that alluvial stream flow was from the north or north-northeast. The alluvial fan complex is beheaded at the San Gabriel Fault Zone, and no correlative deposits have been found north of the fault zone. Likely sources of several distinctive clast types are east of the bifurcation and north of the Vasquez Creek Fault. Combining these data with right slip caused by the 34 deg +-6 deg of clockwise local block rotation suggests that post-Saugus Formation (<2.6 to 0.78 Ma) right separation along the fault zone is 4+-2 km. The fossils, lithology, and age of the Gold Canyon beds correlate with the basal Pico Formation. The beds presumably connected southward or southwestward to a more open marine setting. A search for correlative strata to the south and southwest found that some strata previously mapped as Towsley Formation correlate with the Modelo Formation. Oyster spat in some Modelo Formation beds are the first recorded fossil occurrences and are especially remarkable because of associations with Miocene bathyal benthic foraminifers, planktonic calcareous nannofossils, and diatoms. Topanga Group basalt resting on basement rocks between Little and Big Tujunga Canyons gives an age of 16.14+-0.05 Ma from 40Ar/39Ar analysis. Improved understanding of the upper Miocene stratigraphy indicates large early movement on the eastern Santa Susana Fault at about 7-6 Ma.

Effects of structural heterogeneity on frictional heating from biomarker thermal maturity analysis of the Muddy Mountain thrust, Nevada, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coffey, G. L.; Savage, H. M.; Polissar, P. J.; Rowe, C. D.

2017-12-01

Faults are generally heterogeneous along-strike, with changes in thickness and structural complexity that should influence coseismic slip. However, observational limitations (e.g. limited outcrop or borehole samples) can obscure this complexity. Here we investigate the heterogeneity of frictional heating determined from biomarker thermal maturity and microstructural observations along a well-exposed fault to understand whether coseismic stress and frictional heating are related to structural complexity. We focus on the Muddy Mountain thrust, Nevada, a Sevier-age structure that has continuous exposure of its fault core and considerable structural variability for up to 50 m, to explore the distribution of earthquake slip and temperature rise along strike. We present new biomarker thermal maturity results that capture the heating history of fault rocks. Biomarkers are organic molecules produced by living organisms and preserved in the rock record. During heating, their structure is altered systematically with increasing time and temperature. Preliminary results show significant variability in thermal maturity along-strike at the Muddy Mountain thrust, suggesting differences in coseismic temperature rise on the meter- scale. Temperatures upwards of 500°C were generated in the principal slip zone at some locations, while in others, no significant temperature rise occurred. These results demonstrate that stress or slip heterogeneity occurred along the Muddy Mountain thrust at the meter-scale and considerable along-strike complexity existed, highlighting the importance of careful interpretation of whole-fault behavior from observations at a single point on a fault.

Activation of preexisting transverse structures in an evolving magmatic rift in East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muirhead, J. D.; Kattenhorn, S. A.

2018-01-01

Inherited crustal weaknesses have long been recognized as important factors in strain localization and basin development in the East African Rift System (EARS). However, the timing and kinematics (e.g., sense of slip) of transverse (rift-oblique) faults that exploit these weaknesses are debated, and thus the roles of inherited weaknesses at different stages of rift basin evolution are often overlooked. The mechanics of transverse faulting were addressed through an analysis of the Kordjya fault of the Magadi basin (Kenya Rift). Fault kinematics were investigated from field and remote-sensing data collected on fault and joint systems. Our analysis indicates that the Kordjya fault consists of a complex system of predominantly NNE-striking, rift-parallel fault segments that collectively form a NNW-trending array of en echelon faults. The transverse Kordjya fault therefore reactivated existing rift-parallel faults in ∼1 Ma lavas as oblique-normal faults with a component of sinistral shear. In all, these fault motions accommodate dip-slip on an underlying transverse structure that exploits the Aswa basement shear zone. This study shows that transverse faults may be activated through a complex interplay among magma-assisted strain localization, preexisting structures, and local stress rotations. Rather than forming during rift initiation, transverse structures can develop after the establishment of pervasive rift-parallel fault systems, and may exhibit dip-slip kinematics when activated from local stress rotations. The Kordjya fault is shown here to form a kinematic linkage that transfers strain to a newly developing center of concentrated magmatism and normal faulting. It is concluded that recently activated transverse faults not only reveal the effects of inherited basement weaknesses on fault development, but also provide important clues regarding developing magmatic and tectonic systems as young continental rift basins evolve.

Comments on the Parameters and Processes that Affect the Preservation Potential and Style of Oblique-Divergent Plate Boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umhoefer, P. J.

2014-12-01

Oblique-divergent or transtensional zones present particular challenges in ancient belts because of the poor preservation potential of the thinned continental crust and young oceanic crust. Many oblique belts will preferentially preserve their boundary zones that lie within continents rather than the main plate boundary zone, which will be at a much lower elevation and composed of denser crust. Zones of tectonic escape or strike-slip overprinting of arcs or plateaus deform continental crust and may be better preserved. Here I highlight parameters and processes that have major effects on oblique divergent belts. Strain partitioning is common, but not ubiquitous, along and across oblique boundaries; the causes of partitioning are not always clear and make this especially vexing for work in ancient belts. Partitioning causes complexity in the patterns of structures at all scales. Inherited structures commonly determine the orientation and style of structures along oblique boundaries and can control the pattern of faults across transtensional belts. Regionally, inherited trends of arcs or other 1000-km-scale features can control boundary structures. Experiments and natural examples suggest that oblique boundary zones contain less of a record of strike-slip faulting and more extensional structures. The obliquity of divergence produces predictable families of structures that typify (i) strike-slip dominated zones (obliquity <~20°), (ii) mixed zones (~20° - ~35°), and (iii) extension dominated zones (>~35°). The combination of partitioning and mixed structures in oblique zones means that the boundaries of belts with large-magnitude strike-slip faulting will commonly preserve little of no record of that faulting history. Plate boundaries localize strain onto the main plate boundary structures from the broader plate boundary and therefore the boundary zones commonly preserve the earlier structures more than later structures, a major problem in interpreting ancient belts. Sediment input is critical in some oblique plate boundaries because these belts become more pronounced sediment sinks over time. The evolving topography of oblique boundaries means that they have great variability of sediment flux into differing parts of the system; large rivers enter these belts only in special circumstances.

Stress state and movement potential of the Kar-e-Bas fault zone, Fars, Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarkarinejad, Khalil; Zafarmand, Bahareh

2017-08-01

The Kar-e-Bas or Mengharak basement-inverted fault is comprised of six segments in the Zagros foreland folded belt of Iran. In the Fars region, this fault zone associated with the Kazerun, Sabz-Pushan and Sarvestan faults serves as a lateral transfer zone that accommodates the change in shortening direction from the western central to the eastern Zagros. This study evaluates the recent tectonic stress regime of the Kar-e-Bas fault zone based on inversion of earthquake focal mechanism data, and quantifies the fault movement potential of this zone based on the relationship between fault geometric characteristics and recent tectonic stress regimes. The trend and plunge of σ 1 and σ 3 are S25°W/04°-N31°E/05° and S65°E/04°-N60°W/10°, respectively, with a stress ratio of Φ = 0.83. These results are consistent with the collision direction of the Afro-Arabian continent and the Iranian microcontinent. The near horizontal plunge of maximum and minimum principle stresses and the value of stress ratio Φ indicate that the state of stress is nearly strike-slip dominated with little relative difference between the value of two principal stresses, σ 1 and σ 2. The obliquity of the maximum compressional stress into the fault trend reveals a typical stress partitioning of thrust and strike-slip motion in the Kar-e-Bas fault zone. Analysis of the movement potential of this fault zone shows that its northern segment has a higher potential of fault activity (0.99). The negligible difference between the fault-plane dips of the segments indicates that their strike is a controlling factor in the changes in movement potential.

Evolving transpressional strain fields along the San Andreas fault in southern California: implications for fault branching, fault dip segmentation and strain partitioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergh, Steffen; Sylvester, Arthur; Damte, Alula; Indrevær, Kjetil

2014-05-01

The San Andreas fault in southern California records only few large-magnitude earthquakes in historic time, and the recent activity is confined primarily on irregular and discontinuous strike-slip and thrust fault strands at shallow depths of ~5-20 km. Despite this fact, slip along the San Andreas fault is calculated to c. 35 mm/yr based on c.160 km total right lateral displacement for the southern segment of the fault in the last c. 8 Ma. Field observations also reveal complex fault strands and multiple events of deformation. The presently diffuse high-magnitude crustal movements may be explained by the deformation being largely distributed along more gently dipping reverse faults in fold-thrust belts, in contrast to regions to the north where deformation is less partitioned and localized to narrow strike-slip fault zones. In the Mecca Hills of the Salton trough transpressional deformation of an uplifted segment of the San Andreas fault in the last ca. 4.0 My is expressed by very complex fault-oblique and fault-parallel (en echelon) folding, and zones of uplift (fold-thrust belts), basement-involved reverse and strike-slip faults and accompanying multiple and pervasive cataclasis and conjugate fracturing of Miocene to Pleistocene sedimentary strata. Our structural analysis of the Mecca Hills addresses the kinematic nature of the San Andreas fault and mechanisms of uplift and strain-stress distribution along bent fault strands. The San Andreas fault and subsidiary faults define a wide spectrum of kinematic styles, from steep localized strike-slip faults, to moderate dipping faults related to oblique en echelon folds, and gently dipping faults distributed in fold-thrust belt domains. Therefore, the San Andreas fault is not a through-going, steep strike-slip crustal structure, which is commonly the basis for crustal modeling and earthquake rupture models. The fault trace was steep initially, but was later multiphase deformed/modified by oblique en echelon folding, renewed strike-slip movements and contractile fold-thrust belt structures. Notably, the strike-slip movements on the San Andreas fault were transformed outward into the surrounding rocks as oblique-reverse faults to link up with the subsidiary Skeleton Canyon fault in the Mecca Hills. Instead of a classic flower structure model for this transpressional uplift, the San Andreas fault strands were segmented into domains that record; (i) early strike-slip motion, (ii) later oblique shortening with distributed deformation (en echelon fold domains), followed by (iii) localized fault-parallel deformation (strike-slip) and (iv) superposed out-of-sequence faulting and fault-normal, partitioned deformation (fold-thrust belt domains). These results contribute well to the question if spatial and temporal fold-fault branching and migration patterns evolving along non-vertical strike-slip fault segments can play a role in the localization of earthquakes along the San Andreas fault.

Structural characteristics and implication on tectonic evolution of the Daerbute strike-slip fault in West Junggar area, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Kongyou; Pei, Yangwen; Li, Tianran; Wang, Xulong; Liu, Yin; Liu, Bo; Ma, Chao; Hong, Mei

2018-03-01

The Daerbute fault zone, located in the northwestern margin of the Junggar basin, in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, is a regional strike-slip fault with a length of 400 km. The NE-SW trending Daerbute fault zone presents a distinct linear trend in plain view, cutting through both the Zair Mountain and the Hala'alate Mountain. Because of the intense contraction and shearing, the rocks within the fault zone experienced high degree of cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization, resulting in rocks that are easily eroded to form a valley with a width of 300-500 m and a depth of 50-100 m after weathering and erosion. The well-exposed outcrops along the Daerbute fault zone present sub-horizontal striations and sub-vertical fault steps, indicating sub-horizontal shearing along the observed fault planes. Flower structures and horizontal drag folds are also observed in both the well-exposed outcrops and high-resolution satellite images. The distribution of accommodating strike-slip splay faults, e.g., the 973-pluton fault and the Great Jurassic Trough fault, are in accordance with the Riedel model of simple shear. The seismic and time-frequency electromagnetic (TFEM) sections also demonstrate the typical strike-slip characteristics of the Daerbute fault zone. Based on detailed field observations of well-exposed outcrops and seismic sections, the Daerbute fault can be subdivided into two segments: the western segment presents multiple fault cores and damage zones, whereas the eastern segment only presents a single fault core, in which the rocks experienced a higher degree of rock cataclasis, schistosity, and mylonization. In the central overlapping portion between the two segments, the sediments within the fault zone are primarily reddish sandstones, conglomerates, and some mudstones, of which the palynological tests suggest middle Permian as the timing of deposition. The deformation timing of the Daerbute fault was estimated by integrating the depocenters' basinward migration and initiation of the splay faults (e.g., the Great Jurassic Trough fault and the 973-pluton fault). These results indicate that there were probably two periods of faulting deformation for the Daerbute fault. By integrating our study with previous studies, we speculate that the Daerbute fault experienced a two-phase strike-slip faulting deformation, commencing with the initial dextral strike-slip faulting in mid-late Permian, and then being inversed to sinistral strike-slip faulting since the Triassic. The results of this study can provide useful insights for the regional tectonics and local hydrocarbon exploration.

Spontaneous Aseismic and Seismic Slip Transients on Evolving Faults Simulated in a Continuum-Mechanics Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrendoerfer, R.; Gerya, T.; van Dinther, Y.

2016-12-01

The convergent plate motion in subduction zones is accommodated by different slip modes: potentially dangerous seismic slip and imperceptible, but instrumentally detectable slow slip transients or steady slip. Despite an increasing number of observations and insights from laboratory experiments, it remains enigmatic which local on- and off-fault conditions favour slip modes of different source characteristics (i.e., slip velocity, duration, seismic moment). Therefore, we are working towards a numerical model that is able to simulate different slip modes in a consistent way with the long-term evolution of the fault system. We extended our 2D, continuum mechanics-based, visco-elasto-plastic seismo-thermo-mechanical (STM) model, which simulated cycles of earthquake-like ruptures, albeit only at plate tectonic slip rates (van Dinther et al, JGR, 2013). To model a wider slip spectrum including seismic slip rates, we, besides improving the general numerical approach, implemented an invariant reformulation of the conventional rate-and state dependent friction (RSF) and an adaptive time-stepping scheme (Lapusta and Rice, JGR, 2001). In a simple setup with predominantly elastic plates that are juxtaposed along a predefined fault of certain width, we vary the characteristic slip distance, the mean normal stress and the size of the rate-weakening zone. We show that the resulting stability transitions from decaying oscillations, periodic slow slip, complex periodic to seismic slip agree with those of conventional RSF seismic cycle simulations (e.g. Liu and Rice, JGR, 2007). Additionally, we will present results of the investigation concerning the effect of the fault width and geometry on the generation of different slip modes. Ultimately, instead of predefining a fault, we simulate the spatio-temporal evolution of a complex fault system that is consistent with the plate motions and rheology. For simplicity, we parametrize the fault development through linear slip-weakening of cohesion and apply RSF friction only in cohesionless material. We report preliminary results of the interaction between slip modes and the fault growth during different fault evolution stages.

Preliminary Pseudo 3-D Imagery of the State Line Fault, Stewart Valley, Nevada Using Seismic Reflection Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saldaña, S. C.; Snelson, C. M.; Taylor, W. J.; Beachly, M.; Cox, C. M.; Davis, R.; Stropky, M.; Phillips, R.; Robins, C.; Cothrun, C.

2007-12-01

The Pahrump Fault system is located in the central Basin and Range region and consists of three main fault zones: the Nopah range front fault zone, the State Line fault zone and the Spring Mountains range fault zone. The State Line fault zone is made up north-west trending dextral strike-slip faults that run parallel to the Nevada- California border. Previous geologic and geophysical studies conducted in and around Stewart Valley, located ~90 km from Las Vegas, Nevada, have constrained the location of the State Line fault zone to within a few kilometers. The goals of this project were to use seismic methods to definitively locate the northwestern most trace of the State Line fault and produce pseudo 3-D seismic cross-sections that can then be used to characterize the subsurface geometry and determine the slip of the State Line fault. During July 2007, four seismic lines were acquired in Stewart Valley: two normal and two parallel to the mapped traces of the State Line fault. Presented here are preliminary results from the two seismic lines acquired normal to the fault. These lines were acquired utilizing a 144-channel geode system with each of the 4.5 Hz vertical geophones set out at 5 m intervals to produce a 595 m long profile to the north and a 715 m long profile to the south. The vibroseis was programmed to produce an 8 s linear sweep from 20-160 Hz. These data returned excellent signal to noise and reveal subsurface lithology that will subsequently be used to resolve the subsurface geometry of the State Line fault. This knowledge will then enhance our understanding of the evolution of the State Line fault. Knowing how the State Line fault has evolved gives insight into the stick-slip fault evolution for the region and may improve understanding of how stress has been partitioned from larger strike-slip systems such as the San Andreas fault.

Understanding strain transfer and basin evolution complexities in the Salton pull-apart basin near the Southern San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kell, A. M.; Sahakian, V. J.; Kent, G. M.; Driscoll, N. W.; Harding, A. J.; Baskin, R. L.; Barth, M.; Hole, J. A.; Stock, J. M.; Fuis, G. S.

2015-12-01

Active source seismic data in the Salton Sea provide insight into the complexity of the pull-apart system development. Seismic reflection data combined with tomographic cross sections give constraints on the timing of basin development and strain partitioning between the two dominant dextral faults in the region; the Imperial fault to the southwest and the Southern San Andreas fault (SSAF) to the northeast. Deformation associated with this step-over appears young, having formed in the last 20-40 k.a. The complexity seen in the Salton Sea is similar to that seen in pull-apart basins worldwide. In the southern basin of the Salton Sea, a zone of transpression is noted near the southern termination of the San Andreas fault, though this stress regime quickly transitions to a region of transtension in the northern reaches of the sea. The evolution seen in the basin architecture is likely related to a transition of the SSAF dying to the north, and giving way to youthful segments of the Brawley seismic zone and Imperial fault. Stratigraphic signatures seen in seismic cross-sections also reveal a long-term component of slip to the southwest on a fault 1-2 km west of the northeastern Salton Sea shoreline. Numerous lines of evidence, including seismic reflection data, high-resolution bathymetry within the Salton Sea, and folding patterns in the Borrego Formation to the east of the sea support an assertion of a previously unmapped fault, the Salton Trough fault (STF), parallel to the SAF and just offshore within the Salton Sea. Seismic observations are seen consistently within two datasets of varying vertical resolutions, up to depths of 4-5 km, suggesting that this fault strand is much longer-lived than the evolution seen in the southern sub-basin. The existence of the STF unifies discrepancies between the onshore seismic studies and data collected within the sea. The STF likely serves as the current bounding fault to the active pull-apart system, as it aligns with the "rung-and-ladder" seismicity seen within the Salton Sea. Additionally, the presence of the STF may explain the gaps seen in the paleoseismic record along the SSAF (i.e. Philibosian et al., 2011), which shows an extended period of non-rupture. The STF may play a role in strain release along the SSAF, so a combined history may yield improved insight to the long periods of quiescence.

Comparison of coseismic near-field and off-fault surface deformation patterns of the 1992 Mw 7.3 Landers and 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine earthquakes: Implications for controls on the distribution of surface strain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milliner, C. W. D.; Dolan, J. F.; Hollingsworth, J.; Leprince, S.; Ayoub, F.

2016-10-01

Subpixel correlation of preevent and postevent air photos reveal the complete near-field, horizontal surface deformation patterns of the 1992 Mw 7.3 Landers and 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine ruptures. Total surface displacement values for both earthquakes are systematically larger than "on-fault" displacements from geologic field surveys, indicating significant distributed, inelastic deformation occurred along these ruptures. Comparison of these two data sets shows that 46 ± 10% and 39 ± 22% of the total surface deformation were distributed over fault zones averaging 154 m and 121 m in width for the Landers and Hector Mine events, respectively. Spatial variations of distributed deformation along both ruptures show correlations with the type of near-surface lithology and degree of fault complexity; larger amounts of distributed shear occur where the rupture propagated through loose unconsolidated sediments and areas of more complex fault structure. These results have basic implications for geologic-geodetic rate comparisons and probabilistic seismic hazard analysis.

The Damage and Geochemical Signature of a Crustal Scale Strike-Slip Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomila, R.; Mitchell, T. M.; Arancibia, G.; Jensen Siles, E.; Rempe, M.; Cembrano, J. M.; Faulkner, D. R.

2013-12-01

Fluid-flow migration in the upper crust is strongly controlled by fracture network permeability and connectivity within fault zones, which can lead to fluid-rock chemical interaction represented as mineral precipitation in mesh veins and/or mineralogical changes (alteration) of the host rock. While the dimensions of fault damage zones defined by fracture intensity is beginning to be better understood, how such dimensions compare to the size of alteration zones is less well known. Here, we show quantitative structural and chemical analyses as a function of distance from a crustal-scale strike-slip fault in the Atacama Fault System, Northern Chile, to compare fault damage zone characteristics with its geochemical signature. The Jorgillo Fault (JF) is a ca. 18 km long NNW striking strike-slip fault cutting Mesozoic rocks with sinistral displacement of ca. 4 km. In the study area, the JF cuts through orthogranulitic and gabbroic rocks at the west (JFW) and the east side (JFE), respectively. A 200 m fault perpendicular transect was mapped and sampled for structural and XRF analyses of the core, damage zone and protolith. The core zone consists of a ca. 1 m wide cataclasite zone bounded by two fault gouge zones ca. 40 cm. The damage zone width defined by fracture density is ca. 50 m wide each side of the core. The damage zone in JFW is characterized by NW-striking subvertical 2 cm wide cataclastic rocks and NE-striking milimetric open fractures. In JFE, 1-20 mm wide chlorite, quartz-epidote and quartz-calcite veins, cut the gabbro. Microfracture analysis in JFW reveal mm-wide cataclasitic/ultracataclasitic bands with clasts of protolith and chlorite orientated subparallel to the JF in the matrix, calcite veins in a T-fractures orientation, and minor polidirectional chlorite veins. In JFE, chlorite filled conjugate fractures with syntaxial growth textures and evidence for dilational fracturing processes are seen. Closest to the core, calcite veins crosscut chlorite veins. Whole-rock XRF analyses show Al and Ca content decrease with increasing Si, whereas Na increases towards the core. This can be interpreted as compositional changes of plagioclase to albite-rich ones due to chloritic-propylitic alteration. In the damage zone, LOI increases towards the core but decreases inside of it. This is explained by H2O-rich clays and gypsum in the fault core boundary represented as fault gouge zones whereas in the cataclastic core zone, the decrease in LOI is explained by epidote. Our results show the JF had an evolving permeability structure where a cataclasite-rich core is formed at an early stage, and then a gouge-bounded core is developed which acted as a barrier to fluid from east to west of the fault.

Geochemistry, mineralization, structure, and permeability of a normal-fault zone, Casino mine, Alligator Ridge district, north central Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, K. Jill; Evans, James P.

2003-05-01

We examine the geochemical signature and structure of the Keno fault zone to test its impact on the flow of ore-mineralizing fluids, and use the mined exposures to evaluate structures and processes associated with normal fault development. The fault is a moderately dipping normal-fault zone in siltstone and silty limestone with 55-100 m of dip-slip displacement in north-central Nevada. Across-strike exposures up to 180 m long, 65 m of down-dip exposure and 350 m of along-strike exposure allow us to determine how faults, fractures, and fluids interact within mixed-lithology carbonate-dominated sedimentary rocks. The fault changes character along strike from a single clay-rich slip plane 10-20 mm thick at the northern exposure to numerous hydrocarbon-bearing, calcite-filled, nearly vertical slip planes in a zone 15 m wide at the southern exposure. The hanging wall and footwall are intensely fractured but fracture densities do not vary markedly with distance from the fault. Fault slip varies from pure dip-slip to nearly pure strike-slip, which suggests that either slip orientations may vary on faults in single slip events, or stress variations over the history of the fault caused slip vector variations. Whole-rock major, minor, and trace element analyses indicate that Au, Sb, and As are in general associated with the fault zone, suggesting that Au- and silica-bearing fluids migrated along the fault to replace carbonate in the footwall and adjacent hanging wall rocks. Subsequent fault slip was associated with barite and calcite and hydrocarbon-bearing fluids deposited at the southern end of the fault. No correlation exists at the meter or tens of meter scale between mineralization patterns and fracture density. We suggest that the fault was a combined conduit-barrier system in which the fault provides a critical connection between the fluid sources and fractures that formed before and during faulting. During the waning stages of deposit formation, the fault behaved as a localized conduit to hydrocarbon-bearing calcite veins. The results of this study show that fault-zone character may change dramatically over short, deposit- or reservoir-scale distances. The presence of damage zones may not be well correlated at the fine scale with geochemically defined regions of the fault, even though a gross spatial correlation may exist.

Upper crustal structure in Puget Lowland, Washington: Results from the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brocher, T.M.; Parsons, T.; Blakely, R.J.; Christensen, N.I.; Fisher, M.A.; Wells, R.E.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Pratt, T.L.; Crosson, R.S.; Creager, K.C.; Symons, N.P.; Preston, L.A.; Van Wagoner, T.; Miller, K.C.; Snelson, C.M.; Trehu, A.M.; Langenheim, V.E.; Spence, G.D.; Ramachandran, K.; Hyndman, R.A.; Mosher, D.C.; Zelt, B.C.; Weaver, C.S.

2001-01-01

A new three-dimensional (3-D) model shows seismic velocities beneath the Puget Lowland to a depth of 11 km. The model is based on a tomographic inversion of nearly one million first-arrival travel times recorded during the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), allowing higher-resolution mapping of subsurface structures than previously possible. The model allows us to refine the subsurface geometry of previously proposed faults (e.g., Seattle, Hood Canal, southern Whidbey Island, and Devils Mountain fault zones) as well as to identify structures (Tacoma, Lofall, and Sequim fault zones) that warrant additional study. The largest and most important of these newly identified structures lies along the northern boundary of the Tacoma basin; we informally refer to this structure here as the Tacoma fault zone. Although tomography cannot provide information on the recency of motion on any structure, Holocene earthquake activity on the Tacoma fault zone is suggested by seismicity along it and paleoseismic evidence for abrupt uplift of tidal marsh deposits to its north. The tomography reveals four large, west to northwest trending low-velocity basins (Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and Port Townsend) separated by regions of higher velocity ridges that are coincident with fault-bounded uplifts of Eocene Crescent Formation basalt and pre-Tertiary basement. The shapes of the basins and uplifts are similar to those observed in gravity data; gravity anomalies calculated from the 3-D tomography model are in close agreement with the observed anomalies. In velocity cross sections the Tacoma and Seattle basins are asymmetric: the basin floor dips gently toward a steep boundary with the adjacent high-velocity uplift, locally with a velocity "overhang" that suggests a basin vergent thrust fault boundary. Crustal fault zones grow from minor folds into much larger structures along strike. Inferred structural relief across the Tacoma fault zone increases by several kilometers westward along the fault zone to Lynch Cove, where we interpret it as a zone of south vergent faulting overthrusting Tacoma basin. In contrast, structural relief along the Seattle fault zone decreases west of Seattle, which we interpret as evidence that the N-S directed compression is being accommodated by slip transfer between the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones. Together, the Tacoma and Seattle fault zones raise the Seattle uplift, one of a series of east-west trending, pop-up structures underlying Puget Lowland from the Black Hills to the San Juan Islands. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.

Upper crustal structure in Puget Lowland, Washington: Results from the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brocher, Thomas M.; Parsons, Tom; Blakely, Richard J.; Christensen, Nikolas I.; Fisher, Michael A.; Wells, Ray E.

2001-01-01

A new three-dimensional (3-D) model shows seismic velocities beneath the Puget Lowland to a depth of 11 km. The model is based on a tomographic inversion of nearly one million first-arrival travel times recorded during the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), allowing higher-resolution mapping of subsurface structures than previously possible. The model allows us to refine the subsurface geometry of previously proposed faults (e.g., Seattle, Hood Canal, southern Whidbey Island, and Devils Mountain fault zones) as well as to identify structures (Tacoma, Lofall, and Sequim fault zones) that warrant additional study. The largest and most important of these newly identified structures lies along the northern boundary of the Tacoma basin; we informally refer to this structure here as the Tacoma fault zone. Although tomography cannot provide information on the recency of motion on any structure, Holocene earthquake activity on the Tacoma fault zone is suggested by seismicity along it and paleoseismic evidence for abrupt uplift of tidal marsh deposits to its north. The tomography reveals four large, west to northwest trending low-velocity basins (Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and Port Townsend) separated by regions of higher velocity ridges that are coincident with fault-bounded uplifts of Eocene Crescent Formation basalt and pre-Tertiary basement. The shapes of the basins and uplifts are similar to those observed in gravity data; gravity anomalies calculated from the 3-D tomography model are in close agreement with the observed anomalies. In velocity cross sections the Tacoma and Seattle basins are asymmetric: the basin floor dips gently toward a steep boundary with the adjacent high-velocity uplift, locally with a velocity "overhang" that suggests a basin vergent thrust fault boundary. Crustal fault zones grow from minor folds into much larger structures along strike. Inferred structural relief across the Tacoma fault zone increases by several kilometers westward along the fault zone to Lynch Cove, where we interpret it as a zone of south vergent faulting overthrusting Tacoma basin. In contrast, structural relief along the Seattle fault zone decreases west of Seattle, which we interpret as evidence that the N-S directed compression is being accommodated by slip transfer between the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones. Together, the Tacoma and Seattle fault zones raise the Seattle uplift, one of a series of east-west trending, pop-up structures underlying Puget Lowland from the Black Hills to the San Juan Islands.

IODP Expedition 340T: Borehole Logging at Atlantis Massif Oceanic Core Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blackman, D.; Slagle, A.; Harding, A.; Guerin, G.; McCaig, A.

2013-03-01

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 340T returned to the 1.4-km-deep Hole U1309D at Atlantis Massif to carry out borehole logging including vertical seismic profiling (VSP). Seismic, resistivity, and temperature logs were obtained throughout the geologic section in the footwall of this oceanic core complex. Reliable downhole temperature measurements throughout and the first seismic coverage of the 800-1400 meters below seafloor (mbsf) portion of the section were obtained. Distinct changes in velocity, resistivity, and magnetic susceptibility characterize the boundaries of altered, olivine-rich troctolite intervals within the otherwise dominantly gabbroic se-quence. Some narrow fault zones also are associated with downhole resistivity or velocity excursions. Small deviations in temperature were measured in borehole fluid adjacent to known faults at 750 mbsf and 1100 mbsf. This suggests that flow of seawater remains active along these zones of faulting and rock alteration. Vertical seismic profile station coverage at zero offset now extends the full length of the hole, including the uppermost 150 mbsf, where detachment processes are expected to have left their strongest imprint. Analysis of wallrock properties, together with alteration and structural characteristics of the cores from Site U1309, highlights the likely interplay between lithology, structure, lithospheric hydration, and core complex evolution. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.15.04.2013

Mechanical evolution of transpression zones affected by fault interactions: Insights from 3D elasto-plastic finite element models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nabavi, Seyed Tohid; Alavi, Seyed Ahmad; Mohammadi, Soheil; Ghassemi, Mohammad Reza

2018-01-01

The mechanical evolution of transpression zones affected by fault interactions is investigated by a 3D elasto-plastic mechanical model solved with the finite-element method. Ductile transpression between non-rigid walls implies an upward and lateral extrusion. The model results demonstrate that a, transpression zone evolves in a 3D strain field along non-coaxial strain paths. Distributed plastic strain, slip transfer, and maximum plastic strain occur within the transpression zone. Outside the transpression zone, fault slip is reduced because deformation is accommodated by distributed plastic shear. With progressive deformation, the σ3 axis (the minimum compressive stress) rotates within the transpression zone to form an oblique angle to the regional transport direction (∼9°-10°). The magnitude of displacement increases faster within the transpression zone than outside it. Rotation of the displacement vectors of oblique convergence with time suggests that transpression zone evolves toward an overall non-plane strain deformation. The slip decreases along fault segments and with increasing depth. This can be attributed to the accommodation of bulk shortening over adjacent fault segments. The model result shows an almost symmetrical domal uplift due to off-fault deformation, generating a doubly plunging fold and a 'positive flower' structure. Outside the overlap zone, expanding asymmetric basins subside to 'negative flower' structures on both sides of the transpression zone and are called 'transpressional basins'. Deflection at fault segments causes the fault dip fall to less than 90° (∼86-89°) near the surface (∼1.5 km). This results in a pure-shear-dominated, triclinic, and discontinuous heterogeneous flow of the transpression zone.

Sources, Fluxes, and Effects of Fluids in the Alpine Fault Zone, South Island, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menzies, C. D.; Teagle, D. A. H.; Niedermann, S.; Cox, S.; Craw, D.; Zimmer, M.; Cooper, M. J.; Erzinger, J.

2015-12-01

Historic ruptures on some plate boundary faults occur episodically. Fluids play a key role in modifying the chemical and physical properties of fault zones, which may prime them for repeated rupture by the generation of high pore fluid pressures. Modelling of fluid loss rates from fault zones has led to estimates of fluid fluxes required to maintain overpressure (Faulkner and Rutter, 2001), but fluid sources and fluxes, and permeability evolution in fault zones remain poorly constrained. High mountains in orogenic belts can drive meteoric water to the middle crust, and metamorphic water is generated during rock dehydration. Additionally, fluids from the mantle are transported into the crust when fluid pathways are created by tectonism or volcanism. Here we use geochemical tracers to determine fluid flow budgets for meteoric, metamorphic and mantle fluids at a major compressional tectonic plate boundary. The Alpine Fault marks the transpressional Pacific-Australian plate boundary through South Island of New Zealand, it has historically produced large earthquakes (Mw ~8) and is late in its 329±68 year seismic cycle, having last ruptured in 1717. We present strontium isotope ratios of hot springs and hydrothermal minerals that trace fluid flow paths in and around the Alpine Fault to illustrate that the fluid flow regime is restricted by low cross-fault permeability. Fluid-rock interaction limits cross-fault fluid flow by the precipitating clays and calcite that infill pore spaces and fractures in the Alpine Fault alteration zone. In contrast, helium isotopes ratios measured in hot springs near to the fault (0.15-0.81 RA) indicate the fault acts as a conduit for mantle fluids from below. Mantle fluid fluxes are similar to the San Andreas Fault (<1x10-5 m3m-2/yr) and insufficient to promote fault weakening. The metamorphic fluid flux is of similar magnitude to the mantle flux. The dominant fluid throughout the seismogenic zone is meteoric in origin (secondary mineral δDH2O = -45 to -87 ‰), but fluid channelling into the fault zone is required to maintain high pore fluid pressure that would promote fault weakening. Our results show that meteoric waters are primarily responsible for modifying fault zone permeability and for maintaining high pore fluid pressures that may assist episodic earthquake rupture.

Modeling Coupled Processes for Multiphase Fluid Flow in Mechanically Deforming Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenna, S. A.; Pike, D. Q.

2011-12-01

Modeling of coupled hydrological-mechanical processes in fault zones is critical for understanding the long-term behavior of fluids within the shallow crust. Here we utilize a previously developed cellular-automata (CA) model to define the evolution of permeability within a 2-D fault zone under compressive stress. At each time step, the CA model calculates the increase in fluid pressure within the fault at every grid cell. Pressure surpassing a critical threshold (e.g., lithostatic stress) causes a rupture in that cell, and pressure is then redistributed across the neighboring cells. The rupture can cascade through the spatial domain and continue across multiple time steps. Stress continues to increase and the size and location of rupture events are recorded until a percolating backbone of ruptured cells exists across the fault. Previous applications of this model consider uncorrelated random fields for the compressibility of the fault material. The prior focus on uncorrelated property fields is consistent with development of a number of statistical physics models including percolation processes and fracture propagation. However, geologic materials typically express spatial correlation and this can have a significant impact on the results of the pressure and permeability distributions. We model correlation of the fault material compressibility as a multiGaussian random field with a correlation length defined as the full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of the kernel used to create the field. The FWHM is varied from < 0.001 to approximately 0.47 of the domain size. The addition of spatial correlation to the compressibility significantly alters the model results including: 1) Accumulation of larger amounts of strain prior to the first rupture event; 2) Initiation of the percolating backbone at lower amounts of cumulative strain; 3) Changes in the event size distribution to a combined power-law and exponential distribution with a smaller power; and 4) Evolution of the spatial-temporal distribution of rupture event locations from a purely Poisson process to a complex pattern of clustered events with periodic patterns indicative of emergent phenomena. Switching the stress field from compressive to quiescent, or extensional, during the CA simulation results in a fault zone with a complex permeability pattern and disconnected zones of over-pressured fluid that serves as the initial conditions for simulation of capillary invasion of a separate fluid phase. We use Modified Invasion Percolation to simulate the invasion of a less dense fluid into the fault zone. Results show that the variability in fluid displacement measures caused by the heterogeneous permeability field and initial pressure conditions are significant. This material is based upon work supported as part of the Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001114. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000

The application of active-source seismic imaging techniques to transtensional problems the Walker Lane and Salton Trough

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kell, Anna Marie

The plate margin in the western United States is an active tectonic region that contains the integrated deformation between the North American and Pacific plates. Nearly focused plate motion between the North American and Pacific plates within the northern Gulf of California gives way north of the Salton Trough to more diffuse deformation. In particular a large fraction of the slip along the southernmost San Andreas fault ultimately bleeds eastward, including about 20% of the total plate motion budget that finds its way through the transtensional Walker Lane Deformation Belt just east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Fault-bounded ranges combined with intervening low-lying basins characterize this region; the down-dropped features are often filled with water, which present opportunities for seismic imaging at unprecedented scales. Here I present active-source seismic imaging from the Salton Sea and Walker Lane Deformation Belt, including both marine applications in lakes and shallow seas, and more conventional land-based techniques along the Carson range front. The complex fault network beneath the Salton Trough in eastern California is the on-land continuation of the Gulf of California rift system, where North American-Pacific plate motion is accommodated by a series of long transform faults, separated by small pull-apart, transtensional basins; the right-lateral San Andreas fault bounds this system to the north where it carries, on average, about 50% of total plate motion. The Salton Sea resides within the most youthful and northerly "spreading center" in this several thousand-kilometer-long rift system. The Sea provides an ideal environment for the use of high-data-density marine seismic techniques. Two active-source seismic campaigns in 2010 and 2011 show progression of the development of the Salton pull-apart sub-basin and the northerly propagation of the Imperial-San Andreas system through time at varying resolutions. High fidelity seismic imagery documents the timing of strain transfer from the Imperial fault onto the San Andreas fault through the application of sequence stratigraphy. Evidence shows that the formation of the Salton and Mesquite sub-basins and the associated change of strain partitioning occurred within the last 20-40 k.y., essentially modifying a broader zone of transtension bounding the Imperial and San Andreas faults into two smaller zones of focused extension. The north-central Walker Lane contains a diffuse network of both strike-slip and normal faults, with some degree of strain partitioning characterized by normal faulting to the west along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and strike-slip faults to the east that define a diffuse boundary against the Basin and Range proper. A seismic study across the Mount Rose fault zone, bounding the Carson Range near Reno, Nevada, was carried out to investigate slip across a potential low-angle normal fault. A hammer seismic reflection and refraction profile combined with airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) imagery highlights fault scarp modification through minor slumping/landslides, providing a better understanding of the nature of slip on this fault. The northeastern margin of the Walker Lane is a region where both "Basin and Range" style normal faults and dextral strike-slip faults contribute to the northward propagation of the Walker Lane (essentially parallel to an equivalent northward propagation of the Mendocino triple junction). Near this intersection lies Pyramid Lake, bounded to the southwest by the dextral Pyramid Lake fault and to the northeast by the normal Lake Range fault. A high-resolution (sub-meter) seismic CHIRP survey collected in 2010 shows intriguing relationships into fault architecture beneath Pyramid Lake. Over 500 line-km of seismic data reveal a polarity flip in basin structure as down-to-the-east motion at the northern end of the Pyramid Lake fault rapidly gives way to down-to-the-west normal motion along the Lake Range fault. Alternating patterns of asymmetric and symmetric stratal patterns west of the Lake Range fault provides some evidence for segmentation of total slip along this large normal fault. Using dated sediment cores, slip rate for the Lake Range fault was found to be approximately 1 mm/yr during the Holocene. A complex zone of transtenstion was also observed in seismic CHIRP data in the northwest quadrant of the lake, where short, discontinuous faults hint at the development of a nascent shear zone trending to the northwest. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Analytic Study of Three-Dimensional Rupture Propagation in Strike-Slip Faulting with Analogue Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Pei-Chen; Chu, Sheng-Shin; Lin, Ming-Lang

2014-05-01

Strike-slip faults are high angle (or nearly vertical) fractures where the blocks have moved along strike way (nearly horizontal). Overburden soil profiles across main faults of Strike-slip faults have revealed the palm and tulip structure characteristics. McCalpin (2005) has trace rupture propagation on overburden soil surface. In this study, we used different offset of slip sandbox model profiles to study the evolution of three-dimensional rupture propagation by strike -slip faulting. In strike-slip faults model, type of rupture propagation and width of shear zone (W) are primary affecting by depth of overburden layer (H), distances of fault slip (Sy). There are few research to trace of three-dimensional rupture behavior and propagation. Therefore, in this simplified sandbox model, investigate rupture propagation and shear zone with profiles across main faults when formation are affecting by depth of overburden layer and distances of fault slip. The investigators at the model included width of shear zone, length of rupture (L), angle of rupture (θ) and space of rupture. The surface results was follow the literature that the evolution sequence of failure envelope was R-faults, P-faults and Y-faults which are parallel to the basement fault. Comparison surface and profiles structure which were curved faces and cross each other to define 3-D rupture and width of shear zone. We found that an increase in fault slip could result in a greater width of shear zone, and proposed a W/H versus Sy/H relationship. Deformation of shear zone showed a similar trend as in the literature that the increase of fault slip resulted in the increase of W, however, the increasing trend became opposite after a peak (when Sy/H was 1) value of W was reached (small than 1.5). The results showed that the W width is limited at a constant value in 3-D models by strike-slip faulting. In conclusion, this study helps evaluate the extensions of the shear zone influenced regions for strike-slip faults.

Marine geology and earthquake hazards of the San Pedro Shelf region, southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, Michael A.; Normark, William R.; Langenheim, V.E.; Calvert, Andrew J.; Sliter, Ray

2004-01-01

High-resolution seismic-reflection data have been com- bined with a variety of other geophysical and geological data to interpret the offshore structure and earthquake hazards of the San Pedro Shelf, near Los Angeles, California. Prominent structures investigated include the Wilmington Graben, the Palos Verdes Fault Zone, various faults below the western part of the shelf and slope, and the deep-water San Pedro Basin. The structure of the Palos Verdes Fault Zone changes mark- edly southeastward across the San Pedro Shelf and slope. Under the northern part of the shelf, this fault zone includes several strands, but the main strand dips west and is probably an oblique-slip fault. Under the slope, this fault zone con- sists of several fault strands having normal separation, most of which dip moderately east. To the southeast near Lasuen Knoll, the Palos Verdes Fault Zone locally is a low-angle fault that dips east, but elsewhere near this knoll the fault appears to dip steeply. Fresh sea-floor scarps near Lasuen Knoll indi- cate recent fault movement. The observed regional structural variation along the Palos Verdes Fault Zone is explained as the result of changes in strike and fault geometry along a master strike-slip fault at depth. The shallow summit and possible wavecut terraces on Lasuen knoll indicate subaerial exposure during the last sea-level lowstand. Modeling of aeromagnetic data indicates the presence of a large magnetic body under the western part of the San Pedro Shelf and upper slope. This is interpreted to be a thick body of basalt of Miocene(?) age. Reflective sedimentary rocks overlying the basalt are tightly folded, whereas folds in sedimentary rocks east of the basalt have longer wavelengths. This difference might mean that the basalt was more competent during folding than the encasing sedimentary rocks. West of the Palos Verdes Fault Zone, other northwest-striking faults deform the outer shelf and slope. Evidence for recent movement along these faults is equivocal, because age dates on deformed or offset sediment are lacking.

Three-dimensional characterization of microporosity and permeability in fault zones hosted in heterolithic succession

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riegel, H. B.; Zambrano, M.; Jablonska, D.; Emanuele, T.; Agosta, F.; Mattioni, L.; Rustichelli, A.

2017-12-01

The hydraulic properties of fault zones depend upon the individual contributions of the damage zone and the fault core. In the case of the damage zone, it is generally characterized by means of fracture analysis and modelling implementing multiple approaches, for instance the discrete fracture network model, the continuum model, and the channel network model. Conversely, the fault core is more difficult to characterize because it is normally composed of fine grain material generated by friction and wear. If the dimensions of the fault core allows it, the porosity and permeability are normally studied by means of laboratory analysis or in the other case by two dimensional microporosity analysis and in situ measurements of permeability (e.g. micro-permeameter). In this study, a combined approach consisting of fracture modeling, three-dimensional microporosity analysis, and computational fluid dynamics was applied to characterize the hydraulic properties of fault zones. The studied fault zones crosscut a well-cemented heterolithic succession (sandstone and mudstones) and may vary in terms of fault core thickness and composition, fracture properties, kinematics (normal or strike-slip), and displacement. These characteristics produce various splay and fault core behavior. The alternation of sandstone and mudstone layers is responsible for the concurrent occurrence of brittle (fractures) and ductile (clay smearing) deformation. When these alternating layers are faulted, they produce corresponding fault cores which act as conduits or barriers for fluid migration. When analyzing damage zones, accurate field and data acquisition and stochastic modeling was used to determine the hydraulic properties of the rock volume, in relation to the surrounding, undamaged host rock. In the fault cores, the three-dimensional pore network quantitative analysis based on X-ray microtomography images includes porosity, pore connectivity, and specific surface area. In addition, images were used to perform computational fluid simulation (Lattice-Boltzmann multi relaxation time method) and estimate the permeability. These results will be useful for understanding the deformation process and hydraulic properties across meter-scale damage zones.

Investigation of late Pleistocene and Holocene activity in the San Gregorio fault zone on the continental slope north of Monterey Canyon, offshore central California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maier, Katherine L.; Paull, Charles K.; Brothers, Daniel; Caress, David W.; McGann, Mary; Lundsten, Eve M.; Anderson, Krystle; Gwiazda, Roberto

2017-01-01

We provide an extensive high‐resolution geophysical, sediment core, and radiocarbon dataset to address late Pleistocene and Holocene fault activity of the San Gregorio fault zone (SGFZ), offshore central California. The SGFZ occurs primarily offshore in the San Andreas fault system and has been accommodating dextral strike‐slip motion between the Pacific and North American plates since the mid‐Miocene. Our study focuses on the SGFZ where it has been mapped through the continental slope north of Monterey Canyon. From 2009 to 2015, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute collected high‐resolution multibeam bathymetry and chirp sub‐bottom profiles using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Targeted samples were collected using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to provide radiocarbon age constraints. We integrate the high‐resolution geophysical data with radiocarbon dates to reveal Pleistocene seismic horizons vertically offset less than 5 m on nearly vertical faults. These faults are buried by continuous reflections deposited after ∼17.5  ka and likely following erosion during the last sea‐level lowstand ∼21  ka, bracketing the age of faulting to ∼32–21  ka. Clearly faulted horizons are only detected in a small area where mass wasting exhumed older strata to within ∼25  m of the seafloor. The lack of clearly faulted Holocene deposits and possible highly distributed faulting in the study area are consistent with previous interpretations that late Pleistocene and Holocene activity along the SGFZ may decrease to the south. This study illustrates the complexity of the SGFZ, offshore central California, and demonstrates the utility of very high‐resolution data from combined AUV (geophysical)–ROV (seabed sampling) surveys in offshore studies of fault activity.

Tertiary and Quaternary tectonic faulting in southernmost Illinois

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, W.J.; Denny, F.B.; Devera, J.A.; Follmer, L.R.; Masters, J.M.

1997-01-01

Tertiary and/or Quaternary tectonic faulting is documented in three areas of southernmost Illinois: the Fluorspar Area Fault Complex (FAFC) in Pope and Massac Counties, the Ste. Genevieve Fault Zone (SGFZ) in Alexander and Union Counties, and the Commerce Fault Zone (CFZ) in Alexander County. In the FAFC, faults that strike NE and NNE displace Mounds Gravel (late Miocene to early Pleistocene) and, locally, the Metropolis terrace gravel (Pleistocene; pre-Woodfordian). No Woodfordian or younger deposits are deformed. Faults typically outline narrow, linear grabens that formed under tension with a component of strike slip. North-south to NW-trending vertical faults near the southeast end of the SGFZ displace Eocene sediments. Again, faults outline narrow grabens and show indications of strike slip. Deformed Quaternary sediments have not been observed. The CFZ, which trends northeast, displaces Mounds Gravel in Illinois and units as young as Peoria Silt (Woodfordian) in Missouri. Quaternary movement has been interpreted as right-lateral strike-slip. The CFZ coincides with a subtle gravity and magnetic lineament and seems to reflect a major feature in the basement. Surface expression in Illinois is subtle, but mafic and ultramafic intrusions, hydrothermal alteration and small faults align with the Commerce geophysical lineament. Earthquake foci in Missouri and Illinois lie on or close to the CFZ; some focal mechanisms fit the fault trend. Among these structures, only the CFZ exhibits slip that conforms to the current stress field (principal compressive stress axis E-W to ENE-WSW). Possibly, the stress field changed during Neogene time. Alternatively, high fluid pressures or local stress concentrations may have induced slip on less favorably oriented fractures. Tighter constraints are needed on timing, magnitude, and direction of Neogene displacement. ?? 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Extreme scale multi-physics simulations of the tsunamigenic 2004 Sumatra megathrust earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulrich, T.; Gabriel, A. A.; Madden, E. H.; Wollherr, S.; Uphoff, C.; Rettenberger, S.; Bader, M.

2017-12-01

SeisSol (www.seissol.org) is an open-source software package based on an arbitrary high-order derivative Discontinuous Galerkin method (ADER-DG). It solves spontaneous dynamic rupture propagation on pre-existing fault interfaces according to non-linear friction laws, coupled to seismic wave propagation with high-order accuracy in space and time (minimal dispersion errors). SeisSol exploits unstructured meshes to account for complex geometries, e.g. high resolution topography and bathymetry, 3D subsurface structure, and fault networks. We present the up-to-date largest (1500 km of faults) and longest (500 s) dynamic rupture simulation modeling the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. We demonstrate the need for end-to-end-optimization and petascale performance of scientific software to realize realistic simulations on the extreme scales of subduction zone earthquakes: Considering the full complexity of subduction zone geometries leads inevitably to huge differences in element sizes. The main code improvements include a cache-aware wave propagation scheme and optimizations of the dynamic rupture kernels using code generation. In addition, a novel clustered local-time-stepping scheme for dynamic rupture has been established. Finally, asynchronous output has been implemented to overlap I/O and compute time. We resolve the frictional sliding process on the curved mega-thrust and a system of splay faults, as well as the seismic wave field and seafloor displacement with frequency content up to 2.2 Hz. We validate the scenario by geodetic, seismological and tsunami observations. The resulting rupture dynamics shed new light on the activation and importance of splay faults.

Geophysical and isotopic mapping of preexisting crustal structures that influenced the location and development of the San Jacinto fault zone, southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, V.E.; Jachens, R.C.; Morton, D.M.; Kistler, R.W.; Matti, J.C.

2004-01-01

We examine the role of preexisting crustal structure within the Peninsular Ranges batholith on determining the location of the San Jacinto fault zone by analysis of geophysical anomalies and initial strontium ratio data. A 1000-km-long boundary within the Peninsular Ranges batholith, separating relatively mafic, dense, and magnetic rocks of the western Peninsular Ranges batholith from the more felsic, less dense, and weakly magnetic rocks of the eastern Peninsular Ranges batholith, strikes north-northwest toward the San Jacinto fault zone. Modeling of the gravity and magnetic field anomalies caused by this boundary indicates that it extends to depths of at least 20 km. The anomalies do not cross the San Jacinto fault zone, but instead trend northwesterly and coincide with the fault zone. A 75-km-long gradient in initial strontium ratios (Sri) in the eastern Peninsular Ranges batholith coincides with the San Jacinto fault zone. Here rocks east of the fault are characterized by Sri greater than 0.706, indicating a source of largely continental crust, sedimentary materials, or different lithosphere. We argue that the physical property contrast produced by the Peninsular Ranges batholith boundary provided a mechanically favorable path for the San Jacinto fault zone, bypassing the San Gorgonio structural knot as slip was transferred from the San Andreas fault 1.0-1.5 Ma. Two historical M6.7 earthquakes may have nucleated along the Peninsular Ranges batholith discontinuity in San Jacinto Valley, suggesting that Peninsular Ranges batholith crustal structure may continue to affect how strain is accommodated along the San Jacinto fault zone. ?? 2004 Geological Society of America.

Passive seismic imaging based on seismic interferometry: method and its application to image the structure around the 2013 Mw6.6 Lushan earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, N.; Zhang, H.

2017-12-01

Seismic imaging of fault zones generally involves seismic velocity tomography using first arrival times or full waveforms from earthquakes occurring around the fault zones. However, in most cases seismic velocity tomography only gives smooth image of the fault zone structure. To get high-resolution structure of the fault zones, seismic migration using active seismic data needs to be used. But it is generally too expensive to conduct active seismic surveys, even for 2D. Here we propose to apply the passive seismic imaging method based on seismic interferometry to image fault zone detailed structures. Seismic interferometry generally refers to the construction of new seismic records for virtual sources and receivers by cross correlating and stacking the seismic records on physical receivers from physical sources. In this study, we utilize seismic waveforms recorded on surface seismic stations for each earthquake to construct zero-offset seismic record at each earthquake location as if there was a virtual receiver at each earthquake location. We have applied this method to image the fault zone structure around the 2013 Mw6.6 Lushan earthquake. After the occurrence of the mainshock, a 29-station temporary array is installed to monitor aftershocks. In this study, we first select aftershocks along several vertical cross sections approximately normal to the fault strike. Then we create several zero-offset seismic reflection sections by seismic interferometry with seismic waveforms from aftershocks around each section. Finally we migrate these zero-offset sections to create seismic structures around the fault zones. From these migration images, we can clearly identify strong reflectors, which correspond to major reverse fault where the mainshock occurs. This application shows that it is possible to image detailed fault zone structures with passive seismic sources.

Abrupt along-strike change in tectonic style: San Andreas fault zone, San Francisco Peninsula

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zoback, M.L.; Jachens, R.C.; Olson, J.A.

1999-01-01

Seismicity and high-resolution aeromagnetic data are used to define an abrupt change from compressional to extensional tectonism within a 10- to 15-km-wide zone along the San Andreas fault on the San Francisco Peninsula and offshore from the Golden Gate. This 100-km-long section of the San Andreas fault includes the hypocenter of the Mw = 7.8 1906 San Francisco earthquake as well as the highest level of persistent microseismicity along that ???470-km-long rupture. We define two distinct zones of deformation along this stretch of the fault using well-constrained relocations of all post-1969 earthquakes based a joint one-dimensional velocity/hypocenter inversion and a redetermination of focal mechanisms. The southern zone is characterized by thrust- and reverse-faulting focal mechanisms with NE trending P axes that indicate "fault-normal" compression in 7- to 10-km-wide zones of deformation on both sides of the San Andreas fault. A 1- to 2-km-wide vertical zone beneath the surface trace of the San Andreas is characterized by its almost complete lack of seismicity. The compressional deformation is consistent with the young, high topography of the Santa Cruz Mountains/Coast Ranges as the San Andreas fault makes a broad restraining left bend (???10??) through the southernmost peninsula. A zone of seismic quiescence ???15 km long separates this compressional zone to the south from a zone of combined normal-faulting and strike-slip-faulting focal mechanisms (including a ML = 5.3 earthquake in 1957) on the northernmost peninsula and offshore on the Golden Gate platform. Both linear pseudo-gravity gradients, calculated from the aeromagnetic data, and seismic reflection data indicate that the San Andreas fault makes an abrupt ???3-km right step less than 5 km offshore in this northern zone. A similar right-stepping (dilatational) geometry is also observed for the subparallel San Gregorio fault offshore. Persistent seismicity and extensional tectonism occur within the San Andreas right stepover region and at least 15 km along-strike both to the SE and NW. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake may have nucleated within the San Andreas right stepover, which may help explain the bilateral nature of rupture of this event. Our analysis suggests two seismic hazards for the San Francisco Peninsula in addition to the hazard associated with a M = 7 to 8 strike-slip earthquake along the San Andreas fault: the potential for a M ??? 6 normal-faulting earthquake just 5-8 km west of San Francisco and a M = 6+ thrust faulting event in the southern peninsula.

Three-thrust fault system at the plate suture of arc-continent collision in the southernmost Longitudinal Valley, eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Chen, H.; Hsu, Y.; Yu, S.

2013-12-01

Active faults developed into a rather complex three-thrust fault system at the southern end of the narrow Longitudinal Valley in eastern Taiwan, a present-day on-land plate suture between the Philippine Sea plate and Eurasia. Based on more than ten years long geodetic data (including GPS and levelling), field geological investigation, seismological data, and regional tomography, this paper aims at elucidating the architecture of this three-thrust system and the associated surface deformation, as well as providing insights on fault kinematics, slip behaviors and implications of regional tectonics. Combining the results of interseismic (secular) horizontal and vertical velocities, we are able to map the surface traces of the three active faults in the Taitung area. The west-verging Longitudinal Valley Fault (LVF), along which the Coastal Range of the northern Luzon arc is thrusting over the Central Range of the Chinese continental margin, braches into two active strands bounding both sides of an uplifted, folded Quaternary fluvial deposits (Peinanshan massif) within the valley: the Lichi fault to the east and the Luyeh fault to the west. Both faults are creeping, to some extent, in the shallow surface level. However, while the Luyeh fault shows nearly pure thrust type, the Lichi fault reveals transpression regime in the north and transtension in the south end of the LVF in the Taitung plain. The results suggest that the deformation in the southern end of the Longitudinal Valley corresponds to a transition zone from present arc-collision to pre-collision zone in the offshore SE Taiwan. Concerning the Central Range, the third major fault in the area, the secular velocities indicate that the fault is mostly locked during the interseismic period and the accumulated strain would be able to produce a moderate earthquake, such as the example of the 2006 M6.1 Peinan earthquake, expressed by an oblique thrust (verging toward east) with significant left-lateral strike slip component. Taking into account of the recent study on the regional seismic Vp tomography, it shows a high velocity zone with steep east-dipping angle fills the gap under the Longitudinal Valley between the opposing verging LVF and the Central Range fault, implying a possible rolled-back forearc basement under the Coastal Range.

Geologic map of the Topock 7.5’ quadrangle, Arizona and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Howard, Keith A.; John, Barbara E.; Nielson, Jane E.; Miller, Julia M.G.; Wooden, Joseph L.

2013-01-01

The Topock quadrangle exposes a structurally complex part of the Colorado River extensional corridor and also exposes deposits that record landscape evolution during the history of the Colorado River. Paleoproterozoic gneisses and Mesoproterozoic granitoids and intrusive sheets are exposed through tilted cross-sectional thicknesses of many kilometers. Intruding them are a series of Mesozoic to Tertiary igneous rocks including dismembered parts of the Late Cretaceous Chemehuevi Mountains Plutonic Suite. Plutons of this suite in Arizona, if structurally restored for Miocene extension, formed cupolas capping the Chemehuevi Mountains batholith in California. Thick (1–3 km) Miocene sections of volcanic rocks, sedimentary breccias, conglomerate, and sandstone rest nonconformably on the Proterozoic rocks and record the structural and depositional evolution of the Colorado River extensional corridor. Four major Miocene low-angle normal faults and a steep block-bounding fault that developed during this episode divide the deformed rocks of the quadrangle into major structural plates and tilted blocks in and east of the Chemehuevi Mountains core complex. The low-angle faults attenuate crustal section, superposing supracrustal and upper crustal rocks against gneisses and granitoids originally from deeper crustal levels. The transverse block-bounding Gold Dome Fault Zone juxtaposes two large hanging-wall blocks, each tilted 90°, and the fault zone splays at its tip into folds in layered Miocene rocks. A synfaulting intrusion occupies the triangular zone where the folded strata detached from an inside corner along this fault between the tilt blocks. Post-extensional upper Miocene to Quaternary strata, locally deformed, record post-extensional landscape evolution, including several Pliocene and younger aggradational episodes in the Colorado River valley and intervening degradation episodes. The aggradational sequences include (1) the Bouse Formation, (2) fluvial deposits correlated with the alluvium of Bullhead City, (3) the younger fluvial boulder conglomerate of Bat Cave Wash, (4) the fluvial Chemehuevi Formation and related valley-margin deposits, and (5) fluvial Holocene deposits under the river and the valley floor. These fluvial records of Colorado River deposition are interspersed with piedmont alluvial fan deposits of several ages.

Quantifying Vertical Exhumation in Intracontinental Strike-Slip Faults: the Garlock fault zone, southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chinn, L.; Blythe, A. E.; Fendick, A.

2012-12-01

New apatite fission-track ages show varying rates of vertical exhumation at the eastern terminus of the Garlock fault zone. The Garlock fault zone is a 260 km long east-northeast striking strike-slip fault with as much as 64 km of sinistral offset. The Garlock fault zone terminates in the east in the Avawatz Mountains, at the intersection with the dextral Southern Death Valley fault zone. Although motion along the Garlock fault west of the Avawatz Mountains is considered purely strike-slip, uplift and exhumation of bedrock in the Avawatz Mountains south of the Garlock fault, as recently as 5 Ma, indicates that transpression plays an important role at this location and is perhaps related to a restricting bend as the fault wraps around and terminates southeastward along the Avawatz Mountains. In this study we complement extant thermochronometric ages from within the Avawatz core with new low temperature fission-track ages from samples collected within the adjacent Garlock and Southern Death Valley fault zones. These thermochronometric data indicate that vertical exhumation rates vary within the fault zone. Two Miocene ages (10.2 (+5.0/-3.4) Ma, 9.0 (+2.2/-1.8) Ma) indicate at least ~3.3 km of vertical exhumation at ~0.35 mm/yr, assuming a 30°C/km geothermal gradient, along a 2 km transect parallel and adjacent to the Mule Spring fault. An older Eocene age (42.9 (+8.7/-7.3) Ma) indicates ~3.3 km of vertical exhumation at ~0.08 mm/yr. These results are consistent with published exhumation rates of 0.35 mm/yr between ~7 and ~4 Ma and 0.13 mm/yr between ~15 and ~9 Ma, as determined by apatite fission-track and U-Th/He thermochronometry in the hanging-wall of the Mule Spring fault. Similar exhumation rates on both sides of the Mule Spring fault support three separate models: 1) Thrusting is no longer active along the Mule Spring fault, 2) Faulting is dominantly strike-slip at the sample locations, or 3) Miocene-present uplift and exhumation is below detection levels using apatite fission-track thermochronometry. In model #1 slip on the Mule Spring fault may have propagated towards the range front, and may be responsible for the fault-propagation-folding currently observed along the northern branch of the Southern Death Valley fault zone. Model #2 may serve to determine where faulting has historically included a component of thrust faulting to the east of sample locations. Model #3 would further determine total offset along the Mule Spring fault from Miocene-present. Anticipated fission-track and U-Th/He data will help distinguish between these alternative models.

Seismic measurements of the internal properties of fault zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mooney, W.D.; Ginzburg, A.

1986-01-01

The internal properties within and adjacent to fault zones are reviewed, principally on the basis of laboratory, borehole, and seismic refraction and reflection data. The deformation of rocks by faulting ranges from intragrain microcracking to severe alteration. Saturated microcracked and mildly fractured rocks do not exhibit a significant reduction in velocity, but, from borehole measurements, densely fractured rocks do show significantly reduced velocities, the amount of reduction generally proportional to the fracture density. Highly fractured rock and thick fault gouge along the creeping portion of the San Andreas fault are evidenced by a pronounced seismic low-velocity zone (LVZ), which is either very thin or absent along locked portions of the fault. Thus there is a correlation between fault slip behavior and seismic velocity structure within the fault zone; high pore pressure within the pronounced LVZ may be conductive to fault creep. Deep seismic reflection data indicate that crustal faults sometimes extend through the entire crust. Models of these data and geologic evidence are consistent with a composition of deep faults consisting of highly foliated, seismically anisotropic mylonites. ?? 1986 Birkha??user Verlag, Basel.

What role did the Hikurangi subduction zone play in the M7.8 Kaikoura earthquake?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, L. M.; Hamling, I. J.; Kaneko, Y.; Fry, B.; Clark, K.; Bannister, S. C.; Ellis, S. M.; Francois-Holden, C.; Hreinsdottir, S.; Mueller, C.

2017-12-01

The 2016 M7.8 Kaikoura earthquake ruptured at least a dozen faults in the northern South Island of New Zealand, within the transition from the Hikurangi subduction zone (in the North Island) to the transpressive Alpine Fault (in the central South Island). The role that the southern end of the Hikurangi subduction zone played (or did not play) in the Kaikoura earthquake remains one of the most controversial aspects of this spectacularly complex earthquake. Investigations using near-field seismological and geodetic data suggest a dominantly crustal faulting source for the event, while studies relying on teleseismic data propose that a large portion of the moment release is due to rupture of the Hikurangi subduction interface beneath the northern South Island. InSAR and GPS data also show that a large amount of afterslip (up to 0.5 m) occurred on the subduction interface beneath the crustal faults that ruptured in the M7.8 earthquake, during the months following the earthquake. Modeling of GPS velocities for the 20 year period prior to the earthquake indicate that interseismic coupling was occurring on the Hikurangi subduction interface beneath the northern South Island, in a similar location to the suggested coseismic and postseismic slip on the subduction interface. We will integrate geodetic, seismological, tsunami, and geological observations in an attempt to balance the seemingly conflicting views from local and teleseismic data regarding the role that the southern Hikurangi subduction zone played in the earthquake. We will also discuss the broader implications of the observed coseismic and postseismic deformation for understanding the kinematics of the southern termination of the Hikurangi subduction zone, and its role in the transition from subduction to strike-slip in the central New Zealand region.

Integrated geophysical investigations in a fault zone located on southwestern part of İzmir city, Western Anatolia, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drahor, Mahmut G.; Berge, Meriç A.

2017-01-01

Integrated geophysical investigations consisting of joint application of various geophysical techniques have become a major tool of active tectonic investigations. The choice of integrated techniques depends on geological features, tectonic and fault characteristics of the study area, required resolution and penetration depth of used techniques and also financial supports. Therefore, fault geometry and offsets, sediment thickness and properties, features of folded strata and tectonic characteristics of near-surface sections of the subsurface could be thoroughly determined using integrated geophysical approaches. Although Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Seismic Refraction Tomography (SRT) methods are commonly used in active tectonic investigations, other geophysical techniques will also contribute in obtaining of different properties in the complex geological environments of tectonically active sites. In this study, six different geophysical methods used to define faulting locations and characterizations around the study area. These are GPR, ERT, SRT, Very Low Frequency electromagnetic (VLF), magnetics and self-potential (SP). Overall integrated geophysical approaches used in this study gave us commonly important results about the near surface geological properties and faulting characteristics in the investigation area. After integrated interpretations of geophysical surveys, we determined an optimal trench location for paleoseismological studies. The main geological properties associated with faulting process obtained after trenching studies. In addition, geophysical results pointed out some indications concerning the active faulting mechanism in the area investigated. Consequently, the trenching studies indicate that the integrated approach of geophysical techniques applied on the fault problem reveals very useful and interpretative results in description of various properties of faulting zone in the investigation site.

Isotropic events observed with a borehole array in the Chelungpu fault zone, Taiwan.

PubMed

Ma, Kuo-Fong; Lin, Yen-Yu; Lee, Shiann-Jong; Mori, Jim; Brodsky, Emily E

2012-07-27

Shear failure is the dominant mode of earthquake-causing rock failure along faults. High fluid pressure can also potentially induce rock failure by opening cavities and cracks, but an active example of this process has not been directly observed in a fault zone. Using borehole array data collected along the low-stress Chelungpu fault zone, Taiwan, we observed several small seismic events (I-type events) in a fluid-rich permeable zone directly below the impermeable slip zone of the 1999 moment magnitude 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake. Modeling of the events suggests an isotropic, nonshear source mechanism likely associated with natural hydraulic fractures. These seismic events may be associated with the formation of veins and other fluid features often observed in rocks surrounding fault zones and may be similar to artificially induced hydraulic fracturing.

Oblique sinistral transpression in the Arabian shield: The timing and kinematics of a Neoproterozoic suture zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, P.R.; Kattan, F.

2001-01-01

The Hulayfah-Ad Dafinah-Ruwah fault zone is a belt of highly strained rocks that extends in a broad curve across the northeastern Arabian shield. It is a subvertical shear zone, 5-30 km wide and over 600 km long, and is interpreted as a zone of oblique sinistral transpression that forms the suture between the Afif terrane and the Asir-Jiddah-Hijaz-Hulayfah superterrane. Available data suggest that the terranes began to converge sometime after 720 Ma, were in active contact at about 680 Ma, and were in place, with suturing complete, by 630 Ma, The fault zone was affected by sinistral horizontal and local vertical shear, and simultaneous flattening and fault-zone-parallel extension. Structures include sinistral sense-of-shear indicators, L-S tectonite, and coaxial stretching lineations and fold axes. The stretching lineations switch from subhorizontal to subvertical along the fault zone indicating significant variation in finite strain consistent with an origin by oblique transpression. The sense of shear on the fault zone suggests sinistral trajectories for the converging terranes, although extrapolating the shear sense of the suture zone to infer far-field motion must be done with caution. The amalgamation model derived from the chronologic and structural data for the fault zone modifies an existing model of terrane amalgamation and clarifies the definitions of two deformational events (the Nabitah orogeny and the Najd fault system) that are widely represented in the Arabian shield. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Field characterization of elastic properties across a fault zone reactivated by fluid injection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jeanne, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Rutqvist, Jonny

In this paper, we studied the elastic properties of a fault zone intersecting the Opalinus Clay formation at 300 m depth in the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (Switzerland). Four controlled water injection experiments were performed in borehole straddle intervals set at successive locations across the fault zone. A three-component displacement sensor, which allowed capturing the borehole wall movements during injection, was used to estimate the elastic properties of representative locations across the fault zone, from the host rock to the damage zone to the fault core. Young's moduli were estimated by both an analytical approach and numerical finite differencemore » modeling. Results show a decrease in Young's modulus from the host rock to the damage zone by a factor of 5 and from the damage zone to the fault core by a factor of 2. In the host rock, our results are in reasonable agreement with laboratory data showing a strong elastic anisotropy characterized by the direction of the plane of isotropy parallel to the laminar structure of the shale formation. In the fault zone, strong rotations of the direction of anisotropy can be observed. Finally, the plane of isotropy can be oriented either parallel to bedding (when few discontinuities are present), parallel to the direction of the main fracture family intersecting the zone, and possibly oriented parallel or perpendicular to the fractures critically oriented for shear reactivation (when repeated past rupture along this plane has created a zone).« less

Field characterization of elastic properties across a fault zone reactivated by fluid injection

DOE PAGES

Jeanne, Pierre; Guglielmi, Yves; Rutqvist, Jonny; ...

2017-08-12

In this paper, we studied the elastic properties of a fault zone intersecting the Opalinus Clay formation at 300 m depth in the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (Switzerland). Four controlled water injection experiments were performed in borehole straddle intervals set at successive locations across the fault zone. A three-component displacement sensor, which allowed capturing the borehole wall movements during injection, was used to estimate the elastic properties of representative locations across the fault zone, from the host rock to the damage zone to the fault core. Young's moduli were estimated by both an analytical approach and numerical finite differencemore » modeling. Results show a decrease in Young's modulus from the host rock to the damage zone by a factor of 5 and from the damage zone to the fault core by a factor of 2. In the host rock, our results are in reasonable agreement with laboratory data showing a strong elastic anisotropy characterized by the direction of the plane of isotropy parallel to the laminar structure of the shale formation. In the fault zone, strong rotations of the direction of anisotropy can be observed. Finally, the plane of isotropy can be oriented either parallel to bedding (when few discontinuities are present), parallel to the direction of the main fracture family intersecting the zone, and possibly oriented parallel or perpendicular to the fractures critically oriented for shear reactivation (when repeated past rupture along this plane has created a zone).« less

Hydrothermal minerals and microstructures in the Silangkitang geothermal field along the Great Sumatran fault zone, Sumatra, Indonesia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Diane E.; Hickman, S.; Lockner, D.A.; Dobson, P.F.

2001-01-01

Detailed study of core samples of silicic tuff recovered from three geothermal wells along the strike-slip Great Sumatran fault zone near Silangkitang, North Sumatra, supports a model for enhanced hydrothermal circulation adjacent to this major plate-boundary fault. Two wells (A and C) were drilled nearly vertically ??1 km southwest of the eastern (i.e., the principal) fault trace, and the third, directional well (B) was drilled eastward from the site of well A to within ??100 m of the principal fault trace. The examined core samples come from depths of 1650-2120 m at measured well temperatures of 180-320 ??C. The samples collected near the principal fault trace have the highest temperatures, the largest amount of secondary pore space that correlates with high secondary permeability, and the most extensive hydrothermal mineral development. Secondary permeability and the degree of hydrothermal alteration decrease toward the southwestern margin of the fault zone. These features indicate episodic, localized flow of hot, possibly CO2-rich fluids within the fault zone. The microstructure populations identified in the core samples correlate to the subsidiary fault patterns typical of strike-slip faults. The geothermal reservoir appears to be centered on the fault zone, with the principal fault strands and adjoining, highly fractured and hydrothermally altered rock serving as the main conduits for vertical fluid flow and advective heat transport from deeper magmatic sources.

Integrated characterization of the geologic framework of a contaminated site in West Trenton, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellefsen, Karl J.; Burton, William C.; Lacombe, Pierre J.

2012-01-01

Fractured sedimentary bedrock and groundwater at the former Naval Air Warfare Center in West Trenton, New Jersey (United States of America) are contaminated with chlorinated solvents. Predicting contaminant migration or removing the contaminants requires an understanding of the geology. Consequently, the geologic framework near the site was characterized with four different methods having different spatial scales: geologic field mapping, analyses of bedrock drill core, analyses of soil and regolith, and S-wave refraction surveys. A fault zone is in the southeast corner of the site and separates two distinct sedimentary formations; the fault zone dips (steeply) southeasterly, strikes northeasterly, and extends at least 550 m along its strike direction. Drill core from the fault zone is extensively brecciated and includes evidence of tectonic contraction. Approximately 300 m east of this fault zone is another fault zone, which offsets the contact between the two sedimentary formations. The S-wave refraction surveys identified both fault zones beneath soil and regolith and thereby provided constraints on their lateral extent and location.

Triggering of destructive earthquakes in El Salvador

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez-Díaz, José J.; Álvarez-Gómez, José A.; Benito, Belén; Hernández, Douglas

2004-01-01

We investigate the existence of a mechanism of static stress triggering driven by the interaction of normal faults in the Middle American subduction zone and strike-slip faults in the El Salvador volcanic arc. The local geology points to a large strike-slip fault zone, the El Salvador fault zone, as the source of several destructive earthquakes in El Salvador along the volcanic arc. We modeled the Coulomb failure stress (CFS) change produced by the June 1982 and January 2001 subduction events on planes parallel to the El Salvador fault zone. The results have broad implications for future risk management in the region, as they suggest a causative relationship between the position of the normal-slip events in the subduction zone and the strike-slip events in the volcanic arc. After the February 2001 event, an important area of the El Salvador fault zone was loaded with a positive change in Coulomb failure stress (>0.15 MPa). This scenario must be considered in the seismic hazard assessment studies that will be carried out in this area.

Evidence of shallow fault zone strengthening after the 1992 M7.5 Landers, California, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Li, Y.-G.; Vidale, J.E.; Aki, K.; Xu, Fei; Burdette, T.

1998-01-01

Repeated seismic surveys of the Landers, California, fault zone that ruptured in the magnitude (M) 7.5 earthquake of 1992 reveal an increase in seismic velocity with time. P, S, and fault zone trapped waves were excited by near-surface explosions in two locations in 1994 and 1996, and were recorded on two linear, three-component seismic arrays deployed across the Johnson Valley fault trace. The travel times of P and S waves for identical shot-receiver pairs decreased by 0.5 to 1.5 percent from 1994 to 1996, with the larger changes at stations located within the fault zone. These observations indicate that the shallow Johnson Valley fault is strengthening after the main shock, most likely because of closure of cracks that were opened by the 1992 earthquake. The increase in velocity is consistent with the prevalence of dry over wet cracks and with a reduction in the apparent crack density near the fault zone by approximately 1.0 percent from 1994 to 1996.

Fault fluid evolution at the outermost edges of the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agosta, Fabrizio; Belviso, Claudia; Cavalcante, Francesco; Vita Petrullo, Angela

2017-04-01

This work focuses on the structural architecture and mineralization of a high-angle, extensional fault zone that crosscuts the Middle Pleistocene tuffs and pyroclastites of the Vulture Volcano, southern Italy. This fault zone is topped by a few m-thick travertine deposit formed by precipitation, in a typical lacustrine depositional environment, from a fault fluid that included a mixed, biogenic- and mantle-derived CO2. The detailed analysis of its different mineralization can shed new lights into the shallow crustal fluid flow that took place during deformation of the outer edge of the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt. In fact, the study fault zone is interpreted as a shallow-seated, tear fault associated with a shallow thrust fault displacing the most inner portion of the Bradano foredeep basin infill, and was thus active during the latest stages of contractional deformation. Far from the fault zone, the fracture network is made up of three high-angle joint sets striking N-S, E-W and NW-SE, respectively. The former two sets can be interpreted as the older structural elements that pre-dated the latter one, which is likely due to the current stress state that affects the whole Italian peninsula. In the vicinity of the fault zone, a fourth joint high-angle set striking NE-SW is also present, which becomes the most dominant fracture set within the study footwall fault damage zone. Detailed X-ray diffraction analysis of the powder obtained from hand specimens representative of the multiple mineralization present within the fault zone, and in the surrounding volcanites, are consistent with circulation of a fault fluid that modified its composition with time during the latest stages of volcanic activity and contractional deformation. Specifically, veins infilled with and slickenside coated by jarosite, Opal A and/or goethite are found in the footwall fault damage zone. Based upon the relative timing of formation of the aforementioned joint sets, deciphered after an accurate analysis of their abutting and crosscutting relationships, we envision that the fault fluid was first likely derived from a deep-seated, acid fluid, which interacted with either Triassic or Messinian in age evaporitic rocks during its ascendance from depth. From such a fluid, jarosite precipitated within N-S and NE-SW joints and sheared joints located both away and within the fault damage zone. Then, very warm fluids similar to the lahars that were channeled along the eastern flank of the Vulture Volcano caused the precipitation of Opal A within the dense fracture network of the footwall damage zone, likely causing its hydraulic fracturing, and in the N-S striking veins present in the vicinity of the fault zone. Finally, gotheite coated the major slickensides and sealed the NE-SW fractures, postdating all previous mineralization. Gothetite precipitate from a fault fluid, meteoric in origin, which interacted with the volcanic aquifer causing oxidation of the iron-rich minerals.

The damage is done: Low fault friction recorded in the damage zone of the shallow Japan Trench décollement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keren, Tucker T.; Kirkpatrick, James D.

2016-05-01

Fault damage zones record the integrated deformation caused by repeated slip on faults and reflect the conditions that control slip behavior. To investigate the Japan Trench décollement, we characterized the damage zone close to the fault from drill core recovered during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343 (Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project (JFAST)). Core-scale and microscale structures include phyllosilicate bands, shear fractures, and joints. They are most abundant near the décollement and decrease in density sharply above and below the fault. Power law fits describing the change in structure density with distance from the fault result in decay exponents (n) of 1.57 in the footwall and 0.73 in the hanging wall. Microstructure decay exponents are 1.09 in the footwall and 0.50 in the hanging wall. Observed damage zone thickness is on the order of a few tens of meters. Core-scale structures dip between ~10° and ~70° and are mutually crosscutting. Compared to similar offset faults, the décollement has large decay exponents and a relatively narrow damage zone. Motivated by independent constraints demonstrating that the plate boundary is weak, we tested if the observed damage zone characteristics could be consistent with low-friction fault. Quasi-static models of off-fault stresses and deformation due to slip on a wavy, frictional fault under conditions similar to the JFAST site predict that low-friction fault produces narrow damage zones with no preferred orientations of structures. These results are consistent with long-term frictional weakness on the décollement at the JFAST site.

The Mechanics of Transient Fault Slip and Slow Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marone, C.; Leeman, J.; Scuderi, M.; Saffer, D. M.; Collettini, C.

2015-12-01

Earthquakes are understood as frictional stick-slip instabilities in which stored elastic energy is released suddenly, driving catastrophic failure. In normal (fast) earthquakes the rupture zone expands at a rate dictated by elastic wave speeds, a few km/s, and fault slip rates reach 1-10 m/s. However, tectonic faults also fail in slow earthquakes with rupture durations of months and fault slip speeds of ~100 micron/s or less. We know very little about the mechanics of slow earthquakes. What determines the rupture propagation velocity in slow earthquakes and in other forms of quasi-dynamic rupture? What processes limit stress drop and fault slip speed in slow earthquakes? Existing lab studies provide some help via observations of complex forms of stick-slip, creep-slip, or, in a few cases, slow slip. However, these are mainly anecdotal and rarely include examples of repetitive slow slip or systematic measurements that could be used to isolate the underlying mechanisms. Numerical studies based on rate and state friction also shed light on transiently accelerating slip, showing that slow slip can occur if: 1) fault rheology involves a change in friction rate dependence (a-b) with velocity or unusually large values of the frictional weakening distance Dc, or 2) fault zone elastic stiffness equals the critical frictional weakening rate kc = (b-a)/Dc. Recent laboratory work shows that the latter can occur much more commonly that previously thought. We document the complete spectrum of stick-slip behaviors from transient slow slip to fast stick-slip for a narrow range of conditions around k/kc = 1.0. Slow slip occurs near the threshold between stable and unstable failure, controlled by the interplay of fault zone frictional properties, normal stress, and elastic stiffness of the surrounding rock. Our results provide a generic mechanism for slow earthquakes, consistent with the wide range of conditions for which slow slip has been observed.

The Jocotán Ophiolite: A new ophiolite along the Jocotán fault, eastern Guatemala

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harlow, G. E.; Flores-Reyes, K.; Sisson, V. B.; Nelson, C.; Cacao, A.

2011-12-01

The North American - Caribbean plate boundary traverses central Guatemala and northern Honduras, dispersed along three left lateral faults systems, which from north to south are the Chixoy-Polochic, the Motagua, and the Jocotán-Camelecón faults, with the Motagua as the present active strand. The Motagua Suture Zone (MSZ), which encompasses this area, consists of multiple paleo-convergent boundaries. It includes slices of ultramafic-mafic complexes including both antigorite (Atg) serpentinite mélanges containing high-pressure / low-temperature (HP/LT) blocks, and lizardite-chrysotile (Lzd-Ctl) serpentinites with associated pillow lavas, radiolarian chert, and marine sediments, typically labeled as ophiolites. Guatemala Suture Zone would be a preferable term to MSZ because the area extends over all three faults, not just the Motagua. The MSZ includes the Sierra de Santa Cruz ophiolite north of the east end of the Polochic fault, the Baja Verapaz ultramafic complex (considered an ophiolite in most of the literature) lies just south of the western portion of the Polochic fault and a series of Atg-serpentinite-dominant mélanges (with HP/LT blocks) that decorate both sides of the Motagua fault. In addition, there is the El Tambor Formation, south of the Motagua fault (but west of the known limit of the Jocotán fault), which contains mafic & sedimentary units and has been called an ophiolite. However, no mafic-ultramafic bodies appear on maps that cover the Jocotán fault in eastern Guatemala. Geologic mapping by one of the co-authors located a small suite of ultramafic rocks sandwiched between the Jocotán and Camotán faults in eastern Guatemala, a short distance from the town of Camotán. Outcrops exposed for 3 km along a road and in a small river consist of sheared Lzd-Ctl serpentinite, metagabbro, overturned altered pillow lavas, listwaenite and rodingite dikes, cherts and pelagic metasediments. These units represent fault slivers subparallel to the steeply dipping local faults sandwiched between mostly phyllites, schists, limestones and metabasites. The latter are similar to the Las Ovejas Complex and/or the San Diego Phyllite which bound the El Tambor Formation and mélanges further west. The newly observed lithologic package, although small in areal extent, has clear affinities with an ophiolite. No HP/LT metamorphic blocks, or even true amphibolites were observed, so consistent with the presence of Lzd-Ctl in the serpentinite, the unit is not a subduction related mélange. The potential relationship with the El Tambor Formation to the west requires further analysis and comparison.

Mantle fault zone beneath Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii.

PubMed

Wolfe, Cecily J; Okubo, Paul G; Shearer, Peter M

2003-04-18

Relocations and focal mechanism analyses of deep earthquakes (>/=13 kilometers) at Kilauea volcano demonstrate that seismicity is focused on an active fault zone at 30-kilometer depth, with seaward slip on a low-angle plane, and other smaller, distinct fault zones. The earthquakes we have analyzed predominantly reflect tectonic faulting in the brittle lithosphere rather than magma movement associated with volcanic activity. The tectonic earthquakes may be induced on preexisting faults by stresses of magmatic origin, although background stresses from volcano loading and lithospheric flexure may also contribute.

Mantle fault zone beneath Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wolfe, C.J.; Okubo, P.G.; Shearer, P.M.

2003-01-01

Relocations and focal mechanism analyses of deep earthquakes (???13 kilometers) at Kilauea volcano demonstrate that seismicity is focused on an active fault zone at 30-kilometer depth, with seaward slip on a low-angle plane, and other smaller, distinct fault zones. The earthquakes we have analyzed predominantly reflect tectonic faulting in the brittle lithosphere rather than magma movement associated with volcanic activity. The tectonic earthquakes may be induced on preexisting faults by stresses of magmatic origin, although background stresses from volcano loading and lithospheric flexure may also contribute.

Ste. Genevieve Fault Zone, Missouri and Illinois. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, W.J.; Lumm, D.K.

1985-07-01

The Ste. Genevieve Fault Zone is a major structural feature which strikes NW-SE for about 190 km on the NE flank of the Ozark Dome. There is up to 900 m of vertical displacement on high angle normal and reverse faults in the fault zone. At both ends the Ste. Genevieve Fault Zone dies out into a monocline. Two periods of faulting occurred. The first was in late Middle Devonian time and the second from latest Mississippian through early Pennsylvanian time, with possible minor post-Pennsylvanian movement. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that the Ste. Genevieve Fault Zonemore » is part of a northwestward extension of the late Precambrian-early Cambrian Reelfoot Rift. The magnetic and gravity anomalies cited in support of the ''St. Louis arm'' of the Reelfoot Rift possible reflect deep crystal features underlying and older than the volcanic terrain of the St. Francois Mountains (1.2 to 1.5 billion years old). In regard to neotectonics no displacements of Quaternary sediments have been detected, but small earthquakes occur from time to time along the Ste. Genevieve Fault Zone. Many faults in the zone appear capable of slipping under the current stress regime of east-northeast to west-southwest horizontal compression. We conclude that the zone may continue to experience small earth movements, but catastrophic quakes similar to those at New Madrid in 1811-12 are unlikely. 32 figs., 1 tab.« less

Architectural and microstructural characterization of a seismogenic normal fault in dolostones (Central Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demurtas, Matteo; Fondriest, Michele; Clemenzi, Luca; Balsamo, Fabrizio; Storti, Fabrizio; Di Toro, Giulio

2015-04-01

Fault zones cutting carbonate sequences represent significant seismogenic sources worldwide (e.g. L'Aquila 2009, MW 6.1). Though seismological and geophysical techniques (double differences method, trapped waves, etc.) allow us to investigate down to the decametric scale the structure of active fault zones, further geological field surveys and microstructural studies of exhumed seismogenic fault zones are required to support interpretation of geophysical data, quantify the geometry of fault zones and identify the fault processes active during the seismic cycle. Here we describe the architecture (i.e. fault geometry and fault rock distribution) of the well-exposed footwall-block of the Campo Imperatore Fault Zone (CIFZ) by means of remote sensed analyses, field surveys, mineralogical (XRD, micro-Raman spectroscopy) and microstructural (FE-SEM, optical microscope cathodoluminescence) investigations. The CIFZ dips 58° towards N210 and its strike mimics that of the arcuate Gran Sasso Thrust Belt (Central Apennines). The CIFZ was exhumed from 2-3 km depth and accommodated a normal throw of ~2 km starting from the Early-Pleistocene. In the studied area, the CIFZ puts in contact the Holocene deposits at the hangingwall with dolomitized Jurassic carbonate platform successions (Calcare Massiccio) at the footwall. From remote sensed analyses, structural lineaments both inside and outside the CIFZ have a typical NW-SE Apenninic strike, which is parallel to the local trend of the Gran Sasso Thrust. Based on the density of the fracture/fault network and the type of fault zone rocks, we distinguished four main structural domains within the ~300 m thick CIFZ footwall-block, which include (i) a well-cemented (white in color) cataclastic zone (up to ~40 m thick) at the contact with the Holocene deposits, (ii) a well-cemented (brown to grey in color) breccia zone (up to ~15 m thick), (iii) an high strain damage zone (fracture spacing < 2-3 cm), and (iv) a low strain damage zone (fracture spacing > 10 cm). Other than by the main boundary normal fault, slip was accommodated in the cataclastic zone by minor sub-parallel synthetic and antithetic normal faults and by few tear strike-slip fault; the rest of the footwall shows progressively less pervasive damage down to the background intensity of deformation. High strain domains include (1) pervasively fragmented dolostones with radial fractures (evidence of in-situ shattering), (2) shiny (mirror-like) fault surfaces truncating dolostone clasts, (3) mm-thick ultra-cataclastic layers with lobate and cuspate boundaries, (4) mixed calcite-dolomite "foliated cataclasites". The above microstructures can be associated with seismic faulting. Fluids infiltration during deformation is attested by the occurrence of multiple generations of carbonate-filled veins, often exploited as minor faults with a mylonite-like fabric (e.g. presence of micrometer in size euhedral calcite grains). The attitude of the studied segment of the CIFZ, the thickness of the footwall block and the kinematics of the minor faults compares well with the hypocentral and focal mechanisms distribution typical of the earthquake sequences in the Apennines. In particular, the CIFZ can be considered as an exhumed analogue of the normal fault system that caused the L'Aquila 2009 seismic sequence.

Low resistivity and permeability in actively deforming shear zones on the San Andreas Fault at SAFOD

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morrow, Carolyn A.; Lockner, David A.; Hickman, Stephen H.

2015-01-01

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) scientific drillhole near Parkfield, California crosses the San Andreas Fault at a depth of 2.7 km. Downhole measurements and analysis of core retrieved from Phase 3 drilling reveal two narrow, actively deforming zones of smectite-clay gouge within a roughly 200 m-wide fault damage zone of sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. Here we report electrical resistivity and permeability measurements on core samples from all of these structural units at effective confining pressures up to 120 MPa. Electrical resistivity (~10 ohm-m) and permeability (10-21 to 10-22 m2) in the actively deforming zones were one to two orders of magnitude lower than the surrounding damage zone material, consistent with broader-scale observations from the downhole resistivity and seismic velocity logs. The higher porosity of the clay gouge, 2 to 8 times greater than that in the damage zone rocks, along with surface conduction were the principal factors contributing to the observed low resistivities. The high percentage of fine-grained clay in the deforming zones also greatly reduced permeability to values low enough to create a barrier to fluid flow across the fault. Together, resistivity and permeability data can be used to assess the hydrogeologic characteristics of the fault, key to understanding fault structure and strength. The low resistivities and strength measurements of the SAFOD core are consistent with observations of low resistivity clays that are often found in the principal slip zones of other active faults making resistivity logs a valuable tool for identifying these zones.

Incorporating fault zone head wave and direct wave secondary arrival times into seismic tomography: Application at Parkfield, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennington, N. L.; Thurber, C. H.; Zhang, H.; Peng, Z.; Zhao, P.

2011-12-01

Large crustal faults such as the San Andreas fault (SAF) often juxtapose rocks of significantly different elastic properties, resulting in well-defined bimaterial interfaces. A sharp material contrast across the fault interface is expected to generate fault zone head waves (FZHW's) that spend a large portion of their propagation paths refracting along the bimaterial interface (Ben-Zion 1989, 1990; Ben-Zion & Aki 1990). Because of this FZHW's provide a high-resolution tool for imaging the velocity contrast across the fault. Recently, Zhao et al. (2010) systematically analyzed large data sets of near-fault waveforms recorded by several permanent and temporary seismic networks along the Parkfield section of the SAF. The local-scale tomography study of Zhang et al. (2009) for a roughly 10 km3 volume centered on SAFOD and the more regional-scale study of Thurber et al. (2006) for a 130 km x 120 km x 20 km volume centered on the 2004 Parkfield earthquake rupture provide what are probably the best 3D images of the seismic velocity structure of the area. The former shows a low velocity zone associated with the SAF extending to significant depth, and both image the well-known velocity contrast across the fault. Seismic tomography generally uses just first P and/or S arrivals because of the relative simplicity of phase picking and ray tracing. Adding secondary arrivals such as FZHW's, however, can enhance the resolution of structure and strengthen constraints on earthquake locations and focal mechanisms. We present a model of 3D velocity structure for the Parkfield region that utilizes a combination of arrival times for FZHW's and the associated direct-wave secondary arrivals as well as existing P-wave arrival time data. The resulting image provides a higher-resolution model of the SAF at depth than previously published models. In addition, we plan to measure polarizations of the direct P and S waves and FZHW's and incorporate the data into our updated velocity tomography/relocation inversion. Through these efforts, we hope to refine the 3D tomographic image of seismic velocity structure and the complex geometry of the active fault strands near SAFOD and along the Parkfield rupture zone.

Controls on fault zone structure and brittle fracturing in the foliated hanging wall of the Alpine Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Jack N.; Toy, Virginia G.; Massiot, Cécile; McNamara, David D.; Smith, Steven A. F.; Mills, Steven

2018-04-01

Three datasets are used to quantify fracture density, orientation, and fill in the foliated hanging wall of the Alpine Fault: (1) X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of drill core collected within 25 m of its principal slip zones (PSZs) during the first phase of the Deep Fault Drilling Project that were reoriented with respect to borehole televiewer images, (2) field measurements from creek sections up to 500 m from the PSZs, and (3) CT images of oriented drill core collected during the Amethyst Hydro Project at distances of ˜ 0.7-2 km from the PSZs. Results show that within 160 m of the PSZs in foliated cataclasites and ultramylonites, gouge-filled fractures exhibit a wide range of orientations. At these distances, fractures are interpreted to have formed at relatively high confining pressures and/or in rocks that had a weak mechanical anisotropy. Conversely, at distances greater than 160 m from the PSZs, fractures are typically open and subparallel to the mylonitic or schistose foliation, implying that fracturing occurred at low confining pressures and/or in rocks that were mechanically anisotropic. Fracture density is similar across the ˜ 500 m width of the field transects. By combining our datasets with measurements of permeability and seismic velocity around the Alpine Fault, we further develop the hierarchical model for hanging-wall damage structure that was proposed by Townend et al. (2017). The wider zone of foliation-parallel fractures represents an outer damage zone that forms at shallow depths. The distinct < 160 m wide interval of widely oriented gouge-filled fractures constitutes an inner damage zone. This zone is interpreted to extend towards the base of the seismogenic crust given that its width is comparable to (1) the Alpine Fault low-velocity zone detected by fault zone guided waves and (2) damage zones reported from other exhumed large-displacement faults. In summary, a narrow zone of fracturing at the base of the Alpine Fault's hanging-wall seismogenic crust is anticipated to widen at shallow depths, which is consistent with fault zone flower structure models.

Role of heat and detachment in continental extension as viewed from the eastern basin and range province in Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lucchitta, I.

1990-01-01

The Bill Williams River area of west-central Arizona includes not only the Rawhide-Buckskin metamorphic core complex, which is part of the lower Colorado River highly extended terrane (HET), but also the boundary between the extended terranes of the Basin and Range Province and the less deformed Arizona Transition Zone/Colorado Plateau. This provides important constraints on models that address the mechanisms for the mid- to late Tertiary deformation. Three phases of extension are present. The oldest is the extension associated with core-complex tectonism, which characteristically shows a lower plate composed of lineated mylonitic gneiss overlain by a detachment fault that is regionally nearly horizontal but undulates at the local scale. The fault in turn is overlain by an upper plate that includes Precambrian basement rocks, recrystallized Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, Mesozoic(?) metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of greenschist facies, and unaltered to hydrothermally altered syntectonic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Miocene age. The upper plate is cut by closely spaced faults of modest structural relief that strike northwest and strongly rotate intervening blocks to face southwest. Most of these faults do not penetrate below the detachment fault. Fault spacing increases, and rotation decreases, to the northeast, away from the trace of the detachment. The second phase consists of "classic" Basin-Range high-angle normal faults that strike about north and have wide spacing, high structural relief, and modest rotation of blocks. These faults have no consistent direction of displacement and so produced horst and graben that form the ranges and basins visible today. This phase is locally superposed on Phase I, and also extends in more subdued form into the Transition Zone/Colorado Plateau. The third phase consists of tectonic quiescence and is present everywhere except parts of the Transition Zone that are still active seismically. The first phase occurred in the early and middle Miocene and was accompanied by deposition of syntectonic fluviolacustrine rocks (Suite I); the second (middle to late Miocene) was marked by interior-basin deposits (Suite II); the third (latest Miocene through Quaternary) is characterized by deposits related to through-flowing drainage. The phases grade into each other and thus are likely to be genetically related. Tectonic models must take into account not only the geographic distribution of deformation at any one time but also the time-dependent succession of deformation at any one place. A model proposed in this paper attempts to do this. The model is thermotectonic. A heating event in the lower crust, (basaltic intrusion, asthenospheric upwelling) combined with stretching, causes a sharp thermal front to rise within the crust. Embedded within the front is an "isotherm" that marks the brittle-ductile transition. As the front rises, it leaves behind a trail of shear zones, each marking a locus of preferred failure defined by mechanical or physical properties, or combinations thereof. The highest shear zone, now preserved in fossil form as the "detachment", occurs where the front impinges on the meteoric groundwater, a few km below the topographic surface. The water steepens the thermal gradient at the front, which it stabilizes. A convective hydrothermal circulation system is established, causing alteration and mineralization above the ductile-brittle transition, as well as pore overpressure that results in hydrofracturing (producing monolithologic breccias) and the sliding of gravity-glide sheets. During these events, extension is taking place by brittle failure in the upper plate and ductile deformation below the detachment. Simultaneously, the hottest areas (core complexes) are updomed, promoting drainage reversals and the sliding of breccias and glide sheets. All this occurred only in the hottest areas or "blisters", now marked by the core complexes. Distal areas showed less or no deformati

Geometry and active tectonics of the Los Osos-Hosgri Fault Intersection in Estero Bay, CA: Reconciling seismicity patterns with near-surface geology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watt, J. T.; Hardebeck, J.; Johnson, S. Y.; Kluesner, J.

2016-12-01

Characterizing active structures within structurally complex fault intersections is essential for unraveling the deformational history and for assessing the importance of fault intersections in regional earthquake hazard assessments. We employ an integrative, multi-scale geophysical approach to describe the 3D geometry and active tectonics of the offshore Los Osos fault (LOF) in Estero Bay, California. The shallow structure of the LOF, as imaged with multibeam and high-resolution seismic-reflection data, reveals a complex west-diverging zone of active faulting that bends into and joins the Hosgri fault. The down-dip geometry of the LOF as revealed by gravity, magnetic, and industry multi-channel seismic data, is vertical to steeply-dipping and varies along strike. As the LOF extends offshore, it is characterized by SW-side-up motion on a series of W-NW trending, steeply SW-dipping reverse faults. The LOF bends to the north ( 23°) as it approaches the Hosgri fault and dips steeply to the NE along a magnetic basement block. Inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms within Estero Bay yields maximum compressive stress axes that are near-horizontal and trend approximately N15E. This trend is consistent with dextral strike-slip faulting along NW-SE trending structures such as the Hosgri fault and northern LOF, and oblique dip-slip motion along the W-NW trending section of the LOF. Notably, NW-SE trending structures illuminated by seismicity in Estero Bay coincide with, but also appear to cross-cut, LOF structures imaged in the near-surface. We suggest this apparent disconnect reflects ongoing fault reorganization at a dynamic and inherently unstable fault intersection, in which the seismicity reflects active deformation at depth that is not clearly expressed in the near-surface geology. Direct connectivity between the Hosgri and Los Osos faults suggests a combined earthquake rupture is possible; however, the geometrical complexity along the offshore LOF may limit the extent of rupture.

Fault Slip Partitioning in the Eastern California Shear Zone-Walker Lane Belt: Pliocene to Late Pleistocene Contraction Across the Mina Deflection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Stockli, D.; Gosse, J.

2007-12-01

Two different mechanisms have been proposed for fault slip transfer between the subparallel NW-striking dextral- slip faults that dominant the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ)-Walker Lane Belt (WLB). In the northern WLB, domains of sinistral-slip along NE-striking faults and clockwise block rotation within a zone of distributed deformation accommodated NW-dextral shear. A somewhat modified version of this mechanism was also proposed for the Mina deflection, southern WLB, whereby NE-striking sinistral faults formed as conjugate faults to the primary zone of NW-dextral shear; clockwise rotation of the blocks bounding the sinistral faults accommodated dextral slip. In contrast, in the northern ECSZ and Mina deflection, domains of NE-striking pure dip-slip normal faults, bounded by NW-striking dextral-slip faults, exhibited no rotation; the proposed mechanism of slip transfer was one of right-stepping, high angle normal faults in which the magnitude of extension was proportional to the amount of strike-slip motion transferred. New geologic mapping, tectonic geomorphologic, and geochronologic data from the Queen Valley area, southern Mina deflection constrain Pliocene to late Quaternary fault geometries, slip orientations, slip magnitudes, and slip rates that bear on the mechanism of fault slip transfer from the relatively narrow northern ECSZ to the broad deformation zone that defines the Mina deflection. Four different fault types and orientations cut across the Queen Valley area: (1) The NE-striking normal-slip Queen Valley fault; (2) NE-striking sinistral faults; (3) the NW-striking dextral Coyote Springs fault, which merges into (4) a set of EW-striking thrust faults. (U-Th)/He apatite and cosmogenic radionuclide data, combined with magnitude of fault offset measurements, indicate a Pliocene to late Pleistocene horizontal extension rate of 0.2-0.3 mm/yr across the Queen Valley fault. Our results, combined with published slip rates for the dextral White Mountain fault zone (0.3-0.8 mm/yr) and the eastern sinistral Coaldale fault (0.4 mm/yr) suggest that transfer of dextral slip from the narrow White Mountains fault zone is explained best by a simple shear couple whereby slip is partitioned into three different components: horizontal extension along the Queen Valley fault, dominantly dextral slip along the Coyote Springs fault, and dominantly sinistral slip along the Coaldale fault. A velocity vector diagram illustrating fault slip partitioning predicts contraction rates of <0.1 to 0.5 mm/yr across the Coyote Springs and western Coaldale faults. The predicted long-term contraction across the Mina deflection is consistent with present-day GPS data.

Fault-controlled CO2 leakage from natural reservoirs in the Colorado Plateau, East-Central Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Na-Hyun; Han, Weon Shik; Watson, Z. T.; Graham, Jack P.; Kim, Kue-Young

2014-10-01

The study investigated a natural analogue for soil CO2 fluxes where CO2 has naturally leaked on the Colorado Plateau, East-Central Utah in order to identify various factors that control CO2 leakage and to understand regional-scale CO2 leakage processes in fault systems. The total 332 and 140 measurements of soil CO2 flux were made at 287 and 129 sites in the Little Grand Wash (LGW) and Salt Wash (SW) fault zones, respectively. Measurement sites for CO2 flux involved not only conspicuous CO2 degassing features (e.g., CO2-driven springs/geysers) but also linear features (e.g., joints/fractures and areas of diffusive leakage around a fault damage zone). CO2 flux anomalies were mostly observed along the fault traces. Specifically, CO2 flux anomalies were focused in the northern footwall of the both LGW and SW faults, supporting the existence of north-plunging anticlinal CO2 trap against south-dipping faults as well as higher probability of the north major fault traces as conduits. Anomalous CO2 fluxes also appeared in active travertines adjacent to CO2-driven cold springs and geysers (e.g., 36,259 g m-2 d-1 at Crystal Geyser), ancient travertines (e.g., 5,917 g m-2 d-1), joint zones in sandstone (e.g., 120 g m-2 d-1), and brine discharge zones (e.g., 5,515 g m-2 d-1). These observations indicate that CO2 has escaped through those pathways and that CO2 leakage from these fault zones does not correspond to point source leakage. The magnitude of CO2 flux is progressively reduced from north (i.e. the LGW fault zone, ∼36,259 g m-2 d-1) to south (i.e. the SW fault zone, ∼1,428 g m-2 d-1) despite new inputs of CO2 and CO2-saturated brine to the northerly SW fault from depth. This discrepancy in CO2 flux is most likely resulting from the differences in fault zone architecture and associated permeability structure. CO2-rich fluids from the LGW fault zone may become depleted with respect to CO2 during lateral transport, resulting in an additional decrease in CO2 fluxes within the SW fault zone. In other words, CO2 and CO2-charged brine originating from the LGW fault zone could migrate southward over 10-20 km through a series of high-permeable aquifers (e.g., Entrada, Navajo, Kayenta, Wingate, and White Rim Sandstones). These CO2-rich fluids could finally reach the southernmost Tumbleweed and Chaffin Ranch Geysers across the SW fault zone. The potential lateral transport of both CO2 and CO2-laden brine can be further supported by similar CO2/3He and 3He/4He ratios of gas and a systematic chemical evolution of water emitted from the regional springs and geysers, which suggest the same crustal origins of CO2 and CO2-rich brine for the region.

Geologic framework and evidence for neotectonism in the epicentral area of the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burton, William C.; Harrison, Richard W.; Spears, David B.; Evans, Nicholas H.; Mahan, Shannon

2015-01-01

The epicenters of the main shock and associated aftershocks of the 2011 moment magnitude, Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake, and the updip projection of the possible fault plane that triggered the quakes, are contained in the areas of 2 adjoining 7.5′ quadrangles in the central Virginia Piedmont. These quadrangles have therefore been the focus of concentrated geologic study in the form of bedrock and surficial mapping and near-surface trenching in order to identify potential seismogenic structures. Bedrock mapping has outlined a series of northeast-southwest–trending lithologic belts that include the Ordovician Chopawamsic and Quantico Formations, the narrow neck of the Late Ordovician Ellisville pluton, and mélange zone III of the Mine Run Complex. The region was affected by at least two ductile deformational events, one in the early Paleozoic that was broadly synchronous with the intrusion of the pluton, and one later in the Paleozoic. The earlier deformation produced the Quantico synclinorium and other regional folds, and the later deformation produced faults with associated high-strain zones. Two of these faults have been trenched at their intersection along the east-dipping eastern contact of the Ellisville neck, near where the causative fault for the earthquake projects to the surface. The trenches have exposed abundant evidence of post-Paleozoic fracturing and faulting, including brecciated quartz-tourmaline veins, slickensided thrust and strike-slip faults, and clay-filled fractures. Fluvial and colluvial gravels that overlie these brittle structures have yielded optically stimulated luminescence ages ranging from ca. 27 to 10 ka. These structures are likely representative of surface features associated with Quaternary earthquakes in the Central Virginia seismic zone.

Extensional reactivation of the Chocolate Mountains subduction thrust in the Gavilan Hills of southeastern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oyarzabal, F.R.; Jacobson, C.E.; Haxel, G.B.

1997-01-01

The NE vergent Chocolate Mountains fault of south-eastern California has been interpreted as either a subduction thrust responsible for burial and prograde metamorphism of the ensimatic Orocopia Schist or as a normal fault involved in the exhumation of the schist. Our detailed structural analysis in the Gavilan Hills area provides new evidence to confirm the latter view. A zone of deformation is present at the top of the Orocopia Schist in which lineations are parallel to those in the upper plate of the Chocolate Mountains fault but oblique to ones at relatively deep levels in the schist. Both the Orocopia Schist and upper plate contain several generations of shear zones that show a transition from crystalloblastic through mylonitic to cataclastic textures. These structures formed during retrograde metamorphism and are considered to record the exhumation of the Orocopia Schist during early Tertiary time as a result of subduction return flow. The Gatuna fault, which places low-grade, supracrustal metasediments of the Winterhaven Formation above the gneisses of the upper plate, also seems to have been active at this time. Final unroofing of the Orocopia Schist occurred during early to middle Miocene regional extension and may have involved a second phase of movement on the Gatuna fault. Formation of the Chocolate Mountains fault during exhumation indicates that its top-to-the-NE sense of movement provides no constraint on the polarity of the Orocopia Schist subduction zone. This weakens the case for a previous model involving SW dipping subduction, while providing support for the view that the Orocopia Schist is a correlative of the Franciscan Complex.

Geological Structures Mapping of Bukit Bunuh using 2-D Resistivity Imaging Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nur Amalina, M. K. A.; Nordiana, M. M.; Rahman, Nazrin; Saidin, Mokhtar; Masnan, S. S. K.

2018-04-01

The geological area of Bukit Bunuh is very complex due to the meteorite impact that has occurred millions years ago at Lenggong, Perak. The lithology of the study area consists of alluvium, tephra dust, and granitic rock. The geological contact, fault and fracture zone were found at the study area may indicate the geological process that undergoes at a place locally or regionally. These important features have led to the further research on 2-D resistivity imaging method (2-D RIM) to study the geological features. This method can provide the subsurface image that will delineate the geological structures. The surveys include three separate lines of different length which depend on the accessibility. The surveys were done by using Pole-Dipole array and 10 m of electrodes spacing. The objectives of this research are to determine the subsurface geological contact and to determine the existence of fault/fracture zones at the contact zone. The results from 2-D inversion profiles have successfully signified the types of geological structural such as fault, contact, and fractures. Hence, the results from 2-D RIM were used to draw the geological lineaments of Bukit Bunuh. The discontinuity of the lineaments may indicate the structures present.

Geologic framework and hydrogeologic characteristics of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, Bexar County, Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stein, W.G.; Ozuna, G.B.

1995-01-01

The faults in northern Bexar County are part of the Balcones fault zone. Although most of the faults in this area trend northeast, a smaller set of cross-faults trend northwest. Generally, the faults are en echelon and normal, with the downthrown blocks typically toward the coast.

High-resolution Teleseismic Tomography Reveals a Complex Lithospheric Structure Beneath the North Anatolian Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papaleo, E.; Cornwell, D. G.; Rawlinson, N.

2016-12-01

We present high-resolution tomography images of a major active continental strike slip fault zone, the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in northern Turkey. Historical seismic records show that the NAF, with a length of 1500 km and a current slip rate of 25 mm/yr, is capable of producing large magnitude earthquakes that have activated different segments of the fault in a westward progression towards the study region, where the devastating Izmit and Düzce events occurred in 1999. The NAF poses a major seismic hazard to the city of Istanbul, situated close to one of the two strands into which the fault splays east of the Sea of Marmara. In order to improve our understanding of the lower crust and upper mantle properties that influence fault dynamics throughout the seismic cycle, we constrain NAF structure across the Moho in unprecedented detail by applying teleseismic tomography to data recorded by an array of 70 temporary seismic stations deployed with 7 km spacing (Dense Array for North Anatolia, DANA). High quality recordings of teleseismic earthquakes combined with the dense nature of the array allow high-resolution (i.e. horizontal and vertical resolution of 8 and 15 km, respectively) 3D seismic imaging of the velocity structure beneath the NAF. The northern branch of the NAF coincides with an abrupt change between opposite polarity velocity anomalies and can be traced to at least Moho depths ( 36 km) with a width of ≤8 km. A similar pattern of antithetic anomalies occurs over a horizontal distance of 30-50 km below the Moho and may indicate a widening shear zone as it passes from the crust into the upper mantle. We find evidence for significant along-strike variation in NAF structure over distances of ≤20 km and interpret an east-to-west narrowing of upper mantle slow velocity anomalies (from 50 to 30 km) to represent laterally variable strain focussing within the lithosphere. Our observations are consistent with the notion that the NAF marks the boundary between compositionally distinct lithospheres with different tectonic histories and reactivates the pre-existing Intra-Pontide suture zone. We discuss our results in terms of the influence of lithosphere heterogeneity on the development and evolution of global continental strike-slip fault zones and assess the applicability of current shear zone deformation models.

Structural and physical property characterization in the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project — hole 1 (WFSD-1)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Haibing; Xu, Zhiqin; Niu, Yixiong; Kong, Guangsheng; Huang, Yao; Wang, Huan; Si, Jialiang; Sun, Zhiming; Pei, Junling; Gong, Zheng; Chevalier, Marie-Luce; Liu, Dongliang

2014-04-01

The Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project (WFSD) started right after the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake to investigate its faulting mechanism. Hole 1 (WFSD-1) reached the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (YBF), and core samples were recovered from 32 to 1201.15 m-depth. Core investigation and a suite of geophysical downhole logs (including P-wave velocity, natural gamma ray, self-potential, resistivity, density, porosity, temperature, magnetic susceptibility and ultrasound borehole images) were acquired in WFSD-1. Integrated studies of cores and logs facilitate qualitative and quantitative comparison of the structures and physical properties of rocks. Logging data revealed that the geothermal gradient of the volcanic Pengguan complex (above 585.75 m) is 1.85 °C/100 m, while that of the sedimentary Xujiahe Formation (below 585.75 m) is 2.15 °C/100 m. In general, natural gamma ray, resistivity, density, porosity, P-wave velocity and magnetic susceptibility primarily depend on the rock lithology. All major fault zones are characterized by high magnetic susceptibility, low density and high porosity, with mostly low resistivity, high natural gamma ray and sound wave velocity. The high magnetic susceptibility values most likely result from the transformation of magnetic minerals by frictional heating due to the earthquake. The YBF exposed in WFSD-1 can be subdivided into five different parts based on different logging responses, each of them corresponding to certain fault-rocks. The high gamma radiation, porosity and P-wave velocity, as well as low resistivity and temperature anomalies indicate that the Wenchuan earthquake fault zone is located at 585.75-594.5 m-depth, with an average inclination and dip angle of N305° and 71°, respectively. The fact that the fracture directions in the hanging wall and footwall are different suggests that their stress field direction is completely different, implying that the upper Pengguan complex may not be local.

A microstructural study of fault rocks from the SAFOD: Implications for the deformation mechanisms and strength of the creeping segment of the San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadizadeh, Jafar; Mittempergher, Silvia; Gratier, Jean-Pierre; Renard, Francois; Di Toro, Giulio; Richard, Julie; Babaie, Hassan A.

2012-09-01

The San Andreas Fault zone in central California accommodates tectonic strain by stable slip and microseismic activity. We study microstructural controls of strength and deformation in the fault using core samples provided by the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) including gouge corresponding to presently active shearing intervals in the main borehole. The methods of study include high-resolution optical and electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence mapping, X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, white light interferometry, and image processing. The fault zone at the SAFOD site consists of a strongly deformed and foliated core zone that includes 2-3 m thick active shear zones, surrounded by less deformed rocks. Results suggest deformation and foliation of the core zone outside the active shear zones by alternating cataclasis and pressure solution mechanisms. The active shear zones, considered zones of large-scale shear localization, appear to be associated with an abundance of weak phases including smectite clays, serpentinite alteration products, and amorphous material. We suggest that deformation along the active shear zones is by a granular-type flow mechanism that involves frictional sliding of microlithons along phyllosilicate-rich Riedel shear surfaces as well as stress-driven diffusive mass transfer. The microstructural data may be interpreted to suggest that deformation in the active shear zones is strongly displacement-weakening. The fault creeps because the velocity strengthening weak gouge in the active shear zones is being sheared without strong restrengthening mechanisms such as cementation or fracture sealing. Possible mechanisms for the observed microseismicity in the creeping segment of the SAF include local high fluid pressure build-ups, hard asperity development by fracture-and-seal cycles, and stress build-up due to slip zone undulations.

Strain indicators and magnetic fabric in intraplate fault zones: Case study of Daroca thrust, Iberian Chain, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casas-Sainz, A. M.; Gil-Imaz, A.; Simón, J. L.; Izquierdo-Llavall, E.; Aldega, L.; Román-Berdiel, T.; Osácar, M. C.; Pueyo-Anchuela, Ó.; Ansón, M.; García-Lasanta, C.; Corrado, S.; Invernizzi, C.; Caricchi, C.

2018-04-01

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) has been applied to the study of shallow fault zones, although interpretation of the results requires establishing clear relationships between petrofabric and magnetic features, magnetic behaviour of fault rocks, and an extensive knowledge of P-T conditions. In this work, we demonstrate that magnetic methods can be applied to the study of heterogeneous fault zones, provided that a series of requisites are met. A major fault zone within the Iberian plate (Daroca thrust), showing transpressional movements during Cenozoic time was chosen for this purpose, because of the exceptional outcrops of fault gouge and microbreccia and its relevance within the context of the northeastern Iberian Plate. Magnetic fabrics were analysed and the results were compared with foliation and S-C structures measured within the fault zone. Clay mineral assemblages suggest maximum burial depths shallower than 2 km (<60-70 °C) for fault rocks in the footwall of the Daroca thrust. The orientation of the AMS axes is consistent with mesostructural strain indicators: kmin parallels the mean pole to S, or it is intermediate between S and C poles; kmax is oriented at a high angle (nearly orthogonal in overall) to the transport direction, which can be explained from both deformational and mineralogical controls. Both magnetic fabrics and kinematic indicators are consistent with a reverse movement for most of the fault zone.

Reexaming Owens Valley: Partitioning of Discrete and Distributed Transtension, Structural Controls on Magmatism, and Seismic Potential within an Active Rift Zone, Eastern California.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levy, D. A.; Haproff, P. J.; Yin, A.

2016-12-01

Crustal-scale transtensional deformation is common in intracontinental extensional settings. However, along-strike variations in the geometry, kinematics, and linkages between rift-related faults, along with controls on local magmatic plumbing, remain inadequately examined. In this study, we conducted geologic mapping of active structures within central and northern Owens Valley of eastern California. C. Owens Valley features right-slip oblique deformation accommodated by three discrete north-south-trending faults: (1) the right-slip Owens Valley fault (OVF) and rift-bounding (2) Sierra Nevada Frontal fault (SNFF) and (3) the White-Inyo Mountains fault (WIMF). The OVF also serves as a lithospheric-scale, vertical conduit for asthenospheric-derived magma to migrate upwards and erupt at Big Pine Volcanic Field. Right-slip shear within C. Owens Valley is transferred to the SNFF of N. Owens Valley via the Poverty Hills restraining bend. In contrast to C. Owens Valley, the northern segment is dominated by distributed E-W to NE-SW-oriented extension, evidenced by normal fault scarps throughout Volcanic Tablelands and basin floor. Furthermore, the White Mountain fault which bounds N. Owens Valley to the east consists of a master west-dipping detachment fault that thinned the lithosphere, allowing for asthenospheric upwelling into the crust beneath the western rift shoulder. Subvertical, right-slip faults of the SNFF provide a conduit for magma to erupt on the surface throughout the Long Valley Caldera, Mono-Inyo Craters, and Mono Basin region. Our mapping demonstrates complex strain partitioning of discrete and distributed deformation within an alternating pure and simple shear, transtensional rift zone. Lastly, we present previously unknown relationships in Owens Valley between lithospheric-scale fault systems, seismic potential, and rift magmatism.

Modeling the evolution of the lower crust with laboratory derived rheological laws under an intraplate strike slip fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Sagiya, T.

2015-12-01

The earth's crust can be divided into the brittle upper crust and the ductile lower crust based on the deformation mechanism. Observations shows heterogeneities in the lower crust are associated with fault zones. One of the candidate mechanisms of strain concentration is shear heating in the lower crust, which is considered by theoretical studies for interplate faults [e.g. Thatcher & England 1998, Takeuchi & Fialko 2012]. On the other hand, almost no studies has been done for intraplate faults, which are generally much immature than interplate faults and characterized by their finite lengths and slow displacement rates. To understand the structural characteristics in the lower crust and its temporal evolution in a geological time scale, we conduct a 2-D numerical experiment on the intraplate strike slip fault. The lower crust is modeled as a 20km thick viscous layer overlain by rigid upper crust that has a steady relative motion across a vertical strike slip fault. Strain rate in the lower crust is assumed to be a sum of dislocation creep and diffusion creep components, each of which flows the experimental flow laws. The geothermal gradient is assumed to be 25K/km. We have tested different total velocity on the model. For intraplate fault, the total velocity is less than 1mm/yr, and for comparison, we use 30mm/yr for interplate faults. Results show that at a low slip rate condition, dislocation creep dominates in the shear zone near the intraplate fault's deeper extension while diffusion creep dominates outside the shear zone. This result is different from the case of interplate faults, where dislocation creep dominates the whole region. Because of the power law effect of dislocation creep, the effective viscosity in the shear zone under intraplate faults is much higher than that under the interplate fault, therefore, shear zone under intraplate faults will have a much higher viscosity and lower shear stress than the intraplate fault. Viscosity contract between inside and outside of the shear zone is smaller under an intraplate situation than in the interplate one, and smaller viscosity difference will result in a wider shear zone.

Sedimentology of rift climax deep water systems; Lower Rudeis Formation, Hammam Faraun Fault Block, Suez Rift, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leppard, Christopher W.; Gawthorpe, Rob L.

2006-09-01

In most marine rift basins, subsidence outpaces sedimentation during rift climax times. Typically this results in sediment-starved hangingwall depocentres dominated by deep-marine mudstones, with subordinate local development of coarser clastics in the immediate hangingwall derived from restricted catchments on the immediate footwall scarp. To highlight the spatial variability of rift climax facies and the controls upon them, we have investigated the detailed three-dimensional geometry and facies relationships of the extremely well exposed Miocene, rift climax Lower Rudeis Formation in the immediate hangingwall to the Thal Fault Zone, Suez Rift, Egypt. Detailed sedimentological analyses allows the Lower Rudeis Formation to be divided into two contemporaneous depositional systems, (1) a laterally continuous slope system comprising, hangingwall restricted (< 250 m wide) slope apron, slope slumps, fault scarp degradation complex and laterally extensive lower slope-to-basinal siltstones, and (2) a localized submarine fan complex up to 1 km wide and extending at least 2 km basinward of the fault zone. Interpretation of individual facies, facies relationships and their spatial variability indicate that deposition in the immediate hangingwall to the Thal Fault occurred via a range of submarine concentrated density flows, surge-like turbidity flows, mass wasting and hemipelagic processes. Major controls on the spatial variability and stratigraphic architecture of the depositional systems identified reflect the influence of the steep footwall physiography, accommodation and drainage evolution associated with the growth of the Thal Fault. The under-filled nature of the hangingwall depocentre combined with the steep footwall gradient result in a steep fault-controlled basin margin characterised by either slope bypass or erosion, with limited coastal plain or shelf area. Sediment supply to the slope apron deposits is controlled in part by the evolution and size of small footwall drainage catchments. In contrast, the localized submarine fan is interpreted to have been fed by a larger, antecedent drainage network. The structural style of the immediate footwall is also believed to exert a control on facies development and stratigraphic evolution. In particular, fault scarp degradation is enhanced by fault propagation folding which creates basinward-dipping bedding planes in the pre-rift footwall strata that large pre-rift blocks slide on.

Preliminary report on the Nelson and Radovan copper prospects, Nizina district, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sainsbury, C.J.

1952-01-01

Renewed copper exploration by Alaska Copper Mines, Incorporated, at the Nelson and Radovan prospects, Nizina district, Alaska, led the Geological Survey in 1951 to map in detail the Nelson fault block, and to re-examine the old workings. In addition, two new prospects were studied. The Nelson fault block is cut by many dominantly strike-slip faults of small displacement, and by bedding faults. Slickensided chalcocite shows post-mineral movement, and chalcocite veinlet in a filled solution cavity indicates that some of the chalcocite is secondary, perhaps very recent. Structural relations indicate two overthrust faults cut the block. The Radovan Greenstone prospect shows massive chalcocite, up to 3 feet wide, in a silicified, epidotized fault zone in the Nikolai greenstone. Ore indicated by surface exposures may amount to 450 tons of chalcocite. The Radovan Low-Contact prospect is on a continuation of the same fault approximately 3 miles southwest of the Greenstone prospect, and 150 feet above the contact of the Nikolai greenstone and the overlying Chitistone limestone. Limonite staining is widespread in bedding planes and small faults near the fault zone; mineralization in the fault zone consists of pyrite, chalcocite, bornite, malachite, realgar, orpiment and stibnite. The sulphides in the fault zone, plus the widespread silicification and epidotization indicate a strong zone of hydrothermal activity which merits extensive prospecting.

Internal structure, fault rocks, and inferences regarding deformation, fluid flow, and mineralization in the seismogenic Stillwater normal fault, Dixie Valley, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caine, Jonathan S.; Bruhn, R.L.; Forster, C.B.

2010-01-01

Outcrop mapping and fault-rock characterization of the Stillwater normal fault zone in Dixie Valley, Nevada are used to document and interpret ancient hydrothermal fluid flow and its possible relationship to seismic deformation. The fault zone is composed of distinct structural and hydrogeological components. Previous work on the fault rocks is extended to the map scale where a distinctive fault core shows a spectrum of different fault-related breccias. These include predominantly clast-supported breccias with angular clasts that are cut by zones containing breccias with rounded clasts that are also clast supported. These are further cut by breccias that are predominantly matrix supported with angular and rounded clasts. The fault-core breccias are surrounded by a heterogeneously fractured damage zone. Breccias are bounded between major, silicified slip surfaces, forming large pod-like structures, systematically oriented with long axes parallel to slip. Matrix-supported breccias have multiply brecciated, angular and rounded clasts revealing episodic deformation and fluid flow. These breccias have a quartz-rich matrix with microcrystalline anhedral, equant, and pervasively conformable mosaic texture. The breccia pods are interpreted to have formed by decompression boiling and rapid precipitation of hydrothermal fluids whose flow was induced by coseismic, hybrid dilatant-shear deformation and hydraulic connection to a geothermal reservoir. The addition of hydrothermal silica cement localized in the core at the map scale causes fault-zone widening, local sealing, and mechanical heterogeneities that impact the evolution of the fault zone throughout the seismic cycle. ?? 2010.

Fault zone architecture of a major oblique-slip fault in the Rawil depression, Western Helvetic nappes, Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasser, D.; Mancktelow, N. S.

2009-04-01

The Helvetic nappes in the Swiss Alps form a classic fold-and-thrust belt related to overall NNW-directed transport. In western Switzerland, the plunge of nappe fold axes and the regional distribution of units define a broad depression, the Rawil depression, between the culminations of Aiguilles Rouge massif to the SW and Aar massif to the NE. A compilation of data from the literature establishes that, in addition to thrusts related to nappe stacking, the Rawil depression is cross-cut by four sets of brittle faults: (1) SW-NE striking normal faults that strike parallel to the regional fold axis trend, (2) NW-SE striking normal faults and joints that strike perpendicular to the regional fold axis trend, and (3) WNW-ESE striking normal plus dextral oblique-slip faults as well as (4) WSW-ENE striking normal plus dextral oblique-slip faults that both strike oblique to the regional fold axis trend. We studied in detail a beautifully exposed fault from set 3, the Rezli fault zone (RFZ) in the central Wildhorn nappe. The RFZ is a shallow to moderately-dipping (ca. 30-60˚) fault zone with an oblique-slip displacement vector, combining both dextral and normal components. It must have formed in approximately this orientation, because the local orientation of fold axes corresponds to the regional one, as does the generally vertical orientation of extensional joints and veins associated with the regional fault set 2. The fault zone crosscuts four different lithologies: limestone, intercalated marl and limestone, marl and sandstone, and it has a maximum horizontal dextral offset component of ~300 m and a maximum vertical normal offset component of ~200 m. Its internal architecture strongly depends on the lithology in which it developed. In the limestone, it consists of veins, stylolites, cataclasites and cemented gouge, in the intercalated marls and limestones of anastomosing shear zones, brittle fractures, veins and folds, in the marls of anastomosing shear zones, pressure solution seams and veins and in the sandstones of coarse breccia and veins. Later, straight, sharp fault planes cross-cut all these features. In all lithologies, common veins and calcite-cemented fault rocks indicate the strong involvement of fluids during faulting. Today, the southern Rawil depression and the Rhone Valley belong to one of the seismically most active regions in Switzerland. Seismogenic faults interpreted from earthquake focal mechanisms strike ENE-WSW to WNW-ESE, with dominant dextral strike-slip and minor normal components and epicentres at depths of < 15 km. All three Neogene fault sets (2-4) could have been active under the current stress field inferred from the current seismicity. This implies that the same mechanisms that formed these fault zones in the past may still persist at depth. The Rezli fault zone allows the detailed study of a fossil fault zone that can act as a model for processes still occurring at deeper levels in this seismically active region.

Sources of subsidence at the Salton Sea Geothermal Field

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barbour, Andrew J.; Evans, Eileen; Hickman, Stephen H.; Eneva, Mariana

2016-01-01

At the Salton Sea Geothermal Field (SSGF) in Southern California, surface deformation associated with geologic processes including sediment compaction, tectonic strain, and fault slip may be augmented by energy production activities. Separating the relative contributions from natural and anthropogenic sources is especially important at the SSGF, which sits at the apex of a complex tectonic transition zone connecting the southern San Andreas Fault with the Imperial Fault; but this has been a challenging task so far. Here we analyze vertical surface velocities obtained from the persistent scatterer InSAR method and find that two of the largest subsidence anomalies can be represented by a set of volumetric strain nuclei at depths comparable to geothermal well completion zones. In contrast, the rates needed to achieve an adequate fit to the magnitudes of subsidence are almost an order of magnitude greater than rates reported for annual changes in aggregate net-production volume, suggesting that the physical mechanism responsible for subsidence at the SSGF is a complicated interplay between natural and anthropogenic sources.

Fault Damage Zone Permeability in Crystalline Rocks from Combined Field and Laboratory Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, T.; Faulkner, D.

2008-12-01

In nature, permeability is enhanced in the damage zone of faults, where fracturing occurs on a wide range of scales. Here we analyze the contribution of microfracture damage on the permeability of faults that cut through low porosity, crystalline rocks by combining field and laboratory measurements. Microfracture densities surrounding strike-slip faults with well-constrained displacements ranging over 3 orders of magnitude (~0.12 m - 5000 m) have been analyzed. The faults studied are excellently exposed within the Atacama Fault Zone, where exhumation from 6-10 km has occurred. Microfractures in the form of fluid inclusion planes (FIPs) show a log-linear decrease in fracture density with perpendicular distance from the fault core. Damage zone widths defined by the density of FIPs scale with fault displacement, and an empirical relationship for microfracture density distribution throughout the damage zone with displacement is derived. Damage zone rocks will have experienced differential stresses that were less than, but some proportion of, the failure stress. As such, permeability data from progressively loaded, initially intact laboratory samples, in the pre-failure region provide useful insights into fluid flow properties of various parts of the damage zone. The permeability evolution of initially intact crystalline rocks under increasing differential load leading to macroscopic failure was determined at water pore pressures of 50 MPa and effective pressure of 10 MPa. Permeability is seen to increase by up to, and over, two orders of magnitude prior to macroscopic failure. Further experiments were stopped at various points in the loading history in order to correlate microfracture density within the samples with permeability. By combining empirical relationships determined from both quantitative fieldwork and experiments we present a model that allows microfracture permeability distribution throughout the damage zone to be determined as function of increasing fault displacement.

3D Fault Network of the Murchison Domain, Yilgarn Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdie, Ruth; Gessner, Klaus

2014-05-01

The architecture of Archean granite-greenstone terranes is often controlled by networks of 10 km to 100 km-scale shear zones that record displacement under amphibolite facies to greenschist facies metamorphic conditions. The geometry of such crustal scale 'fault networks' has been shown to be highly relevant to understand the tectonic and metamorphic history of granite-greenstone terranes, as well as the availability of structural controlled fluid pathways related to magmatic and hydrothermal mineralization. The Neoarchean Yilgarn Craton and the Proterozoic orogens around its margins constitute one of Earth's greatest mineral treasure troves, including iron, gold, copper and nickel mineral deposits. Whereas the Yilgarn Craton is one of the best studied Archean cratons, its enormous size and limited outcrop are detrimental to the better understanding of what controls the distribution of these vast resources and what geodynamic processes were involved the tectonic assembly of this part of the Australian continent. Here we present a network of the major faults of the NW Yilgarn Craton between the Yalgar Fault, Murchison's NW contact with the Narryer Terrane to the Ida Fault, its boundary with the Eastern Goldfields Superterrane. The model has been constructed from various geophysical and geological data, including potential field grids, Geological Survey of Western Australia map sheets, seismic reflection surveys and magnetotelluric traverses. The northern extremity of the modelled area is bounded by the Proterozoic cover and the southern limit has been arbitrarily chosen to include various greenstone belts. In the west, the major faults in the upper crust, such as the Carbar and Chundaloo Shear Zones, dip steeply towards the west and then flatten off at depth. They form complex branching fault systems that bound the greenstone belts in a series of stacked faults. East of the Ida, the far east of the model, the faults have been integrated with Geoscience Australia's pmd*CRC Eastern Goldfields model. In the central portion, the major faults such as the Youanmi and Wattle Creek, dip to the east and can be followed into the fabric of the Yarraquin Seismic Province. The Wattle Creek Shear Zone in particular can be traced on all three of the Youanmi seismic lines. The greenstones are cradled between these major faults and antithetic westward dipping subsidiary faults such as the Edale Shear Zone. While the Ida Fault cannot be located with great confidence, the slight drop in Moho depth toward the east and the overall change of seismic texture delineate the Youanmi-Eastern Goldfields boundary. The Lawler's Anticline, presumably located in the hanging wall of the Ida Fault, again changes the style of faulting with the Lawler's tonalite forming the core of a 10 km-scale antiform. The fault network presented here is a milestone to a craton-wide integrated structural model and will hopefully contribute to provide a better spatial context for geological, geochemical and geophysical data in our quest to understand the tectonics and mineral potential of the Yilgarn craton.

Seismotectonics of the trans-Himalaya, Eastern Ladakh, India: constraints from Moment Tensor Solutions of local earthquake data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paul, A.

2017-12-01

The eastern Ladakh-Karakoram zone, the northwest part of the Trans-Himalayan belt, bears signature of this collisional process in the form of suture zones, exhumed blocks that underwent deeper subduction and also intra-continental fault zones. The seismotectonic scenario of northwest part of India-Asia collision zone is studied by analyzing the local earthquake data (M 1.4-4.3) recorded by a broadband seismological network consisting of 14 stations. Focal Mechanism Solution (FMS) of 13 selected earthquakes were computed through waveform inversion of three-component broadband records. Depth distribution of the earthquakes and FMS of local earthquakes obtained through waveform inversion reveal the kinematics of the major fault zones present in Eastern Ladakh. The most pronounced cluster of seismicity is observed in the Karakoram Fault (KF) zone up to a depth of 65 km (Fig.1). The FMS reveals transpressive environment with the strike of inferred fault plane roughly parallel to the KF. It is inferred that the KF at least penetrates up to the lower crust and is a manifestation of active under thrusting of Indian lower crust beneath Tibet. Two clusters of micro seismicity is observed at a depth range of 5-20 km at north western and southeastern fringe of the Tso Morari gneiss dome which can be correlated to the activities along the Zildat fault and Karzok fault respectively. The FMSs estimated for representative earthquakes show thrust fault solutions for the Karzok fault and normal fault solution for the Zildat fault. It is inferred that the Zildat fault is acting as detachment, facilitating the exhumation of the Tso Morari dome. On the other hand, the Tso Morari dome is underthrusting the Karzok ophiolite on its southern margin along the Karzok fault, due to gravity collapse.

Faulting processes in active faults - Evidences from TCDP and SAFOD drill core samples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Janssen, C.; Wirth, R.; Wenk, H. -R.

The microstructures, mineralogy and chemistry of representative samples collected from the cores of the San Andreas Fault drill hole (SAFOD) and the Taiwan Chelungpu-Fault Drilling project (TCDP) have been studied using optical microscopy, TEM, SEM, XRD and XRF analyses. SAFOD samples provide a transect across undeformed host rock, the fault damage zone and currently active deforming zones of the San Andreas Fault. TCDP samples are retrieved from the principal slip zone (PSZ) and from the surrounding damage zone of the Chelungpu Fault. Substantial differences exist in the clay mineralogy of SAFOD and TCDP fault gouge samples. Amorphous material has beenmore » observed in SAFOD as well as TCDP samples. In line with previous publications, we propose that melt, observed in TCDP black gouge samples, was produced by seismic slip (melt origin) whereas amorphous material in SAFOD samples was formed by comminution of grains (crush origin) rather than by melting. Dauphiné twins in quartz grains of SAFOD and TCDP samples may indicate high seismic stress. The differences in the crystallographic preferred orientation of calcite between SAFOD and TCDP samples are significant. Microstructures resulting from dissolution–precipitation processes were observed in both faults but are more frequently found in SAFOD samples than in TCDP fault rocks. As already described for many other fault zones clay-gouge fabrics are quite weak in SAFOD and TCDP samples. Clay-clast aggregates (CCAs), proposed to indicate frictional heating and thermal pressurization, occur in material taken from the PSZ of the Chelungpu Fault, as well as within and outside of the SAFOD deforming zones, indicating that these microstructures were formed over a wide range of slip rates.« less

The discovery of a conjugate system of faults in the Wharton Basin intraplate deformation zone

PubMed Central

Singh, Satish C.; Hananto, Nugroho; Qin, Yanfang; Leclerc, Frederique; Avianto, Praditya; Tapponnier, Paul E.; Carton, Helene; Wei, Shengji; Nugroho, Adam B.; Gemilang, Wishnu A.; Sieh, Kerry; Barbot, Sylvain

2017-01-01

The deformation at well-defined, narrow plate boundaries depends on the relative plate motion, but how the deformation takes place within a distributed plate boundary zone remains a conundrum. This was confirmed by the seismological analyses of the 2012 great Wharton Basin earthquakes [moment magnitude (Mw) 8.6], which suggested the rupture of several faults at high angles to one another. Using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic reflection data, we report the discovery of new N294°E-striking shear zones, oblique to the plate fabric. These shear zones are expressed by sets of normal faults striking at N335°E, defining the direction of the principal compressional stress in the region. Also, we have imaged left-lateral strike-slip faults along reactivated N7°E-oriented oceanic fracture zones. The shear zones and the reactivated fracture zones form a conjugate system of faults, which accommodate present-day intraplate deformation in the Wharton Basin. PMID:28070561

The discovery of a conjugate system of faults in the Wharton Basin intraplate deformation zone.

PubMed

Singh, Satish C; Hananto, Nugroho; Qin, Yanfang; Leclerc, Frederique; Avianto, Praditya; Tapponnier, Paul E; Carton, Helene; Wei, Shengji; Nugroho, Adam B; Gemilang, Wishnu A; Sieh, Kerry; Barbot, Sylvain

2017-01-01

The deformation at well-defined, narrow plate boundaries depends on the relative plate motion, but how the deformation takes place within a distributed plate boundary zone remains a conundrum. This was confirmed by the seismological analyses of the 2012 great Wharton Basin earthquakes [moment magnitude ( M w ) 8.6], which suggested the rupture of several faults at high angles to one another. Using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic reflection data, we report the discovery of new N294°E-striking shear zones, oblique to the plate fabric. These shear zones are expressed by sets of normal faults striking at N335°E, defining the direction of the principal compressional stress in the region. Also, we have imaged left-lateral strike-slip faults along reactivated N7°E-oriented oceanic fracture zones. The shear zones and the reactivated fracture zones form a conjugate system of faults, which accommodate present-day intraplate deformation in the Wharton Basin.

The geometry of pull-apart basins in the southern part of Sumatran strike-slip fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aribowo, Sonny

2018-02-01

Models of pull-apart basin geometry have been described by many previous studies in a variety tectonic setting. 2D geometry of Ranau Lake represents a pull-apart basin in the Sumatran Fault Zone. However, there are unclear geomorphic traces of two sub-parallel overlapping strike-slip faults in the boundary of the lake. Nonetheless, clear geomorphic traces that parallel to Kumering Segment of the Sumatran Fault are considered as inactive faults in the southern side of the lake. I demonstrate the angular characteristics of the Ranau Lake and Suoh complex pull-apart basins and compare with pull-apart basin examples from published studies. I use digital elevation model (DEM) image to sketch the shape of the depression of Ranau Lake and Suoh Valley and measure 2D geometry of pull-apart basins. This study shows that Ranau Lake is not a pull-apart basin, and the pull-apart basin is actually located in the eastern side of the lake. Since there is a clear connection between pull-apart basin and volcanic activity in Sumatra, I also predict that the unclear trace of the pull-apart basin near Ranau Lake may be covered by Ranau Caldera and Seminung volcanic products.

The Border Ranges fault system in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska: Evidence for major early Cenozoic dextral strike-slip motion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smart, K.J.; Pavlis, T.L.; Sisson, V.B.; Roeske, S.M.; Snee, L.W.

1996-01-01

The Border Ranges fault system of southern Alaska, the fundamental break between the arc basement and the forearc accretionary complex, is the boundary between the Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia terrane and the Chugach terrane. The fault system separates crystalline rocks of the Alexander terrane from metamorphic rocks of the Chugach terrane in Glacier Bay National Park. Mylonitic rocks in the zone record abundant evidence for dextral strike-slip motion along north-northwest-striking subvertical surfaces. Geochronologic data together with regional correlations of Chugach terrane rocks involved in the deformation constrain this movement between latest Cretaceous and Early Eocene (???50 Ma). These findings are in agreement with studies to the northwest and southeast along the Border Ranges fault system which show dextral strike-slip motion occurring between 58 and 50 Ma. Correlations between Glacier Bay plutons and rocks of similar ages elsewhere along the Border Ranges fault system suggest that as much as 700 km of dextral motion may have been accommodated by this structure. These observations are consistent with oblique convergence of the Kula plate during early Cenozoic and forearc slivering above an ancient subduction zone following late Mesozoic accretion of the Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia terrane to North America.

Hydrothermal Upflow, Serpentinization and Talc Alteration Associated with a High Angle Normal Fault Cutting an Oceanic Detachment, Northern Apennines, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alt, J.; Crispini, L.; Gaggero, L.; Shanks, W. C., III; Gulbransen, C.; Lavagnino, G.

2017-12-01

Normal faults cutting oceanic core complexes are observed at the seafloor and through geophysics, and may act as flow pathways for hydrothermal fluids, but we know little about such faults in the subsurface. We present bulk rock geochemistry and stable isotope data for a fault that acted as a hydrothermal upflow zone in a seafloor ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal system in the northern Apennines, Italy. Peridotites were exposed on the seafloor by detachment faulting, intruded by MORB gabbros, and are overlain by MORB lavas and pelagic sediments. North of the village of Reppia are fault shear zones in serpentinite, oriented at a high angle to the detachment surface and extending 300 m below the paleo-seafloor. The paleo-seafloor strikes roughly east-west, dipping 30˚ to the north. At depth the fault zone occurs as an anticlinal form plunging 40˚ to the west. A second fault strikes approximately north-south, with a near vertical dip. The fault rock outcrops as reddish weathered talc + sulfide in 0.1-2 m wide anastomosing bands, with numerous splays. Talc replaces serpentinite in the fault rocks, and the talc rocks are enriched in Si, metals (Fe, Cu, Pb), Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE), have variable Eu anomalies, and have low Mg, Cr and Ni contents. In some cases gabbro dikes are associated with talc-alteration and may have enhanced fluid flow. Sulfide from a fault rock has d34S=5.7‰. The mineralogy and chemistry of the fault rocks indicate that the fault acted as the upflow pathway for high-T black-smoker type fluids. Traverses away from the fault (up to 1 km) and with depth below the seafloor (up to 500 m) reveal variable influences of hydrothermal fluids, but there are no consistent trends with distance. Background serpentinites 500 m beneath the paleoseafloor have LREE depleted trends. Other serpentinites exhibit correlations of LREE with HFSE as the result of melt percolation, but there is significant scatter, and hydrothermal effects include LREE enrichment, positive Eu anomalies, decreased MgO/SiO2, and increases in Sr and Cs. One serpentinite 40 m from the fault has d34S = 4.5‰, consistent with a hydrothermal sulfur source. Far from the fault (1 km) ophicalcites near the paleo-seafloor have negative Ce anomalies indicating seawater alteration, and suggesting a limit to hydrothermal influence on the length scale of 1 km.

Structure, Quaternary history, and general geology of the Corral Canyon area, Los Angeles County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yerkes, R.F.; Wentworth, Carl M.

1965-01-01

The Corral Canyon nuclear power plant site consists of about 305 acres near the mouth of Corral Canyon in the central Santa Monica Mountains; it is located on an east-trending segment of the Pacific Coast between Point Dume and Malibu Canyon, about 28 miles due west of Los Angeles. The Santa Monica Mountains are the southwesternmost mainland part of the Transverse Ranges province, the east-trending features of which transect the otherwise relatively uniform northwesterly trend of the geomorphic and geologic features of coastal California. The south margin of the Transverse Ranges is marked by the Santa Monica fault system, which extends eastward near the 34th parallel for at least 145 miles from near Santa Cruz Island to the San Andreas fault zone. In the central Santa Monica Mountains area the Santa Monica fault system includes the Malibu Coast fault and Malibu Coast zone of deformation on the north; from the south it includes an inferred fault--the Anacapa fault--considered to follow an east-trending topographic escarpmemt on the sea floor about 5 miles south of the Malibu Coast fault. The low-lying terrain south of the fault system, including the Los Angeles basin and the largely submerged Continental Borderland offshore, are dominated by northwest-trending structural features. The Malibu Coat zone is a wide, east-trending band of asymmetrically folded, sheared, and faulted bedrock that extends for more than 20 miles along the north margin of the Santa Monica fault system west of Santa Monica. Near the north margin of the Malibu Coast zone the north-dipping, east-trending Malibu Coast fault juxtaposes unlike, in part contemporaneous sedimentary rock sections; it is inferred to be the near-surface expression of a major crustal boundary between completely unrelated basement rocks. Comparison of contemporaneous structural features and stratigraphic sections (Late Cretaceous to middle Miocene sedimentary, rocks and middle Miocene volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks on the north; middle and upper Miocene sedimentary and middle Miocene volcanic rocks on the south) across the fault demonstrates that neither strike slip of less than 25 miles nor high-angle dip slip can account for this juxtaposition. Instead, the Malibu Coast fault is inferred to have been the locus of large-magnitude, north-south oriented, horizontal shortening (north, or upper, block thrust over south block). This movement occurred at or near the northern boundary of the Continental Borderland, the eastern boundary of which is inferred to be the northwest-trending known-active Newport-Inglewood zone of en echelon right lateral strike-slip faults in the western Los Angeles basin. Local structural features and their relation to regional features, such as those in the Malibu Coast zone, form the basis for the interpretation that the Malibu Coast fault has acted chiefly as a thrust fault. Within the Malibu Coast zone, on both sides of the Malibu Coast fault, structural features in rocks that range in age from Late Cretaceous to late Miocene are remarkably uniform in orientation. The predominant trend of bedding, axial surfaces of numerous asymmetric folds, locally pervasive shear surfaces, and faults is approximately east-west and their predominant dip is northward.. The axes of the folds plunge gently east or west. Evidence from faults and shears within the zone indicates that relative movement on most of these was north (upper) over south. Beyond the Malibu Coast zone to the north and south the rocks entirely lack the asymmetric folds, overturned beds, and the locally abundant shears that characterize the rocks within the zone; these rocks were therefore not subjected to the same deforming forces that existed near the Malibu Coast fault. Movement on the Malibu Coast fault and deformation in the Malibu Coast zone occurred chiefly during the interval between late Miocene and late Pleistocene time. The youngest-known faulting in the Malibu Coast zone is late Pl

Seismic evidence for rock damage and healing on the San Andreas fault associated with the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Li, Y.-G.; Chen, P.; Cochran, E.S.; Vidale, J.E.; Burdette, T.

2006-01-01

We deployed a dense linear array of 45 seismometers across and along the San Andreas fault near Parkfield a week after the M 6.0 Parkfield earthquake on 28 September 2004 to record fault-zone seismic waves generated by aftershocks and explosions. Seismic stations and explosions were co-sited with our previous experiment conducted in 2002. The data from repeated shots detonated in the fall of 2002 and 3 months after the 2004 M 6.0 mainshock show ???1.0%-1.5% decreases in seismic-wave velocity within an ???200-m-wide zone along the fault strike and smaller changes (0.2%-0.5%) beyond this zone, most likely due to the coseismic damage of rocks during dynamic rupture in the 2004 M 6.0 earthquake. The width of the damage zone characterized by larger velocity changes is consistent with the low-velocity waveguide model on the San Andreas fault, near Parkfield, that we derived from fault-zone trapped waves (Li et al., 2004). The damage zone is not symmetric but extends farther on the southwest side of the main fault trace. Waveform cross-correlations for repeated aftershocks in 21 clusters, with a total of ???130 events, located at different depths and distances from the array site show ???0.7%-1.1% increases in S-wave velocity within the fault zone in 3 months starting a week after the earthquake. The velocity recovery indicates that the damaged rock has been healing and regaining the strength through rigidity recovery with time, most likely . due to the closure of cracks opened during the mainshock. We estimate that the net decrease in seismic velocities within the fault zone was at least ???2.5%, caused by the 2004 M 6.0 Parkfield earthquake. The healing rate was largest in the earlier stage of the postmainshock healing process. The magnitude of fault healing varies along the rupture zone, being slightly larger for the healing beneath Middle Mountain, correlating well with an area of large mapped slip. The fault healing is most prominent at depths above ???7 km.

Model identification and control of development of deeply buried paleokarst reservoir in the central Tarim Basin, northwest China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jingbo; Li, Zhong; Yang, Liu; Han, Yinxue

2018-04-01

The paleokarst reservoirs of the Ordovician Yingshan formation, rich in oil and gas, are deeply buried in the central Tarim Basin, northwest China. Dozens of imaging well-logs in this region reveal five typical paleokarst features, including solution vugs, solution-enlarged fractures, filled caves, unfilled caves and collapsed caves, as well as two typical paleokarst structures located in different paleotopographic sites, including paleokarst vadose and phreatic zones. For seismic data, the large wave impedance contrast between the paleocave system and the surrounding rocks leads to a strong seismic reflection, which is highlighted as a bead-like ‘bright spot’ in a seismic section. By quantitatively estimating the seismic resolution limits of deep seismic reflections, a single paleocave cannot be identified from a seismic profile, and the bead-like reflection represents an entire paleocave complex. The spectral decomposition technique was employed to depict the planar shape and semi-quantitatively measure the size of the paleocave complexes. The results indicate that the sizes of the paleokarst caves are all small, and most of the karst caves are nearly completely filled by clay and calcite. The small cave size and the effective support of cave fills for the overlying strata mean that some individual paleocaves in a paleocave complex are preserved at a burial depth of more than 6000 m. Paleotopography and faults strongly impact the distribution of paleokarst reservoirs. Well-developed paleokarst reservoirs are generally located in paleotopographic highlands and on slopes, and for a specific paleotopographic site, the distribution of paleokarst reservoirs is obviously controlled by NW-SE trending faults. The most favorable area for paleokarst development is the Tazhong No. 10 fault zone, a faulted anticline bounded by two NW-SE trending back thrusts.

Study of Magnetic Fabrics across the Central Part of the Chimei Fault, the Coastal Range of Eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, E. C.; Chu, Y. R.; Chou, Y. M.; Lee, T. Q.; Kuo, S. T.; Cai, Y. M.

2015-12-01

Taiwan is an ongoing collisional mountain belt located in the conjunction of two subduction-arc systems with opposite vergences between the Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates. The Coastal Range along the eastern Taiwan is the accreted Luzon arcs and surrounding basins onto the Eurasian crust. The Chimei fault, a typical lithology-contrast fault thrusting the Miocene volcanic Tuluanshan Formation over the Pleistocene sedimentary Paliwan Formation, is the only major reverse fault across the entire Coastal Range. To investigate the deformation pattern and strain history across the Chimei fault, we analyzed oriented samples of mudstone and volcanic rocks across the fault zone, fold zone, damage zone, and wall rocks along the Hsiukuluan River via anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS). AMS can be represented as a susceptibility ellipsoid with 3 principal directions and values (Kmax, Kint, Kmin) and therefore is well known as a tool of magnetic fabrics to study the deformation. Results of AMS across the central part of the Chimei fault show that the direction of Kmax changed from N-S orientation to sub-vertical and the orientation of Kmin switched from 270/70 to N-S orientation when samples were closed to the fault zone. At the same time, anisotropy was increasing and susceptibility ellipsoid changed from oblate to prolate in the fold zone back to oblate in the fault zone. Based on identification works of magnetic minerals, the major magnetic carrier is magnetite with pseudo-single domain. As a result, it strongly speculated when samples were approaching to the central part of Chimei fault, stress altered from sub-vertical sedimentary loading to horizontally N-S tectonic compression. Due to increasing deformation, oblate ellipsoids with strong anisotropy developed within the fault zone highlighted the strain history of the central part of the Chimei fault.

Geology of the Elephanta Island fault zone, western Indian rifted margin, and its significance for understanding the Panvel flexure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samant, Hrishikesh; Pundalik, Ashwin; D'souza, Joseph; Sheth, Hetu; Lobo, Keegan Carmo; D'souza, Kyle; Patel, Vanit

2017-02-01

The Panvel flexure is a 150-km long tectonic structure, comprising prominently seaward-dipping Deccan flood basalts, on the western Indian rifted margin. Given the active tectonic faulting beneath the Panvel flexure zone inferred from microseismicity, better structural understanding of the region is needed. The geology of Elephanta Island in the Mumbai harbour, famous for the ca. mid-6th century A.D. Hindu rock-cut caves in Deccan basalt (a UNESCO World Heritage site) is poorly known. We describe a previously unreported but well-exposed fault zone on Elephanta Island, consisting of two large faults dipping steeply east-southeast and producing easterly downthrows. Well-developed slickensides and structural measurements indicate oblique slip on both faults. The Elephanta Island fault zone may be the northern extension of the Alibag-Uran fault zone previously described. This and two other known regional faults (Nhava-Sheva and Belpada faults) indicate a progressively eastward step-faulted structure of the Panvel flexure, with the important result that the individual movements were not simply downdip but also oblique-slip and locally even rotational (as at Uran). An interesting problem is the normal faulting, block tectonics and rifting of this region of the crust for which seismological data indicate a normal thickness (up to 41.3 km). A model of asymmetric rifting by simple shear may explain this observation and the consistently landward dips of the rifted margin faults.

Heterogeneity in friction strength of an active fault by incorporation of fragments of the surrounding host rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kato, Naoki; Hirono, Tetsuro

2016-07-01

To understand the correlation between the mesoscale structure and the frictional strength of an active fault, we performed a field investigation of the Atera fault at Tase, central Japan, and made laboratory-based determinations of its mineral assemblages and friction coefficients. The fault zone contains a light gray fault gouge, a brown fault gouge, and a black fault breccia. Samples of the two gouges contained large amounts of clay minerals such as smectite and had low friction coefficients of approximately 0.2-0.4 under the condition of 0.01 m s-1 slip velocity and 0.5-2.5 MP confining pressure, whereas the breccia contained large amounts of angular quartz and feldspar and had a friction coefficient of 0.7 under the same condition. Because the fault breccia closely resembles the granitic rock of the hangingwall in composition, texture, and friction coefficient, we interpret the breccia as having originated from this protolith. If the mechanical incorporation of wall rocks of high friction coefficient into fault zones is widespread at the mesoscale, it causes the heterogeneity in friction strength of fault zones and might contribute to the evolution of fault-zone architectures.

Distribution and nature of fault architecture in a layered sandstone and shale sequence: An example from the Moab fault, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davatzes, N.C.; Aydin, A.

2005-01-01

We examined the distribution of fault rock and damage zone structures in sandstone and shale along the Moab fault, a basin-scale normal fault with nearly 1 km (0.62 mi) of throw, in southeast Utah. We find that fault rock and damage zone structures vary along strike and dip. Variations are related to changes in fault geometry, faulted slip, lithology, and the mechanism of faulting. In sandstone, we differentiated two structural assemblages: (1) deformation bands, zones of deformation bands, and polished slip surfaces and (2) joints, sheared joints, and breccia. These structural assemblages result from the deformation band-based mechanism and the joint-based mechanism, respectively. Along the Moab fault, where both types of structures are present, joint-based deformation is always younger. Where shale is juxtaposed against the fault, a third faulting mechanism, smearing of shale by ductile deformation and associated shale fault rocks, occurs. Based on the knowledge of these three mechanisms, we projected the distribution of their structural products in three dimensions along idealized fault surfaces and evaluated the potential effect on fluid and hydrocarbon flow. We contend that these mechanisms could be used to facilitate predictions of fault and damage zone structures and their permeability from limited data sets. Copyright ?? 2005 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Loading of the San Andreas fault by flood-induced rupture of faults beneath the Salton Sea

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brothers, Daniel; Kilb, Debi; Luttrell, Karen; Driscoll, Neal W.; Kent, Graham

2011-01-01

The southern San Andreas fault has not experienced a large earthquake for approximately 300 years, yet the previous five earthquakes occurred at ~180-year intervals. Large strike-slip faults are often segmented by lateral stepover zones. Movement on smaller faults within a stepover zone could perturb the main fault segments and potentially trigger a large earthquake. The southern San Andreas fault terminates in an extensional stepover zone beneath the Salton Sea—a lake that has experienced periodic flooding and desiccation since the late Holocene. Here we reconstruct the magnitude and timing of fault activity beneath the Salton Sea over several earthquake cycles. We observe coincident timing between flooding events, stepover fault displacement and ruptures on the San Andreas fault. Using Coulomb stress models, we show that the combined effect of lake loading, stepover fault movement and increased pore pressure could increase stress on the southern San Andreas fault to levels sufficient to induce failure. We conclude that rupture of the stepover faults, caused by periodic flooding of the palaeo-Salton Sea and by tectonic forcing, had the potential to trigger earthquake rupture on the southern San Andreas fault. Extensional stepover zones are highly susceptible to rapid stress loading and thus the Salton Sea may be a nucleation point for large ruptures on the southern San Andreas fault.

Distribution of Subsurface Flexure zone caused by Uemachi Fault, Japan and its activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitada, N.; Inoue, N.; Takemura, K.; Ito, H.; Mitamura, M.

2012-12-01

In Osaka, Uemachi Fault is one of the famous active faults. It across the center of Osaka and lies in N-S direction mainly and is more than 40 km in length. The faults bound sedimentary basins, where thick sedimentary deposits of the Pliocene-Quaternary Osaka Group have accumulated. The deposits consist primarily of sand and marine and non-marine clay, and the clay layers are key markers for the interpretation of glacial and interglacial cycles. In this study, we estimate the width of the flexure zone using a geotechnical borehole database. GI database collects more than 40,000 boreholes and includes both geological information and soil properties around Osaka by the Geo-database Information Committee of Kansai Area. Our results indicate that the deformation associated with the flexure zone is distributed primarily along the splay fault (NE-SW) and not along the main fault, suggesting that the splay fault might be the primary fault at present. We first examined the borehole data along the seismic reflection line and then considered the surrounding area. An Upper Pleistocene marine clay (Ma12) is a good indicator of the flexure zone. We constructed many cross sections in and around the fault zone and classified the deformation form into three categories around the flexure zone. The results of this study allowed us to map the distribution of folding in a zone in the west of the Osaka area. Folding can be classified into three types: (1) Ma12 folding, (2) Ma12 folding that does not continue toward the hanging wall, and (3) folding or displacement of old marine clay. These folding zone trends are N-W strike however these trace are serpentine. These folding zone information are not in worth to estimate the source fault, however these zone will be more serious damaged when the earthquake occurred. Our result agrees well with the average displacement speed of about 0.4 m/ka that was derived by the Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Towards "realistic" fault zones in a 3D structure model of the Thuringian Basin, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kley, J.; Malz, A.; Donndorf, S.; Fischer, T.; Zehner, B.

2012-04-01

3D computer models of geological architecture are evolving into a standard tool for visualization and analysis. Such models typically comprise the bounding surfaces of stratigraphic layers and faults. Faults affect the continuity of aquifers and can themselves act as fluid conduits or barriers. This is one reason why a "realistic" representation of faults in 3D models is desirable. Still so, many existing models treat faults in a simplistic fashion, e.g. as vertical downward projections of fault traces observed at the surface. Besides being geologically and mechanically unreasonable, this also causes technical difficulties in the modelling workflow. Most natural faults are inclined and may change dips according to rock type or flatten into mechanically weak layers. Boreholes located close to a fault can therefore cross it at depth, resulting in stratigraphic control points allocated to the wrong block. Also, faults tend to split up into several branches, forming fault zones. Obtaining a more accurate representation of faults and fault zones is therefore challenging. We present work-in-progress from the Thuringian Basin in central Germany. The fault zone geometries are never fully constrained by data and must be extrapolated to depth. We use balancing of serial, parallel cross-sections to constrain subsurface extrapolations. The structure sections are checked for consistency by restoring them to an undeformed state. If this is possible without producing gaps or overlaps, the interpretation is considered valid (but not unique) for a single cross-section. Additional constraints are provided by comparison of adjacent cross-sections. Structures should change continuously from one section to another. Also, from the deformed and restored cross-sections we can measure the strain incurred during deformation. Strain should be compatible among the cross-sections: If at all, it should vary smoothly and systematically along a given fault zone. The stratigraphic contacts and faults in the resulting grid of parallel balanced sections are then interpolated into a gOcad model containing stratigraphic boundaries and faults as triangulated surfaces. The interpolation is also controlled by borehole data located off the sections and the surface traces of stratigraphic boundaries. We have written customized scripts to largely automatize this step, with particular attention to a seamless fit between stratigraphic surfaces and fault planes which share the same nodes and segments along their contacts. Additional attention was paid to the creation of a uniform triangulated grid with maximized angles. This ensures that uniform triangulated volumes can be created for further use in numerical flow modelling. An as yet unsolved problem is the implementation of the fault zones and their hydraulic properties in a large-scale model of the entire basin. Short-wavelength folds and subsidiary faults control which aquifers and seals are juxtaposed across the fault zones. It is impossible to include these structures in the regional model, but neglecting them would result in incorrect assessments of hydraulic links or barriers. We presently plan to test and calibrate the hydraulic properties of the fault zones in smaller, high-resolution models and then to implement geometrically simple "equivalent" fault zones with appropriate, variable transmissivities between specific aquifers.

An Application of Hydraulic Tomography to a Large-Scale Fractured Granite Site, Mizunami, Japan.

PubMed

Zha, Yuanyuan; Yeh, Tian-Chyi J; Illman, Walter A; Tanaka, Tatsuya; Bruines, Patrick; Onoe, Hironori; Saegusa, Hiromitsu; Mao, Deqiang; Takeuchi, Shinji; Wen, Jet-Chau

2016-11-01

While hydraulic tomography (HT) is a mature aquifer characterization technology, its applications to characterize hydrogeology of kilometer-scale fault and fracture zones are rare. This paper sequentially analyzes datasets from two new pumping tests as well as those from two previous pumping tests analyzed by Illman et al. (2009) at a fractured granite site in Mizunami, Japan. Results of this analysis show that datasets from two previous pumping tests at one side of a fault zone as used in the previous study led to inaccurate mapping of fracture and fault zones. Inclusion of the datasets from the two new pumping tests (one of which was conducted on the other side of the fault) yields locations of the fault zone consistent with those based on geological mapping. The new datasets also produce a detailed image of the irregular fault zone, which is not available from geological investigation alone and the previous study. As a result, we conclude that if prior knowledge about geological structures at a field site is considered during the design of HT surveys, valuable non-redundant datasets about the fracture and fault zones can be collected. Only with these non-redundant data sets, can HT then be a viable and robust tool for delineating fracture and fault distributions over kilometer scales, even when only a limited number of boreholes are available. In essence, this paper proves that HT is a new tool for geologists, geophysicists, and engineers for mapping large-scale fracture and fault zone distributions. © 2016, National Ground Water Association.

Strike-slip faulting in the Inner California Borderlands, offshore Southern California.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bormann, J. M.; Kent, G. M.; Driscoll, N. W.; Harding, A. J.; Sahakian, V. J.; Holmes, J. J.; Klotsko, S.; Kell, A. M.; Wesnousky, S. G.

2015-12-01

In the Inner California Borderlands (ICB), offshore of Southern California, modern dextral strike-slip faulting overprints a prominent system of basins and ridges formed during plate boundary reorganization 30-15 Ma. Geodetic data indicate faults in the ICB accommodate 6-8 mm/yr of Pacific-North American plate boundary deformation; however, the hazard posed by the ICB faults is poorly understood due to unknown fault geometry and loosely constrained slip rates. We present observations from high-resolution and reprocessed legacy 2D multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection datasets and multibeam bathymetry to constrain the modern fault architecture and tectonic evolution of the ICB. We use a sequence stratigraphy approach to identify discrete episodes of deformation in the MCS data and present the results of our mapping in a regional fault model that distinguishes active faults from relict structures. Significant differences exist between our model of modern ICB deformation and existing models. From east to west, the major active faults are the Newport-Inglewood/Rose Canyon, Palos Verdes, San Diego Trough, and San Clemente fault zones. Localized deformation on the continental slope along the San Mateo, San Onofre, and Carlsbad trends results from geometrical complexities in the dextral fault system. Undeformed early to mid-Pleistocene age sediments onlap and overlie deformation associated with the northern Coronado Bank fault (CBF) and the breakaway zone of the purported Oceanside Blind Thrust. Therefore, we interpret the northern CBF to be inactive, and slip rate estimates based on linkage with the Holocene active Palos Verdes fault are unwarranted. In the western ICB, the San Diego Trough fault (SDTF) and San Clemente fault have robust linear geomorphic expression, which suggests that these faults may accommodate a significant portion of modern ICB slip in a westward temporal migration of slip. The SDTF offsets young sediments between the US/Mexico border and the eastern margin of Avalon Knoll, where the fault is spatially coincident and potentially linked with the San Pedro Basin fault (SPBF). Kinematic linkage between the SDTF and the SPBF increases the potential rupture length for earthquakes on either fault and may allow events nucleating on the SDTF to propagate much closer to the LA Basin.

Along-strike complex geometry of subduction zones - an experimental approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Midtkandal, I.; Gabrielsen, R. H.; Brun, J.-P.; Huismans, R.

2012-04-01

Recent knowledge of the great geometric and dynamic complexity insubduction zones, combined with new capacity for analogue mechanical and numerical modeling has sparked a number of studies on subduction processes. Not unexpectedly, such models reveal a complex relation between physical conditions during subduction initiation, strength profile of the subducting plate, the thermo-dynamic conditions and the subduction zones geometries. One rare geometrical complexity of subduction that remains particularly controversial, is the potential for polarity shift in subduction systems. The present experiments were therefore performed to explore the influence of the architecture, strength and strain velocity on complexities in subduction zones, focusing on along-strike variation of the collision zone. Of particular concern were the consequences for the geometry and kinematics of the transition zones between segments of contrasting subduction direction. Although the model design to some extent was inspired by the configuration along the Iberian - Eurasian suture zone, the results are also of significance for other orogens with complex along-strike geometries. The experiments were set up to explore the initial state of subduction only, and were accordingly terminated before slab subduction occurred. The model wasbuilt from layers of silicone putty and sand, tailored to simulate the assumed lithospheric geometries and strength-viscosity profiles along the plate boundary zone prior to contraction, and comprises two 'continental' plates separated by a thinner 'oceanic' plate that represents the narrow seaway. The experiment floats on a substrate of sodiumpolytungstate, representing mantle. 24 experimental runs were performed, varying the thickness (and thus strength) of the upper mantle lithosphere, as well as the strain rate. Keeping all other parameters identical for each experiment, the models were shortened by a computer-controlled jackscrew while time-lapse images were recorded. After completion, the models were saturated with water and frozen, allowing for sectioning and profile inspection. The experiments were invariably characterized by different along-strike patterns of deformation, so that three distinct structural domains could be distinguished in all cases. Model descriptions are subdivided accordingly, including domain CC, simulating a continent-continent collision, domain OC, characterized by continent-ocean-continent collision and domain T, representing the transition zone between domain CC and domain OC. The latter zone varied in width and complexity depending on the contrast in structural style developed in the two other domains; in cases where domain OC developed very differently from domain CC, the transition zone was generally wider and more complex. A typical experiment displayed the following features and strain history: In domain CC two principal thrust sheets are displayed, which obviously developed in an in-sequence foreland-directed fashion. The lowermost detachment nucleated at the base of the High Strength Lithospheric Mantle analogue, whereas the uppermost thrust was anchored within the "lower crust". The two thrusts operated in concert, the surface trace of the deepest dominating in the west, and the shallowest in the east. The kinematic development of domain CC could be subdivided into four stages, including initiation of a symmetrical anticline with a minute amplitude and situated directly above the velocity discontinuity defined by the plate contact (stage 1), contemporaneous development of the two thrusts (stage 2) and an associated asymmetrical anticline (stage 3) with a central collapse graben in the latest phase (stage 4). It is noted that the segment CC as seen in a clear majority of the experiments followed this pattern of development. In contrast, the configuration of domain OC displayed greater variation, and included north and south-directed subduction, folding, growth of pop-up-structures and triangle zones. In the "ocean crust" domain, stage 1 was characterized by the growth of a fault-propagation anticline with an E-W-oriented fold axis, ending with the surfacing of a north-vergent thrust. In stage 2, the contraction was concentrated to the south in the oceanic domain, again ending with the surfacing of a thrust, here with top-south transport. By continued movement (stage 3), the thrust fault propagated towards the east, crossing into the "continental" domain and linking with the fault systems of the segment CC. The structure of domain T is dominated by the interference of faults propagating westwards from the domain CC and eastwards from the domain OC, respectively. The zone of overlap in the experiment was significant, and its central part had the geometry of a double "crocodile structure" (sensuMeissner 1989), separating the two areas of northerly and southerly subduction. Hence, its development is less easily subdivided into stages. Reference: Meissner,R., 1989: Rupture, creep lamellae and crocodiles: happenings in the continental crust. Terra Nova, 1, 17-28.

The seismogenic Gole Larghe Fault Zone (Italian Southern Alps): quantitative 3D characterization of the fault/fracture network, mapping of evidences of fluid-rock interaction, and modelling of the hydraulic structure through the seismic cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bistacchi, A.; Mittempergher, S.; Di Toro, G.; Smith, S. A. F.; Garofalo, P. S.

2016-12-01

The Gole Larghe Fault Zone (GLFZ) was exhumed from 8 km depth, where it was characterized by seismic activity (pseudotachylytes) and hydrous fluid flow (alteration halos and precipitation of hydrothermal minerals in veins and cataclasites). Thanks to glacier-polished outcrops exposing the 400 m-thick fault zone over a continuous area > 1.5 km2, the fault zone architecture has been quantitatively described with an unprecedented detail, providing a rich dataset to generate 3D Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) models and simulate the fault zone hydraulic properties. The fault and fracture network has been characterized combining > 2 km of scanlines and semi-automatic mapping of faults and fractures on several photogrammetric 3D Digital Outcrop Models (3D DOMs). This allowed obtaining robust probability density functions for parameters of fault and fracture sets: orientation, fracture intensity and density, spacing, persistency, length, thickness/aperture, termination. The spatial distribution of fractures (random, clustered, anticlustered…) has been characterized with geostatistics. Evidences of fluid/rock interaction (alteration halos, hydrothermal veins, etc.) have been mapped on the same outcrops, revealing sectors of the fault zone strongly impacted, vs. completely unaffected, by fluid/rock interaction, separated by convolute infiltration fronts. Field and microstructural evidence revealed that higher permeability was obtained in the syn- to early post-seismic period, when fractures were (re)opened by off-fault deformation. We have developed a parametric hydraulic model of the GLFZ and calibrated it, varying the fraction of faults/fractures that were open in the post-seismic, with the goal of obtaining realistic fluid flow and permeability values, and a flow pattern consistent with the observed alteration/mineralization pattern. The fraction of open fractures is very close to the percolation threshold of the DFN, and the permeability tensor is strongly anisotropic, resulting in a marked channelling of fluid flow in the inner part of the fault zone. Amongst possible seismological applications of our study, we will discuss the possibility to evaluate the coseismic fracture intensity due to off-fault damage, a fundamental mechanical parameter in the energy balance of earthquakes.

New evidence on the accurate displacement along the Arava/Araba segment of the Dead Sea Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyth, M.; Sagy, A.; Hajazi, H.; Alkhraisha, S.; Mushkin, A.; Ginat, H.

2018-06-01

The sinistral displacement along the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the plate boundary between the African and the Arabian plates, south of the Dead Sea basin, was previously attributed to two main fault zones: the Arava/Araba or Dead Sea fault and the Feinan or Al Quwayra fault zone. This was based on similarities of features on either side of the Araba Valley. In particular, the Timna and the Feinan copper mines, located north of the Themed and Dana faults, and the onlap of the Cambrian formations southward onto the Amram rhyolite and Ahyamir volcanics. To these we add a more accurate offset indicator in the form of an offset Early Cambrian (532 Ma) dolerite dyke previously mapped in Mount Amram (Israel) on the African plate and recently discovered across the Araba Valley in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (southwest Jordan) on the Arabian plate. This dolerite dyke is 20 m thick, strikes N50°E and is the only dyke intruding the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba pink rhyolite flows of the Ahyamir Volcanics. Geochemical and geochronological correlations between the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba dolerite dyke and the Mount Amram dolerite dyke demonstrate 85 km of sinistral offset across the Arava/Araba fault. Our results also suggest approximately 109 km of combined sinistral displacement across the Arava/Araba and Feinan faults based on petrological correlations between the Timna and Jabal Hanna igneous complexes on the African and Arabian plates, respectively. This constrains the total sinistral displacement of the Feinan fault and its accessory faults to be 24 km.

New evidence on the accurate displacement along the Arava/Araba segment of the Dead Sea Transform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyth, M.; Sagy, A.; Hajazi, H.; Alkhraisha, S.; Mushkin, A.; Ginat, H.

2017-11-01

The sinistral displacement along the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the plate boundary between the African and the Arabian plates, south of the Dead Sea basin, was previously attributed to two main fault zones: the Arava/Araba or Dead Sea fault and the Feinan or Al Quwayra fault zone. This was based on similarities of features on either side of the Araba Valley. In particular, the Timna and the Feinan copper mines, located north of the Themed and Dana faults, and the onlap of the Cambrian formations southward onto the Amram rhyolite and Ahyamir volcanics. To these we add a more accurate offset indicator in the form of an offset Early Cambrian (532 Ma) dolerite dyke previously mapped in Mount Amram (Israel) on the African plate and recently discovered across the Araba Valley in Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba (southwest Jordan) on the Arabian plate. This dolerite dyke is 20 m thick, strikes N50°E and is the only dyke intruding the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba pink rhyolite flows of the Ahyamir Volcanics. Geochemical and geochronological correlations between the Jabal Sumr al Tayyiba dolerite dyke and the Mount Amram dolerite dyke demonstrate 85 km of sinistral offset across the Arava/Araba fault. Our results also suggest approximately 109 km of combined sinistral displacement across the Arava/Araba and Feinan faults based on petrological correlations between the Timna and Jabal Hanna igneous complexes on the African and Arabian plates, respectively. This constrains the total sinistral displacement of the Feinan fault and its accessory faults to be 24 km.

Evidence of extensional and strike-slip deformation in the offshore Gökova-Kos area affected by the July 2017 Mw6.6 Bodrum-Kos earthquake, eastern Aegean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ocakoğlu, Neslihan; Nomikou, Paraskevi; İşcan, Yeliz; Loreto, Maria Filomena; Lampridou, Danai

2018-06-01

The interpretation of new multichannel seismic profiles and previously published high-resolution swath and seismic reflection data from the Gökova Gulf and southeast of Kos Island in the eastern Aegean Sea revealed new morphotectonic features related to the July 20, 2017 Mw6.6 Bodrum-Kos earthquake offshore between Kos Island and the Bodrum Peninsula. The seafloor morphology in the northern part of the gulf is characterized by south-dipping E-W-oriented listric normal faults. These faults bend to a ENE-WSW direction towards Kos Island, and then extend parallel to the southern coastline. A left-lateral SW-NE strike-slip fault zone is mapped with segments crossing the Gökova Gulf from its northern part to south of Kos Island. This fault zone intersects and displaces the deep basins in the gulf. The basins are thus interpreted as the youngest deformed features in the study area. The strike-slip faults also produce E-W-oriented ridges between the basin segments, and the ridge-related vertical faults are interpreted as reverse faults. This offshore study reveals that the normal and strike-slip faults are well correlated with the focal mechanism solutions of the recent earthquake and general seismicity of the Gökova Gulf. Although the complex morphotectonic features could suggest that the area is under a transtensional regime, kinematic elements normally associated with a transtensional system are missing. At present, the Gökova Gulf is experiencing strike-slip motion with dominant extensional deformation, rather than transtensional deformation.

Holocene deceleration of the San Andreas fault zone in San Bernardino and implications for the eastern California shear zone rate debate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, R. A.; Lavier, L.; Anderson, M. L.; Matti, J.; Powell, R. E.

2005-05-01

New geodetic inferences for the rate of strain accumulation on the San Andreas fault associated with tectonic loading are ~20 mm/yr slower than observed Holocene surface displacement rates in the San Bernardino area, south of the fault's intersection with the San Jacinto fault zone, and north of its intersection with the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). This displacement rate "anomaly" is significantly larger than can be easily explained by locking depth errors or earthquake cycle effects not accounted for in geodesy-constrained models for elastic loading rate. Using available time-averaged fault displacement-rates for the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault zones, we estimate instantaneous time-variable displacement rates on the San Andreas-San Jacinto-ECSZ fault zones, assuming that these fault zones form a closed system in the latitude band along which the fault zones overlap with one another and share in the accommodation of steady Pacific-North America relative plate motion. We find that the Holocene decrease in San Andreas loading rate can be compensated by a rapid increase in loading/displacement rate within the ECSZ over the past ~5 kyrs, independent of, but consistent with geodetic and geologic constraints derived from the ECSZ itself. Based on this model, we suggest that reported differences between fast contemporary strain rates observed on faults of the ECSZ using geodesy and slow rates inferred from Quaternary geology and Holocene paleoseismology (i.e., the ECSZ rate debate) may be explained by rapid changes in the pattern and rates of strain accumulation associated with fault loading largely unrelated to postseismic stress relaxation. If so, displacement rate data sets from Holocene geology and present-day geodesy could potentially provide important new constraints on the rheology of the lower crust and upper mantle representing lithospheric behavior on time-scales of thousands of years. Moreover, the results underscore that disagreement between geodetic and geologic fault displacement rates may reflect changes in strain accumulation rates associated with far-field elastic loading and thus earthquake potential, and not just transients.

Seismic reflection-based evidence of a transfer zone between the Wagner and Consag basins: implications for defining the structural geometry of the northern Gulf of California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Escobar, Mario; Suárez-Vidal, Francisco; Hernández-Pérez, José Antonio; Martín-Barajas, Arturo

2010-12-01

This study examines the structural characteristics of the northern Gulf of California by processing and interpreting ca. 415 km of two-dimensional multi-channel seismic reflection lines (data property of Petróleos Mexicanos PEMEX) collected in the vicinity of the border between the Wagner and Consag basins. The two basins appear to be a link between the Delfín Superior Basin to the south, and the Cerro Prieto Basin to the north in the Mexicali-Imperial Valley along the Pacific-North America plate boundary. The seismic data are consistent with existing knowledge of four main structures (master faults) in the region, i.e., the Percebo, Santa María, Consag Sur, and Wagner Sur faults. The Wagner and Consag basins are delimited to the east by the Wagner Sur Fault, and to the west by the Consag Sur Fault. The Percebo Fault borders the western margin of the modern Wagner Basin depocenter, and is oriented N10°W, dipping (on average) ˜40° to the northeast. The trace of the Santa María Fault located in the Wagner Basin strikes N19°W, dipping ˜40° to the west. The Consag Sur Fault is oriented N14°W, and dips ˜42° to the east over a distance of 21 km. To the east of the study area, the Wagner Sur Fault almost parallels the Consag Sur Fault over a distance of ˜86 km, and is oriented N10°W with an average dip of 59° to the east. Moreover, the data provide new evidence that the Wagner Fault is discontinuous between the two basins, and that its structure is more complex than previously reported. A structural high separates the northern Consag Basin from the southern Wagner Basin, comprising several secondary faults oriented NE oblique to the main faults of N-S direction. These could represent a zone of accommodation, or transfer zone, where extension could be transferred from the Wagner to the Consag Basin, or vice versa. This area shows no acoustic basement and/or intrusive body, which is consistent with existing gravimetric and magnetic data for the region.

A three-dimensional study of fault zone architecture: Results from the SEMP fault system, Austria.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frost, E. K.; Dolan, J. F.; Sammis, C. G.; Hacker, B.; Cole, J.; Ratschbacher, L.

2008-12-01

One of the most exciting frontiers in earthquake science is the linkage between the internal structure and mechanical behavior of fault zones. Little is known about how fault-zone structure varies as a function of depth, yet such understanding is vital if we are to understand the mechanical instabilities that control the nucleation and propagation of seismic ruptures. This has led us to the Salzach-Ennstal-Mariazell-Puchberg [SEMP] fault system in Austria, a major left-lateral strike-slip fault that has accommodated ~ 60 km of displacement during Oligo-Miocene time. Differential exhumation of the SEMP has resulted in a fault zone that reveals a continuum of structural levels along strike. This provides us with a unique opportunity to directly observe how fault-zone properties change with depth, from near-surface levels, down through the seismogenic crust, across the brittle-ductile transition, and into the uppermost part of the lower crust in western Austria. Here we present results from four key outcrops and discuss the mechanical implications of these new data. Our brittle outcrop at Gstatterboden has been exhumed from at least 4 km depth. Here the SEMP juxtaposes limestone of the Wettersteinkalk on the south against Rauwacken dolomite to the north. Faulting has produced extremely asymmetric damage, extensively shattering and shearing the dolomite while leaving the limestone largely intact. Measurements of outcrop-scale faults and fractures in the dolomite, combined with analysis of grain-size-distributions, suggest that strain has progressively localized to a zone ~ 10 m wide. These findings are compared to those from two outcrops (Kitzlochklamm and Liechtensteinklamm) that bracket the brittle-ductile transition, exhumed from depths of = 10 km. Here, the SEMP juxtaposes Greywacke Zone rocks on the north against carbonate mylonites of the Klammkalk to the south. We calculate the strain gradient in the ductile Klammkalk rocks by analyzing the lattice preferred orientation (LPO) of calcite grains throughout the outcrop. Deformation in the Greywacke Zone, however, contains a significant component of solution mass transfer, and we therefore estimate the strain in these rocks by calculating the change in bulk volume. These analyses do not find significant levels of strain distributed within the Klammkalk or Greywacke Zone, again revealing a highly localized fault zone. Our investigation of the downward continuation of the SEMP into the Tauern Window indicates that the fault remains discrete at mid-crustal levels, with the majority of strain occurring in a 100-m-wide ductile shear zone (Cole et al., 2007). Combined with the recent work of Rosenberg et al. (2007), who have studied the deepest exposures of the SEMP in the western Tauern Window, these data allow us to present a three-dimensional picture of fault zone architecture and mechanics from the top of the seismogenic zone all the way into the ductile lower crust.

Metamorphism, argon depletion, heat flow and stress on the Alpine fault

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scholz, C. H.; Beavan, J.; Hanks, T. C.

1978-01-01

The Alpine fault of New Zealand is a major continental transform fault which was uplifted on its southeast side 4 to 11 km within the last 5 m.y. This uplift has exposed the Haast schists, which were metamorphosed from the adjacent Torlesse graywackes. The Haast schists increase in metamorphic grade from prehnite-pumpellyite facies 9-12 km from the fault through the chlorite and biotite zones of the greenschist facies to the garnet-oligoclase zone amphibolite facies within 4 km of the fault. These metamorphic zone boundaries are subparallel to the fault for 350 km along the strike. The K-Ar and Rb-Sr ages of the schists increase with distance from the fault: from 4 m.y. within 3 km of the fault to approximately 110 m.y. 20 km from the fault. Field relations show that the source of heat that produced the argon depletion aureole was the fault itself.

Cold seeps and splay faults on Nankai margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry, P.; Ashi, J.; Tsunogai, U.; Toki, T.; Kuramoto, S.; Kinoshita, M.; Lallemant, S. J.

2003-04-01

Cold seeps (bacterial mats, specific fauna, authigenic carbonates) are common on the Nankai margin and considered as evidence for seepage of methane bearing fluids. Camera and submersible surveys performed over the years have shown that cold seeps are generally associated with active faults. One question is whether part of the fluids expelled originate from the seismogenic zone and migrate along splay faults to the seafloor. The localisation of most cold seeps on the hanging wall of major thrusts may, however, be interpreted in various ways: (a) footwall compaction and diffuse flow (b) fluid channelling along the fault zone at depths and diffuse flow near the seafloor (c) erosion and channelling along permeable strata. In 2002, new observations and sampling were performed with submersible and ROV (1) on major thrusts along the boundary between the Kumano forearc basin domain and the accretionary wedge domain, (2) on a fault affecting the forearc (Kodaiba fault), (3) on mud volcanoes in the Kumano basin. In area (1) tsunami and seismic inversions indicate that the targeted thrusts are in the slip zone of the To-Nankai 1944 earthquakes. In this area, the largest seep zone, continuous over at least 2 km, coincides with the termination of a thrust trace, indicating local fluid channelling along the edge of the fault zone. Kodaiba fault is part of another splay fault system, which has both thrusting and strike-slip components and terminates westward into an en-echelon fold system. Strong seepage activity with abundant carbonates was found on a fold at the fault termination. One mud volcano, rooted in one of the en-echelon fold, has exceptionally high seepage activity compared with the others and thick carbonate crusts. These observations suggest that fluid expulsion along fault zones is most active at fault terminations and may be enhanced during fault initiation. Preliminary geochemical results indicate signatures differ between seep sites and suggests that the two fault systems tap in different sources.

High Resolution Seismic Imaging of the Trench Canyon Fault Zone, Mono Lake, Northeastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novick, M. W.; Jayko, A. S.; Roeske, S.; McClain, J. S.; Hart, P. E.; Boyle, M.

2009-12-01

High resolution seismic imaging of Mono Lake, located in northeastern California, has revealed an approximately northwest striking fault in the area to the west of aerially exposed Negit Volcano. This fault, henceforth referred to as the Trench Canyon Fault (TCF), has also been mapped onshore along a correlating strike as far north as Cedar Hill Volcano, located to the northeast of the lake on the California/Nevada border. Onshore, the TCF was mapped for approximately 10 kilometers using air photos, DEM images, and standard geologic pace and compass mapping techniques. The TCF post- dates the last glacial maximum, evidenced by the cutting of wave cut benches along Cedar Hill Volcano. Relict, non-historic shorelines, left by the steady evaporation of Mono Lake beginning approximately 13k, are also repeatedly cut by the fault. Additional evidence of fault presence includes sag ponds, pressure ridges, tectonically fractured rocks, and normal fault scarps found along strike. Offshore, DEM images show a northeast striking structure to the northwest of Negit Volcano, which is co-linear with the onshore TCF. High resolution seismic imaging of the structure, using an applied acoustic/SIG mini-sparker system, reveals steeply dipping Holocene sediments, as well as volcanic deposits from active vents which have erupted in the last 1000 years, offset by the fault. Detailed structural analysis of the previously unstudied Trench Canyon Fault (TFC) and faults in the Cedar Hill region of northern California, along with seismic studies of sediments beneath Mono Lake not only allow for a better comprehension of this minor fault system, but provide greater understanding of the larger and more complex Walker Lane Shear Zone. Fault analyses, combined and correlated with those from CHV, give a better understanding of how slip is transferred into the complicated Mina defection to the east, from the dextral and normal faults along the Sierra Nevada Range front.

Tidal Fluctuations in a Deep Fault Extending Under the Santa Barbara Channel, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garven, G.; Stone, J.; Boles, J. R.

2013-12-01

Faults are known to strongly affect deep groundwater flow, and exert a profound control on petroleum accumulation, migration, and natural seafloor seepage from coastal reservoirs within the young sedimentary basins of southern California. In this paper we focus on major fault structure permeability and compressibility in the Santa Barbara Basin, where unique submarine and subsurface instrumentation provide the hydraulic characterization of faults in a structurally complex system. Subsurface geologic logs, geophysical logs, fluid P-T-X data, seafloor seep discharge patterns, fault mineralization petrology, isotopic data, fluid inclusions, and structural models help characterize the hydrogeological nature of faults in this seismically-active and young geologic terrain. Unique submarine gas flow data from a natural submarine seep area of the Santa Barbara Channel help constrain fault permeability k ~ 30 millidarcys for large-scale upward migration of methane-bearing formation fluids along one of the major fault zones. At another offshore site near Platform Holly, pressure-transducer time-series data from a 1.5 km deep exploration well in the South Ellwood Field demonstrate a strong ocean tidal component, due to vertical fault connectivity to the seafloor. Analytical models from classic hydrologic papers by Jacob-Ferris-Bredehoeft-van der Kamp-Wang can be used to extract large-scale fault permeability and compressibility parameters, based on tidal signal amplitude attenuation and phase shift at depth. For the South Ellwood Fault, we estimate k ~ 38 millidarcys (hydraulic conductivity K~ 3.6E-07 m/s) and specific storage coefficient Ss ~ 5.5E-08 m-1. The tidal-derived hydraulic properties also suggest a low effective porosity for the fault zone, n ~ 1 to 3%. Results of forward modeling with 2-D finite element models illustrate significant lateral propagation of the tidal signal into highly-permeable Monterey Formation. The results have important practical implications for fault characterization, petroleum migration, structural diagenesis, and carbon sequestration.

Integrated petrographic - rock mechanic borecore study from the metamorphic basement of the Pannonian Basin, Hungary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molnár, László; Vásárhelyi, Balázs; Tóth, Tivadar M.; Schubert, Félix

2015-01-01

The integrated evaluation of borecores from the Mezősas-Furta fractured metamorphic hydrocarbon reservoir suggests significantly distinct microstructural and rock mechanical features within the analysed fault rock samples. The statistical evaluation of the clast geometries revealed the dominantly cataclastic nature of the samples. Damage zone of the fault can be characterised by an extremely brittle nature and low uniaxial compressive strength, coupled with a predominately coarse fault breccia composition. In contrast, the microstructural manner of the increasing deformation coupled with higher uniaxial compressive strength, strain-hardening nature and low brittleness indicate a transitional interval between the weakly fragmented damage zone and strongly grinded fault core. Moreover, these attributes suggest this unit is mechanically the strongest part of the fault zone. Gougerich cataclasites mark the core zone of the fault, with their widespread plastic nature and locally pseudo-ductile microstructure. Strain localization tends to be strongly linked with the existence of fault gouge ribbons. The fault zone with ˜15 m total thickness can be defined as a significant migration pathway inside the fractured crystalline reservoir. Moreover, as a consequence of the distributed nature of the fault core, it may possibly have a key role in compartmentalisation of the local hydraulic system.

Deformation style and controlling geodynamic processes at the eastern Guadalquivir foreland basin (Southern Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marín-Lechado, C.; Pedrera, A.; Peláez, J. A.; Ruiz-Constán, A.; González-Ramón, A.; Henares, J.

2017-06-01

The tectonic structure of the Guadalquivir foreland basin becomes complex eastward evolving from a single depocenter to a compartmented basin. The deformation pattern within the eastern Guadalquivir foreland basin has been characterized by combining seismic reflection profiles, boreholes, and structural field data to output a 3-D model. High-dipping NNE-SSW to NE-SW trending normal and reverse fault arrays deform the Variscan basement of the basin. These faults generally affect Tortonian sediments, which show syntectonic features sealed by the latest Miocene units. Curved and S-shaped fault traces are abundant and caused by the linkage of nearby fault segments during lateral fault propagation. Preexisting faults were reactivated either as normal or reverse faults depending on their position within the foreland. At Tortonian time, reverse faults deformed the basin forebulge, while normal faults predominated within the backbulge. Along-strike variation of the Betic foreland basin geometry is supported by an increasing mechanical coupling of the two plates (Alborán Domain and Variscan basement) toward the eastern part of the cordillera. Thus, subduction would have progressed in the western Betics, while it would have failed in the eastern one. There, the initially subducted Iberian paleomargin (Nevado-Filábride Complex) was incorporated into the upper plate promoting the transmission of collision-related compressional stresses into the foreland since the middle Miocene. Nowadays, compression is still active and produces low-magnitude earthquakes likely linked to NNE-SSW to NE-SW preexiting faults reactivated with reverse oblique-slip kinematics. Seismicity is mostly concentrated around fault tips that are frequently curved in overstepping zones.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramdhan, Mohamad; Nugraha, Andri Dian

Toba area has complex tectonic setting attracting many earth scientists to study and understand tectonic and geological process or setting. The area is affected by oblique subduction zone, Renun Sumatran fault sub segment and some volcanoes that are near it. The earthquake catalogue provided by BMKG from April, 2009 to December, 2011 must be relocated firstly to get the precise hypocenter. We used catalogue data of P and S phase or P phase only and double-difference method to relocate the earthquakes. The results show hypocenter position enhancement that can be interpreted tectonically. The earthquakes after relocation relating to the Sumatranmore » fault, subduction zone, volcanoes and seismic activities beneath Toba caldera can be mapped clearly. The relocated hypocenters in this study are very important to provide information for seismic hazard assessment and disaster mitigation study.« less

Structure, Frictional Melting and Fault Weakening during the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake Slip: Observation from the WFSD Drilling Core Samples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Wang, H.; Li, C.; Zhang, J.; Sun, Z.; Si, J.; Liu, D.; Chevalier, M. L.; Han, L.; Yun, K.; Zheng, Y.

2015-12-01

The 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake produced two co-seismic surface ruptures along Yingxiu-Beichuan fault (~270 km) and the Guanxian-Anxian fault (~80 km) simultaneously in the Longmen Shan thrust belt. Besides, two surface rupture zones were tracked in the southern segment of the Yingxiu-Beichuan rupture zone, one along the Yingxiu fault, the other along the Shenxigou-Longchi fault, which both converged into one rupture zone at the Bajiaomiao village, Hongkou town, where one distinct fault plane with two striation orientations was exposed. The Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project (WFSD) was carried out right after the earthquake to investigate its faulting mechanisms and rupture process. Six boreholes were drilled along the rupture zones with depths ranging from 600 to 2400 m. WFSD-1 and WFSD-2 are located at the Bajiaomiao area, the southern segment of the Yingxiu-Beichuan rupture zone, while WFSD-4 and WFSD-4S are in the Nanba town area, in the northern part of the rupture zone. Detailed research showed that ~1 mm thick Principal Slip Zone (PSZ) of the Wenchuan earthquake is located at ~589 m-depth in the WFSD-1 cores. Graphite present in the PSZ indicates a low fault strength. Long-term temperature monitoring shows an extremely low fault friction coefficient during the earthquake. Recently, another possible PSZ was found in WFSD-1 cores at ~732 m-depth, with a ~2 mm thick melt layer in the fault gouge, where feldspar was melted but quartz was not, indicating that the frictional melting temperature was 1230°C < T < 1720°C. These two PSZs at depth may correspond to the two co-seismic surface rupture zones. Besides, the Wenchuan earthquake PSZ was also recognized in the WFSD-4S cores, at ~1084 m-depth. About 200-400 μm thick melt layer (fault vein, mainly feldspar), as well as melt injection veins, were observed in the slip zone, where oblique distinct striations were visible on the slip surface. Therefore, there are two PSZs in the shallow crust at the southern segment along the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault, and another one along the northern segment. Melt and graphite in the PSZs indicate that the frictional melting and thermal pressurization are the main fault mechanisms during the Wenchuan earthquake. The melt and graphite can be considered as markers of large earthquakes.

A natural example of fluid-mediated brittle-ductile cyclicity in quartz veins from Olkiluoto Island, SW Finland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchesini, Barbara; Garofalo, Paolo S.; Viola, Giulio; Mattila, Jussi; Menegon, Luca

2017-04-01

Brittle faults are well known as preferential conduits for localised fluid flow in crystalline rocks. Their study can thus reveal fundamental details of the physical-chemical properties of the flowing fluid phase and of the mutual feedbacks between mechanical properties of faults and fluids. Crustal deformation at the brittle-ductile transition may occur by a combination of competing brittle fracturing and viscous flow processes, with short-lived variations in fluid pressure as a viable mechanism to produce this cyclicity switch. Therefore, a detailed study of the fluid phases potentially present in faults can help to better constrain the dynamic evolution of crustal strength within the seismogenic zone, as a function of varying fluid phase characteristics. With the aim to 1) better understand the complexity of brittle-ductile cyclicity under upper to mid-crustal conditions and 2) define the physical and chemical features of the involved fluid phase, we present the preliminary results of a recently launched (micro)structural and geochemical project. We study deformed quartz veins associated with brittle-ductile deformation zones on Olkiluoto Island, chosen as the site for the Finnish deep repository for spent nuclear fuel excavated in the Paleoproterozoic crust of southwestern Finland. The presented results stem from the study of brittle fault zone BFZ300, which is a mixed brittle and ductile deformation zone characterized by complex kinematics and associated with multiple generations of quartz veins, and which serves as a pertinent example of the mechanisms of fluid flow-deformation feedbacks during brittle-ductile cyclicity in nature. A kinematic and dynamic mesostructural study is being integrated with the detailed analysis of petrographic thin sections from the fault core and its immediate surroundings with the aim to reconstruct the mechanical deformation history along the entire deformation zone. Based on the observed microstructures, it was possible to recognize three distinct episodes of ductile deformation alternating with at least three brittle episodes. Preliminary fluid inclusion data show that, during crystallization and brittle-viscous deformation, quartz crystals hosted homogeneous and heterogeneous (boiling) aqueous fluids with a large salinity (11.7-0 wt% NaCleq) and Thtot (410-200 °C) range. Boiling occurred at 200-260 °C. Variations of fluid temperature and density (hence, viscosity) may thus have induced localized cyclic switches between brittle and ductile deformation in quartz, with implications on the bulk regional crustal strength. Preliminary EBSD analysis also supports the hypothesis of cyclic switches between brittle and viscous deformation.

Diverse rupture modes for surface-deforming upper plate earthquakes in the southern Puget Lowland of Washington State

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nelson, Alan R.; Personius, Stephen F.; Sherrod, Brian L.; Kelsey, Harvey M.; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Bradley, Lee-Ann; Wells, Ray E.

2014-01-01

Earthquake prehistory of the southern Puget Lowland, in the north-south compressive regime of the migrating Cascadia forearc, reflects diverse earthquake rupture modes with variable recurrence. Stratigraphy and Bayesian analyses of previously reported and new 14C ages in trenches and cores along backthrust scarps in the Seattle fault zone restrict a large earthquake to 1040–910 cal yr B.P. (2σ), an interval that includes the time of the M 7–7.5 Restoration Point earthquake. A newly identified surface-rupturing earthquake along the Waterman Point backthrust dates to 940–380 cal yr B.P., bringing the number of earthquakes in the Seattle fault zone in the past 3500 yr to 4 or 5. Whether scarps record earthquakes of moderate (M 5.5–6.0) or large (M 6.5–7.0) magnitude, backthrusts of the Seattle fault zone may slip during moderate to large earthquakes every few hundred years for periods of 1000–2000 yr, and then not slip for periods of at least several thousands of years. Four new fault scarp trenches in the Tacoma fault zone show evidence of late Holocene folding and faulting about the time of a large earthquake or earthquakes inferred from widespread coseismic subsidence ca. 1000 cal yr B.P.; 12 ages from 8 sites in the Tacoma fault zone limit the earthquakes to 1050–980 cal yr B.P. Evidence is too sparse to determine whether a large earthquake was closely predated or postdated by other earthquakes in the Tacoma basin, but the scarp of the Tacoma fault was formed by multiple earthquakes. In the northeast-striking Saddle Mountain deformation zone, along the western limit of the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones, analysis of previous ages limits earthquakes to 1200–310 cal yr B.P. The prehistory clarifies earthquake clustering in the central Puget Lowland, but cannot resolve potential structural links among the three Holocene fault zones.

Extrapolating surface structures to depth in transpressional systems: the role of rheology and convergence angle deduced from analogue experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsieh, Shang Yu; Neubauer, Franz; Cloetingh, Sierd; Willingshofer, Ernst; Sokoutis, Dimitrios

2014-05-01

The internal structure of major strike-slip faults is still poorly understood, particularly how the deep structure could be inferred from its surface expression (Molnar and Dayem, 2011 and references therein). Previous analogue experiments suggest that the convergence angle is the most influential factor (Leever et al., 2011). Further analogue modeling may allow a better understanding how to extrapolate surface structures to the subsurface geometry of strike-slip faults. Various scenarios of analogue experiments were designed to represent strike-slip faults in nature from different geological settings. As such key parameters, which are investigated in this study include: (a) the angle of convergence, (b) the thickness of brittle layer, (c) the influence of a rheological weak layer within the crust, and (d) influence of a thick and rheologically weak layer at the base of the crust. The latter aimed to simulate the effect of a hot metamorphic core complex or an alignment of uprising plutons bordered by a transtensional/transpressional strike-slip fault. The experiments are aimed to explain first order structures along major transcurrent strike-slip faults such as the Altyn, Kunlun, San Andrea and Greendale (Darfield earthquake 2010) faults. The preliminary results show that convergence angle significantly influences the overall geometry of the transpressive system with greater convergence angles resulting in wider fault zones and higher elevation. Different positions, densities and viscosities of weak rheological layers have not only different surface expressions but also affect the fault geometry in the subsurface. For instance, rheological weak material in the bottom layer results in stretching when experiment reaches a certain displacement and a buildup of a less segmented, wide positive flower structure. At the surface, a wide fault valley in the middle of the fault zone is the reflection of stretching along the velocity discontinuity at depth. In models with a thin and rheologically weaker layer in the middle of the brittle layer, deformation is distributed over more faults and the geometry of the fault zone below and above the weak zone shows significant differences, suggesting that the correlation of structures across a weak layer has to be supported by geophysical data, which help constraining the geometry of the deep part. This latter experiment has significantly similar phenomena in reality, such as few pressure ridges along Altyn fault. The experimental results underline the need to understand the role of the convergence angle and the influence of rheology on fault evolution, in order to connect between surface deformation and subsurface geometry. References Leever, K. A., Gabrielsen, R. H., Sokoutis, D., Willingshofer, E., 2011. The effect of convergence angle on the kinematic evolution of strain partitioning in transpressional brittle wedges: Insight from analog modeling and high-resolution digital image analysis. Tectonics, 30(2), TC2013. Molnar, P., Dayem, K.E., 2010. Major intracontinental strike-slip faults and contrasts in lithospheric strength. Geosphere, 6, 444-467.

The geologic structure of part of the southern Franklin Mountains, El Paso County, Texas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, W.R.; Julian, F.E.

1993-02-01

The Franklin Mountains are a west tilted fault block mountain range which extends northwards from the city of El Paso, Texas. Geologic mapping in the southern portion of the Franklin Mountains has revealed many previously unrecognized structural complexities. Three large high-angle faults define the boundaries of map. Twenty lithologic units are present in the field area, including the southernmost Precambrian meta-sedimentary rocks in the Franklin Mountains (Lanoria Quartzite and Thunderbird group conglomerates). The area is dominated by Precambrian igneous rocks and lower Paleozoic carbonates, but Cenozoic ( ) intrusions are also recognized. Thin sections and rock slabs were used tomore » describe and identify many of the lithologic units. The Franklin Mountains are often referred to as a simple fault block mountain range related to the Rio Grande Rift. Three critical regions within the study area show that these mountains contain structural complexities. In critical area one, Precambrian granites and rhyolites are structurally juxtaposed, and several faults bisecting the area affect the Precambrian/Paleozoic fault contact. Critical area two contains multiple NNW-trending faults, three sills and a possible landslide. This area also shows depositional features related to an island of Precambrian rock exposed during deposition of the lower Paleozoic rocks. Critical area three contains numerous small faults which generally trend NNE. They appear to be splays off of one of the major faults bounding the area. Cenozoic kaolinite sills and mafic intrusion have filled many of the fault zones.« less

Growth and linkage of the quaternary Ubrique Normal Fault Zone, Western Gibraltar Arc: role on the along-strike relief segmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez-Bonilla, Alejandro; Balanya, Juan Carlos; Exposito, Inmaculada; Diaz-Azpiroz, Manuel; Barcos, Leticia

2015-04-01

Strain partitioning modes within migrating orogenic arcs may result in arc-parallel stretching that produces along-strike structural and topographic discontinuities. In the Western Gibraltar Arc, arc-parallel stretching has operated from the Lower Miocene up to recent times. In this study, we have reviewed the Colmenar Fault, located at the SW end of the Subbetic ranges, previously interpreted as a Middle Miocene low-angle normal fault. Our results allow to identify younger normal fault segments, to analyse their kinematics, growth and segment linkage, and to discuss its role on the structural and relief drop at regional scale. The Colmenar Fault is folded by post-Serravallian NE-SW buckle folds. Both the SW-dipping fault surfaces and the SW-plunging fold axes contribute to the structural relief drop toward the SW. Nevertheless, at the NW tip of the Colmenar Fault, we have identified unfolded normal faults cutting quaternary soils. They are grouped into a N110˚E striking brittle deformation band 15km long and until 3km wide (hereafter Ubrique Normal Fault Zone; UNFZ). The UNFZ is divided into three sectors: (a) The western tip zone is formed by normal faults which usually dip to the SW and whose slip directions vary between N205˚E and N225˚E. These segments are linked to each other by left-lateral oblique faults interpreted as transfer faults. (b) The central part of the UNFZ is composed of a single N115˚E striking fault segment 2,4km long. Slip directions are around N190˚E and the estimated throw is 1,25km. The fault scarp is well-conserved reaching up to 400m in its central part and diminishing to 200m at both segment terminations. This fault segment is linked to the western tip by an overlap zone characterized by tilted blocks limited by high-angle NNE-SSW and WNW-ESE striking faults interpreted as "box faults" [1]. (c) The eastern tip zone is formed by fault segments with oblique slip which also contribute to the downthrown of the SW block. This kinematic pattern seems to be related to other strike-slip fault systems developed to the E of the UNFZ. The structural revision together with updated kinematic data suggest that the Colmenar Fault is cut and downthrown by a younger normal fault zone, the UNFZ, which would have contributed to accommodate arc-parallel stretching until the Quaternary. This stretching provokes along-strike relief segmentation, being the UNFZ the main fault zone causing the final drop of the Subbetic ranges towards the SW within the Western Gibraltar Arc. Our results show displacement variations in each fault segment of the UNFZ, diminishing to their tips. This suggests fault segment linkage finally evolved to build the nearly continuous current fault zone. The development of current large through-going faults linked inside the UNFZ is similar to those ones simulated in some numerical modelling of rift systems [2]. Acknowledgements: RNM-415 and CGL-2013-46368-P [1]Peacock, D.C.P., Knipe, R.J., Sanderson, D.J., 2000. Glossary of normal faults. Journal Structural Geology, 22, 291-305. [2]Cowie, P.A., Gupta, S., Dawers, N.H., 2000. Implications of fault array evolution for synrift depocentre development: insights from a numerical fault growth model. Basin Research, 12, 241-261.

Magnetotelluric study of the Pahute Mesa and Oasis Valley regions, Nye County, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schenkel, Clifford J.; Hildenbrand, Thomas G.; Dixon, Gary L.

1999-01-01

Magnetotelluric data delineate distinct layers and lateral variations above the pre-Tertiary basement. On Pahute Mesa, three resistivity layers associated with the volcanic rocks are defined: a moderately resistive surface layer, an underlying conductive layer, and a deep resistive layer. Considerable geologic information can be derived from the conductive layer which extents from near the water table down to a depth of approximately 2 km. The increase in conductivity is probably related to zeolite zonation observed in the volcanic rock on Pahute Mesa, which is relatively impermeable to groundwater flow unless fractured. Inferred faults within this conductive layer are modeled on several profiles crossing the Thirsty Canyon fault zone. This fault zone extends from Pahute Mesa into Oasis Valley basin. Near Colson Pond where the basement is shallow, the Thirsty Canyon fault zone is several (~2.5) kilometers wide. Due to the indicated vertical offsets associated with the Thirsty Canyon fault zone, the fault zone may act as a barrier to transverse (E-W) groundwater flow by juxtaposing rocks of different permeabilities. We propose that the Thirsty Canyon fault zone diverts water southward from Pahute Mesa to Oasis Valley. The electrically conductive nature of this fault zone indicates the presence of abundant alteration minerals or a dense network of open and interconnected fractures filled with electrically conductive groundwater. The formation of alteration minerals require the presence of water suggesting that an extensive interconnected fracture system exists or existed at one time. Thus, the fractures within the fault zone may be either a barrier or a conduit for groundwater flow, depending on the degree of alteration and the volume of open pore space. In Oasis Valley basin, a conductive surface layer, composed of alluvium and possibly altered volcanic rocks, extends to a depth of 300 to 500 m. The underlying volcanic layer, composed mostly of tuffs, fills the basin with about 3-3.5 km of relief on basement. A fault zone, related to the southern margin of the basin, appears to extend up to a depth of about 500 m. The path of groundwater encountering this fault zone is uncertain but may be either to the southwest towards Beatty or to the south towards Crater Flat.

Seafloor expressions of tectonic structures in Isfjorden, Svalbard: implications for fluid migration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Srikumar; Noormets, Riko; Braathen, Alvar

2014-05-01

This study investigates the seafloor expressions of Isfjorden in western Svalbard, interlinked with sub-seafloor structures using a dense grid of 2D multichannel marine seismic and magnetic data integrated with high resolution multibeam bathymetric data. The underlying bedrock structures spans from Paleozoic carbonates and evaporates to Mesozoic and Paleogene sandstones and shales. This 4 to 6 km thick succession is truncated by structures linked to Eocene transpressional deformation that resulted in the formation of the West Spitsbergen Fold-and-Thrust Belt (WSFTB). The WSFTB divides into three major belts : (a) western zone characterized by a basement involved fold-thrust complex, (b) central zone consisting of three thin-skinned fold-thrust sheets with thrusts splaying from décollement layers and, east of a frontal duplex system, (c) eastern zone showing décollement in Mesozoic shales with some thrust splays, and with the décollement interacting with reactivated, steep and basement-rooted faults (Bergh et al., 1997). In the continuation, we discuss combined seafloor and bedrock observations, starting from the west. In the west, a 6.5 km long and 5 to 9 m high ridge demarcates the eastern boundary of the major basement involved fold complex, with thrusted and folded competent Cretaceous to Paleogene units reaching the seafloor. Three submarine slides originate from this ridge, possibly triggered by tectonic activities. In Central Isfjorden (central zone of the WSFTB), several NNW-SSE striking ridges with a relief of 5 to 25 m have been tied with shallow, steep faults and folds. In addition to the NNW-SSE striking ridges, a set of SW-NE striking ridges with relief of 2 to 5 m are observed in Nordfjorden. Based on the seismic data observations, these ridges can be linked to the surface expression of competent sandstones that are transported on splay-thrusts above a décollement in Triassic shales. Further, seafloor ridges with relief of 5 of 18 m, linked to high amplitude flat reflectors and high magnetic values have been interpreted as Cretaceous dolerite intrusions in Nordfjorden and central Isfjorden. In the eastern Isfjorden (eastern zone of WSFTB), a 10.5 km long N-S striking ridge in Billefjorden corresponds to the deep-seated Billefjorden Fault Zone, extending south across the mouth of Tempelfjorden where it is 8.5 km long. This composite ridge is bound by a steep east-dipping fault, placing competent Carboniferous and Permian carbonates at the seafloor. Overall, our study shows a distinct pattern of pockmarks concentrated along the identified ridges on the seafloor of Isfjorden. These ridges can be linked to fault-fold systems and dolerite intrusions in the bedrock, thereby suggesting various possible fluid migration pathways towards pockmarks: (i) along fracture networks associated with folds and intrusions, (ii) along décollement zones and faults acting as localized conduits, and (iii) directly from organic rich layers when exposed at the seafloor. Reference: Bergh, S. G., Braathen, A., and Andresen, A., 1997, Interaction of basement-involved and thin-skinned tectonism in the Tertiary fold-thrust belt of central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: AAPG Bulletin, v. 81, no. 4, p. 637-661.

Assessment of the geothermal potential of fault zones in Germany by numerical modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuder, Jörg

2017-04-01

Fault zones with significantly better permeabilities than host rocks can act as natural migration paths for ascending fluids that are able to transport thermal energy from deep geological formations. Under these circumstances, fault zones are interesting for geothermal utilization especially those in at least 7 km depth (Jung et al. 2002, Paschen et al. 2003). One objective of the joint project "The role of deep rooting fault zones for geothermal energy utilization" supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy was the evaluation of the geothermal potential of fault zones in Germany by means of numerical modelling with COMSOL. To achieve this goal a method was developed to estimate the potential of regional generalized fault zones in a simple but yet sophisticated way. The main problem for the development of a numerical model is the lack of geological and hydrological data. To address this problem the geothermal potential of a cube with 1 km side length including a 20 meter broad, 1000 m high and 1000 m long fault zone was calculated as a unified model with changing parameter sets. The properties of the surrounding host rock and the fault zone are assumed homogenous. The numerical models were calculated with a broad variety of fluid flow, rock and fluid property parameters for the depths of 3000-4000 m, 4000-5000 m, 5000-6000 m and 6000-7000 m. The fluid parameters are depending on temperature, salt load and initial pressure. The porosity and permeability values are provided by the database of the geothermal information system (GeotIS). The results are summarized in a table of values of geothermal energy modelled with different parameter sets and depths. The geothermal potential of fault zones in Germany was then calculated on the basis of this table and information of the geothermal atlas of Germany (2016).

Permeability, storage and hydraulic diffusivity controlled by earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brodsky, E. E.; Fulton, P. M.; Xue, L.

2016-12-01

Earthquakes can increase permeability in fractured rocks. In the farfield, such permeability increases are attributed to seismic waves and can last for months after the initial earthquake. Laboratory studies suggest that unclogging of fractures by the transient flow driven by seismic waves is a viable mechanism. These dynamic permeability increases may contribute to permeability enhancement in the seismic clouds accompanying hydraulic fracking. Permeability enhancement by seismic waves could potentially be engineered and the experiments suggest the process will be most effective at a preferred frequency. We have recently observed similar processes inside active fault zones after major earthquakes. A borehole observatory in the fault that generated the M9.0 2011 Tohoku earthquake reveals a sequence of temperature pulses during the secondary aftershock sequence of an M7.3 aftershock. The pulses are attributed to fluid advection by a flow through a zone of transiently increased permeability. Directly after the M7.3 earthquake, the newly damaged fault zone is highly susceptible to further permeability enhancement, but ultimately heals within a month and becomes no longer as sensitive. The observation suggests that the newly damaged fault zone is more prone to fluid pulsing than would be expected based on the long-term permeability structure. Even longer term healing is seen inside the fault zone of the 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. The competition between damage and healing (or clogging and unclogging) results in dynamically controlled permeability, storage and hydraulic diffusivity. Recent measurements of in situ fault zone architecture at the 1-10 meter scale suggest that active fault zones often have hydraulic diffusivities near 10-2 m2/s. This uniformity is true even within the damage zone of the San Andreas fault where permeability and storage increases balance each other to achieve this value of diffusivity over a 400 m wide region. We speculate that fault zones may evolve to a preferred diffusivity in a dynamic equilibrium.

Physical properties of fault zone rocks from SAFOD: Tying logging data to high-pressure measurements on drill core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeppson, T.; Tobin, H. J.

2013-12-01

In the summer of 2005, Phase 2 of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) borehole was completed and logged with wireline tools including a dipole sonic tool to measure P- and S-wave velocities. A zone of anomalously low velocity was detected from 3150 to 3414 m measured depth (MD), corresponding with the subsurface location of the San Andreas Fault Zone (SAFZ). This low velocity zone is 5-30% slower than the surrounding host rock. Within this broad low-velocity zone, several slip surfaces were identified as well as two actively deforming shear zones: the southwest deformation zone (SDZ) and the central deformation zone (CDZ), located at 3192 and 3302 m MD, respectively. The SAFZ had also previously been identified as a low velocity zone in seismic velocity inversion models. The anomalously low velocity was hypothesized to result from either (a) brittle deformation in the damage zone of the fault, (b) high fluid pressures with in the fault zone, or (c) lithological variation, or a combination of the above. We measured P- and S-wave velocities at ultrasonic frequencies on saturated 2.5 cm diameter core plug samples taken from SAFOD core obtained in 2007 from within the low velocity zone. The resulting values fall into two distinct groups: foliated fault gouge and non-gouge. Samples of the foliated fault gouge have P-wave velocities between 2.3-3.5 km/s while non-gouge samples lie between 4.1-5.4 km/s over a range of effective pressures from 5-70 MPa. There is a good correlation between the log measurements and laboratory values of P-and S wave velocity at in situ pressure conditions especially for the foliated fault gouge. For non-gouge samples the laboratory values are approximately 0.08-0.73 km/s faster than the log values. This difference places the non-gouge velocities within the Great Valley siltstone velocity range, as measured by logs and ultrasonic measurements performed on outcrop samples. As a high fluid pressure zone was not encountered during SAFOD drilling, we use the ultrasonic velocities of SAFOD core and analogous outcrop samples to determine if the velocity reduction is due to lithologic variations or the presence of deformational fabrics and alteration in the fault zone. Preliminary analysis indicates that while the decrease in velocity across the broad fault zone is heavily influenced by fractures, the extremely low velocities associated with the actively deforming zones are more likely caused by the development of scaly fabric with clay coatings on the fracture surfaces. Analysis of thin sections and well logs are used to support this interpretation.

Tsunamigenic earthquake simulations using experimentally derived friction laws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, S.; Di Toro, G.; Romano, F.; Scala, A.; Lorito, S.; Spagnuolo, E.; Aretusini, S.; Festa, G.; Piatanesi, A.; Nielsen, S.

2018-03-01

Seismological, tsunami and geodetic observations have shown that subduction zones are complex systems where the properties of earthquake rupture vary with depth as a result of different pre-stress and frictional conditions. A wealth of earthquakes of different sizes and different source features (e.g. rupture duration) can be generated in subduction zones, including tsunami earthquakes, some of which can produce extreme tsunamigenic events. Here, we offer a geological perspective principally accounting for depth-dependent frictional conditions, while adopting a simplified distribution of on-fault tectonic pre-stress. We combine a lithology-controlled, depth-dependent experimental friction law with 2D elastodynamic rupture simulations for a Tohoku-like subduction zone cross-section. Subduction zone fault rocks are dominantly incohesive and clay-rich near the surface, transitioning to cohesive and more crystalline at depth. By randomly shifting along fault dip the location of the high shear stress regions ("asperities"), moderate to great thrust earthquakes and tsunami earthquakes are produced that are quite consistent with seismological, geodetic, and tsunami observations. As an effect of depth-dependent friction in our model, slip is confined to the high stress asperity at depth; near the surface rupture is impeded by the rock-clay transition constraining slip to the clay-rich layer. However, when the high stress asperity is located in the clay-to-crystalline rock transition, great thrust earthquakes can be generated similar to the Mw 9 Tohoku (2011) earthquake.

Estimating Hydraulic Conductivities in a Fractured Shale Formation from Pressure Pulse Testing and 3d Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Courbet, C.; DICK, P.; Lefevre, M.; Wittebroodt, C.; Matray, J.; Barnichon, J.

2013-12-01

In the framework of its research on the deep disposal of radioactive waste in shale formations, the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) has developed a large array of in situ programs concerning the confining properties of shales in their underground research laboratory at Tournemire (SW France). One of its aims is to evaluate the occurrence and processes controlling radionuclide migration through the host rock, from the disposal system to the biosphere. Past research programs carried out at Tournemire covered mechanical, hydro-mechanical and physico-chemical properties of the Tournemire shale as well as water chemistry and long-term behaviour of the host rock. Studies show that fluid circulations in the undisturbed matrix are very slow (hydraulic conductivity of 10-14 to 10-15 m.s-1). However, recent work related to the occurrence of small scale fractures and clay-rich fault gouges indicate that fluid circulations may have been significantly modified in the vicinity of such features. To assess the transport properties associated with such faults, IRSN designed a series of in situ and laboratory experiments to evaluate the contribution of both diffusive and advective process on water and solute flux through a clay-rich fault zone (fault core and damaged zone) and in an undisturbed shale formation. As part of these studies, Modular Mini-Packer System (MMPS) hydraulic testing was conducted in multiple boreholes to characterize hydraulic conductivities within the formation. Pressure data collected during the hydraulic tests were analyzed using the nSIGHTS (n-dimensional Statistical Inverse Graphical Hydraulic Test Simulator) code to estimate hydraulic conductivity and formation pressures of the tested intervals. Preliminary results indicate hydraulic conductivities of 5.10-12 m.s-1 in the fault core and damaged zone and 10-14 m.s-1 in the adjacent undisturbed shale. Furthermore, when compared with neutron porosity data from borehole logging, porosity varies by a factor of 2.5 whilst hydraulic conductivity varies by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. In addition, a 3D numerical reconstruction of the internal structure of the fault zone inferred from borehole imagery has been built to estimate the permeability tensor variations. First results indicate that hydraulic conductivity values calculated for this structure are 2 to 3 orders of magnitude above those measured in situ. Such high values are due to the imaging method that only takes in to account open fractures of simple geometry (sine waves). Even though improvements are needed to handle more complex geometry, outcomes are promising as the fault damaged zone clearly appears as the highest permeability zone, where stress analysis show that the actual stress state may favor tensile reopening of fractures. Using shale samples cored from the different internal structures of the fault zone, we aim now to characterize the advection and diffusion using laboratory petrophysical tests combined with radial and through-diffusion experiments.

Simulating spontaneous aseismic and seismic slip events on evolving faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrendörfer, Robert; van Dinther, Ylona; Pranger, Casper; Gerya, Taras

2017-04-01

Plate motion along tectonic boundaries is accommodated by different slip modes: steady creep, seismic slip and slow slip transients. Due to mainly indirect observations and difficulties to scale results from laboratory experiments to nature, it remains enigmatic which fault conditions favour certain slip modes. Therefore, we are developing a numerical modelling approach that is capable of simulating different slip modes together with the long-term fault evolution in a large-scale tectonic setting. We extend the 2D, continuum mechanics-based, visco-elasto-plastic thermo-mechanical model that was designed to simulate slip transients in large-scale geodynamic simulations (van Dinther et al., JGR, 2013). We improve the numerical approach to accurately treat the non-linear problem of plasticity (see also EGU 2017 abstract by Pranger et al.). To resolve a wide slip rate spectrum on evolving faults, we develop an invariant reformulation of the conventional rate-and-state dependent friction (RSF) and adapt the time step (Lapusta et al., JGR, 2000). A crucial part of this development is a conceptual ductile fault zone model that relates slip rates along discrete planes to the effective macroscopic plastic strain rates in the continuum. We test our implementation first in a simple 2D setup with a single fault zone that has a predefined initial thickness. Results show that deformation localizes in case of steady creep and for very slow slip transients to a bell-shaped strain rate profile across the fault zone, which suggests that a length scale across the fault zone may exist. This continuum length scale would overcome the common mesh-dependency in plasticity simulations and question the conventional treatment of aseismic slip on infinitely thin fault zones. We test the introduction of a diffusion term (similar to the damage description in Lyakhovsky et al., JMPS, 2011) into the state evolution equation and its effect on (de-)localization during faster slip events. We compare the slip spectrum in our simulations to conventional RSF simulations (Liu and Rice, JGR, 2007). We further demonstrate the capability of simulating the evolution of a fault zone and simultaneous occurrence of slip transients. From small random initial distributions of the state variable in an otherwise homogeneous medium, deformation localizes and forms curved zones of reduced states. These spontaneously formed fault zones host slip transients, which in turn contribute to the growth of the fault zone.

Late Pleistocene intraplate extension of the Central Anatolian Plateau, Turkey: Inferences from cosmogenic exposure dating of alluvial fan, landslide and moraine surfaces along the Ecemiş Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yildirim, Cengiz; Akif Sarikaya, Mehmet; Ciner, Attila

2016-04-01

Late Pleistocene activity of the Ecemiş Fault Zone is integrally tied to ongoing intraplate crustal deformation in the Central Anatolian Plateau. Here we document the vertical displacement, slip rate, extension rate, and geochronology of normal faults within a narrow strip along the main strand of the fault zone. The Kartal, Cevizlik and Lorut faults are normal faults that have evident surface expression within the strip. Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide geochronology reveals that the Kartal Fault deformed a 104.2 ± 16.5 ka alluvial fan surface and the Cevizlik Fault deformed 21.9 ± 1.8 ka glacial moraine and talus fan surfaces. The Cevizlik Fault delimits mountain front of the Aladaglar and forms >1 km relief. Our topographic surveys indicate 13.1 ± 1.4 m surface breaking vertical displacements along Cevizlik Faults, respectively. Accordingly, we suggest a 0.60 ± 0.08 mm a-1 slip rate and 0.35 ± 0.05 mm a-1 extension rate for the last 21.9 ± 1.8 ka on the Cevizlik Fault. Taken together with other structural observations in the region, we believe that the Cevizlik, Kartal ve Lorut faults are an integral part of intraplate crustal deformation in Central Anatolia. They imply that intraplate structures such as the Ecemiş Fault Zone may change their mode through time; presently, the Ecemiş Fault Zone has been deformed predominantly by normal faults. The presence of steep preserved fault scarps along the Kartal, Cevizlik and Lorut faults point to surface breaking normal faulting away from the main strand and particularly signify that these structures need to be taken into account for regional seismic hazard assessments. This project is supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK, Grant number: 112Y087).

The northwest trending north Boquerón Bay-Punta Montalva Fault Zone; A through going active fault system in southwestern Puerto Rico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roig‐Silva, Coral Marie; Asencio, Eugenio; Joyce, James

2013-01-01

The North Boquerón Bay–Punta Montalva fault zone has been mapped crossing the Lajas Valley in southwest Puerto Rico. Identification of the fault was based upon detailed analysis of geophysical data, satellite images, and field mapping. The fault zone consists of a series of Cretaceous bedrock faults that reactivated and deformed Miocene limestone and Quaternary alluvial fan sediments. The fault zone is seismically active (local magnitude greater than 5.0) with numerous locally felt earthquakes. Focal mechanism solutions suggest strain partitioning with predominantly east–west left-lateral displacements with small normal faults striking mostly toward the northeast. Northeast-trending fractures and normal faults can be found in intermittent streams that cut through the Quaternary alluvial fan deposits along the southern margin of the Lajas Valley, an east–west-trending 30-km-long fault-controlled depression. Areas of preferred erosion within the alluvial fan trend toward the west-northwest parallel to the onland projection of the North Boquerón Bay fault. The North Boquerón Bay fault aligns with the Punta Montalva fault southeast of the Lajas Valley. Both faults show strong southward tilting of Miocene strata. On the western end, the Northern Boquerón Bay fault is covered with flat-lying Holocene sediments, whereas at the southern end the Punta Montalva fault shows left-lateral displacement of stream drainage on the order of a few hundred meters.

Streaks, multiplets, and holes: High-resolution spatio-temporal behavior of Parkfield seismicity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waldhauser, F.; Ellsworth, W.L.; Schaff, D.P.; Cole, A.

2004-01-01

Double-difference locations of ???8000 earthquakes from 1969-2002 on the Parkfield section of the San Andreas Fault reveal detailed fault structures and seismicity that is, although complex, highly organized in both space and time. Distinctive features of the seismicity include: 1) multiple recurrence of earthquakes of the same size at precisely the same location on the fault (multiplets), implying frictional or geometric controls on their location and size; 2) sub-horizontal alignments of hypocenters along the fault plane (streaks), suggestive of rheological transitions within the fault zone and/or stress concentrations between locked and creeping areas; 3) regions devoid of microearthquakes with typical dimensions of 1-5 km (holes), one of which contains the M6 1966 Parkfield earthquake hypocenter. These features represent long lived structures that persist through many cycles of individual event. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.