Role of the Western Anatolia Shear Zone (WASZ) in Neotectonics Evolution of the Western Anatolia Extended Terrain, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cemen, I.; Gogus, O. H.; Hancer, M.

2013-12-01

The Neotectonics period in western Anatolia Extended Terrain, Turkey (WAET) may have initiated in late Oligocene following the Eocene Alpine collision which produced the Izmir-Ankara suture zone. The Western Anatolia Shear Zone (WASZ) bounds the WAET to the east. The shear zone contains mostly normal faults in the vicinity of the Gulf of Gokova. However, its movement is mostly oblique slip from the vicinity of Tavas towards the Lake of Acigol where it makes a northward bend and possibly joins the Eskisehir fault zone to the north of the town of Afyon. The shear zone forms the southern and eastern margins of the Kale-Tavas, Denizli and Acigol basins. The shear zone is similar in its structural/tectonics setting to the Eastern California Shear zone (ECSZ) of the Basins and Ranges of North America Extended terrain which is also composed of many normal to oblique-slip faults and separates two extended terrains with different rates of extension. Western Anatolia experienced many devastating earthquakes within the last 2000 years. Many of the ancient Greek/Roman city states, including Ephesus, Troy, and Hierapolis were destroyed by large historical earthquakes. During the second half of the 20th century, the region experienced two major large earthquake giving normal fault focal mechanism solutions. They are the 1969, M=6.9 Alasehir and the 1970, M=7.1 Gediz earthquakes. These earthquakes had caused substantial damage and loss of life in the region. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the kinematics of the Cenozoic extensional tectonics and earthquake potential of the WASZ in the region, is very important, especially since the fault zone is very close to the major towns in eastern part of western Turkey, such as Mugla, Denizli, Sandikli, Dinar and Afyon.

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.

The Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone: Reactivation of an Ancient Continent-Continent Suture Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, C. A.

2014-12-01

The eastern Tennessee seismic zone (ETSZ) may represent reactivation of an ancient shear zone that accommodated left-lateral, transpressive motion of the Amazon craton during the Grenville orogeny. Several different lines of evidence support this concept including velocity models for the crust, earthquake hypocenter alignments, focal mechanism solutions, potential field anomalies, paleomagnetic pole positions, and isotopic geochemical studies. The ETSZ trends NE-SW for about 300 km and displays remarkable correlation with the prominent New York - Alabama (NY-AL) aeromagnetic lineament. Vp and Vs models for the crust derived from a local ETSZ earthquake tomography study reveal the presence of a narrow, NE-SW trending, steeply dipping zone of low velocities that extends to a depth of at least 24 km and is associated with the vertical projection of the NY-AL aeromagnetic lineament. The low velocity zone is interpreted as a major basement fault. The recent Mw 4.2 Perry County eastern Kentucky earthquake occurred north of the ETSZ but has a focal depth and mechanism that are similar to those for ETSZ earthquakes. We investigate the possibility that the proposed ancient shear zone extends into eastern Kentucky using Bouguer and aeromagnetic maps. The southern end of the ETSZ is characterized by hypocenters that align along planes dipping at roughly 45 degrees and focal mechanisms that contain large normal faulting components. The NY-AL aeromagnetic lineament also changes trend in the southern end of the ETSZ and the exact location of the lineament is ambiguous. We suggest that the southern portion of the ETSZ involves reactivation of reverse faults (now as normal faults) that mark the ancient transition between a collisional to a more transpressive boundary between Amazonia and Laurentia during the formation of the super continent Rodinia.

A New Geological Slip Rate Estimate for the Calico Fault, Eastern California: Implications for Geodetic Versus Geologic Rate Estimates in the Eastern California Shear Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wetmore, P. H.; Xie, S.; Gallant, E.; Owen, L. A.; Dixon, T. H.

2017-12-01

Fault slip rate is fundamental to accurate seismic hazard assessment. In the Mojave Desert section of the Eastern California Shear Zone previous studies have suggested a discrepancy between short-term geodetic and long-term geologic slip rate estimates. Understanding the origin of this discrepancy could lead to better understanding of stress evolution, and improve earthquake hazard estimates in general. We measured offsets in alluvial fans along the Calico fault near Newberry Springs, California, and used exposure age dating based on the cosmogenic nuclide 10Be to date the offset landforms. We derive a mean slip rate of 3.6 mm/yr, representing an average over the last few hundred thousand years, significantly faster than previous estimates. Considering numerous faults in the Mojave Desert and limited geologic slip rate estimates, it is premature to claim a geologic versus geodetic "discrepancy" for the ECSZ. More slip rate data, from all faults with the ECSZ, are needed to provide a statistically meaningful assessment of the geologic rates for each of the faults comprising the ECSZ.

West-directed thrusting south of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis indicates clockwise crustal flow at the indenter corner during the India-Asia collision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haproff, Peter J.; Zuza, Andrew V.; Yin, An

2018-01-01

Whether continental deformation is accommodated by microplate motion or continuum flow is a central issue regarding the nature of Cenozoic deformation surrounding the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. The microplate model predicts southeastward extrusion of rigid blocks along widely-spaced strike-slip faults, whereas the crustal-flow model requires clockwise crustal rotation along closely-spaced, semi-circular right-slip faults around the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. Although global positioning system (GPS) data support the crustal-flow model, the surface velocity field provides no information on the evolution of the India-Asia orogenic system at million-year scales. In this work, we present the results of systematic geologic mapping across the northernmost segment of the Indo-Burma Ranges, located directly southeast of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis. Early research inferred the area to have experienced either right-slip faulting accommodating northward indentation of India or thrusting due to the eastward continuation of the Himalayan orogen in the Cenozoic. Our mapping supports the presence of dip-slip thrust faults, rather than strike-slip faults. Specifically, the northern Indo-Burma Ranges exposes south- to west-directed ductile thrust shear zones in the hinterland and brittle fault zones in the foreland. The trends of ductile stretching lineations within thrust shear zones and thrust sheets rotate clockwise from the northeast direction in the northern part of the study area to the east direction in the southern part of the study area. This clockwise deflection pattern of lineations around the eastern Himalayan syntaxis mirrors the clockwise crustal-rotation pattern as suggested by the crustal-flow model and contemporary GPS velocity field. However, our finding is inconsistent with discrete strike-slip deformation in the area and the microplate model.

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.

Fold-to-fault progression of a major thrust zone revealed in horses of the North Mountain fault zone, Virginia and West Virginia, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Orndorff, Randall C.

2012-01-01

The method of emplacement and sequential deformation of major thrust zones may be deciphered by detailed geologic mapping of these important structures. Thrust fault zones may have added complexity when horse blocks are contained within them. However, these horses can be an important indicator of the fault development holding information on fault-propagation folding or fold-to-fault progression. The North Mountain fault zone of the Central Appalachians, USA, was studied in order to better understand the relationships of horse blocks to hanging wall and footwall structures. The North Mountain fault zone in northwestern Virginia and eastern panhandle of West Virginia is the Late Mississippian to Permian Alleghanian structure that developed after regional-scale folding. Evidence for this deformation sequence is a consistent progression of right-side up to overturned strata in horses within the fault zone. Rocks on the southeast side (hinterland) of the zone are almost exclusively right-side up, whereas rocks on the northwest side (foreland) of the zone are almost exclusively overturned. This suggests that the fault zone developed along the overturned southeast limb of a syncline to the northwest and the adjacent upright limb of a faulted anticline to the southeast.

Evaluation of the Location and Recency of Faulting Near Prospective Surface Facilities in Midway Valley, Nye County, Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Swan, F.H.; Wesling, J.R.; Angell, M.M.; Thomas, A.P.; Whitney, J.W.; Gibson, J.D.

2001-01-01

Evaluation of surface faulting that may pose a hazard to prospective surface facilities is an important element of the tectonic studies for the potential Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repository in southwestern Nevada. For this purpose, a program of detailed geologic mapping and trenching was done to obtain surface and near-surface geologic data that are essential for determining the location and recency of faults at a prospective surface-facilities site located east of Exile Hill in Midway Valley, near the eastern base of Yucca Mountain. The dominant tectonic features in the Midway Valley area are the north- to northeast-trending, west-dipping normal faults that bound the Midway Valley structural block-the Bow Ridge fault on the west side of Exile Hill and the Paint-brush Canyon fault on the east side of the valley. Trenching of Quaternary sediments has exposed evidence of displacements, which demonstrate that these block-bounding faults repeatedly ruptured the surface during the middle to late Quaternary. Geologic mapping, subsurface borehole and geophysical data, and the results of trenching activities indicate the presence of north- to northeast-trending faults and northwest-trending faults in Tertiary volcanic rocks beneath alluvial and colluvial sediments near the prospective surface-facilities site. North to northeast-trending faults include the Exile Hill fault along the eastern base of Exile Hill and faults to the east beneath the surficial deposits of Midway Valley. These faults have no geomorphic expression, but two north- to northeast-trending zones of fractures exposed in excavated profiles of middle to late Pleistocene deposits at the prospective surface-facilities site appear to be associated with these faults. Northwest-trending faults include the West Portal and East Portal faults, but no disruption of Quaternary deposits by these faults is evident. The western zone of fractures is associated with the Exile Hill fault. The eastern zone of fractures is within Quaternary alluvial sediments, but no bedrock was encountered in trenches and soil pits in this part of the prospective surface facilities site; thus, the direct association of this zone with one or more bedrock faults is uncertain. No displacement of lithologic contacts and soil horizons could be detected in the fractured Quaternary deposits. The results of these investigations imply the absence of any appreciable late Quaternary faulting activity at the prospective surface-facilities site.

Geodetic evidence for continuing tectonic activity of the Carboneras fault (SE Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Echeverria, Anna; Khazaradze, Giorgi; Asensio, Eva; Masana, Eulalia

2015-11-01

The Carboneras fault zone (CFZ) is a prominent onshore-offshore strike-slip fault that forms part of the Eastern Betic Shear Zone (EBSZ), located in SE Spain. In this work, we show for the first time, the continuing tectonic activity of the CFZ and quantify its geodetic slip-rates using continuous and campaign GPS observations conducted during the last decade. We find that the left-lateral motion dominates the kinematics of the CFZ, with a strike-slip rate of 1.3 ± 0.2 mm/yr along the N48° direction. The shortening component is significantly lower and poorly constrained. Recent onshore and offshore paleoseismic and geomorphic results across the CFZ suggest a minimum Late Pleistocene to present-day strike-slip rate of 1.1 mm/yr. Considering the similarity of the geologic and geodetic slip rates measured at different points along the fault, the northern segment of the CFZ must have been slipping approximately at a constant rate during the Quaternary. Regarding the eastern Alpujarras fault zone corridor (AFZ), located to the north of the CFZ, our GPS measurements corroborate that this zone is active and exhibits a right-lateral motion. These opposite type strike-slip motion across the AFZ and CFZ is a result of a push-type force due to Nubia and Eurasia plate convergence, which, in turn, causes the westward escape of the block bounded by these two fault zones.

The Dandridge-Vonore Fault Zone in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone (and Rejuvenation of the Smokies?)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, R. T.; Hatcher, R. D., Jr.; Forman, S. L.; Gamble, E. D. S.; Warrell, K. F.

2017-12-01

The eastern Tennessee seismic zone (ETSZ) trends 045o from NE Alabama and NW Georgia through Tennessee to SE Kentucky, and seismicity is localized 5-26 km deep in the basement. The ETSZ is the second most seismically active region in North America east of the Rocky Mountains, although no historic earthquakes larger than Mw 4.8 have been recorded here. Late Quaternary paleoiseismic evidence suggests that the ETSZ is capable of M7+ earthquakes and that neotectonic faults may have significantly influenced the regional relief. We have identified an 80 km-long, 060o-trending corridor in eastern Tennessee that contains collinear northeast-striking thrust, strike-slip, and normal Quaternary faults with displacements of 1-2 m, herein termed the Dandridge-Vonore fault zone (DVFZ). French Broad River alluvium in the northeast DVFZ near Dandridge, TN, is displaced by a 050o-striking, SE-dipping thrust fault and by a set of related fissures that record at least two significant post 25 ka paleo-earthquakes. Southwest of Dandridge near Alcoa, TN, a 060o-striking, SE-dipping thrust fault cuts Little River alluvium and records two significant post-15 ka paleo-earthquakes. Farther southwest at Vonore, colluvium with alluvial cobbles is thrust >1 m by a 057o-striking, steeply SE-dipping fault that may also have a significant strike-slip component, and Little Tennessee River alluvium is dropped >2 m along a 070o- striking normal fault. The DVFZ partly overlaps and is collinear with a local trend of maximum seismicity that extends 30 km farther SW of the DVFZ (as currently mapped), for a total length of 110 km. The DVFZ is coincident with a steep gradient in S-wave velocities (from high velocity on the SE to low velocity on the NW) at mid-crustal depths of 20 to 24 km, consistent with a fault and source zone at hypocentral depths in the crystalline basement. Moreover, the DVFZ parallels the NW foot of Blue Ridge Mountains, and the sense of thrusting at all sites of Quaternary faulting in the DVFZ is consistent with uplift of the Blue Ridge.

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.

Active Transtensional Tectonics Due to Differentially Rotating Upper Crustal Blocks East of the Eastern Himalayan syntaxis, Yunnan Province, China.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Studnikigizbert, C.; Eich, L.; King, R.; Burchfiel, B. C.; Chen, Z.; Chen, L.

2004-12-01

Seismological (Holt et. al. 1996), geodetic (King et. al. 1996, Chen et. al. 2000) and geological (Wang et. al. 1995, Wang and Burchfiel 2002) studies have shown that upper crustal material north and east of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis rotates clockwise about the syntaxis, with the Xianshuihe fault accommodating most of this motion. Within the zone of rotating material, however, deformation is not completely homogenous, and numerous differentially rotating small crustal fragments are recognised. We combine seismic (CSB and Harvard CMT catalogues), geodetic (CSB and MIT-Chengdu networks), remote sensing, compilation of existing regional maps and our own detailed field mapping to characterise the active tectonics of a clockwise rotating crustal block between Zhongdian and Dali. The northeastern boundary is well-defined by the northwest striking left-lateral Zhongdian and Daju faults. The eastern boundary, on the other hand, is made up of a 80 km wide zone characterised by north-south trending extensional basins linked by NNE trending left-lateral faults. Geological mapping suggests that strain is accommodated by three major transtensional fault systems: the Jianchuan-Lijiang, Heqing and Chenghai fault systems. Geodetic data indicates that this zone accommodates 10 +/- 1.4 mm/year of E-W extension, but strain may be (presently) preferentially partitioned along the easternmost (Chenghai) fault. Not all geodetic velocities are consistent with geological observations. In particular, rotation and concomitant transtension are somehow transferred across the Red River-Tongdian faults to Nan Tinghe fault with no apparent accommodating structures. Rotation and extension is surmised to be related to the northward propagation of the syntaxis.

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

Cleveland, K. Michael; VanDeMark, Thomas F.; Ammon, Charles J.

We report that double-difference methods applied to cross-correlation measured Rayleigh wave time shifts are an effective tool to improve epicentroid locations and relative origin time shifts in remote regions. We apply these methods to seismicity offshore of southwestern Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest, occurring along the boundaries of the Pacific and Juan de Fuca (including the Explorer Plate and Gorda Block) Plates. The Blanco, Mendocino, Revere-Dellwood, Nootka, and Sovanco fracture zones host the majority of this seismicity, largely consisting of strike-slip earthquakes. The Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda spreading ridges join these fracture zones and host normal faultingmore » earthquakes. Our results show that at least the moderate-magnitude activity clusters along fault strike, supporting suggestions of large variations in seismic coupling along oceanic transform faults. Our improved relative locations corroborate earlier interpretations of the internal deformation in the Explorer and Gorda Plates. North of the Explorer Plate, improved locations support models that propose northern extension of the Revere-Dellwood fault. Relocations also support interpretations that favor multiple parallel active faults along the Blanco Transform Fault Zone. Seismicity of the western half of the Blanco appears more scattered and less collinear than the eastern half, possibly related to fault maturity. We use azimuthal variations in the Rayleigh wave cross-correlation amplitude to detect and model rupture directivity for a moderate size earthquake along the eastern Blanco Fault. Lastly, the observations constrain the seismogenic zone geometry and suggest a relatively narrow seismogenic zone width of 2 to 4 km.« less

Kinematics at the Intersection of the Garlock and Death Valley Fault Zones, California: Integration of TM Data and Field Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verosub, Kenneth L.; Brady, Roland H., III; Abrams, Michael

1989-01-01

Kinematic relationships at the intersection of the southern Death Valley and Garlock fault zones were examined to identify and delineate the eastern structural boundary between the Mojave and the Basin and Range geologic terrains, and to construct a model for the evolution of this boundary through time. In order to accomplish this, satellite imagery was combined with field investigations to study six areas in the vicinity of the intersection, or possible extensions, of the fault zones. The information gathered from these areas allows the test of various hypotheses that were proposed to explain the interaction between the Death Valley and Garlock fault zones.

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.

Fault zone identification in the eastern part of the Persian Gulf based on combined seismic attributes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirkamali, M. S.; Keshavarz FK, N.; Bakhtiari, M. R.

2013-02-01

Faults, as main pathways for fluids, play a critical role in creating regions of high porosity and permeability, in cutting cap rock and in the migration of hydrocarbons into the reservoir. Therefore, accurate identification of fault zones is very important in maximizing production from petroleum traps. Image processing and modern visualization techniques are provided for better mapping of objects of interest. In this study, the application of fault mapping in the identification of fault zones within the Mishan and Aghajari formations above the Guri base unconformity surface in the eastern part of Persian Gulf is investigated. Seismic single- and multi-trace attribute analyses are employed separately to determine faults in a vertical section, but different kinds of geological objects cannot be identified using individual attributes only. A mapping model is utilized to improve the identification of the faults, giving more accurate results. This method is based on combinations of all individual relevant attributes using a neural network system to create combined attributes, which gives an optimal view of the object of interest. Firstly, a set of relevant attributes were separately calculated on the vertical section. Then, at interpreted positions, some example training locations were manually selected in each fault and non-fault class by an interpreter. A neural network was trained on combinations of the attributes extracted at the example training locations to generate an optimized fault cube. Finally, the results of the fault and nonfault probability cube were estimated, which the neural network applied to the entire data set. The fault probability cube was obtained with higher mapping accuracy and greater contrast, and with fewer disturbances in comparison with individual attributes. The computed results of this study can support better understanding of the data, providing fault zone mapping with reliable results.

Faulting along the southern margin of Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Arsdale, R.; Purser, J.; Stephenson, W.; Odum, J.

1998-01-01

The Reelfoot Lake basin, Tennessee, is structurally complex and of great interest seismologically because it is located at the junction of two seismicity trends of the New Madrid seismic zone. To better understand the structure at this location, a 7.5-km-long seismic reflection profile was acquired on roads along the southern margin of Reelfoot Lake. The seismic line reveals a westerly dipping basin bounded on the west by the Reelfoot reverse fault zone, the Ridgely right-lateral transpressive fault zone on the east, and the Cottonwood Grove right-lateral strike-slip fault in the middle of the basin. The displacement history of the Reelfoot fault zone appears to be the same as the Ridgely fault zone, thus suggesting that movement on these fault zones has been synchronous, perhaps since the Cretaceous. Since the Reelfoot and Ridgely fault systems are believed responsible for two of the mainshocks of 1811-1812, the fault history revealed in the Reelfoot Lake profile suggests that multiple mainshocks may be typical of the New Madrid seismic zone. The Ridgely fault zone consists of two northeast-striking faults that lie at the base of and within the Mississippi Valley bluff line. This fault zone has 15 m of post-Eocene, up-to-the-east displacement and appears to locally control the eastern limit of Mississippi River migration. The Cottonwood Grove fault zone passes through the center of the seismic line and has approximately 5 m up-to-the-east displacement. Correlation of the Cottonwood Grove fault with a possible fault scarp on the floor of Reelfoot Lake and the New Markham fault north of the lake suggests the Cottonwood Grove fault may change to a northerly strike at Reelfoot Lake, thereby linking the northeast-trending zones of seismicity in the New Madrid seismic zone.

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.

Variable modes of rifting in the eastern Basin and Range, USA from on-fault geological evidence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahl, T.; Niemi, N. A.

2017-12-01

Continental rifts are often divided along their axes into magmatic (or magma-assisted) and amagmatic (or magma-poor) segments. Less is known about magmatic versus non-magmatic extension across `wide' continental rift margins like the Basin and Range province of the USA. Paleoseismic trench investigations, Quaternary geochronology (10Be and 3He exposure-age, luminescence, and 40Ar/39Ar dating), and high-resolution topographic surveys (terrestrial laser scanning and UAV photogrammetry) were used to assess the timing and spatial variability of faulting at the Basin and Range-Colorado Plateau transition zone in central Utah. Results show that while the majority of strain is accommodated by a single, range- and province-bounding fault (the Wasatch fault zone, WFZ, slip rate of c. 3-4 mm yr-1), a transition to magma-assisted rifting occurs near the WFZ southern termination marked by a diffuse zone of faults associated with Pliocene to Holocene volcanism. Paleoseismic analysis of faults within and adjacent to this zone reveal recent (<18 ka) surface-ruptures on these faults. A single event displacement of 10-15 m for the Tabernacle fault at c. 15-18 ka (3He exposure-age) and large fault displacement gradients imply that slip was coeval with lava emplacement and that the faults in this region are linked, at least in part, to dike injection in the uppermost crust rather than slip at seismogenic depths. These results have implications for the controversial nature of regional seismic hazard and the structural evolution of the eastern Basin and Range.

Three-dimensional models of elastostatic deformation in heterogeneous media, with applications to the Eastern California Shear Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbot, Sylvain; Fialko, Yuri; Sandwell, David

2009-10-01

We present a semi-analytic iterative procedure for evaluating the 3-D deformation due to faults in an arbitrarily heterogeneous elastic half-space. Spatially variable elastic properties are modelled with equivalent body forces and equivalent surface traction in a `homogenized' elastic medium. The displacement field is obtained in the Fourier domain using a semi-analytic Green function. We apply this model to investigate the response of 3-D compliant zones (CZ) around major crustal faults to coseismic stressing by nearby earthquakes. We constrain the two elastic moduli, as well as the geometry of the fault zones by comparing the model predictions to Synthetic Aperture Radar inferferometric (InSAR) data. Our results confirm that the CZ models for the Rodman, Calico and Pinto Mountain faults in the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) can explain the coseismic InSAR data from both the Landers and the Hector Mine earthquakes. For the Pinto Mountain fault zone, InSAR data suggest a 50 per cent reduction in effective shear modulus and no significant change in Poisson's ratio compared to the ambient crust. The large wavelength of coseismic line-of-sight displacements around the Pinto Mountain fault requires a fairly wide (~1.9 km) CZ extending to a depth of at least 9 km. Best fit for the Calico CZ, north of Galway Dry Lake, is obtained for a 4km deep structure, with a 60 per cent reduction in shear modulus, with no change in Poisson's ratio. We find that the required effective rigidity of the Calico fault zone south of Galway Dry Lake is not as low as that of the northern segment, suggesting along-strike variations of effective elastic moduli within the same fault zone. The ECSZ InSAR data is best explained by CZ models with reduction in both shear and bulk moduli. These observations suggest pervasive and widespread damage around active crustal faults.

Seismicity of the St. Lawrence paleorift faults overprinted by a meteorite impact crater: Implications for crustal strength based on new earthquake relocations in the Charlevoix Seismic Zone, Eastern Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, H.; Harrington, R. M.; Liu, Y.; Lamontagne, M.; Pang, M.

2015-12-01

The Charlevoix Seismic Zone (CSZ), located along the St. Lawrence River (SLR) ~100 km downstream from Quebec City, is the most active seismic zone in eastern Canada with five historic earthquakes of M 6-7 and ~ 200 events/year reported by the Canadian National Seismograph Network. Cataloged earthquake epicenters outline two broad linear zones along the SLR with little shallow seismicity in between. Earthquakes form diffuse clusters between major dipping faults rather than concentrating on fault planes. Detailed fault geometry in the CSZ is uncertain and the effect on local seismicity of a meteorite impact structure that overprints the paleorift faults remains ambiguous. Here we relocate 1639 earthquakes occurring in the CSZ between 01/1988 - 10/2010 using the double-difference relocation method HypoDD and waveforms primarily from 7 local permanent stations. We use the layered SLR north shore velocity model from Lamontagne (1999), and travel time differences based on both catalog and cross-correlated P and S-phase picks. Of the 1639 relocated earthquakes, 1236 (75.4%) satisfied selection criteria of horizontal and vertical errors less than 2 km and 1 km respectively. Cross-sections of relocated seismicity show hypocenters along distinct active fault segments. Earthquakes located beneath the north shore of the SLR are likely correlated with the NW Gouffre fault, forming a ~10 km wide seismic zone parallel to the river, with dip angle changing to near vertical at the northern edge of the impact zone. In contrast, seismicity beneath the SLR forms a diffuse cloud within the impact structure, likely representing a highly fractured volume. It further implies that faults could be locally weak and subject to high pore-fluid pressures. Seismicity outside the impact structure defines linear structures aligning with the Charlevoix fault. Relocated events of M > 4 all locate outside the impact structure, indicating they nucleated on the NE-SW-oriented paleorift faults.

Precise relative locations for earthquakes in the northeast Pacific region

DOE PAGES

Cleveland, K. Michael; VanDeMark, Thomas F.; Ammon, Charles J.

2015-10-09

We report that double-difference methods applied to cross-correlation measured Rayleigh wave time shifts are an effective tool to improve epicentroid locations and relative origin time shifts in remote regions. We apply these methods to seismicity offshore of southwestern Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest, occurring along the boundaries of the Pacific and Juan de Fuca (including the Explorer Plate and Gorda Block) Plates. The Blanco, Mendocino, Revere-Dellwood, Nootka, and Sovanco fracture zones host the majority of this seismicity, largely consisting of strike-slip earthquakes. The Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and Gorda spreading ridges join these fracture zones and host normal faultingmore » earthquakes. Our results show that at least the moderate-magnitude activity clusters along fault strike, supporting suggestions of large variations in seismic coupling along oceanic transform faults. Our improved relative locations corroborate earlier interpretations of the internal deformation in the Explorer and Gorda Plates. North of the Explorer Plate, improved locations support models that propose northern extension of the Revere-Dellwood fault. Relocations also support interpretations that favor multiple parallel active faults along the Blanco Transform Fault Zone. Seismicity of the western half of the Blanco appears more scattered and less collinear than the eastern half, possibly related to fault maturity. We use azimuthal variations in the Rayleigh wave cross-correlation amplitude to detect and model rupture directivity for a moderate size earthquake along the eastern Blanco Fault. Lastly, the observations constrain the seismogenic zone geometry and suggest a relatively narrow seismogenic zone width of 2 to 4 km.« less

Quaternary Activity of the Monastir and Grombalia Fault Systems in the North‒Eastern Tunisia (Seismotectonic Implication)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghribi, R.; Zaatra, D.; Bouaziz, S.

2018-01-01

The Monastir and Grombalia fault systems consist of three strands that the northern segment corresponds to Hammamet and Grombalia faults. The southern strand represents Monastir Fault also referred to as the Skanes-Khnis Fault. These NW-trends are observed continuously in the major outcropping features of north-eastern Tunisia including both the Cap Bon peninsula and the Sahel domain. Along the Hammamet Fault, the north-eastern strand of Grombalia fault system, left lateral drainage offset of amount 220 m is found in Fawara valley. To the South, the left lateral movement is occurred along the Monastir Fault based on 180 m of Tyrrhenian terrace displacement. Field observations supported by satellite images suggest that the Monastir and Grombalia fault systems appear to slip mostly laterally with components of normal dip slip. Assuming the development of the stream networks during the Riss-Würm interglacial (115000-125000 years) and the age of the Tyrrhenian terrace (121 ± 10 ka), the strike slip rates of the Hammamet and Monastir faults are calculated in the range of 1.5-1.8 mm/yr. There vertical slip rates are estimated to be 0.06 and 0.26 mm/yr, respectively. These data are consistent with the displacement rate in the Pelagian shelf (1-2 mm/yr) but they are below the convergence rate of African-Eurasian plates (8 mm/yr). Our seismotectonics study reveals that a maximum earthquake of Mw = 6.5 could occur every 470 years in the Hammamet fault zone and Mw = 6-every 263 years in the Monastir fault zone.

Strain accumulation across the Eastern California Shear Zone at latitude 36°30'N

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gan, Weijun; Svarc, Jerry L.; Savage, J.C.; Prescott, W.H.

2000-01-01

The motion of a linear array of monuments extending across the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) has been measured from 1994 to 1999 with the Global Positioning System. The linear array is oriented N54°E, perpendicular to the tangent to the local small circle drawn about the Pacific-North America pole of rotation, and the observed motion across the ECSZ is approximated by differential rotation about that pole. The observations suggest uniform deformation within the ECSZ (strike N23°W) (26 nstrain yr−1 extension normal to the zone and 39 nstrain yr−1 simple right-lateral shear across it) with no significant deformation in the two blocks (the Sierra Nevada mountains and southern Nevada) on either side. The deformation may be imposed by right-lateral slip at depth on the individual major fault systems within the zone if the slip rates are: Death Valley-Furnace Creek fault 3.2±0.9 mm yr−1, Hunter Mountain-Panamint Valley fault 3.3±1.6 mm yr−1, and Owens Valley fault 6.9±1.6 mm yr−1. However, this estimate of the slip rate on the Owens Valley fault is 3 times greater than the geologic estimate.

Central and eastern Anatolian crustal deformation rate and velocity fields derived from GPS and earthquake data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simão, N. M.; Nalbant, S. S.; Sunbul, F.; Komec Mutlu, A.

2016-01-01

We present a new strain-rate and associated kinematic model for the eastern and central parts of Turkey. In the east, a quasi N-S compressional tectonic regime dominates the deformation field and is partitioned through the two major structural elements of the region, which are the conjugate dextral strike-slip North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) and the sinistral strike slip East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ). The observed surface deformation is similar to that inferred by anisotropy studies which sampled the region of the mantle closer to the crust (i.e. the lithospheric mantle and the Moho), and is dependent on the presence or absence of a lithospheric mantle, and of the level of coupling between it and the overlaying crust. The areas of the central and eastern parts of Turkey which are deforming at elevated rates are situated above areas with strong gradients in crustal thickness. This seems to indicate that these transition zones, situated between thinner and thicker crusts, promote more deformation at the surface. The regions that reveal elevated strain-rate values are 1) the Elaziğ-Bingol segment of the EAFZ, 2) the region around the Karlıova triple-junction including the Yedisu segment and the Varto fault, 3) the section of the NAFZ that extends from the Erzincan province up to the NAFZ-Ezinepazarı fault junction, and 4) sections of the Tuz Gölü Fault Zone. Other regions like the Adana basin, a significant part of the Central Anatolian Fault Zone (CAFZ), the Aksaray and the Ankara provinces, are deforming at smaller but still considerable rates and therefore should be considered as areas well capable of producing damaging earthquakes (between M6 and 7). This study also reveals that the central part of Turkey is moving at a faster rate towards the west than the eastern part Turkey, and that the wedge region between the NAFZ and the EAFZ accounts for the majority of the counter clockwise rotation between the eastern and the central parts of Turkey. This change in movement rate and direction could be the cause of the extensional deformation and respective crustal thinning, with the resulting upwelling of warmer upper mantle observed in tomographic studies for the region between the Iskenderun bay and the CAFZ. The partitioning of deformation into an extensional regime could be the cause of the relatively low levels of strain-rate in the south-west part of the EAFZ and the northern part of the Dead Sea Fault Zone. Finally, using this new compilation of GPS data for the central-eastern part of Turkey, we obtained a new Anatolia-Eurasia rotation pole situated at 2.01°W and 31.94°N with a rotation rate of 1.053 ± 0.015° /Ma.

Focal Mechanisms From Moment Tensor Solutions and First Motion Polarities of Shallow to Deep Local Earthquakes in Eastern Nepal and Southern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de La Torre, T. L.; Sheehan, A. F.; Monsalve, G.; Wu, F.

2004-12-01

We determined focal mechanisms using waveforms and first motion polarities from local earthquakes recorded during the Himalayan Nepal Tibet Seismic Experiment (HIMNT). The HIMNT experiment included the deployment of 28 broad band seismometers in eastern Nepal and southern Tibet from September 2001 to April 2003. Using a regional moment tensor method (Ammon and Randall, 2001) and first motion polarities for displaying double-couple focal mechanisms (Snokes, 2003), we analyzed the fault plane solutions at three distinct zones of seismicity. Characteristic focal mechanisms in seismically concentrated areas may indicate the presence of fault ramps or a decollement in the Himalayan collision zone. Previous studies of focal mechanisms on the Tibetan Plateau predominantly indicate east-west extension and shallow thrusting at the Himalayan collision zone for shallow to intermediate earthquakes (Ni and Barazangi, 1984; Molnar and Lyon-Caen, 1989; Randall et al., 1995) and east-west extension for intermediate to deep earthquakes (Zhu and Helmberger, 1996; Chen and Yang, 2004). The first zone in southeast Nepal between the Main Boundary and Main Frontal faults consist of earthquakes < Mw 4.0 at depths 40 - 60 km near the epicenter of the 1988 Udaypur earthquake, Mb 6.1, depth 57 km. The second zone north of the Main Central Thrust outcrop in eastern Nepal consists of 14 earthquakes 3.0 - 5.0 Mw at depths < 30 km that indicate north-south strike normal faulting and east-west strike thrust faulting. The third zone is an arc parallel to the Himalayas in southern Tibet and a cluster in northeast Nepal. This zone consists of 45 earthquakes < 4.0 Mw at depths > 50 km. Four earthquakes indicate northwest-southeast compression resulting in northeast strike strike-slip faulting while one earthquake in the northeast cluster indicates east-west compression at a source depth below the crust-mantle boundary. Focal mechanisms from full waveform moment tensor inversions are cross checked with first motion solutions for selected events. Source depths as determined from normalized error of the sum of the squared differences between the data and synthetic seismogram coincide with the source depths determined from the travel time residual inversion.

Active faults and deformation of the Catania margin (Eastern Sicily): preliminary results from the CRACK marine geophysical survey (Aug./Sep. 2016 R/V Tethys2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutscher, M. A.; Dellong, D.; Graindorge, D.; Le Roy, P., Sr.; Dominguez, S.; Barreca, G.; Cunarro, D.; Petersen, F.; Urlaub, M.; Krastel, S.; Gross, F.; Kopp, H.

2016-12-01

The marine geophysical survey entitled CRACK (Catania margin, Relief, ACtive faults and historical earthquaKes) aims to investigate active faults offshore eastern Sicily. Several faults have been mapped onshore on the SE flank of Mt. Etna and recently a major strike-slip fault system was mapped in the deeper offshore area. The purpose of this study is to perform shallow water bathymetric mapping and a high-resolution sparker seismic survey in the shelf zone between the deep offshore and the onshore areas, a zone less well studied. Aside from the two fault systems mentioned above, there is also the Malta escarpment, the onshore (but buried) blind-thrust of the Gela Nappe and the lateral ramp thrust of the Calabrian accretionary wedge. Somehow all these structures connect offshore Catania, though exactly how is still unknown. The study will take place between 18 Aug. and 4 Sept. 2016 using the 25m long coastal research vessel Tethys2 and will consist of three 5-day legs. The first leg (zone 2) will be purely sparker seismics and legs 2 and 3 will be combined seismics and bathymetry along the shallow submarine SE flank of Mt. Etna (zone 1) and shallow continental shelf SE of Catania (zone 3). Some time during the first leg will also be devoted to submarine geodesy. Five submarine geodetic stations were deployed along the dextral strike-slip "North Alfeo - Etna" fault by the German GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in April 2016 (R/V Poseidon). The long-term monitoring campaign should help indicate in the future if this fault is slowly creeping or not currently moving. The first five months of data will be downloaded during the CRACK cruise.

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.

Strain accumulation and rotation in the Eastern California Shear Zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savage, J.C.; Gan, Weijun; Svarc, J.L.

2001-01-01

Although the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) (strike ???N25??W) does not quite coincide with a small circle drawn about the Pacific-North America pole of rotation, trilateration and GPS measurements demonstrate that the motion within the zone corresponds to right-lateral simple shear across a vertical plane (strike N33??W??5??) roughly parallel to the tangent to that local small circle (strike ???N40??W). If the simple shear is released by slip on faults subparallel to the shear zone, the accumulated rotation is also released, leaving no secular rotation. South of the Garlock fault the principal faults (e.g., Calico-Blackwater fault) strike ???N40??W, close enough to the strike of the vertical plane across which maximum right-lateral shear accumulates to almost wholly accommodate that accumulation of both strain and rotation by right-lateral slip. North of the Garlock fault dip slip as well as strike slip on the principal faults (strike ???N20??W) is required to accommodate the simple shear accumulation. In both cases the accumulated rotation is released with the shear strain. The Garlock fault, which transects the ECSZ, is not offset by north-northwest striking faults nor, despite geological evidence for long-term left-lateral slip, does it appear at the present time to be accumulating left-lateral simple shear strain across the fault due to slip at depth. Rather the motion is explained by right-lateral simple shear across the orthogonal ECSZ. Left-lateral slip on the Garlock fault will release the shear strain accumulating there but would augment the accumulating rotation, resulting in a secular clockwise rotation rate ???80 nrad yr-1 (4.6?? Myr-1).

The electrical resistivity signature of a fault controlling gold mineralization and the implications for Mesozoic mineralization: a case study from the Jiaojia Fault, eastern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Kun; Lü, Qingtian; Yan, Jiayong; Hu, Hao; Fu, GuangMing

2017-08-01

We use 3D audio magnetotelluric method to the south segment of Jiaojia fault belt, and obtain the 3D electrical model of this area. Regional geophysical data were combined in an analysis of strata and major structural distribution in the study area, and included the southern segment of the Jiaojia fault zone transformed into two fault assemblages. Together with the previous studies of the ore-controlling action of the Jiaojia fault belt and deposit characteristics, the two faults are considered to be favorable metallogenic provinces, because some important features coupled with them, such as the subordinate fault intersection zone and several fault assemblages in one fault zone. It was also suggested the control action of later fault with reversed downthrows to the ore distribution. These studies have enabled us to predict the presence of two likely target regions of mineralization, and are prospecting breakthrough in the southern section of Jiaojia in the Shandong Peninsula, China.

GONAF - the borehole Geophysical Observatory at the North Anatolian Fault in the eastern Sea of Marmara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohnhoff, Marco; Dresen, Georg; Ceken, Ulubey; Tuba Kadirioglu, Filiz; Feyiz Kartal, Recai; Kilic, Tugbay; Nurlu, Murat; Yanik, Kenan; Acarel, Digdem; Bulut, Fatih; Ito, Hisao; Johnson, Wade; Malin, Peter Eric; Mencin, Dave

2017-05-01

The Marmara section of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) runs under water and is located less than 20 km from the 15-million-person population center of Istanbul in its eastern portion. Based on historical seismicity data, recurrence times forecast an impending magnitude M>7 earthquake for this region. The permanent GONAF (Geophysical Observatory at the North Anatolian Fault) has been installed around this section to help capture the seismic and strain activity preceding, during, and after such an anticipated event.

Microstructural record of pressure solution and crystal plastic deformation in carbonate fault rocks from a shallow crustal strike-slip fault, Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Helene; Rogowitz, Anna; Grasemann, Benhard; Decker, Kurt

2017-04-01

This study presents microstructural investigations of natural carbonate fault rocks that formed by a suite of different deformation processes, involving hydro-fracturing, dissolution-precipitation creep and cataclasis. Some fault rocks show also clear indications of crystal plastic deformation, which is quite unexpected, as the fault rocks were formed in an upper crustal setting, raising the question of possible strongly localised, low temperature ductile deformation in carbonate rocks. The investigated carbonate fault rocks are from an exhumed, sinistral strike-slip fault at the eastern segment of the Salzachtal-Ennstal-Mariazell-Puchberg (SEMP) fault system in the Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria). The SEMP fault system formed during eastward lateral extrusion of the Eastern Alps in the Oligocene to Lower Miocene. Based on vitrinite reflectance data form intramontane Teritary basins within the Northern Calcareous Alps, a maximum burial depth of 4 km for the investigated fault segment is estimated. The investigated fault accommodated sinistral slip of several hundreds of meters. Microstructural analysis of fault rocks includes scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction mapping. The data show that fault rocks underwent various stages of evolution including early intense veining (hydro-fracturing) and stylolite formation reworked by localised shear zones. Cross cutting relationship reveals that veins never cross cut clay seams accumulated along stylolites. We conclude that pressure solution processes occured after hydro-fracturing. Clay enriched zones localized further deformation, producing a network of small-scale clay-rich shear zones of up to 1 mm thickness anastomosing around carbonate microlithons, varying from several mm down to some µm in size. Clay seams consist of kaolinit, chlorite and illite matrix and form (sub) parallel zones in which calcite was dissolved. Beside pressure solution, calcite microlithons show also ductile deformation microstructures, including deformation twinning, undulose extinction, subgrain rotation recrystallization and even grain boundary migration. Especially coarse grained calcites from veins localized ductile deformation and record dislocation glide. The investigated fault rocks are excellent examples of frictional, pressure solution and crystal plastic deformation processes. We speculated that crystal plastic deformation typical for higher metamorphic shear zones in marbles, can be either produced under much lower temperature conditions or the temperature necessary for crystal plastic deformation was generated by frictional slip or strain heating within the fault zone.

Structural Data for the Columbus Salt Marsh Geothermal Area - GIS Data

DOE Data Explorer

Faulds, James E.

2011-12-31

Shapefiles and spreadsheets of structural data, including attitudes of faults and strata and slip orientations of faults. - Detailed geologic mapping of ~30 km2 was completed in the vicinity of the Columbus Marsh geothermal field to obtain critical structural data that would elucidate the structural controls of this field. - Documenting E‐ to ENE‐striking left lateral faults and N‐ to NNE‐striking normal faults. - Some faults cut Quaternary basalts. - This field appears to occupy a displacement transfer zone near the eastern end of a system of left‐lateral faults. ENE‐striking sinistral faults diffuse into a system of N‐ to NNE‐striking normal faults within the displacement transfer zone. - Columbus Marsh therefore corresponds to an area of enhanced extension and contains a nexus of fault intersections, both conducive for geothermal activity.

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.

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.

Thematic Mapper and field investigations at the intersection of the Death Valley and Garlock fault zones, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brady, Roland H., III; Cregan, Alan; Clayton, Jeff; Troxel, Bennie W.; Verosub, Kenneth L.; Abrams, Michael

1989-01-01

Analysis of processed images and detailed field investigations have provided significant information concerning the late-Pliocene and Quaternary evolution of the intersection of the Garlock and Death Valley fault zones. The imagery was used to determine patterns of sedimentation and age relationships on alluvial fans and to determine the geometry, styles of deformation, and relative ages of movements on major and minor faults in the study area. The field investigation often confirmed the inferences drawn from the images and provided additional tectonic and geomorphologic data about the Quaternary deformation of the region. All the data gathered in the course of this project support the contention that the Garlock fault zone terminates in the Avawatz Mountains and that the Death Valley fault zone continues south of the intersection for at least 50 km, forming the eastern boundary of the Mojave province.

Spatio-temporal mapping of plate boundary faults in California using geodetic imaging

USGS Publications Warehouse

Donnellan, Andrea; Arrowsmith, Ramon; DeLong, Stephen B.

2017-01-01

The Pacific–North American plate boundary in California is composed of a 400-km-wide network of faults and zones of distributed deformation. Earthquakes, even large ones, can occur along individual or combinations of faults within the larger plate boundary system. While research often focuses on the primary and secondary faults, holistic study of the plate boundary is required to answer several fundamental questions. How do plate boundary motions partition across California faults? How do faults within the plate boundary interact during earthquakes? What fraction of strain accumulation is relieved aseismically and does this provide limits on fault rupture propagation? Geodetic imaging, broadly defined as measurement of crustal deformation and topography of the Earth’s surface, enables assessment of topographic characteristics and the spatio-temporal behavior of the Earth’s crust. We focus here on crustal deformation observed with continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) data and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) from NASA’s airborne UAVSAR platform, and on high-resolution topography acquired from lidar and Structure from Motion (SfM) methods. Combined, these measurements are used to identify active structures, past ruptures, transient motions, and distribution of deformation. The observations inform estimates of the mechanical and geometric properties of faults. We discuss five areas in California as examples of different fault behavior, fault maturity and times within the earthquake cycle: the M6.0 2014 South Napa earthquake rupture, the San Jacinto fault, the creeping and locked Carrizo sections of the San Andreas fault, the Landers rupture in the Eastern California Shear Zone, and the convergence of the Eastern California Shear Zone and San Andreas fault in southern California. These examples indicate that distribution of crustal deformation can be measured using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and high-resolution topography and can improve our understanding of tectonic deformation and rupture characteristics within the broad plate boundary zone.

Earthquake source parameters along the Hellenic subduction zone and numerical simulations of historical tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yolsal-Çevikbilen, Seda; Taymaz, Tuncay

2012-04-01

We studied source mechanism parameters and slip distributions of earthquakes with Mw ≥ 5.0 occurred during 2000-2008 along the Hellenic subduction zone by using teleseismic P- and SH-waveform inversion methods. In addition, the major and well-known earthquake-induced Eastern Mediterranean tsunamis (e.g., 365, 1222, 1303, 1481, 1494, 1822 and 1948) were numerically simulated and several hypothetical tsunami scenarios were proposed to demonstrate the characteristics of tsunami waves, propagations and effects of coastal topography. The analogy of current plate boundaries, earthquake source mechanisms, various earthquake moment tensor catalogues and several empirical self-similarity equations, valid for global or local scales, were used to assume conceivable source parameters which constitute the initial and boundary conditions in simulations. Teleseismic inversion results showed that earthquakes along the Hellenic subduction zone can be classified into three major categories: [1] focal mechanisms of the earthquakes exhibiting E-W extension within the overriding Aegean plate; [2] earthquakes related to the African-Aegean convergence; and [3] focal mechanisms of earthquakes lying within the subducting African plate. Normal faulting mechanisms with left-lateral strike slip components were observed at the eastern part of the Hellenic subduction zone, and we suggest that they were probably concerned with the overriding Aegean plate. However, earthquakes involved in the convergence between the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean lithospheres indicated thrust faulting mechanisms with strike slip components, and they had shallow focal depths (h < 45 km). Deeper earthquakes mainly occurred in the subducting African plate, and they presented dominantly strike slip faulting mechanisms. Slip distributions on fault planes showed both complex and simple rupture propagations with respect to the variation of source mechanism and faulting geometry. We calculated low stress drop values (Δσ < 30 bars) for all earthquakes implying typically interplate seismic activity in the region. Further, results of numerical simulations verified that damaging historical tsunamis along the Hellenic subduction zone are able to threaten especially the coastal plains of Crete and Rhodes islands, SW Turkey, Cyprus, Levantine, and Nile Delta-Egypt regions. Thus, we tentatively recommend that special care should be considered in the evaluation of the tsunami risk assessment of the Eastern Mediterranean region for future studies.

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.

Shear concentration in a collision zone: kinematics of the Chihshang Fault as revealed by outcrop-scale quantification of active faulting, Longitudinal Valley, eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angelier, J.; Chu, H.-T.; Lee, J.-C.

1997-06-01

Repeated measurements of active deformation were carried out at three sites along the active Chihshang Fault, a segment of the Longitudinal Valley Fault zone of eastern Taiwan (the present-day plate boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasia). Reliable annual records of displacement along an active fault, were obtained based on detailed surveys of faulted concrete structures. Along the active Chihshang Fault striking N18°E, we determined average motion vectors trending N37°W with an average shortening of 2.2 cm/yr. Thus, the transverse component of motion related to westward thrusting is 1.8 cm/yr, whereas the left-lateral strike-slip component of motion is 1.3 cm/yr. The fault dips 39-45° to the east, so that the vertical displacement is 1.5-3 cm/yr and the actual oblique offset of the fault increases at a rate of 2.7-3.7 cm/yr. This is in good agreement with the results of regional geodetic and tectonic analyses in Taiwan, and consistent with the N54°W trend of convergence between the northernmost Luzon Arc and South China revealed by GPS studies. Our study provides an example of extreme shear concentration in an oblique collision zone. At Chihshang, the whole horizontal shortening of the Longitudinal Valley Fault, 2.2 cm/yr on average, occurs across a single, narrow fault zone, so that the whole reverse slip (about 2.7-3.7 cm/yr depending on fault dip) was entirely recorded by walls 20-200 m long where faults are tightly localized. This active faulting accounts for more than one fourth (27%) of the total shortening between the Luzon Arc and South China recorded through GPS analyses. Further surveys should indicate whether the decreasing shortening velocity across the fault is significant (revealing increasing earthquake risk due to stress accumulation) or not (revealing continuing fault creep and 'weak' behaviour of the Chihshang Fault).

Cosmogenic 10Be and 36Cl geochronology of offset alluvial fans along the northern Death Valley fault zone: Implications for transient strain in the eastern California shear zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frankel, K.L.; Brantley, K.S.; Dolan, J.F.; Finkel, R.C.; Klinger, R.E.; Knott, J.R.; Machette, M.N.; Owen, L.A.; Phillips, F.M.; Slate, J.L.; Wernicke, B.P.

2007-01-01

The northern Death Valley fault zone (NDVFZ) has long been recognized as a major right-lateral strike-slip fault in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). However, its geologic slip rate has been difficult to determine. Using high-resolution digital topographic imagery and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating, we present the first geochronologically determined slip rate for the NDVFZ. Our study focuses on the Red Wall Canyon alluvial fan, which exposes clean dextral offsets of seven channels. Analysis of airborne laser swath mapping data indicates ???297 ?? 9 m of right-lateral displacement on the fault system since the late Pleistocene. In situ terrestrial cosmogenic 10Be and 36C1 geochronology was used to date the Red Wall Canyon fan and a second, correlative fan also cut by the fault. Beryllium 10 dates from large cobbles and boulders provide a maximum age of 70 +22/-20 ka for the offset landforms. The minimum age of the alluvial fan deposits based on 36Cl depth profiles is 63 ?? 8 ka. Combining the offset measurement with the cosmogenic 10Be date yields a geologic fault slip rate of 4.2 +1.9/-1.1 mm yr-1, whereas the 36Cl data indicate 4.7 +0.9/-0.6 mm yr-1 of slip. Summing these slip rates with known rates on the Owens Valley, Hunter Mountain, and Stateline faults at similar latitudes suggests a total geologic slip rate across the northern ECSZ of ???8.5 to 10 mm yr-1. This rate is commensurate with the overall geodetic rate and implies that the apparent discrepancy between geologic and geodetic data observed in the Mojave section of the ECSZ does not extend north of the Garlock fault. Although the overall geodetic rates are similar, the best estimates based on geology predict higher strain rates in the eastern part of the ECSZ than to the west, whereas the observed geodetic strain is relatively constant. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.

Cosmogenic 10Be and 36Cl geochronology of offset alluvial fans along the northern Death Valley fault zone: Implications for transient strain in the eastern California shear zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frankel, Kurt L.; Brantley, Katherine S.; Dolan, James F.; Finkel, Robert C.; Klinger, Ralph E.; Knott, Jeffrey R.; Machette, Michael N.; Owen, Lewis A.; Phillips, Fred M.; Slate, Janet L.; Wernicke, Brian P.

2007-06-01

The northern Death Valley fault zone (NDVFZ) has long been recognized as a major right-lateral strike-slip fault in the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). However, its geologic slip rate has been difficult to determine. Using high-resolution digital topographic imagery and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating, we present the first geochronologically determined slip rate for the NDVFZ. Our study focuses on the Red Wall Canyon alluvial fan, which exposes clean dextral offsets of seven channels. Analysis of airborne laser swath mapping data indicates ˜297 ± 9 m of right-lateral displacement on the fault system since the late Pleistocene. In situ terrestrial cosmogenic 10Be and 36Cl geochronology was used to date the Red Wall Canyon fan and a second, correlative fan also cut by the fault. Beryllium 10 dates from large cobbles and boulders provide a maximum age of 70 +22/-20 ka for the offset landforms. The minimum age of the alluvial fan deposits based on 36Cl depth profiles is 63 ± 8 ka. Combining the offset measurement with the cosmogenic 10Be date yields a geologic fault slip rate of 4.2 +1.9/-1.1 mm yr-1, whereas the 36Cl data indicate 4.7 +0.9/-0.6 mm yr-1 of slip. Summing these slip rates with known rates on the Owens Valley, Hunter Mountain, and Stateline faults at similar latitudes suggests a total geologic slip rate across the northern ECSZ of ˜8.5 to 10 mm yr-1. This rate is commensurate with the overall geodetic rate and implies that the apparent discrepancy between geologic and geodetic data observed in the Mojave section of the ECSZ does not extend north of the Garlock fault. Although the overall geodetic rates are similar, the best estimates based on geology predict higher strain rates in the eastern part of the ECSZ than to the west, whereas the observed geodetic strain is relatively constant.

Active faults in Africa: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skobelev, S. F.; Hanon, M.; Klerkx, J.; Govorova, N. N.; Lukina, N. V.; Kazmin, V. G.

2004-03-01

The active fault database and Map of active faults in Africa, in scale of 1:5,000,000, were compiled according to the ILP Project II-2 "World Map of Major Active Faults". The data were collected in the Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, and in the Geological Institute, Moscow, where the final edition was carried out. Active faults of Africa form three groups. The first group is represented by thrusts and reverse faults associated with compressed folds in the northwest Africa. They belong to the western part of the Alpine-Central Asian collision belt. The faults disturb only the Earth's crust and some of them do not penetrate deeper than the sedimentary cover. The second group comprises the faults of the Great African rift system. The faults form the known Western and Eastern branches, which are rifts with abnormal mantle below. The deep-seated mantle "hot" anomaly probably relates to the eastern volcanic branch. In the north, it joins with the Aden-Red Sea rift zone. Active faults in Egypt, Libya and Tunis may represent a link between the East African rift system and Pantellerian rift zone in the Mediterranean. The third group included rare faults in the west of Equatorial Africa. The data were scarce, so that most of the faults of this group were identified solely by interpretation of space imageries and seismicity. Some longer faults of the group may continue the transverse faults of the Atlantic and thus can penetrate into the mantle. This seems evident for the Cameron fault line.

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.

Basin geometry and cumulative offsets in the Eastern Transverse Ranges, southern California: Implications for transrotational deformation along the San Andreas fault system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, V.E.; Powell, R.E.

2009-01-01

The Eastern Transverse Ranges, adjacent to and southeast of the big left bend of the San Andreas fault, southern California, form a crustal block that has rotated clockwise in response to dextral shear within the San Andreas system. Previous studies have indicated a discrepancy between the measured magnitudes of left slip on through-going east-striking fault zones of the Eastern Transverse Ranges and those predicted by simple geometric models using paleomagnetically determined clockwise rotations of basalts distributed along the faults. To assess the magnitude and source of this discrepancy, we apply new gravity and magnetic data in combination with geologic data to better constrain cumulative fault offsets and to define basin structure for the block between the Pinto Mountain and Chiriaco fault zones. Estimates of offset from using the length of pull-apart basins developed within left-stepping strands of the sinistral faults are consistent with those derived by matching offset magnetic anomalies and bedrock patterns, indicating a cumulative offset of at most ???40 km. The upper limit of displacements constrained by the geophysical and geologic data overlaps with the lower limit of those predicted at the 95% confidence level by models of conservative slip located on margins of rigid rotating blocks and the clockwise rotation of the paleomagnetic vectors. Any discrepancy is likely resolved by internal deformation within the blocks, such as intense deformation adjacent to the San Andreas fault (that can account for the absence of basins there as predicted by rigid-block models) and linkage via subsidiary faults between the main faults. ?? 2009 Geological Society of America.

Late Quaternary history of the Owens Valley fault zone, eastern California, and surface rupture associated with the 1872 earthquake

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

Beanland, S.; Clark, M.M.

1993-04-01

The right-lateral Owens Valley fault zone (OVFZ) in eastern California extends north about 100 km from near the northwest shore of Owens Lake to beyond Big Pine. It passes through Lone Pine near the eastern base of the Alabama Hills and follows the floor of Owens Valley northward to the Poverty Hills, where it steps 3 km to the left and continues northwest across Crater Mountain and through Big Pine. Data from one site suggest an average net slip rate for the OVFZ of 1.5 [+-] 1 mm/yr for the past 300 ky. Several other sites yield an average Holocenemore » net slip rate of 2 [+-] 1 mm/yr. The OVFZ apparently has experienced three major Holocene earthquakes. The minimum average recurrence interval is 5,000 years at the subsidiary Lone Pine fault, whereas it is 3,300 to 5,000 years elsewhere along the OVFZ. The prehistoric earthquakes are not dated, so an average recurrence interval need not apply. However, roughly equal (characteristic) displacement apparently happened during each Holocene earthquake. The Owens Valley fault zone accommodates some of the relative motion (dextral shear) between the North American and Pacific plates along a discrete structure. This shear occurs in the Walker Lane belt of normal and strike-slip faults within the mainly extensional Basin and Range Province. In Owens Valley displacement is partitioned between the OVFZ and the nearby, subparallel, and purely normal range-front faults of the Sierra Nevada. Compared to the OVFZ, these range-front normal faults are very discontinuous and have smaller Holocene slip rates of 0.1 to 0.8 mm/yr, dip slip. Contemporary activity on adjacent faults of such contrasting styles suggests large temporal fluctuations in the relative magnitudes of the maximum and intermediate principal stresses while the extension direction remains consistently east-west.« less

The Interpretation of Crustal Dynamics Data in Terms of Plate Interactions and Active Tectonics of the Anatolian Plate and Surrounding Regions in the Middle East

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toksoz, M. Nafi; Reilinger, Robert E.

1990-01-01

During the past 6 months, efforts were concentrated on the following areas: (1) Continued development of realistic, finite element modeling of plate interactions and associated deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean; (2) Neotectonic field investigations of seismic faulting along the active fault systems in Turkey with emphasis on identifying seismic gaps along the North Anatolian fault; and (3) Establishment of a GPS regional monitoring network in the zone of ongoing continental collision in eastern Turkey (supported in part by NSF).

On fault evidence for a large earthquake in the late fifteenth century, Eastern Kunlun fault, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junlong, Zhang

2017-11-01

The EW-trending Kunlun Fault System (KFS) is one of the major left-lateral strike-slip faults on the Tibetan Plateau. It forms the northern boundary of the Bayan Har block. Heretofore, no evidence has been provided for the most recent event (MRE) of the 70-km-long eastern section of the KFS. The studied area is located in the north of the Zoige Basin (northwest Sichuan province) and was recognized by field mapping. Several trenches were excavated and revealed evidence of repeated events in late Holocene. The fault zone is characterized by a distinct 30-60-cm-thick clay fault gouge layer juxtaposing the hanging wall bedrock over unconsolidated late Holocene footwall colluvium and alluvium. The fault zone, hanging wall, and footwall were conformably overlain by undeformed post-MRE deposits. Samples of charred organic material were obtained from the top of the faulted sediments and the base of the unfaulted sediments. Modeling of the age of samples, earthquake yielded a calibrated 2σ radiocarbon age of A.D. 1489 ± 82. Combined with the historical earthquake record, the MRE is dated at A.D. 1488. Based on the over 50 km-long surface rupture, the magnitude of this event is nearly M w 7.0. Our data suggests that a 200-km-long seismic gap could be further divided into the Luocha and Maqu sections. For the last 1000 years, the Maqu section has been inactive, and hence, it is likely that the end of its seismic cycle is approaching, and that there is a potentially significant seismic hazard in eastern Tibet.

Microstructural record of cataclastic and dissolution-precipitation processes from shallow crustal carbonate strike-slip faults, Northern Calcareous Alps (Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, Helene; Grasemann, Bernhard; Decker, Kurt

2015-04-01

The concept of coseismic slip and aseismic creep deformation along faults is supported by the variability of natural fault rocks and their microstructures. Faults in carbonate rocks are characterized by very narrow principal slip zones (cm to mm wide) containing (ultra)cataclastic fault rocks that accommodate most of the fault displacement. Fluidization of ultracataclastic sub layers and thermal decomposition of calcite due to frictional heating have been proposed as possible indicators for seismic slip. Dissolution-precipitation (DP) processes are possible mechanism of aseismic sliding, resulting in spaced cleavage solution planes and associated veins, indicating diffusive mass transfer and precipitation in pervasive vein networks. We investigated exhumed, sinistral strike-slip faults in carbonates of the Northern Calcareous Alps. The study presents microstructural investigations of natural carbonate fault rocks that formed by cataclastic and dissolution-precipitation related deformation processes. Faults belong to the eastern segment of the Salzachtal-Ennstal-Mariazell-Puchberg (SEMP) fault system that was formed during eastward lateral extrusion of the Eastern Alps in Oligocene to Lower Miocene. The investigated faults accommodated sinistral slip between several tens and few hundreds of meters. Microstructural analysis of fault rocks was done with scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy. Deformation experiments of natural fault rocks are planned to be conducted at the Sapienza University of Roma and should be available at the meeting. The investigated fault rocks give record of alternating cataclastic deformation and DP creep. DP fault rocks reveal various stages of evolution including early stylolites, pervasive pressure solution seams and cleavage, localized shear zones with syn-kinematic calcite fibre growth and mixed DP/cataclastic microstructures, involving pseudo sc- and scc'-fabrics. Pressure solution seams host fine grained kaolinit, chlorite and illite while the protolith shows only weak evidence of detrital clay content. Our studies suggest that velocity weakening and strengthening mechanisms alternated during the accumulation of displacement along the SEMP fault zone.

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.

The seismic velocity structure of a foreshock zone on an oceanic transform fault: Imaging a rupture barrier to the 2008 Mw 6.0 earthquake on the Gofar fault, EPR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roland, E. C.; McGuire, J. J.; Lizarralde, D.; Collins, J. A.

2010-12-01

East Pacific Rise (EPR) oceanic transform faults are known to exhibit a number of unique seismicity characteristics, including abundant seismic swarms, a prevalence of aseismic slip, and high rates of foreshock activity. Until recently the details of how this behavior fits into the seismic cycle of large events that occur periodically on transforms have remained poorly understood. In 2008 the most recent seismic cycle of the western segment (G3) of the Gofar fault (4 degrees South on the EPR) ended with a Mw 6.0 earthquake. Seismicity associated with this event was recorded by a local array of ocean bottom seismometers, and earthquake locations reveal several distinct segments with unique slip behavior on the G3 fault. Preceding the Mw 6.0 event, a significant foreshock sequence was recorded just to the east of the mainshock rupture zone that included more than 20,000 detected earthquakes. This foreshock zone formed the eastern barrier to the mainshock rupture, and following the mainshock, seismicity rates within the foreshock zone remained unchanged. Based on aftershock locations of events following the 2007 Mw 6.0 event that completed the seismic cycle on the eastern end of the G3 fault, it appears that the same foreshock zone may have served as the western rupture barrier for that prior earthquake. Moreover, mainshock rupture associated with each of the last 8 large (~ Mw 6.0) events on the G3 fault seems to terminate at the same foreshock zone. In order to elucidate some of the structural controls on fault slip and earthquake rupture along transform faults, we present a seismic P-wave velocity profile crossing the center of the foreshock zone of the Gofar fault, as well as a profile for comparison across the neighboring Quebrada fault. Although tectonically similar, Quebrada does not sustain large earthquakes and is thought to accommodate slip primarily aseismically and with small magnitude earthquake swarms. Velocity profiles were obtained using data collected from ~100 km refraction profiles crossing the two faults, each using 8 short period ocean bottom seismometers from OBSIP and over 900 shots from the RV Marcus Langseth. These data are modeled using a 2-D tomographic code that allows joint inversion of the Pg, PmP, and Pn arrivals. We resolve a significant low velocity zone associated with the faults, which likely indicates rocks that have undergone intensive brittle deformation. Low velocities may also signify the presence of metamorphic alteration and/or elevated fluid pressures, both of which could have a significant affect on the friction laws that govern fault slip in these regions. A broad low velocity zone is apparent in the shallow crust (< 3km) at both faults, with velocities that are reduced by more than 1 km/s relative to the surrounding oceanic crust. A narrower zone of reduced seismic velocity appears to extend to mantle depths, and particularly on the Gofar fault, this corresponds with the seismogenic zone inferred from located foreshock seismicity, spanning depths of 3-9 km beneath the seafloor.

Physical and chemical properties of the creeping fault ruptured in the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake from the WFSD-3P cores, eastern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, X.; Li, H.; Wang, H.; Zhang, L., Jr.; Chevalier, M. L.

2016-12-01

The Anxian-Guanxian Fault (AGF) is a frontal fault of the Longmen Shan thrust belt, which ruptured during the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. This study focuses on the 551.54 m-depth cores from the shallow hole of the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling Project WFSD-3P which drilled across the AGF. Detailed core petrological study, geophysical downhole logs, rock magnetism and XRF analyses were conducted to explore the physical and chemical properties of the AGF, which is helpful to reveal the faulting mechanism and provides a reference to determine behaviors of other faults. The AGF zone in the WFSD-3p mainly consists of fault gouge and fault breccia from 442.41-510.14 m depth cores ( 48 m thick), with a dip angle of 45°. Fine-grained fault gouge and pressolution structures are commonly observed under optical microscope, which indicate the AGF is in creeping. The average magnetic susceptibility value of the fault gouge is slightly less than that of the country rock and the main magnetic carriers are pyrrhotite on the basis of low-temperature magnetic measurement. This phenomenon is different from the characteristics of other seismic faults with high magnetic susceptibility value due to heating by rapid slip friction. In terms of chemical properties, the fault gouge is characterized by relatively low concentration of iron, manganese and calcium, as well as high concentration of copper, vanadium and sulfur according to XRF analyses. In addition, the fluid samples are reductive, with a PH value of 10 and a negative value for redox potential. Combined with the grey-green sandstone along the rupture zone, they indicate that the AGF creeping is in a reducing environment. There are partly locked areas with clasts by rapid slip during the earthquake in the AGF zone. This observation was present at the boundary of the Triassic and Jurassic units ( 507 m depth), near the bottom of the fault zone. It represents the location of the Principle Slip Zone (PSZ) of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and shows earthquakes might occur along a creeping fault in certain cases.

Earthquake activity along the Himalayan orogenic belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, L.; Mori, J. J.

2017-12-01

The collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates formed the Himalayas, the largest orogenic belt on the Earth. The entire region accommodates shallow earthquakes, while intermediate-depth earthquakes are concentrated at the eastern and western Himalayan syntaxis. Here we investigate the focal depths, fault plane solutions, and source rupture process for three earthquake sequences, which are located at the western, central and eastern regions of the Himalayan orogenic belt. The Pamir-Hindu Kush region is located at the western Himalayan syntaxis and is characterized by extreme shortening of the upper crust and strong interaction of various layers of the lithosphere. Many shallow earthquakes occur on the Main Pamir Thrust at focal depths shallower than 20 km, while intermediate-deep earthquakes are mostly located below 75 km. Large intermediate-depth earthquakes occur frequently at the western Himalayan syntaxis about every 10 years on average. The 2015 Nepal earthquake is located in the central Himalayas. It is a typical megathrust earthquake that occurred on the shallow portion of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT). Many of the aftershocks are located above the MHT and illuminate faulting structures in the hanging wall with dip angles that are steeper than the MHT. These observations provide new constraints on the collision and uplift processes for the Himalaya orogenic belt. The Indo-Burma region is located south of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, where the strike of the plate boundary suddenly changes from nearly east-west at the Himalayas to nearly north-south at the Burma Arc. The Burma arc subduction zone is a typical oblique plate convergence zone. The eastern boundary is the north-south striking dextral Sagaing fault, which hosts many shallow earthquakes with focal depth less than 25 km. In contrast, intermediate-depth earthquakes along the subduction zone reflect east-west trending reverse faulting.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bechtold, I. C. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Analysis of ERTS-1 MSS imagery over the sourthern Basin-Range Province of California, Nevada, and Arizona has led to recognition of regional tectonic control of volcanism, plutonism, mineralization, and fault patterns. This conclusion is the result of geologic reconnaissance of anomalies observed in ERTS-1 and Apollo-9 data, guided by intermediate scale U-2 photography, SLAR, and relevant geologic literature. In addition to regional tectonic studies, the ERTS-1 imagery provides a basis for detailed research of relatively small geologic features. Interpretation of ERTS-1 and Apollo-9 space imagery and intermediate scale X-15 and U-2 photography indicates the presence of a major fault zone along the California-Nevada state line, here named the Pahrump fault zone. Field mapping confirms previously unreported evidence of fault breaks in bedrock, along range fronts and in Quaternary alluvium and lake sediments. Regional gravity lows and fault traces within the Pahrump fault zone from a general left stepping en echelon pattern. The trend and postulated diplacement for this fault are similar to other major strike slip fault zones in the southern Basin-Range Province.

Differential Extension, Displacement Transfer, and the South to North Decrease in Displacement on the Furnace Creek - Fish Lake Valley Fault System, Western Great Basin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katopody, D. T.; Oldow, J. S.

2015-12-01

The northwest-striking Furnace Creek - Fish Lake Valley (FC-FLV) fault system stretches for >250 km from southeastern California to western Nevada, forms the eastern boundary of the northern segment of the Eastern California Shear Zone, and has contemporary displacement. The FC-FLV fault system initiated in the mid-Miocene (10-12 Ma) and shows a south to north decrease in displacement from a maximum of 75-100 km to less than 10 km. Coeval elongation by extension on north-northeast striking faults within the adjoining blocks to the FC-FLV fault both supply and remove cumulative displacement measured at the northern end of the transcurrent fault system. Elongation and displacement transfer in the eastern block, constituting the southern Walker Lane of western Nevada, exceeds that of the western block and results in the net south to north decrease in displacement on the FC-FLV fault system. Elongation in the eastern block is accommodated by late Miocene to Pliocene detachment faulting followed by extension on superposed, east-northeast striking, high-angle structures. Displacement transfer from the FC-FLV fault system to the northwest-trending faults of the central Walker Lane to the north is accomplished by motion on a series of west-northwest striking transcurrent faults, named the Oriental Wash, Sylvania Mountain, and Palmetto Mountain fault systems. The west-northwest striking transcurrent faults cross-cut earlier detachment structures and are kinematically linked to east-northeast high-angle extensional faults. The transcurrent faults are mapped along strike for 60 km to the east, where they merge with north-northwest faults forming the eastern boundary of the southern Walker Lane. The west-northwest trending transcurrent faults have 30-35 km of cumulative left-lateral displacement and are a major contributor to the decrease in right-lateral displacement on the FC-FLV fault system.

Links Between Earthquake Characteristics and Subducting Plate Heterogeneity in the 2016 Pedernales Ecuador Earthquake Rupture Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, L.; Mori, J. J.

2016-12-01

The collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates formed the Himalayas, the largest orogenic belt on the Earth. The entire region accommodates shallow earthquakes, while intermediate-depth earthquakes are concentrated at the eastern and western Himalayan syntaxis. Here we investigate the focal depths, fault plane solutions, and source rupture process for three earthquake sequences, which are located at the western, central and eastern regions of the Himalayan orogenic belt. The Pamir-Hindu Kush region is located at the western Himalayan syntaxis and is characterized by extreme shortening of the upper crust and strong interaction of various layers of the lithosphere. Many shallow earthquakes occur on the Main Pamir Thrust at focal depths shallower than 20 km, while intermediate-deep earthquakes are mostly located below 75 km. Large intermediate-depth earthquakes occur frequently at the western Himalayan syntaxis about every 10 years on average. The 2015 Nepal earthquake is located in the central Himalayas. It is a typical megathrust earthquake that occurred on the shallow portion of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT). Many of the aftershocks are located above the MHT and illuminate faulting structures in the hanging wall with dip angles that are steeper than the MHT. These observations provide new constraints on the collision and uplift processes for the Himalaya orogenic belt. The Indo-Burma region is located south of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, where the strike of the plate boundary suddenly changes from nearly east-west at the Himalayas to nearly north-south at the Burma Arc. The Burma arc subduction zone is a typical oblique plate convergence zone. The eastern boundary is the north-south striking dextral Sagaing fault, which hosts many shallow earthquakes with focal depth less than 25 km. In contrast, intermediate-depth earthquakes along the subduction zone reflect east-west trending reverse faulting.

Chapter C in Geological Survey research 1967

USGS Publications Warehouse

1967-01-01

Low-grade metamorphic rocks of the blueschist facies grade upward to the sole of a great thrust fault along the eastern margin of the Coast Ranges in northern California and southwestern Oregon. The gradation is defined by three textural zones of increasing reconstitution in metagraywacke, and by two metamorphic mineral zones, lawsonite and pumpellyite. The metagraywacke of textural zones 1 and 2 is clearly Franciscan Formation on the basis of lithology and age, and grades into thoroughly reconstituted rocks of textural zone 3 that herein are named the South Fork Mountain Schist. The blueschist probably formed in a zone of cataclasis and anomalously high water pressures under the thrust fault, rather than in the generally postulated zone of extreme depth of burial. Water in excess of that required to form pumpellyite and lawsonite was available for serpentinization of ultramafic rocks emplaced in the thrust fault.

Structural and petrophysical characterization: from outcrop rock analogue to reservoir model of deep geothermal prospect in Eastern France

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertrand, Lionel; Géraud, Yves; Diraison, Marc; Damy, Pierre-Clément

2017-04-01

The Scientific Interest Group (GIS) GEODENERGIES with the REFLET project aims to develop a geological and reservoir model for fault zones that are the main targets for deep geothermal prospects in the West European Rift system. In this project, several areas are studied with an integrated methodology combining field studies, boreholes and geophysical data acquisition and 3D modelling. In this study, we present the results of reservoir rock analogues characterization of one of these prospects in the Valence Graben (Eastern France). The approach used is a structural and petrophysical characterization of the rocks outcropping at the shoulders of the rift in order to model the buried targeted fault zone. The reservoir rocks are composed of fractured granites, gneiss and schists of the Hercynian basement of the graben. The matrix porosity, permeability, P-waves velocities and thermal conductivities have been characterized on hand samples coming from fault zones at the outcrop. Furthermore, fault organization has been mapped with the aim to identify the characteristic fault orientation, spacing and width. The fractures statistics like the orientation, density, and length have been identified in the damaged zones and unfaulted blocks regarding the regional fault pattern. All theses data have been included in a reservoir model with a double porosity model. The field study shows that the fault pattern in the outcrop area can be classified in different fault orders, with first order scale, larger faults distribution controls the first order structural and lithological organization. Between theses faults, the first order blocks are divided in second and third order faults, smaller structures, with characteristic spacing and width. Third order fault zones in granitic rocks show a significant porosity development in the fault cores until 25 % in the most locally altered material, as the damaged zones develop mostly fractures permeabilities. In the gneiss and schists units, the matrix porosity and permeability development is mainly controlled by microcrack density enhancement in the fault zone unlike the granite rocks were it is mostly mineral alteration. Due to the grain size much important in the gneiss, the opening of the cracks is higher than in the schist samples. Thus, the matrix permeability can be two orders higher in the gneiss than in the schists (until 10 mD for gneiss and 0,1 mD for schists for the same porosity around 5%). Combining the regional data with the fault pattern, the fracture and matrix porosity and permeability, we are able to construct a double-porosity model suitable for the prospected graben. This model, combined with seismic data acquisition is a predictable tool for flow modelling in the buried reservoir and helps the prediction of borehole targets and design in the graben.

Application of indexes of underground structure using land gravity data to the Eastern Boundary Fault zone of the Shonai Plain, northeastern Japan.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2016-12-01

Gravity gradients, which are directly measured and are also derived by differentiating land gravity anomaly data, are sensitive to the density structure of shallow subsurfaces and therefore can be used to formulate ratings for Indexes of Underground Structure (IUS) [e.g., Kusumoto,2015,2016]. Recently, dense land gravity data measurements for almost entire Japan have been available [Honda et al., 2012]. In this study, we use gravity gradient tensors from the data to apply IUS to the Eastern Boundary Fault zone of the Shonai Plain (EBFSP), which spans 40 km in length and caused the historical Mjma 7.0 earthquake in 1894. The IUS we adopt here comprises the dip angle of the structural boundary (Beta) [Beiki, 2013], the dimensionality index (I) [Pedersen and Rasmussen, 1990], the structural boundary (Horizontal First Derivation(HFD) and TDX [Cooper and Cowan, 2006]), and density anomaly cylinder bodies in the depth direction (TD) [Copper, 2011]. The IUS show that the northern part of the EBFSP is characterized by high-Beta, low-I (dyke-like), intense-(HFD and TDX), and many short TD. Contrary to this, the southern part exhibits low-Beta, high-I, mild-(HFD and TDX), and few long TD. Previous geological/geomorphological surveys of the EBFSP [Ikeda et al., 2002] distinguish between the northern part comprising parallel/echelon short faults and the southern part comprising a single long fault. These findings are consistent with the gravimetrical IUS. However, the IUS more emphasizes the Aosawa Fault zone, which is geologically old and runs nearly parallel to the EBFSP at about 5-10 km distance on the eastern side of the EBFSP. Because gravity anomalies are a time-integrated representation of crustal activity, it is difficult to identify the relative timing of faulting events in an analysis range. However, the IUS can objectively contribute to producing comprehensive characterizations of target faults. This study is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 26400450.

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.

New Constraints on Late Pleistocene - Holocene Slip Rates and Seismic Behavior Along the Panamint Valley Fault Zone, Eastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffman, W.; Kirby, E.; McDonald, E.; Walker, J.; Gosse, J.

2008-12-01

Space-time patterns of seismic strain release along active fault systems can provide insight into the geodynamics of deforming lithosphere. Along the eastern California shear zone, fault systems south of the Garlock fault appear to have experienced an ongoing pulse of seismic activity over the past ca. 1 kyr (Rockwell et al., 2000). Recently, this cluster of seismicity has been implicated as both cause and consequence of the oft-cited discrepancy between geodetic velocities and geologic slip rates in this region (Dolan et al., 2007; Oskin et al., 2008). Whether other faults within the shear zone exhibit similar behavior remains uncertain. Here we report the preliminary results of new investigations of slip rates and seismic history along the Panamint Valley fault zone (PVFZ). The PVFZ is characterized by dextral, oblique-normal displacement along a moderately to shallowly-dipping range front fault. Previous workers (Zhang et al., 1990) identified a relatively recent surface rupture confined to a ~25 km segment of the southern fault zone and associated with dextral displacements of ~3 m. Our mapping reveals that youthful scarps ranging from 2-4 m in height are distributed along the central portion of the fault zone for at least 50 km. North of Ballarat, a releasing jog in the fault zone forms a 2-3 km long embayment. Displacement of debris-flow levees and channels along NE-striking faults that confirm that displacement is nearly dip-slip, consistent with an overall transport direction toward ~340°, and affording an opportunity to constrain fault displacement directly from the vertical offset of alluvial surfaces of varying age. At the mouth of Happy Canyon, the frontal fault strand displaces a fresh debris-flow by ~3-4 m; soil development atop the debris-flow surface is incipient to negligible. Radiocarbon ages from logs embedded in the flow matrix constrain the timing of the most recent event to younger than ~ 600 cal yr BP. Older alluvial surfaces, such as that buried by the debris-flow lobe, exhibit progressively larger displacement (up to 10-12 m). Well-preserved bar and swale morphology, incipient varnishing of surface boulders, and weak soil development all suggest that this surface is Late Holocene in age. We are working to confirm this inference, but if correct, it suggests that this fault system may have experienced ~3-4 events in the relatively recent past. Finally, preliminary surface ages from even older surfaces along this portion of the fault zone place limits on the slip rate over Late Pleistocene time. Cosmogenic 10Be surface clast dating of an alluvial surface with well-developed pavement and moderate soil development near Happy Canyon suggests a surface age of 30-35 kyr. We are working to refine this estimate with new dating and soil characterization, but our preliminary reconstructions of displacement of this surface across the two primary fault strands are consistent with slip rates that exceed ~3 mm/yr. Overall, these results are consistent with the inference that the Panamint Valley fault zone is the primary structure that accomplishes transfer of right-lateral shear across the Garlock Fault.

Seismotectonics of the Eastern Himalayan System and Indo-Burman Convergence Zone Using Seismic Waveform Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, A.; Mitra, S.; Suresh, G.

2014-12-01

The Eastern Himalayan System (east of 88°E) is distinct from the rest of the India-Eurasia continental collision, due to a wider zone of distributed deformation, oblique convergence across two orthogonal plate boundaries and near absence of foreland basin sedimentary strata. To understand the seismotectonics of this region we study the spatial distribution and source mechanism of earthquakes originating within Eastern Himalaya, northeast India and Indo-Burman Convergence Zone (IBCZ). We compute focal mechanism of 32 moderate-to-large earthquakes (mb >=5.4) by modeling teleseismic P- and SH-waveforms, from GDSN stations, using least-squares inversion algorithm; and 7 small-to-moderate earthquakes (3.5<= mb <5.4) by modeling local P- and S-waveforms, from the NorthEast India Telemetered Network, using non-linear grid search algorithm. We also include source mechanisms from previous studies, either computed by waveform inversion or by first motion polarity from analog data. Depth distribution of modeled earthquakes reveal that the seismogenic layer beneath northeast India is ~45km thick. From source mechanisms we observe that moderate earthquakes in northeast India are spatially clustered in five zones with distinct mechanisms: (a) thrust earthquakes within the Eastern Himalayan wedge, on north dipping low angle faults; (b) thrust earthquakes along the northern edge of Shillong Plateau, on high angle south dipping fault; (c) dextral strike-slip earthquakes along Kopili fault zone, between Shillong Plateau and Mikir Hills, extending southeast beneath Naga Fold belts; (d) dextral strike-slip earthquakes within Bengal Basin, immediately south of Shillong Plateau; and (e) deep focus (>50 km) thrust earthquakes within IBCZ. Combining with GPS geodetic observations, it is evident that the N20E convergence between India and Tibet is accommodated as elastic strain both within eastern Himalaya and regions surrounding the Shillong Plateau. We hypothesize that the strike-slip earthquakes south of the Plateau occur on re-activated continental rifts paralleling the Eocene hinge zone. Distribution of earthquake hypocenters across the IBCZ reveal active subduction of the Indian plate beneath Burma micro-plate.

The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake and its significance for seismic hazards in eastern North America: overview and synthesis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Horton, J. Wright; Chapman, Martin C.; Green, Russell A.

2015-01-01

The earthquake and aftershocks occurred in crystalline rocks within Paleozoic thrust sheets of the Chopawamsic terrane. The main shock and majority of aftershocks delineated the newly named Quail fault zone in the subsurface, and shallow aftershocks defined outlying faults. The earthquake induced minor liquefaction sand boils, but notably there was no evidence of a surface fault rupture. Recurrence intervals, and evidence for larger earthquakes in the Quaternary in this area, remain important unknowns. This event, along with similar events during historical time, is a reminder that earthquakes of similar or larger magnitude pose a real hazard in eastern North America.

Late Quaternary faulting in the Sevier Desert driven by magmatism.

PubMed

Stahl, T; Niemi, N A

2017-03-14

Seismic hazard in continental rifts varies as a function of strain accommodation by tectonic or magmatic processes. The nature of faulting in the Sevier Desert, located in eastern Basin and Range of central Utah, and how this faulting relates to the Sevier Desert Detachment low-angle normal fault, have been debated for nearly four decades. Here, we show that the geodetic signal of extension across the eastern Sevier Desert is best explained by magma-assisted rifting associated with Plio-Pleistocene volcanism. GPS velocities from 14 continuous sites across the region are best-fit by interseismic strain accumulation on the southern Wasatch Fault at c. 3.4 mm yr -1 with a c. 0.5 mm yr -1 tensile dislocation opening in the eastern Sevier Desert. The characteristics of surface deformation from field surveys are consistent with dike-induced faulting and not with faults soling into an active detachment. Geologic extension rates of c. 0.6 mm yr -1 over the last c. 50 kyr in the eastern Sevier Desert are consistent with the rates estimated from the geodetic model. Together, these findings suggest that Plio-Pleistocene extension is not likely to have been accommodated by low-angle normal faulting on the Sevier Desert Detachment and is instead accomplished by strain localization in a zone of narrow, magma-assisted rifting.

Late Quaternary faulting in the Sevier Desert driven by magmatism

PubMed Central

Stahl, T.; Niemi, N. A.

2017-01-01

Seismic hazard in continental rifts varies as a function of strain accommodation by tectonic or magmatic processes. The nature of faulting in the Sevier Desert, located in eastern Basin and Range of central Utah, and how this faulting relates to the Sevier Desert Detachment low-angle normal fault, have been debated for nearly four decades. Here, we show that the geodetic signal of extension across the eastern Sevier Desert is best explained by magma-assisted rifting associated with Plio-Pleistocene volcanism. GPS velocities from 14 continuous sites across the region are best-fit by interseismic strain accumulation on the southern Wasatch Fault at c. 3.4 mm yr−1 with a c. 0.5 mm yr−1 tensile dislocation opening in the eastern Sevier Desert. The characteristics of surface deformation from field surveys are consistent with dike-induced faulting and not with faults soling into an active detachment. Geologic extension rates of c. 0.6 mm yr−1 over the last c. 50 kyr in the eastern Sevier Desert are consistent with the rates estimated from the geodetic model. Together, these findings suggest that Plio-Pleistocene extension is not likely to have been accommodated by low-angle normal faulting on the Sevier Desert Detachment and is instead accomplished by strain localization in a zone of narrow, magma-assisted rifting. PMID:28290529

Radon concentration distributions in shallow and deep groundwater around the Tachikawa fault zone.

PubMed

Tsunomori, Fumiaki; Shimodate, Tomoya; Ide, Tomoki; Tanaka, Hidemi

2017-06-01

Groundwater radon concentrations around the Tachikawa fault zone were surveyed. The radon concentrations in shallow groundwater samples around the Tachikawa fault segment are comparable to previous studies. The characteristics of the radon concentrations on both sides of the segment are considered to have changed in response to the decrease in groundwater recharge caused by urbanization on the eastern side of the segment. The radon concentrations in deep groundwater samples collected around the Naguri and the Tachikawa fault segments are the same as those of shallow groundwater samples. However, the radon concentrations in deep groundwater samples collected from the bedrock beside the Naguri and Tachikawa fault segments are markedly higher than the radon concentrations expected from the geology on the Kanto plane. This disparity can be explained by the development of fracture zones spreading on both sides of the two segments. The radon concentration distribution for deep groundwater samples from the Naguri and the Tachikawa fault segments suggests that a fault exists even at the southern part of the Tachikawa fault line. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Right-lateral shear across Iran and kinematic change in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, M. B.; Kheirkhah, M.; Emami, M.

2009-04-01

New offset determinations for right-lateral strike-slip faults in Iran redefine the kinematics of the Arabia-Eurasia collision. A series of right-lateral strike-slip faults is present across Iran between 48° and 57° E. Fault strikes vary between NW-SE and NNW-SSE. Individual faults west of ~53° E were active in the late Tertiary, but have limited evidence of activity. Faults east of ~53° E are seismically active and/or have geomorphic evidence for Holocene slip. None of the faults affects the GPS-derived regional velocity field, indicating active slip rates are ≤2 mm/yr. We estimate overall slip on these faults from offset geological and geomorphic markers, based on observations from satellite imagery, digital topography, geology maps and our own fieldwork observations, and combine these results with published estimates for fault slip in the east of the study area. Total offset of the Takab, Soltanieh, Indes, Bid Hand, Qom, Kashan, Deh Shir, Anar, Daviran, Kuh Banan and Dehu faults is at least 270 km and possibly higher. Other faults (e.g. Rafsanjan) have unknown amounts of right-lateral slip. Collectively, these faults are inferred to have accommodated part of the Arabia-Eurasia convergence by two mechanisms: (1) anti-clockwise, vertical axis rotations; (2) strain partitioning with coeval NE-SW crustal thickening in the Turkish-Iranian plateau to produce ~350 km of north-south plate convergence. The strike-slip faulting across Iran requires along-strike lengthening of the deformation zone. This was possible until the Pliocene, when the Afghan crust collided with the western margin of the Indian plate, thereby sealing off a free face at the eastern side of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. Continuing Arabia-Eurasia plate convergence had to be accommodated in new ways and new areas, leading to the present pattern of faulting from eastern Iran to western Turkey.

Right-lateral shear across Iran and kinematic change in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Mark B.; Kheirkhah, Monireh; Emami, Mohammad H.; Jones, Stuart J.

2011-02-01

New offset determinations for right-lateral strike-slip faults in Iran revise the kinematics of the Arabia-Eurasia collision, by indicating along-strike lengthening of the collision zone before a change to the present kinematic regime at ˜5 Ma. A series of right-lateral strike-slip faults is present across the Turkish-Iranian plateau between 48°E and 57°E. Fault strikes vary between NW-SE and NNW-SSE. Several of the faults are seismically active and/or have geomorphic evidence for Holocene slip. None of the faults affects the GPS-derived regional velocity field, indicating active slip rates are ≤2 mm yr-1. We estimate total offsets for these faults from displaced geological and geomorphic markers, based on observations from satellite imagery, digital topography, geology maps and our own fieldwork observations, and combine these results with published estimates for fault displacement. Total right-lateral offset of the Dehu, Anar, Deh Shir, Kashan, Ab-Shirin-Shurab, Kousht Nousrat, Qom, Bid Hand, Indes, Soltanieh and Takab faults is ˜250 km. Other faults (North Zanjan, Saveh, Jorjafk, Rafsanjan, Kuh Banan and Behabad) have unknown or highly uncertain amounts of slip. Collectively, these faults are inferred to have accommodated part of the Arabia-Eurasia convergence. Three roles are possible, which are not mutually exclusive: (1) shortening via anticlockwise, vertical axis rotations; (2) northward movement of Iranian crust with respect to stable Afghanistan to the east; (3) combination with coeval NW-SE thrusts in the Turkish-Iranian plateau, to produce north-south plate convergence (`strain partitioning'). This strike-slip faulting across Iran requires along-strike lengthening of the collision zone. This was possible until the Pliocene (≤ 5 Ma), when the Afghan crust collided with the western margin of the Indian plate, thereby sealing off a free face at the eastern side of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. Continuing Arabia-Eurasia plate convergence had to be accommodated in new ways and new areas, leading to the present pattern of faulting from eastern Iran to western Turkey, and involving the westward transport (`escape') of Anatolia and the concentration of thrusting in the Zagros and Alborz mountains.

A comprehensive survey of faults, breccias, and fractures in and flanking the eastern Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Caine, Jonathan S.; Minor, Scott A.; Grauch, V.J.S.; Budahn, James R.; Keren, Tucker T.

2017-01-01

A comprehensive survey of geologic structures formed in the Earth’s brittle regime in the eastern Española Basin and flank of the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, reveals a complex and protracted record of multiple tectonic events. Data and analyses from this representative rift flank-basin pair include measurements from 53 individual fault zones and 22 other brittle structures, such as breccia zones, joints, and veins, investigated at a total of just over 100 sites. Structures were examined and compared in poorly lithified Tertiary sediments, as well as in Paleozoic sedimentary and Proterozoic crystalline rocks. Data and analyses include geologic maps; field observations and measurements; orientation, kinematic, and paleostress analyses; statistical examination of fault trace lengths derived from aeromagnetic data; mineralogy and chemistry of host and fault rocks; and investigation of fault versus bolide-impact hypotheses for the origin of enigmatic breccias found in the Proterozoic basement rocks. Fault kinematic and paleostress analyses suggest a record of transitional, and perhaps partitioned, strains from the Laramide orogeny through Rio Grande rifting. Normal faults within Tertiary basin-fill sediments are consistent with more typical WNW-ESE Rio Grande rift extension, perhaps decoupled from bedrock structures due to strength contrasts favoring the formation of new faults in the relatively weak sediments. Analyses of the fault-length data indicate power-law length distributions similar to those reported from many geologic settings globally. Mineralogy and chemistry in Proterozoic fault-related rocks reveal geochemical changes tied to hydrothermal alteration and nearly isochemical transformation of feldspars to clay minerals. In sediments, faulted minerals are characterized by mechanical entrainment with minor secondary chemical changes. Enigmatic breccias in rift-flanking Proterozoic rocks are autoclastic and isochemical with respect to their protoliths and exist near shatter cones believed to be related to a previously reported pre-Pennsylvanian impact event. A weak iridium anomaly is associated with the breccias as well as adjacent protoliths, thus an impact shock wave cannot be ruled out for their origin. Major fault zones along the eastern rift-flank mountain front are discontinuous and unlikely to impede regional groundwater flow into Española Basin aquifers. The breccia bodies are not large enough to constitute aquifers, and no fault- or breccia-related geochemical anomalies were identified as potential contamination sources for ground or surface waters. The results of this work provide a broad picture of structural diversity and tectonic evolution along the eastern flank of the central Rio Grande rift and the adjacent Española Basin representative of the rift as a whole and many rifts worldwide.

Spatiotemporal earthquake clusters along the North Anatolian fault zone offshore Istanbul

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bulut, Fatih; Ellsworth, William L.; Bohnhoff, Marco; Aktar, Mustafa; Dresen, Georg

2011-01-01

We investigate earthquakes with similar waveforms in order to characterize spatiotemporal microseismicity clusters within the North Anatolian fault zone (NAFZ) in northwest Turkey along the transition between the 1999 ??zmit rupture zone and the Marmara Sea seismic gap. Earthquakes within distinct activity clusters are relocated with cross-correlation derived relative travel times using the double difference method. The spatiotemporal distribution of micro earthquakes within individual clusters is resolved with relative location accuracy comparable to or better than the source size. High-precision relative hypocenters define the geometry of individual fault patches, permitting a better understanding of fault kinematics and their role in local-scale seismotectonics along the region of interest. Temporal seismic sequences observed in the eastern Sea of Marmara region suggest progressive failure of mostly nonoverlapping areas on adjacent fault patches and systematic migration of microearthquakes within clusters during the progressive failure of neighboring fault patches. The temporal distributions of magnitudes as well as the number of events follow swarmlike behavior rather than a mainshock/aftershock pattern.

Tectonic geomorphology of large normal faults bounding the Cuzco rift basin within the southern Peruvian Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byers, C.; Mann, P.

2015-12-01

The Cuzco basin forms a 80-wide, relatively flat valley within the High Andes of southern Peru. This larger basin includes the regional capital of Cuzco and the Urubamba Valley, or "Sacred Valley of the Incas" favored by the Incas for its mild climate and broader expanses of less rugged and arable land. The valley is bounded on its northern edge by a 100-km-long and 10-km-wide zone of down-to-the-south systems of normal faults that separate the lower area of the down-dropped plateau of central Peru and the more elevated area of the Eastern Cordillera foldbelt that overthrusts the Amazon lowlands to the east. Previous workers have shown that the normal faults are dipslip with up to 600 m of measured displacements, reflect north-south extension, and have Holocene displacments with some linked to destructive, historical earthquakes. We have constructed topographic and structural cross sections across the entire area to demonstrate the normal fault on a the plateau peneplain. The footwall of the Eastern Cordillera, capped by snowcapped peaks in excess of 6 km, tilts a peneplain surface northward while the hanging wall of the Cuzco basin is radially arched. Erosion is accelerated along the trend of the normal fault zone. As the normal fault zone changes its strike from east-west to more more northwest-southeast, normal displacement decreases and is replaced by a left-lateral strike-slip component.

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.

Kinematics of a large-scale intraplate extending lithosphere: The Basin-Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, R. B.; Eddington, P. K.

1985-01-01

Upper lithospheric structure of the Cordilleran Basin Range (B-R) is characterised by an E-W symmetry of velocity layering. The crust is 25 km thick on its eastern active margin, thickening to 30 km within the central portion and thinning to approx. 25 km on the west. Pn velocities of 7.8 to 7.9 km/s characterize the upper mantle low velocity cushion, 7.4 km/s to 7.5 km/s, occurs at a depth of approx. 25 km in the eastern B-R and underlies the area of active extension. An upper-crustal low-velocity zone in the eastern B-R shows a marked P-wave velocity inversion of 7% at depths of 7 to 10 km also in the area of greatest extension. The seismic velocity models for this region of intraplate extension suggest major differences from that of a normal, thermally underformed continental lithosphere. Interpretations of seismic reflection data demonstrate the presence of extensive low-angle reflections in the upper-crust of the eastern B-R at depths from near-surface to 7 to 10 km. These reflections have been interpreted to represent low-angle normal fault detachments or reactivated thrusts. Seismic profiles across steeply-dipping normal faults in unconsolidated sediments show reflections from both planar to downward flatening (listric) faults that in most cases do not penetrate the low-angle detachments. These faults are interpreted as late Cenozoic and cataclastic mylonitic zones of shear displacement.

Structure of the Wagner Basin in the Northern Gulf of California From Interpretation of Seismic Reflexion Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, M.; Aguilar, C.; Martin, A.

2007-05-01

The northern Gulf of California straddles the transition in the style of deformation along the Pacific-North America plate boundary, from distributed deformation in the Upper Delfin and Wagner basins to localized dextral shear along the Cerro Prieto transform fault. Processing and interpretation of industry seismic data adquired by Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) allow us to map the main fault structures and depocenters in the Wagner basin and to unravel the way strain is transferred northward into the Cerro Prieto fault system. Seismic data records from 0.5 to 5 TWTT. Data stacking and time-migration were performed using semblance coefficient method. Subsidence in the Wagner basin is controlled by two large N-S trending sub-parallel faults that intersect the NNW-trending Cerro Prieto transform fault. The Wagner fault bounds the eastern margin of the basin for more than 75 km. This fault dips ~50° to the west (up to 2 seconds) with distinctive reflectors displaced more than 1 km across the fault zone. The strata define a fanning pattern towards the Wagner fault. Northward the Wagner fault intersects the Cerro Prieto fault at 130° on map view and one depocenter of the Wagner basin bends to the NW adjacent to the Cerro Prieto fault zone. The eastern boundary of the modern depocenter is the Consag fault, which extends over 100 km in a N-S direction with an average dip of ~50° (up to 2s) to the east. The northern segment of the Consag fault bends 25° and intersects the Cerro Prieto fault zone at an angle of 110° on map view. The acoustic basement was not imaged in the northwest, but the stratigraphic succession increases its thickness towards the depocenter of the Wagner basin. Another important structure is El Chinero fault, which runs parallel to the Consag fault along 60 km and possibly intersects the Cerro Prieto fault to the north beneath the delta of the Colorado River. El Chinero fault dips at low-angle (~30°) to the east and has a vertical offset of about 0.5 seconds (TWTT). Seismic imaging indicates that the Wagner and Consag faults transfer most of their slip to the Cerro Prieto fault. Moreover, the 130° intersection between the Wagner and Cerro Prieto faults suggests that the Wagner fault has a significant strike-slip component. Our results indicate that most of the strain in this plate boundary is transferred along two main sub-parallel oblique faults in a narrow zone 35 km-wide.

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.

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.

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.

Unexpected earthquake hazard revealed by Holocene rupture on the Kenchreai Fault (central Greece): Implications for weak sub-fault shear zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Copley, Alex; Grützner, Christoph; Howell, Andy; Jackson, James; Penney, Camilla; Wimpenny, Sam

2018-03-01

High-resolution elevation models, palaeoseismic trenching, and Quaternary dating demonstrate that the Kenchreai Fault in the eastern Gulf of Corinth (Greece) has ruptured in the Holocene. Along with the adjacent Pisia and Heraion Faults (which ruptured in 1981), our results indicate the presence of closely-spaced and parallel normal faults that are simultaneously active, but at different rates. Such a configuration allows us to address one of the major questions in understanding the earthquake cycle, specifically what controls the distribution of interseismic strain accumulation? Our results imply that the interseismic loading and subsequent earthquakes on these faults are governed by weak shear zones in the underlying ductile crust. In addition, the identification of significant earthquake slip on a fault that does not dominate the late Quaternary geomorphology or vertical coastal motions in the region provides an important lesson in earthquake hazard assessment.

Neotectonics in the foothills of the southernmost central Andes (37°-38°S): Evidence of strike-slip displacement along the Antiñir-Copahue fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folguera, AndréS.; Ramos, VíCtor A.; Hermanns, Reginald L.; Naranjo, José

2004-10-01

The Antiñir-Copahue fault zone (ACFZ) is the eastern orogenic front of the Andes between 38° and 37°S. It is formed by an east vergent fan of high-angle dextral transpressive and transtensive faults, which invert a Paleogene intra-arc rift system in an out of sequence order with respect to the Cretaceous to Miocene fold and thrust belt. 3.1-1.7 Ma volcanic rocks are folded and fractured through this belt, and recent indicators of fault activity in unconsolidated deposits suggest an ongoing deformation. In spite of the absence of substantial shallow seismicity associated with the orogenic front, neotectonic studies show the existence of active faults in the present mountain front. The low shallow seismicity could be linked to the high volumes of retroarc-derived volcanic rocks erupted through this fault system during Pliocene and Quaternary times. This thermally weakened basement accommodates the strain of the Antiñir-Copahue fault zone, absorbing the present convergence between the South America and Nazca plates.

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.

Alternative interpretation for the active zones of Cuba

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez, Mario Octavio Cotilla

2014-11-01

An alternative explanation to the seismoactivity of Cuban faults is presented. The model is a consequence of the interaction between Caribbean and North American plates. It is made with 12 geodynamic cells form by a set of 13 active faults and their 14 areas of intersection. These cells are recognized morpho-structural blocks. The area between Eastern Matanzas and Western Cauto-Nipe is excluded because of the low level of seismic information. Cuba has two types of seismogenetic structures: faults and intersection of faults.

Earthquake hazard analysis for the different regions in and around Aǧrı

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayrak, Erdem; Yilmaz, Şeyda; Bayrak, Yusuf

2016-04-01

We investigated earthquake hazard parameters for Eastern part of Turkey by determining the a and b parameters in a Gutenberg-Richter magnitude-frequency relationship. For this purpose, study area is divided into seven different source zones based on their tectonic and seismotectonic regimes. The database used in this work was taken from different sources and catalogues such as TURKNET, International Seismological Centre (ISC), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for instrumental period. We calculated the a value, b value, which is the slope of the frequency-magnitude Gutenberg-Richter relationship, from the maximum likelihood method (ML). Also, we estimated the mean return periods, the most probable maximum magnitude in the time period of t-years and the probability for an earthquake occurrence for an earthquake magnitude ≥ M during a time span of t-years. We used Zmap software to calculate these parameters. The lowest b value was calculated in Region 1 covered Cobandede Fault Zone. We obtain the highest a value in Region 2 covered Kagizman Fault Zone. This conclusion is strongly supported from the probability value, which shows the largest value (87%) for an earthquake with magnitude greater than or equal to 6.0. The mean return period for such a magnitude is the lowest in this region (49-years). The most probable magnitude in the next 100 years was calculated and we determined the highest value around Cobandede Fault Zone. According to these parameters, Region 1 covered the Cobandede Fault Zone and is the most dangerous area around the Eastern part of Turkey.

Geotechnical reconnaissance of the 2002 Denali fault, Alaska, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kayen, R.; Thompson, E.; Minasian, D.; Moss, R.E.S.; Collins, B.D.; Sitar, N.; Dreger, D.; Carver, G.

2004-01-01

The 2002 M7.9 Denali fault earthquake resulted in 340 km of ruptures along three separate faults, causing widespread liquefaction in the fluvial deposits of the alpine valleys of the Alaska Range and eastern lowlands of the Tanana River. Areas affected by liquefaction are largely confined to Holocene alluvial deposits, man-made embankments, and backfills. Liquefaction damage, sparse surrounding the fault rupture in the western region, was abundant and severe on the eastern rivers: the Robertson, Slana, Tok, Chisana, Nabesna and Tanana Rivers. Synthetic seismograms from a kinematic source model suggest that the eastern region of the rupture zone had elevated strong-motion levels due to rupture directivity, supporting observations of elevated geotechnical damage. We use augered soil samples and shear-wave velocity profiles made with a portable apparatus for the spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) to characterize soil properties and stiffness at liquefaction sites and three trans-Alaska pipeline pump station accelerometer locations. ?? 2004, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Upper Neogene stratigraphy and tectonics of Death Valley - A review

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knott, J.R.; Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M.; Machette, M.N.; Klinger, R.E.

2005-01-01

New tephrochronologic, soil-stratigraphic and radiometric-dating studies over the last 10 years have generated a robust numerical stratigraphy for Upper Neogene sedimentary deposits throughout Death Valley. Critical to this improved stratigraphy are correlated or radiometrically-dated tephra beds and tuffs that range in age from > 3.58 Ma to < 1.1 ka. These tephra beds and tuffs establish relations among the Upper Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene sedimentary deposits at Furnace Creek basin, Nova basin, Ubehebe-Lake Rogers basin, Copper Canyon, Artists Drive, Kit Fox Hills, and Confidence Hills. New geologic formations have been described in the Confidence Hills and at Mormon Point. This new geochronology also establishes maximum and minimum ages for Quaternary alluvial fans and Lake Manly deposits. Facies associated with the tephra beds show that ???3.3 Ma the Furnace Creek basin was a northwest-southeast-trending lake flanked by alluvial fans. This paleolake extended from the Furnace Creek to Ubehebe. Based on the new stratigraphy, the Death Valley fault system can be divided into four main fault zones: the dextral, Quaternary-age Northern Death Valley fault zone; the dextral, pre-Quaternary Furnace Creek fault zone; the oblique-normal Black Mountains fault zone; and the dextral Southern Death Valley fault zone. Post -3.3 Ma geometric, structural, and kinematic changes in the Black Mountains and Towne Pass fault zones led to the break up of Furnace Creek basin and uplift of the Copper Canyon and Nova basins. Internal kinematics of northern Death Valley are interpreted as either rotation of blocks or normal slip along the northeast-southwest-trending Towne Pass and Tin Mountain fault zones within the Eastern California shear zone. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigating Strain Transfer Along the Southern San Andreas Fault: A Geomorphic and Geodetic Study of Block Rotation in the Eastern Transverse Ranges, Joshua Tree National Park, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guns, K. A.; Bennett, R. A.; Blisniuk, K.

2017-12-01

To better evaluate the distribution and transfer of strain and slip along the Southern San Andreas Fault (SSAF) zone in the northern Coachella valley in southern California, we integrate geological and geodetic observations to test whether strain is being transferred away from the SSAF system towards the Eastern California Shear Zone through microblock rotation of the Eastern Transverse Ranges (ETR). The faults of the ETR consist of five east-west trending left lateral strike slip faults that have measured cumulative offsets of up to 20 km and as low as 1 km. Present kinematic and block models present a variety of slip rate estimates, from as low as zero to as high as 7 mm/yr, suggesting a gap in our understanding of what role these faults play in the larger system. To determine whether present-day block rotation along these faults is contributing to strain transfer in the region, we are applying 10Be surface exposure dating methods to observed offset channel and alluvial fan deposits in order to estimate fault slip rates along two faults in the ETR. We present observations of offset geomorphic landforms using field mapping and LiDAR data at three sites along the Blue Cut Fault and one site along the Smoke Tree Wash Fault in Joshua Tree National Park which indicate recent Quaternary fault activity. Initial results of site mapping and clast count analyses reveal at least three stages of offset, including potential Holocene offsets, for one site along the Blue Cut Fault, while preliminary 10Be geochronology is in progress. This geologic slip rate data, combined with our new geodetic surface velocity field derived from updated campaign-based GPS measurements within Joshua Tree National Park will allow us to construct a suite of elastic fault block models to elucidate rates of strain transfer away from the SSAF and how that strain transfer may be affecting the length of the interseismic period along the SSAF.

Structural controls on the spatial distribution and geochemical composition of volcanism in a continental rift zone; an example from Owens Valley, eastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haproff, P. J.; Yin, A.

2014-12-01

Bimodal volcanism is common in continental rift zones. Structural controls to the emplacement and compositions of magmas, however, are not well understood. To address this issue, we examine the location, age, and geochemistry of active volcanic centers, and geometry and kinematics of rift-related faults across the active transtensional Owens Valley rift zone. Building on existing studies, we postulate that the spatial distribution and geochemical composition of volcanism are controlled by motion along rift-bounding fault systems. Along-strike variation in fault geometry and characteristics of active volcanism allow us to divide Owens Valley into three segments: southern, northern, and central. The southern segment of Owens Valley is a simple shear, asymmetric rift bounded to the west by the east-dipping Sierra Nevada frontal fault (SNFF). Active vents of Coso volcanic field are distributed along the eastern rift shoulder and characterized by the eruption of bimodal lavas. The SNFF within this segment is low-angle and penetrates through the lithosphere and into the ductile asthenosphere, allowing for mantle-derived magma to migrate across the weakest part of the fault zone beneath the eastern rift shoulder. Magma thermally weakens wall rocks and eventually stalls in the crust where the melt develops a greater felsic component prior to eruption. The northern segment of Owens Valley displays similar structural geometry, as the west-dipping White Mountains fault (WMF) is listric at depth and offsets the crust and mantle lithosphere, allowing for vertical transport of magma and reservoir emplacement within the crust. Bimodal lavas periodically erupted in the Long Valley Caldera region along the western rift shoulder. The central segment of Owens Valley is a pure shear, symmetric graben generated by motion along the SNFF and WMF. The subvertical, right-slip Owens Valley fault (OVF) strikes along the axis of the valley and penetrates through the lithosphere into the asthenosphere. Volcanic centers of Big Pine volcanic field are located along the trace of the OVF and characterized by mafic eruptions. The OVF is interpreted to provide a subvertical conduit for asthenospheric magma to migrate across the LAB and Moho and erupt on the rift surface without significant contamination with felsic crust.

Mantle transition zone structure beneath Tanzania, east Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Thomas J.; Nyblade, Andrew A.; Gurrola, Harold; Langston, Charles A.

2000-03-01

We apply a three-dimensional stacking method to receiver functions from the Tanzania Broadband Seismic Experiment to determine relative variations in the thickness of the mantle transition zone beneath Tanzania. The transition zone under the Eastern rift is 30-40 km thinner than under areas of the Tanzania Craton in the interior of the East African Plateau unaffected by rift faulting. The region of transition zone thinning under the Eastern rift is several hundred kilometers wide and coincides with a 2-3% reduction in S wave velocities. The thinning of the transition zone, as well as the reduction in S wave velocities, can be attributed to a 200-300°K increase in temperature. This thermal anomaly at >400 km depth beneath the Eastern rift cannot be easily explained by passive rifting and but is consistent with a plume origin for the Cenozoic rifting, volcanism and plateau uplift in East Africa.

Peripheral structures of the Rio Grande Rift in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, around the Colorado-New Mexico border

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fridrich, C. J.; Workman, J. B.

2009-12-01

Recently active faults of the Rio Grande rift near the Colorado-New Mexico border are almost entirely limited to the San Luis basin. In contrast, the early (≈26 to ≈10 Ma) structure of the rift in this area is significantly broader. A wide zone of abandoned, peripheral extensional structures is exposed on the eastern flank of the San Luis basin—in the west half of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, known in this area as the southern Culebra and northern Taos Ranges. New detailed mapping shows that the eastern limit of the zone of early peripheral extension is marked by an aligned series of north-trending grabens, including the Devil’s Park, Valle Vidal, and Moreno Valley basins. Master faults of these intermontaine basins are partly localized along, and evidently reactivated moderate- to high-angle Laramide (≈70 to ≈40 Ma) reverse faults of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Between these grabens and the San Luis basin lies a structural zone that varies in style from block faulting, in the north, to more closely spaced tilted-domino-style faulting in the Latir volcanic field, to the south. Additional early rift structures include several long northwest-striking faults, the largest of which are interpreted to have accommodated significant right-lateral strike-slip, based on abrupt southwestward increase in the magnitude of extension across them. These faults evidently transferred strain from the axial part of the rift into the zone of early peripheral extension, and accommodated lateral changes in structural style. Throughout the area of early peripheral extension, there is a correlation between the magnitude of local volcanism and the degree of extension; however, it is unclear if extension drove volcanism—via mantle upwelling, or if extension was maximized where the crust was weakest, owing to the presence of magma and hot rock at shallow depths.

Transpressional deformation style and AMS fabrics adjacent to the southernmost segment of the San Andreas fault, Durmid Hill, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, M.; Wojtal, S. F.; Housen, B.

2006-12-01

In the Salton Trough, the trace of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) ends where it intersects the NNW-trending Brawley seismic zone at Durmid Hill (DH). The topographic relief of DH is a product of faulting and folding of Pleistocene Borrego Formation strata (Babcock, 1974). Burgmann's (1991) detailed mapping and analysis of the western part of DH showed that the folds and faults accommodate transpression. Key to Burgmann's work was the recognition that the ~2m thick Bishop Ash, a prominent marker horizon, has been elongated parallel to the hinges of folds and boudinaged. We are mapping in detail the eastern portion of DH, nearer to the trace of the SAF. Folds in the eastern part of DH are tighter and thrust faulting is more prominent, consistent with greater shortening magnitude oblique to the SAF. Boudinage of the ash layer again indicates elongation parallel to fold hinges and subparallel to the SAF. The Bishop Ash locally is <1m thick along fold limbs in eastern DH, suggesting that significant continuous deformation accompanied the development of map-scale features. We measured anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabrics in the Bishop Ash in order to assess continuous deformation in the Ash at DH. Because the Bishop Ash at DH is altered, consisting mainly of silica glass and clay minerals, samples from DH have significantly lower magnetic susceptibilities than Bishop Ash samples from elsewhere in the Salton Trough. With such low susceptibilities, there is significant scatter in the orientation of magnetic foliation and lineation in our samples. Still, in some Bishop samples within 1 km of the SAF, magnetic foliation is consistent with fold-related flattening. Magnetic lineation in these samples is consistently sub-parallel to fold hinges, parallel to the elongation direction inferred from boudinage. Even close to the trace of the SAF, this correlation breaks down in map-scale zones where fold hinge lines change attitude, fold shapes change, and the distribution and orientations of fractures and veins changes. These zones of structural complication separate broader regions of more uniform deformation patterns. Together, the geometry of structures and AMS fabrics suggest that deformation in eastern DH occurs by the distortion and reorientation of more or less coherent blocks separated by narrow zones where structural elements change orientation.

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.

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.

Gravity field and structure of the Sorong Fault Zone, eastern Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sardjono

Gravity surveys along coastlines of islands in the region Banggai-Sula, Eastern Sulawesi, Halmahera, Bacan and Obi were carried out as part of the Sorong Fault Zone Project. Results of the Surveys were integrated with gravity data previously acquired by other projects, including on-land gravity data from the Bird Head area Irian Jaya (Dow et al 1986), Seram Island (Milsom 1977), Buru Island (Oemar and Reminton 1993) and Central Sulawesi (Silver et al. 1983) as well as marine gravity information within and surrounding the Sorong Fault Zone (Bowin et al. 1980). Gravity expeditions of the Sorong Fault Zone Project also include measurements in Mayu Island and the island group of Talaud, situated further north in the Central Molucca Sea region. A total of one hundred and forty two gravity data were acquired in the region of Banggai-Sula islands, forty seven in eastern part of Central Sulawesi, about four hundred in Halmahera, Bacan and Obi, and seventy nine in Mayu and Talaud. Surveys in the eastern part of Central Sulawesi were carried out for the purpose of tieing the older gravity data obtained from Silver et al. (1983) and the more recent data of the Sorong Fault Zone Project. About one thousand thirty hundred and thirty gravity data were acquired as part of the Irian Jaya Geological Mapping Project (IJGMP) in the period of 1978-1983, a project commissioned by the Indonesian Geological Research and Development Centre (GRDC) and the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR). The remoteness of the survey areas of the Sorong Fault Zone Project necessitated a careful planning for travel arrangements and provision of logistics. A wide range of magnitude of gravity field was observed in the Sorong Fault Zone, extending from values below -250 mGal recorded in the southern part of the Molucca Sea to values in excess of +320 mGal measured near to sea level in the coastal areas south of Mangole and north of Sulabesi, the two islands of the Sula Group. Steep gradients of free-air gravity were observed in south of Mangole (about 13 mGal/km) and west of Obi (about 15 mGal/km) but elsewhere were gentler. Analyses of gravity data along the Sorong Fault Zone in the region of Barggal-Sula Islands controlled in part by geological, reflection seismic and sidescan sonar data, have produced four models which suggest that the crustal structures beneath the zone consist predominantly of attenuated continental fragments, juxtaposed to thick layer of tectonic melange and anomalous oceanic crusts. The continental fragments appear to be severely attenuated and limited in extent in the east but thicker and wider towards the west. The tectonic melange is underlain by deep seated oceanic crust in the Molucca Sea region. The anomalously thin North Banda Sea crust appears to underlie a very thin layer of sediments and to have suffered some degree of arching. The deep seated oceanic crust and the thick layer of tectonic melange are interpreted as the result of the sinking of the lithospheric plate of the Molucca Sea. The descent of this plate may have produced bending forces which may have initiated flexure which propagates through the surrounding region. Depending on the rigidity of the crustal slab, arching and fracturing may have occurred in the crustal rocks. The arching of the oceanic crust of the North Banda Sea may have been one result of this process. The continental fragments of the Banggai-Sula region appear to dip northwards and this may, in addition to the effect of shear tectonics along the Sorong Fault Zone, also be interpreted as the response of the continental fragments to the sinking of the lithospheric plate of the Molucca Sea. In the Obi region, the gravity data suggest that most of the island is underlain by peridotitic and basaltic rocks. Continental crust appears to form the basement in the south and extend offshore south of the island and juxtaposed to oceanic rock. The ultramafic and basic rocks appear to be emplaced on Obi by a high angle reverse fault which separates the continental block in the south from the oceanic material in the north. The exposed basaltic rocks could be a remnant of the oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate.

Seismotectonics of Bhutan: Evidence for segmentation of the Eastern Himalayas and link to foreland deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diehl, Tobias; Singer, Julia; Hetényi, György; Grujic, Djordje; Clinton, John; Giardini, Domenico; Kissling, Edi; Gansser Working Group

2017-08-01

The instrumental record of Bhutan is characterized by a lower seismicity compared to other parts of the Himalayan arc. To understand this low activity and its impact on the seismic hazard, a seismic network was installed in Bhutan for 22 months between 2013 and 2014. Recorded seismicity, earthquake moment tensors and local earthquake tomography reveal along-strike variations in structure and crustal deformation regime. A thickened crust imaged in western Bhutan suggests lateral differences in stresses on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), potentially affecting the interseismic coupling and deformation regime. Sikkim, western Bhutan and its foreland are characterized by strike-slip faulting in the Indian basement. Strain is particularly localized along a NW-SE striking mid-crustal fault zone reaching from Chungthang in northeast Sikkim to Dhubri at the northwestern edge of the Shillong Plateau in the foreland. The dextral Dhubri-Chungthang fault zone (DCF) causes segmentation of the Indian basement and the MHT between eastern Nepal and western Bhutan and connects the deformation front of the Himalaya with the Shillong Plateau by forming the western boundary of the Shillong block. The Kopili fault, the proposed eastern boundary of this block, appears to be a diffuse zone of mid-crustal seismicity in the foreland. In eastern Bhutan we image a seismogenic, flat portion of the MHT, which might be either related to a partially creeping segment or to increased background seismicity originating from the 2009 MW 6.1 earthquake. In western-central Bhutan clusters of micro-earthquakes at the front of the High-Himalayas indicate the presence of a mid-crustal ramp and stress buildup on a fully coupled MHT. The area bounded by the DCF in the west and the seismogenic MHT in the east has the potential for M7-8 earthquakes in Bhutan. Similarly, the DCF has the potential to host M7 earthquakes as documented by the 2011 Sikkim and the 1930 Dhubri earthquakes, which were potentially associated with this structure.

Structure of the active rift zone and margins of the northern Imperial Valley from Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livers, A.; Han, L.; Delph, J. R.; White-Gaynor, A. L.; Petit, R.; Hole, J. A.; Stock, J. M.; Fuis, G. S.

2012-12-01

First-arrival refraction data were used to create a seismic velocity model of the upper crust across the actively rifting northern Imperial Valley and its margins. The densely sampled seismic refraction data were acquired by the Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) , which is investigating rift processes in the northern-most rift segment of the Gulf of California extensional province and earthquake hazards at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault system. A 95-km long seismic line was acquired across the northern Imperial Valley, through the Salton Sea geothermal field, parallel to the five Salton Butte volcanoes and perpendicular to the Brawley Seismic Zone and major strike-slip faults. Nineteen explosive shots were recorded with 100 m seismometer spacing across the valley and with 300-500 m spacing into the adjacent ranges. First-arrival travel times were picked from shot gathers along this line and a seismic velocity model was produced using tomographic inversion. Sedimentary basement and seismic basement in the valley are interpreted to be sediment metamorphosed by the very high heat flow. The velocity model shows that this basement to the west of the Brawley Seismic Zone is at ~4-km depth. The basement shallows to ~2-km depth in the active geothermal field and Salton Buttes volcanic field which locally coincide with the Brawley Seismic Zone. At the eastern edge of the geothermal field, the basement drops off again to ~3.5-km depth. The eastern edge of the valley appears to be fault bounded by the along-strike extension of the Sand Hills Fault, an inactive strike-slip fault. The seismic velocities to the east of the fault correspond to metamorphic rock of the Chocolate Mountains, different from the metamorphosed basement in the valley. The western edge of the valley appears to be fault bounded by the active Superstition Hills Fault. To the west of the valley, >4-km deep valley basement extends to the active Superstition Hills Fault. Basement then shallows westward towards exposures of granitic basement in the Superstition Mountains. The basin between the Superstition Mountains and Coyote Mountains is ~2 km deep.

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.

Moment tensor inversion of recent local moderate sized Van Earthquakes: seismicity and active tectonics of the Van region : Eastern Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalafat, D.; Suvarikli, M.; Ogutcu, Z.; Kekovali, K.; Ocal, M. F.; Gunes, Y.; Pinar, A.

2013-12-01

The study area of the present research, the Van Region is located at the norththern end of the collision zone between the Anatolia and Arabian plates. Therefore, the southeast border of the Anatolian plate collides with the Arabian plate along the Bitlis Suture Zone. This zone is formed by collision of Arabian and in large scale Eurasian plates at mid-Miocen age. This type of thrust generation as a result of compressional regime extends east-west. The largest recorded earthquakes have all taken place along Southern Turkey (e.g. Lice, 1971; Varto, 1966; Caldiran, 1976). On the 23th of October 2011, an earthquake shook the Van Lake, Eastern Turkey, following a seismic sequence of more than three months in an unprecedented episode for this region characterized by null or low seismicity. The October 23, 2011 Van-Ercis Earthquake (Mw=7.1) was the most devastating resulting in loss of life and destruction. In order to study the aftershocks' activity of this main event, we installed and kept a seismic network of 10 broad-band (BB) stations in the area for an interval of nearly fifteen months. We characterized the seismogenic structure of the zone by calculating a minimum 1-D local velocity model and obtaining precise hypocentre locations. We also calculated fault plane solutions for more than 200 moderate sized earthquakes based on first motion polarities and commonly Moment Tensor Inversion Methods. The seismogenic zone would be localized at aproximately 10 km depth. Generally, the distribution of the important moderate earthquakes and the aftershock distribution shows that the E-W and NE-SW oriented fault segments cause the earthquake activities. Aftershock events are located along the eastern border of Lake Van and mainly between 5 and 10 km depth and disposed in two alignments: a ~E-W-trending alignment that matches with the trace of the Van Trust fault Zone and a NE-trending which could correspond to an structure not previously seen. Selected focal mechanisms show a strong trust faulting which coincides with the nature of the Van fault. We were currently analysing an archive of over 5000 local events recorded by the KOERI seismic network of over 20 broadband stations between 2010 and 2013 in the whole Van Region. The Van Earthquake initiated and caused an increase in seismic activity of the region. Van Earthquake and its important aftershocks fault mechanism solutions show that the region is under compression and reverse faulting is a result of this regime which is effective on the active compressional tectonics of the region. This study was supported by Bogazici University Research Projects Commission under SRP/BAP project No. 6040.

Paleoseismic study of the Cathedral Rapids fault in the northern Alaska Range near Tok, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koehler, R. D.; Farrell, R.; Carver, G. A.

2010-12-01

The Cathedral Rapids fault extends ~40 km between the Tok and Robertson River valleys and is the easternmost fault in a series of active south-dipping imbricate thrust faults which bound the northern flank of the Alaska Range. Collectively, these faults accommodate a component of convergence transferred north of the Denali fault and related to the westward (counterclockwise) rotation of the Wrangell Block driven by relative Pacific/North American plate motion along the eastern Aleutian subduction zone and Fairweather fault system. To the west, the system has been defined as the Northern Foothills Fold and Thrust Belt (NFFTB), a 50-km-wide zone of east-west trending thrust faults that displace Quaternary deposits and have accommodated ~3 mm/yr of shortening since latest Pliocene time (Bemis, 2004). Over the last several years, the eastward extension of the NFFTB between Delta Junction and the Canadian border has been studied by the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys to better characterize faults that may affect engineering design of the proposed Alaska-Canada natural gas pipeline and other infrastructure. We summarize herein reconnaissance field observations along the western part of the Cathedral Rapids fault. The western part of the Cathedral Rapids fault extends 21 km from Sheep Creek to Moon Lake and is characterized by three roughly parallel sinuous traces that offset glacial deposits of the Illinoian to early Wisconsinan Delta glaciations and the late Wisconsinan Donnelly glaciation, as well as, Holocene alluvial deposits. The northern trace of the fault is characterized by an oversteepened, beveled, ~2.5-m-high scarp that obliquely cuts a Holocene alluvial fan and projects into the rangefront. Previous paleoseismic studies along the eastern part of the Cathedral Rapids fault and Dot “T” Johnson fault indicate multiple latest Pleistocene and Holocene earthquakes associated with anticlinal folding and thrust faulting (Carver et al., 2010). Combined with this previous work, our paleoseismic assessment of the western Cathedral Rapids fault, including trenching in fall 2010, may contribute to increasing the understanding of the style and timing of deformation for faults bounding the northern flank of the Alaska Range. These data may also provide insight into the eastern extent of the NFFTB and its role in accommodating regional shortening.

Study of Seismogenic Crust In The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia And Its Relation To The Seismicity of The Ghawar Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mogren, S. M.; Mukhopadhyay, M.

2013-12-01

The Rayn Anticlines (RA) developed in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia are truncated by the Abu-Jifan Fault (AJF) to their southeast and by the Wadi-Batin Fault (WBF) to the northwest. This set of anticlines is comprised of six sub-parallel super-giant anticlines, including the Ghawar Anticline (GA). Here we firstly present a revised seismicity map for the Eastern Province on the basis of ';Reviewed ISC Earthquake Catalogue' for the period 1970-2010 that shows the Eastern Province crust is seismogenic down to about 45 km depth while its surface width is 220 km (what is seven times wider than the width of GA). The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) Earthquake Network Catalogue for Eastern Province shows that characteristic magnitude completeness (Mc), based on the assumption of self-similarity, have detected all local earthquakes above the cut-off magnitude ≥ 2.7. SGS catalogue events demonstrate that the GA is seismically intensely active where 826 events have originated during the period of 2005-10, of maximum magnitude ML 4.24. These events came almost in equal proportions from the Uthmaniyah-Hawaiyah and Haradh production divisions belonging to the central and southern Ghawar oil/gas Fields, where, the seismic zones orient in NE and NW directions respectively. Focal-depth distribution of events along the strike direction of seismic zones follows the ';En Nala axis' in GA and broadly defines an inverted triangular zone extending to crustal depths. Seismic activity below both the production divisions is supposedly triggered by hydrocarbon fluid-extraction activity; although, their root cause is probably due to regional compressive stress operative across RA. Triggered seismicity locally shows better correlation to mutually opposite reverse faults oriented NW and NE transgressing the Haradh and Uthmaniyah-Hawaiyah production divisions under the influence of regional compressive stress oriented N40°E. Some support to this inference comes from mapped surface faults/lineaments, four composite focal mechanism solutions as well as from the subsurface structural sections showing the pattern of basement uplift below GA. 3D computer simulation for seismicity below GA illustrates that some such attendant basement-faults are crust-penetrative. Location map of the study area showing the regularly-spaced, N-trending super-giant anticlines.

Landforms along transverse faults parallel to axial zone of folded mountain front, north-eastern Kumaun Sub-Himalaya, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luirei, Khayingshing; Bhakuni, S. S.; Negi, Sanjay S.

2017-02-01

The shape of the frontal part of the Himalaya around the north-eastern corner of the Kumaun Sub-Himalaya, along the Kali River valley, is defined by folded hanging wall rocks of the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). Two parallel faults (Kalaunia and Tanakpur faults) trace along the axial zone of the folded HFT. Between these faults, the hinge zone of this transverse fold is relatively straight and along these faults, the beds abruptly change their attitudes and their widths are tectonically attenuated across two hinge lines of fold. The area is constituted of various surfaces of coalescing fans and terraces. Fans comprise predominantly of sandstone clasts laid down by the steep-gradient streams originating from the Siwalik range. The alluvial fans are characterised by compound and superimposed fans with high relief, which are generated by the tectonic activities associated with the thrusting along the HFT. The truncated fan along the HFT has formed a 100 m high-escarpment running E-W for ˜5 km. Quaternary terrace deposits suggest two phases of tectonic uplift in the basal part of the hanging wall block of the HFT dipping towards the north. The first phase is represented by tilting of the terrace sediments by ˜30 ∘ towards the NW; while the second phase is evident from deformed structures in the terrace deposit comprising mainly of reverse faults, fault propagation folds, convolute laminations, flower structures and back thrust faults. The second phase produced ˜1.0 m offset of stratification of the terrace along a thrust fault. Tectonic escarpments are recognised across the splay thrust near south of the HFT trace. The south facing hill slopes exhibit numerous landslides along active channels incising the hanging wall rocks of the HFT. The study area shows weak seismicity. The major Moradabad Fault crosses near the study area. This transverse fault may have suppressed the seismicity in the Tanakpur area, and the movement along the Moradabad and Kasganj-Tanakpur faults cause the neotectonic activities as observed. The role of transverse fault tectonics in the formation of the curvature cannot be ruled out.

Probing the frontal deformation zone of the Chihshang Fault with boreholes and high-resolution electrical resistivity imaging methods: A case study at the Dapo site in eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Ping-Yu; Huang, Wen-Jeng; Chen, Chien-Chih; Hsu, Han-lun; Yen, I.-Chin; Ho, Gong-Ruei; Lee, Jian-Cheng; Lu, Shih-Ting; Chen, Po-Tsun

2018-06-01

Not only direct fault ruptures but also later mass movement may result in complicated frontal deformation of the faults. Consequently, the deformation front or the contacts between the unconsolidated materials from the hanging wall and footwall of the thrust fault may indicate the toe of the mass movement instead of the actual fault zone. In this study, we used a combination of surface electrical resistivity imaging methods and borehole records in order to investigate the geometries of the structures in the frontal deformation zone of the Chihshang Fault at the Dapo elementary school. From the cores, we observed three different geological components at the Dapo site: the conductive Lichi mélange of the hanging wall, the colluvial gravels and the underlying fluvial-gravel layer at the footwall. The resistivity images from two parallel survey lines reveal that the position where the fault trace was thought to be is actually the toe of the slumping body's surface ruptures consisting of materials from the Lichi mélange. On the basis of the resistivity images, we also found that the actual fault plane is located on the southeastern side of the resistivity survey line near the hilltop. As a result, we conclude that mass movement induced by the inter-seismic creeping, not direct faulting, is the main factor affecting the frontal deformation zone of the Chihshang fault at the Dapo site.

Vertical tectonic deformation associated with the San Andreas fault zone offshore of San Francisco, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ryan, H.F.; Parsons, T.; Sliter, R.W.

2008-01-01

A new fault map of the shelf offshore of San Francisco, California shows that faulting occurs as a distributed shear zone that involves many fault strands with the principal displacement taken up by the San Andreas fault and the eastern strand of the San Gregorio fault zone. Structures associated with the offshore faulting show compressive deformation near where the San Andreas fault goes offshore, but deformation becomes extensional several km to the north off of the Golden Gate. Our new fault map serves as the basis for a 3-D finite element model that shows that the block between the San Andreas and San Gregorio fault zone is subsiding at a long-term rate of about 0.2-0.3??mm/yr, with the maximum subsidence occurring northwest of the Golden Gate in the area of a mapped transtensional basin. Although the long-term rates of vertical displacement primarily show subsidence, the model of coseismic deformation associated with the 1906 San Francisco earthquake indicates that uplift on the order of 10-15??cm occurred in the block northeast of the San Andreas fault. Since 1906, 5-6??cm of regional subsidence has occurred in that block. One implication of our model is that the transfer of slip from the San Andreas fault to a fault 5??km to the east, the Golden Gate fault, is not required for the area offshore of San Francisco to be in extension. This has implications for both the deposition of thick Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments (the Merced Formation) observed east of the San Andreas fault, and the age of the Peninsula segment of the San Andreas fault.

Homogenous stretching or detachment faulting? Which process is primarily extending the Aegean crust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumerics, C.; Ring, U.

2003-04-01

In extending orogens like the Aegean Sea of Greece and the Basin-and-Range province of the western United States, knowledge of rates of tectonic processes are important for understanding which process is primarily extending the crust. Platt et al. (1998) proposed that homogeneous stretching of the lithosphere (i.e. vertical ductile thinning associated with a subhorizontal foliation) at rates of 4-5 km Myr-1 is the dominant process that formed the Alboran Sea in the western Mediterranean. The Aegean Sea in the eastern Mediterranean is well-known for its low-angle normal faults (detachments) (Lister et al., 1984; Lister &Forster, 1996) suggesting that detachment faulting may have been the primary agent achieving ~>250 km (McKenzie, 1978) of extension since the Miocene. Ring et al. (2003) provided evidence for a very fast-slipping detachment on the islands of Syros and Tinos in the western Cyclades, which suggests that normal faulting was the dominant tectonic process that formed the Aegean Sea. However, most extensional detachments in the Aegean do not allow to quantify the amount of vertical ductile thinning associated with extension and therefore a full evaluation of the significance of vertical ductile thinning is not possible. On the Island of Ikaria in the eastern Aegean Sea, a subhorizontal extensional ductile shear zone is well exposed. We studied this shear zone in detail to quantify the amount of vertical ductile thinning associated with extension. Numerous studies have shown that natural shear zones usually deviate significantly from progressive simple shear and are characterized by pronounced shortening perpendicular to the shear zone. Numerous deformed pegmatitic veins in this shear zone on Ikaria allow the reconstruction of deformation and flow parameters (Passchier, 1990), which are necessary for quantifying the amount of vertical ductile thinning in the shear zone. Furthermore, a flow-path and finite-strain study in a syn-tectonic granite, which intruded into the shear zone, was carried out. Consistent results show that the mean kinematic vorticity number in the shear zone was close to 1, indicating that the bulk deformation path was close to simple shear. This in turn indicates that vertical ductile thinning was not important during extensional faulting. We conclude that detachment faulting was the primary agent that extended the Aegean crust.

Landslide susceptibility mapping for a part of North Anatolian Fault Zone (Northeast Turkey) using logistic regression model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, Gökhan; aytekin, mustafa; banu ikizler, sabriye; angın, zekai

2013-04-01

The North Anatolian Fault is know as one of the most active and destructive fault zone which produced many earthquakes with high magnitudes. Along this fault zone, the morphology and the lithological features are prone to landsliding. However, many earthquake induced landslides were recorded by several studies along this fault zone, and these landslides caused both injuiries and live losts. Therefore, a detailed landslide susceptibility assessment for this area is indispancable. In this context, a landslide susceptibility assessment for the 1445 km2 area in the Kelkit River valley a part of North Anatolian Fault zone (Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey) was intended with this study, and the results of this study are summarized here. For this purpose, geographical information system (GIS) and a bivariate statistical model were used. Initially, Landslide inventory maps are prepared by using landslide data determined by field surveys and landslide data taken from General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration. The landslide conditioning factors are considered to be lithology, slope gradient, slope aspect, topographical elevation, distance to streams, distance to roads and distance to faults, drainage density and fault density. ArcGIS package was used to manipulate and analyze all the collected data Logistic regression method was applied to create a landslide susceptibility map. Landslide susceptibility maps were divided into five susceptibility regions such as very low, low, moderate, high and very high. The result of the analysis was verified using the inventoried landslide locations and compared with the produced probability model. For this purpose, Area Under Curvature (AUC) approach was applied, and a AUC value was obtained. Based on this AUC value, the obtained landslide susceptibility map was concluded as satisfactory. Keywords: North Anatolian Fault Zone, Landslide susceptibility map, Geographical Information Systems, Logistic Regression Analysis.

Estimation of the long-term slip, surface uplift and block rotation along the northern strand of the North Anatolian Fault Zone: Inferences from geomorphology of the Almacık Block

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yıldırım, Cengiz; Tüysüz, Okan

2017-11-01

The Almacık Block is one of the key morphotectonic units in the eastern Marmara Region associated with the long-term slip partitioning within the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). In this study, we provide new geomorphic reconstructions of offset drainage basins, morphometric analysis of topography, and longitudinal profiles of the rivers crossing different flanks of the Almacık Block. Our geomorphic reconstructions of offset drainage basins along the Hendek and Karadere faults imply mean offsets of 2.3 ± 0.4 km and 8.4 ± 0.7 km, respectively, during the Quaternary. Our dataset also imply that slip partitioning occurs in a broader zone than previously proposed, and that the total 10.7 ± 0.6 km offset along the Hendek and Karadere faults of the northern strand must be taken into account for long-term slip partitioning in the Eastern Marmara Region. Together with previously suggested 10 km offset along the southern strand (Yaltırak, 2002), 16 ± 1.0 km offset along the middle strand (Özalp et al., 2013) and the 52 ± 1.0 km offset along the Mudurnu Segment of the northern strand (Akbayram et al., 2016) our newly proposed geomorphic markers raise the cumulative offset in the eastern Marmara region associated with the NAF to 89 ± 1.0 km since the Latest Pliocene - Quaternary. In addition to these lateral displacements, our morphometric analysis and longitudinal profiles of the rivers imply up to 1130 ± 130 m surface uplift of the Almacık Block as a combined result of vertical displacement within the deformation zone of the northern strand of the NAFZ. Finally, by assuming that river basins act as passive deformation markers, our basin azimuth analyses imply 20° ± 2° clockwise rotation of the Almacık Block associated with the NAFZ.

Teleseismic P-wave tomography and mantle dynamics beneath Eastern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Jianshe; Zhao, Dapeng

2016-05-01

We determined a new 3-D P-wave velocity model of the upper mantle beneath eastern Tibet using 112,613 high-quality arrival-time data collected from teleseismic seismograms recorded by a new portable seismic array in Yunnan and permanent networks in southwestern China. Our results provide new insights into the mantle structure and dynamics of eastern Tibet. High-velocity (high-V) anomalies are revealed down to 200 km depth under the Sichuan basin and the Ordos and Alashan blocks. Low-velocity (low-V) anomalies are imaged in the upper mantle under the Kunlun-Qilian and Qinling fold zones, and the Songpan-Ganzi, Qiangtang, Lhasa and Chuan-Dian diamond blocks, suggesting that eastward moving low-V materials are extruded to eastern China after the obstruction by the Sichuan basin, and the Ordos and Alashan blocks. Furthermore, the extent and thickness of these low-V anomalies are correlated with the surface topography, suggesting that the uplift of eastern Tibet could be partially related to these low-V materials having a higher temperature and strong positive buoyancy. In the mantle transition zone (MTZ), broad high-V anomalies are visible from the Burma arc northward to the Kunlun fault and eastward to the Xiaojiang fault, and they are connected upward with the Wadati-Benioff seismic zone. These results suggest that the subducted Indian slab has traveled horizontally for a long distance after it descended into the MTZ, and return corner flow and deep slab dehydration have contributed to forming the low-V anomalies in the big mantle wedge. Our results shed new light on the dynamics of the eastern Tibetan plateau.

Earthquake hazard analysis for the different regions in and around Ağrı

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

Bayrak, Erdem, E-mail: erdmbyrk@gmail.com; Yilmaz, Şeyda, E-mail: seydayilmaz@ktu.edu.tr; Bayrak, Yusuf, E-mail: bayrak@ktu.edu.tr

We investigated earthquake hazard parameters for Eastern part of Turkey by determining the a and b parameters in a Gutenberg–Richter magnitude–frequency relationship. For this purpose, study area is divided into seven different source zones based on their tectonic and seismotectonic regimes. The database used in this work was taken from different sources and catalogues such as TURKNET, International Seismological Centre (ISC), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for instrumental period. We calculated the a value, b value, which is the slope of the frequency–magnitude Gutenberg–Richter relationship, from the maximum likelihoodmore » method (ML). Also, we estimated the mean return periods, the most probable maximum magnitude in the time period of t-years and the probability for an earthquake occurrence for an earthquake magnitude ≥ M during a time span of t-years. We used Zmap software to calculate these parameters. The lowest b value was calculated in Region 1 covered Cobandede Fault Zone. We obtain the highest a value in Region 2 covered Kagizman Fault Zone. This conclusion is strongly supported from the probability value, which shows the largest value (87%) for an earthquake with magnitude greater than or equal to 6.0. The mean return period for such a magnitude is the lowest in this region (49-years). The most probable magnitude in the next 100 years was calculated and we determined the highest value around Cobandede Fault Zone. According to these parameters, Region 1 covered the Cobandede Fault Zone and is the most dangerous area around the Eastern part of Turkey.« less

Cenozoic intracontinental deformation of the Kopeh Dagh Belt, Northeastern Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Yang; Wan, Bo; Chen, Ling; Talebian, Morteza

2016-04-01

Compressional intracontinental orogens represent large tectonic zones far from plate boundaries. Since intracontinental mountain belts cannot be framed in the conventional plate tectonics theory, several hypotheses have been proposed to account for the formations of these mountain belts. The far-field effect of collision/subduction at plate margins is now well accepted for the origin and evolution of the intracontinental crust thickening, as exemplified by the Miocene tectonics of central Asia. In northern Iran, the Binalud-Alborz mountain belt witnessed the Triassic tectonothermal events (Cimmerian orogeny), which are interpreted as the result of the Paleotethys Ocean closure between the Eurasia and Central Iran blocks. The Kopeh Dagh Belt, located to the north of the Binalud-Alborz Belt, has experienced two significant tectonic phases: (1) Jurassic to Eocene rifting with more than 7 km of sediments; and (2) Late Eocene-Early Oligocene to Quaternary continuous compression. Due to the high seismicity, deformation associated with earthquakes has received more and more attention; however, the deformation pattern and architecture of this range remain poorly understood. Detailed field observations on the Cenozoic deformation indicate that the Kopeh Dagh Belt can be divided into a western zone and an eastern zone, separated by a series of dextral strike-slip faults, i.e. the Bakharden-Quchan Fault System. The eastern zone characterized by km-scale box-fold structures, associated with southwest-dipping reverse faults and top-to-the NE kinematics. In contrast, the western zone shows top-to-the SW kinematics, and the deformation intensifies from NE to SW. In the northern part of this zone, large-scale asymmetrical anticlines exhibit SW-directed vergence with subordinate thrusts and folds, whereas symmetrical anticlines are observed in the southern part. In regard to its tectonic feature, the Kopeh Dagh Belt is a typical Cenozoic intracontinental belt without ophiolites or arc magmatism. During the Jurassic to Eocene rifting, this belt acted as the southern boundary of the Amu Darya Basin with normal faulting, which is also widespread in the South Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Moreover, such an extended area became a relatively weak zone within the Eurasian Plate, and could be easily reworked. Because of the collision in the Zagros Belt, the intracontinental compression commenced as early as Late Eocene to Early Oligocene, which is interpreted as tectonic inversion along this weak zone. The western zone of the Kopeh Dagh Belt was also affected by southerly indentation/extrusion of the South Caspian block since middle Miocene, possibly resulting in the different deformation patterns between the western and eastern zones.

Late Quaternary paleoseismology of the Milin fault: Implications for active tectonics along the Yarlung Zangbo Suture, Southeastern Tibet Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kang; Xu, Xiwei; Kirby, Eric; Tang, Fangtou; Kang, Wenjun

2018-04-01

How the eastward motion of crust in the central Tibetan Plateau is accommodated in the remote regions of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis remains uncertain. Although the Yarlung Zangbo suture (YZS) forms a striking lineament in the topography of the region, evidence for recent faulting along this zone has been equivocal. To understand whether faults along the YZS are active, we performed a geological investigation along the eastern segments of the YZS. Geomorphic observations suggest the presence of active faulting along several segments of the YZS, which we collectively refer to as the "Milin fault". Paleoseismologic data from trenches reveal evidence for one faulting event, which is constrained to occur between 5620 and 1945 a BP. The latest faulting event displaced alluvial surface T2 by 7 m. The offset on this earthquake place the minimum value on the vertical slip rate of 0.3 mm/yr. Empirical relationships between surface rupture length, displacement and magnitude, suggest that magnitude of the latest event could have been Mw 7.3-7.7. On the basis of this slip rate and the elapsed time since the last event, it is estimated that a seismic moment equivalent to Mw 7.0 has been accumulated on the Milin fault. It is pose a threat to the surrounding region. Our results suggest that shortening occurs in the vicinity of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, and part of eastward motion of crust from the central Tibetan Plateau is absorbed by uplift of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis.

Geological and mechanical properties on the 3-D fault patch of the rapid creeping Chihshang Fault: a plate suture between Luzon arc and Eurasia in eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. C.; Mu, C. H.; Huang, W. J.; Liu, Z. Y. C.; Shirzaei, M.

2017-12-01

The 35-km-long Chihshang Fault is a rapidly creeping thrust at plate suture between the converging Philippine and Eurasian plates in eastern Taiwan. We combined geological investigation, geodetic data, seismological information, and a rate-dependant friction model, to illustrate the mechanical frictional properties and their variations along the strike and the depth (30-km-deep) of the fault. During the interseismic period, the Chihshang Fault is characterized by three different slip behaviours at different depths: 1) abundant micro-seismicity and semi-continuous rapid slip at the depth of 10-20 km seismogenic zone; 2) visco-elastic aseismic slip zone beneath 25 km; 3) seasonal locked/creep switch at depth of 0-2 km. Using elastic dislocation model, 1-D diffusion model, Coulomb stress criterion, and rate-dependent frictional law, we simulate the surface creep curves from the creep meters data. The result shows a rate-strengthening zone with positive frictional property (a-b) in the upper 500 meters of fault, which appears to be locked during the dry season. We tend to interpret it as a result of 300-500 m thick of unconsolidated gravels layers in the footwall of the Chihshang Fault. We also implement an inverse dynamic modeling scheme to estimate the frictional parameter () in depths by taking into account pre-seismic stress and coulomb stress changes associated with co- and post-seismic deformation of the 2003 Mw 6.5 Chengkung earthquake. Model parameters are determined from fitting the transient post-seismic geodetic signal measured at 12 continuous GPS stations. We apply a non-linear optimization algorithm, Genetic Algorithm (GA), to search for the optimum parameters. The optimum is 1.4 ×10-2 along the shallow part of the fault (0-10 km depth) and 1.2 × 10-2 in 22-28 km depth. The inferred frictional parameters are consistent with the laboratory measurements on clay rich fault zone gouges comparable to the Lichi mélange, considering the main rock composition of the Chihshang fault. Our results indicate a possibly strong influence from the surface cover of a few hundreds meter thick unconsolidated deposits (i.e., late Quaternary gravel) and the clay rich fault gouge (i.e. the Lichi Melange) on frictional properties.

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.

Fault geometries illuminated from seismicity in central Taiwan: Implications for crustal scale structural boundaries in the northern Central Range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gourley, Jonathan R.; Byrne, Timothy; Chan, Yu-Chang; Wu, Francis; Rau, Ruey-Juin

2007-12-01

Data sets of collapsed earthquake locations, earthquake focal mechanisms, GPS velocities and geologic data are integrated to constrain the geometry and kinematics of a crustal block within the accreted continental margin rocks of Taiwan's northeastern Central Range. This block is laterally extruding and exhuming towards the north-northeast. The block is bound on the west-southwest by the previously recognized Sanyi-Puli seismic zone and on the east by a vertical seismic structure that projects to the eastern mountain front of the Central Range. Focal mechanisms from the Broadband Array of Taiwan Seismicity (BATS) catalog consistently show west-side-up reverse displacements for this fault zone. A second vertical structure is recognized beneath the Slate Belt-Metamorphic Belt boundary as a post-Chi-Chi relaxation oblique normal fault. BATS focal mechanisms show east-side-up, normal displacements with a minor left-lateral component. The vertical and lateral extrusion of this crustal block may be driven by the current collision between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Puli basement high indenter on the Eurasian Plate and/or trench rollback along the Ryukyu subduction zone. In addition, the vertical extent of the two shear zones suggests that a basal décollement below the eastern Central Range is deeper than previously proposed and may extend below the brittle-ductile transition.

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.

Resistivity method contribution in determining of fault zone and hydro-geophysical characteristics of carbonate aquifer, eastern desert, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ammar, A. I.; Kamal, K. A.

2018-03-01

Determination of fault zone and hydro-geophysical characteristics of the fractured aquifers are complicated, because their fractures are controlled by different factors. Therefore, 60 VESs were carried out as well as 17 productive wells for determining the locations of the fault zones and the characteristics of the carbonate aquifer at the eastern desert, Egypt. The general curve type of the recorded rock units was QKH. These curves were used in delineating the zones of faults according to the application of the new assumptions. The main aquifer was included at end of the K-curve type and front of the H-curve type. The subsurface layers classified into seven different geoelectric layers. The fractured shaly limestone and fractured limestone layers were the main aquifer and their resistivity changed from low to medium (11-93 Ω m). The hydro-geophysical properties of this aquifer such as the areas of very high, high, and intermediate fracture densities of high groundwater accumulations, salinity, shale content, porosity distribution, and recharging and flowing of groundwater were determined. The statistical analysis appeared that depending of aquifer resistivity on the water salinities (T.D.S.) and water resistivities add to the fracture density and shale content. The T.D.S. increasing were controlled by Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, and then (SO4)2-, respectively. The porosity was calculated and its average value was 19%. The hydrochemical analysis of groundwater appeared that its type was brackish and the arrangements of cation concentrations were Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ and anion concentrations were Cl- > (SO4)2- > HCO3 - > CO3 -. The groundwater was characterized by sodium-bicarbonate and sodium-sulfate genetic water types and meteoric in origin. Hence, it can use the DC-resistivity method in delineating the fault zone and determining the hydro-geophysical characteristics of the fractured aquifer with taking into account the quality of measurements and interpretation.

Active geodynamics of the Caucasus/Caspian region educed from GPS, and seismic Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadirov (Kadirov), Fakhraddin; Floyd, Michael; Reilinger, Robert; Alizadeh, Akif; Guliyev, Ibrahim; Mammadov, Samir; Safarov, Rafig

2017-04-01

The geodynamic and earthquake activity in the Caucasus/Caspian region is due to the ongoing collision of the Arabian plate with Eurasia. The Caucasus and Caspian Sea are historically among the most seismically active regions on earth. These earthquakes have caused thousands of deaths and great economic distress. Future earthquakes in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea must be considered and planned for in order to limit their impact on the people, ecology, and infrastructure of the region. Within this plate tectonics context, we examine deformation of the Caucasus region and show that most crustal shortening in the collision zone is accommodated by the Greater Caucasus Fold-and-Thrust Belt (GCFTB) along the southern edge of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The eastern GCFTB appears to bifurcate west of Baku, with one branch following the accurate geometry of the Greater Caucasus, turning towards the south and traversing the Neftchala Peninsula. A second branch may extend directly into the Caspian Sea south of Baku, likely connecting to the Central Caspian Seismic Zone. We model deformation in terms of a locked thrust fault that coincides in general with the main surface trace of the GCFTB. We consider two end-member models, each of which tests the likelihood of one or other of the branches being the dominant cause of observed deformation. Our models indicate that strain is actively accumulating on the fault along the 200 km segment of the fault west of Baku (approximately between longitudes 47-49°E). Parts of this segment of the fault broke in major earthquakes historically (1191, 1859, 1902) suggesting that significant future earthquakes (M 6-7) are likely on the central and western segment of the fault. We observe a similar deformation pattern across the eastern end of the GCFTB along a profile crossing the Kura Depression and Greater Caucasus Mountains in the vicinity of Baku. Along this eastern segment, a branch of the fault changes from a NW-SE striking thrust to an N-S oriented strike-slip fault. The similar deformation pattern along the eastern and central GCFTB segments raises the possibility that major earthquakes may also occur in eastern Azerbaijan. However, the eastern segment of the GCFTB has no record of large historic earthquakes, and is characterized by thick, highly saturated and over-pressured sediments within the Kura Depression and adjacent Caspian Basin that may inhibit elastic strain accumulation in favour of fault creep, and/or distributed faulting and folding. Thus, while our analyses suggest that large earthquakes are likely in central and western Azerbaijan, it is still uncertain whether significant earthquakes are also likely along the eastern segment, and on which structure. Ongoing and future focused studies of active deformation promise to shed further light on the tectonics and earthquake hazards in this highly populated and developed part of Azerbaijan.

Subduction and vertical coastal motions in the eastern Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, Andy; Jackson, James; Copley, Alex; McKenzie, Dan; Nissen, Ed

2017-10-01

Convergence in the eastern Mediterranean of oceanic Nubia with Anatolia and the Aegean is complex and poorly understood. Large volumes of sediment obscure the shallow structure of the subduction zone, and since much of the convergence is accommodated aseismically, there are limited earthquake data to constrain its kinematics. We present new source models for recent earthquakes, combining these with field observations, published GPS velocities and reflection-seismic data to investigate faulting in three areas: the Florence Rise, SW Turkey and the Pliny and Strabo Trenches. The depths and locations of earthquakes reveal the geometry of the subducting Nubian plate NE of the Florence Rise, a bathymetric high that is probably formed by deformation of sediment at the surface projection of the Anatolia-Nubia subduction interface. In SW Turkey, the presence of a strike-slip shear zone has often been inferred despite an absence of strike-slip earthquakes. We show that the GPS-derived strain-rate field is consistent with extension on the orthogonal systems of normal faults observed in the region and that strike-slip faulting is not required to explain observed GPS velocities. Further SW, the Pliny and Strabo Trenches are also often interpreted as strike-slip shear zones, but almost all nearby earthquakes have either reverse-faulting or normal-faulting focal mechanisms. Oblique convergence across the trenches may be accommodated either by a partitioned system of strike-slip and reverse faults or by oblique slip on the Aegean-Nubia subduction interface. The observed late-Quaternary vertical motions of coastlines close to the subduction zone are influenced by the interplay between: (1) thickening of the material overriding the subduction interface associated with convergence, which promotes coastal uplift; and (2) subsidence due to extension and associated crustal thinning. Long-wavelength gravity data suggest that some of the observed topographic contrasts in the eastern Mediterranean are supported by mantle convection. However, whether the convection is time dependent and whether its pattern moves relative to Nubia are uncertain, and its contribution to present-day rates of vertical coastal motions is therefore hard to constrain. The observed extension of the overriding material in the subduction system is probably partly related to buoyancy forces arising from topographic contrasts between the Aegean, Anatolia and the Mediterranean seafloor, but the reasons for regional variations are less clear.

Preliminary investigation on the deformation rates of the Nazimiye Fault (Eastern Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sançar, Taylan

2016-04-01

The complex tectonic setting of the eastern Mediterranean is mainly shaped by the interaction between three major plates, Eurasian, African, and Arabian plates, with additional involvement from the smaller Anatolian Scholle. The internal deformation of the Anatolian Scholle is mainly accommodated along NW-striking dextral and NE-striking sinistral faults, which are explained by the Prandtl Cell model by Şengör (1979). Although some of these strike-slip faults, such as Tuzgölü, Ecemiş and Malatya-Ovacık faults, have long been documented, the Nazimiye Fault (NF) is only presented in very recent studies (Kara et al. 2013; Emre et al. 2012). The aim of the study is to understand intra-plate deformation of the Anatolian Scholle, by studying the morphotectonic structures along the NF. The study area located close to the eastern boundary of Anatolia, roughly on the wedge that is delimited by the North and East Anatolian shear zones and the Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone. After the preliminary remote sensing analyses and field observations, I mapped the locations of the different terrace treads along the Pülümür River, which is strongly deflected by the activity of the NF. This dextral strike-slip fault, is not only characterized with the deformation of the Pülümür River, but also it shows many beheaded streams, pressure ridges, hot springs and travertines along its course. I sampled one of the alluvial fans for cosmogenic dating at the eastern section of the NF, where about 20 m of dextral offset was measured at the margins of the incised stream. Moreover, additional sampling was performed from different terrace levels along the Pülümür River, in order not only to estimate the min. horizontal rate, but also to quantify the vertical deformation. Moreover, I applied morphometric indices to understand the tectonic control on the local morphology along the NF. Transverse Topographic Symmetry Factor was used to show the relative degree of tectonic activity along the fault-bounded mountain fronts. In addition to that I also extracted hypsometric curves, hypsometric integrals and stream length gradient index to understand the relationship between characteristics of the drainage basins and tectonic activity. As preliminary results, I conclude that the southern segment of the NF is tectonically quiescent, whereas the deformation is mainly accommodated on the northern branch. References Emre, Ö., Duman, T.Y., Kondo, H., Olgun, Ş., Özalp, S., Elmacı, H., 2012. 1:250.000 Ölçekli Türkiye Diri Fay Haritası Serisi, Erzincan (NJ37-3) Paftası, Seri No:44, Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlüǧü, Ankara-Türkiye. Kara, K., Sançar, T., Zabci, C., 2013. Morphologic and Morphotectonic Characteristics of the Nazimiye Fault Zone, Eastern Turkey. EGU2013-8105, EGU General Assembly Vienna, Austria. Şengör, A.M.C., 1979. The North Anatolian transform fault; its age, offset and tectonic significance. Journal of the Geological Society of London 136, Part 3, 269-282.

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.

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.

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.

Evidence for a high slip rate of the Calico fault in the Eastern California Shear Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, S.; Wetmore, P. H.; Owen, L. A.; Gallant, E.; Dixon, T. H.

2016-12-01

Fault slip rates provide important constraint on seismic hazard assessments. Geologic and geodetic estimates of slip rates across the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) reveal a discrepancy between the two data sets. Most studies attempting to reconcile the discrepancy have focused on off-fault deformation and the technique limitation of short-term geodetic measurements, while there is less concern about the relatively small number of cited geologic slip rates. The Calico fault is central fault in the Mojave Desert portion of the ECSZ, where published geologic slip rates are between 1 and 2 mm/yr. We determine new geologic slip rates of the Calico fault by dating two offset alluvial fans near the town of Newberry Springs, California. Correlation of the offset fans was based on geomorphic and soil development characteristics. Offset magnitudes are based on high-resolution topography and orthoimagery, and by cropping and matching the alluvial fans along the fault trace. Surface displacements of the two offset fans are 80 m and 1120 m. Surface exposure ages of alluvial fan samples are dated using the production of 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN). The fan with an 80 m offset produced an age of 40 ka, yielding a slip rate of 2 mm/yr, consistent with previous studies. The fan with displacement of 1120 m produced an age of 290 ka, yielding a slip rate of 4 mm/yr, indicating that the Calico fault likely had a much higher slip rate early and has decreased more recently.

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.

Role of pre-existing structures in controlling the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the eastern Tibetan plateau: New insights from analogue experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ming; Yin, An; Yan, Danping; Ren, Hongyu; Mu, Hongxu; Zhu, Lutao; Qiu, Liang

2018-06-01

Pre-existing weakness due to repeated tectonic, metamorphic, and magmatic events is a fundamental feature of the continental lithosphere on Earth. Because of this, continental deformation results from a combined effect of boundary conditions imposed by plate tectonic processes and heterogeneous and anisotropic mechanical strength inherited from protracted continental evolution. In this study, we assess how this interaction may have controlled the Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Tibetan plateau during the India-Asia collision. Specifically, we use analogue models to evaluate how the pre-Cenozoic structures may have controlled the location, orientation, and kinematics of the northwest-striking Xianshuihe and northeast-striking Longmen Shan fault zones, the two most dominant Cenozoic structures in eastern Tibet. Our best model indicates that the correct location, trend, and kinematics of the two fault systems can only be generated and maintained if the following conditions are met: (1) the northern part of the Songpan-Ganzi terrane in eastern Tibet has a strong basement whereas its southern part has a weak basement, (2) the northern strong basement consists of two pieces bounded by a crustal-scale weak zone that is expressed by the Triassic development of a northwest-trending antiform exposing middle and lower crustal rocks, and (3) the region was under persistent northeast-southwest compression since ∼35 Ma. Our model makes correct prediction on the sequence of deformation in eastern Tibet; the Longmen Shan right-slip transpressional zone was initiated first as an instantaneous response to the northeast-southwest compression, which is followed by the formation of the Xianshuihe fault about a half way after the exertion of northeast-southwest shortening in the model. The success of our model highlights the importance of pre-existing weakness, a key factor that has been largely neglected in the current geodynamic models of continental deformation.

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.

Tectonic Setting of NGHP-1 Site 17, Andaman Forearc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochran, J. R.

2008-12-01

The National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition 1 was an 'IODP-like' coring and logging program to investigate gas hydrate occurrences along the margins of India. Although most sites were located along the east coast of India, Site NGHP-01-17 was located near 10° 45'N on the Andaman forearc approximately 50 km east of Little Andaman Island in a water depth of 1325 m. Seismic lines across the site show an anomalously deep bottom simulating reflector (BSR) at a depth of about 600 mbsf. Coring and logging results confirmed that the BSR does mark the base of the gas hydrate stability zone. The age of the sediments at the base of the hole was estimated as 12.3 Ma. The Andaman Sea is an extensional basin resulting from strain partitioning during oblique subduction at the Sunda trench. The site is located within the eastern portion of the Andaman-Nicobar outer arc accretionary ridge on a long sliver of crust between the Eastern Margin Fault and the Diligent Fault. They are both down-to-the-east normal faults that form the eastern edge of the accretionary prism. The West Andaman Fault (WAF), which forms the principal active plate boundary between the Sumatra Fault and the Andaman Spreading Center, is located about 45 km further east along the eastern side of Invisible Bank. The Eastern Margin Fault forms the eastern edge of the block containing Little Andaman Island and extends northward for at least 100 km along the eastern side of South Andaman Island where it appears to die out. It can be traced south to about 8° 20'N where it dies out east of Tarasa Island. The Diligent Fault extends south to about 9° N where it apparently merges with the WAF. It forms the eastern edge of the accretionary prism northward to at least to 13° N and most likely to the Mynamar shelf at 14° N. It probably continues on to join the Kabaw Fault, which marks the eastern boundary of the accretionary prism in Myanmar. Although there is a significant vertical offset across both faults near the NGDP-1-17 site, the Diligent Fault appears to have also experienced strike-slip faulting at some point, probably prior to formation of the Andaman Spreading Center at about 4 Ma. At that time the situation may have been similar to that now found between about 7° N and 4° N where the northern motion of the sliver plate is concentrated at two locations, a fault system along the landward margin of the accretionary prism and another system further landward that forms the main plate boundary.

Preliminary Data about Vertical Deformation of the eastern part of the Anatolian Scholle: Insight from Pülümür River Terraces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sançar, Taylan; Sunal, Gürsel; Korhan Erturaç, M.

2017-04-01

The northward motion of the African and Arabian plates relative to Eurasia and westward motion of the Anatolian scholle (An) have a key role in understanding of the eastern Mediterranean tectonics setting. The North and East Anatolian Shear Zones (NASZ and EASZ) present the main deformation zones of westward extrusion of the Anatolia whereas the NW-striking dextral and the NE-striking sinistral faults represent the remarkable intra-plate deformation within the An. In contrast to the earlier hypothesis, recent geologic and geodetic studies and micro seismic activity strongly suggests that internal deformation of the An is a continuous process. Some of these strike-slip faults, such as Tuzgölü Fault, Ecemiş Fault and Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone (MOFZ), have long been documented in terms of the kinematic evolution, slip-rate and paleoseismic activity but there is no or very limited knowledge on the uplift characteristics of the An. In this study, we focused on more complex region of the An, which is delimited by the NASZ at north, the EASZ at southeast, the MOFZ at west and the Nazmiye Fault Zone (NFZ) at south. We present data on the distribution of geologic and morphologic structures by using satellite images, aerial stereo pairs, digital elevation models (DEM) with 10 m ground pixel resolution and extensive field observations in this region, particularly along the NFZ that has two sub-parallel segments. The horizontal deformation along the NFZ, within the eastern part of the An, represented by 20 m to 10 km horizontal displacements.The spatial distribution of terraces of the Pülümür River that is one of the biggest drainage systems of the region is a clear morphologic indicator of the vertical deformation of the eastern An. The Pülümür River incised into Paleozoic metamorphic basement at the north and Eocene volcanoclastic at the south. We mapped three terrace levels (T1-T3) in the V-shaped Pülümür River valley that has about 5 km offset along the both segments of the NSZ. The highest terrace (T3) level at 60 to 150 m above the both side of the current river are important morphologic indicator of the active tectonic related base level change in the region. The abandonment ages of the terrace levels and the long-term incision rate of the Pülümür River as a proxy for the rock uplift will calculate based on ongoing isochron-burial dating with cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al. Our observations strongly suggest that the internal deformation of the eastern An is characterized by not only lateral but also important amount of vertical uplift. This study is supported by TÜBİTAK project no: 115Y684.

Relative role of transfer zones in controlling sequence stacking patterns and facies distribution: insights from the Fushan Depression, South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Entao; Wang, Hua; Li, Yuan; Huang, Chuanyan

2015-04-01

In sedimentary basins, a transfer zone can be defined as a coordinated system of deformational features which has good prospects for hydrocarbon exploration. Although the term 'transfer zone' has been widely applied to the study of extensional basins, little attention has been paid to its controlling effect on sequence tracking pattern and depositional facies distribution. Fushan Depression is a half-graben rift sub-basin, located in the southeast of the Beibuwan Basin, South China Sea. In this study, comparative analysis of seismic reflection, palaeogeomorphology, fault activity and depositional facies distribution in the southern slope indicates that three different types of sequence stacking patterns (i.e. multi-level step-fault belt in the western area, flexure slope belt in the central area, gentle slope belt in the eastern area) were developed along the southern slope, together with a large-scale transfer zone in the central area, at the intersection of the western and eastern fault systems. Further analysis shows that the transfer zone played an important role in the diversity of sequence stacking patterns in the southern slope by dividing the Fushan Depression into two non-interfering tectonic systems forming different sequence patterns, and leading to the formation of the flexure slope belt in the central area. The transfer zone had an important controlling effect on not only the diversity of sequence tracking patterns, but also the facies distribution on the relay ramp. During the high-stand stage, under the controlling effect of the transfer zone, the sediments contain a significant proportion of coarser material accumulated and distributed along the ramp axis. By contrast, during the low-stand stage, the transfer zone did not seem to contribute significantly to the low-stand fan distribution which was mainly controlled by the slope gradient (palaeogeomorphology). Therefore, analysis of the transfer zone can provide a new perspective for basin analysis. In addition, the transfer zone area demonstrated unique hydrocarbon accumulation models different from the western and eastern areas. It was not only a structural high combined with sufficient coarse-grained reservoir quality sands, but was also associated with large-scale sublacustrine fan deposits with high quality reservoirs, indicating that the recognition of transfer zones can improve the prediction of hydrocarbon occurrences in similar settings.

Preliminary geologic map of the San Guillermo Mountain Quadrangle, Ventura County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minor, S.A.

1999-01-01

New 1:24,000-scale geologic mapping in the Cuyama 30' x 60' quadrangle, in support of the USGS Southern California Areal Mapping Project (SCAMP), is contributing to a more complete understanding of the stratigraphy, structure, and tectonic evolution of the complex junction area between the NW-striking Coast Ranges and EW-striking western Transverse Ranges. The 1:24,000-scale geologic map of the San Guillermo Mountain quadrangle is one of six contiguous 7 1/2' quadrangle geologic maps in the eastern part of the Cuyama map area being compiled for a more detailed portrayal and reevaluation of geologic structures and rock units shown on previous geologic maps of the area (e.g., Dibblee, 1979). The following observations and interpretations are based on the new San Guillermo Mountain geologic compilation: (1) The new geologic mapping in the northern part of the San Guillermo Mountain quadrangle allows for reinterpretation of fault architecture that bears on potential seismic hazards of the region. Previous mapping had depicted the eastern Big Pine fault (BPF) as a northeast-striking, sinistral strike-slip fault that extends for 30 km northeast of the Cuyama River to its intersection with the San Andreas fault (SAF). In contrast the new mapping indicates that the eastern BPF is a thrust fault that curves from a northeast strike to an east strike, where it is continuous with the San Guillermo thrust fault, and dies out further east about 15 km south of the SAF. This redefined segment of the BPF is a south-dipping, north-directed thrust, with dominantly dip slip components (rakes > 60 deg.), that places Middle Eocene marine rocks (Juncal and Matilija Formations) over Miocene through Pliocene(?) nonmarine rocks (Caliente, Quatal, and Morales Formations). Although a broad northeast-striking fault zone, exhibiting predominantly sinistral components of slip (rakes < 45 deg.), extends to the SAF as previously mapped, the fault zone does not connect to the southwest with the BPF but instead curves into a southwest-directed thrust fault system a short distance north of the BPF. Oligocene to Pliocene(?) nonmarine sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Plush Ranch, Caliente, and Morales(?) Formations are folded on both sides of this fault zone (informally named the Lockwood Valley fault zone [LVFZ] on the map). South-southeast of the LVFZ overturned folds have southward vergence. Several moderate-displacement (< 50 m), mainly northwest-dipping thrust and reverse faults, exhibiting mostly sinistral-oblique slip, flank and strike parallel to the overturned folds. The fold vergence and thrust direction associated with the LVFZ is opposite to that of the redefined BPF, providing further evidence that the two faults are distinct structures. These revised fault interpretations bring into question earlier estimates of net sinistral strike-slip displacement of as much as 13 km along the originally defined eastern BPF, which assumed structural connection with the LVFZ. Also, despite sparse evidence for repeated Quaternary movement on the LVFZ (e.g., Dibblee, 1982), the potential for a large earthquake involving coseismic slip on both the LVFZ and the central BPF to the southwest may not be as great as once believed. (2) Several generations of Pleistocene and younger dissected alluvial terrace and fan deposits sit at various levels above modern stream channels throughout the quadrangle. These deposits give testimony to the recent uplift and related fault deformation that has occurred in the area. (3) A vast terrane of Eocene marine sedimentary rocks (Juncal and Matilija Formations and Cozy Dell Shale) exposed south of the Big Pine fault forms the southern two-thirds of the San Guillermo Mountain quadrangle. Benthic foraminifers collected from various shale intervals within the Juncal Formation indicate a Middle Eocene age (Ulatisian) for the entire formation (K. McDougall, unpub. data, 1998) and deposition at paleodepths as great as 2,000 m (i.e., lowe

On abrupt transpression to transtension transition in the South Baikal rift system (Tunka - South Baikal segment)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sankov, Vladimir; Parfeevets, Anna; Lukhnev, Andrey; Miroshnitchenko, Andrey; Ashurkov, Sergey; Sankov, Alexey; Usynin, Leonid; Eskin, Alexander; Bryzhak, Evgeny

2013-04-01

This work addresses to relation of transpression and extension stress-strain conditions in intracontinental rift system. In our investigation we use a new structural, shallow geophysics, GPS geodetic data and paleostress reconstructions. The surroundings of southern tip of Siberian platform is the region of three Late Cenozoic structures conjugation: sublatitudinal Obruchev fault (OF) controlling the northern boundary of the South Baikal basin, NW trending Main Sayan fault (MSF) as the strike-slip boundary between Siberian platform and East Sayan block and WNW trending eastern segment of Tunka fault (TF) as part of the Tunka basins system northern boundary. A new evidences of superposition of compression and extension fault structures were revealed near the southern extremity of Baikal lake. We've find a very close vicinity of Late Pleistocene - Holocene strike-slip, thrust and normal faulting in the MSF and OF junction zone. The on-land Holocene normal faulting can be considered as secondary fault paragenesis within the main strike-slip zone (Sankov et al., 2009). Active strike-slip, thrust and reverse faulting characterize the MSF and TF junction zone. The transpression conditions are replaced very sharply by transtension and extension ones in eastern direction from zone of structures conjugation - the active normal faulting is dominated within the South Baikal basin. The Bystraya rift basin located in the west shows the tectonic inversion since Middle Pleistocene as a result of the strike-slip movements partitioning between TF and MSF and inset of edition compression stress. The active strike-slip and intrabasin extension conditions are dominated father to the west in Tunka basin. The results of our GPS measurements show the present day convergence and east movements of Khamar-Daban block and eastern Tunka basins relative to Siberian platform along MSF and TF with NE-SW shortening domination. The clear NW-SE divergence across Baikal basin is documented. Holocene and present-day left lateral relative motions of about 3 mm/yr (Sankov et al., 2004) between of Siberian platform and its mounting frame are accommodated along south-eastern segment of MSF. We consider two main factors of sharp transition between transpression and transtension to extension conditions in Tunka-South Baikal segment of Baikal rift system. The first one is the influence of geometry of southern tip of Siberian platform as a first order ancient lithosphere heterogeneity in agreement with (Petit et al., 1996). The second factor is the interaction in this region of two tectonic forces driving the Cenozoic geodynamics. The initial opening of the Tunka and South Baikal basins since Oligocene time as well as father Baikal rift system development caused by long lived asthenosphere flow along NW-SE direction (Sankov et al., 2011). The addition NE-SW compression started during Pliocene (Parfeevets, Sankov, 2006) as the result of the Hindustan and Eurasia convergence. The former caused transpression deformations and clockwise horizontal block rotations along south-western boundary of the platform with their SE movements to the "free space" opened by the divergence of Siberian platform and Transbaikal block (Sankov et al., 2002, 2005).

Seismotectonics of Bhutan: Evidence for segmentation of the Eastern Himalayas and link to foreland deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diehl, Tobias; Singer, Julia; Hetényi, György; Grujic, Djordje; Clinton, John; Giardini, Domenico; Kissling, Edi

2017-04-01

The instrumental seismicity of Bhutan is characterized by a lower activity compared to most other parts of the Himalayan arc. To understand this low activity and its impact on the seismic hazard, a seismic network was installed in Bhutan for 22 months between 2013 and 2014. From the recorded seismicity, earthquake moment tensors, and local earthquake tomography, we reveal along-strike variations in structure and crustal deformation regime. Imaged structural variations, primarily a thickened crust in western Bhutan, suggest lateral differences in stresses on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), potentially affecting interseismic coupling and style of deformation. Sikkim, western Bhutan, and its foreland are characterized by strike-slip faulting in the Indian basement. Strain is particularly localized along a NW-SE striking dextral fault zone reaching from Chungthang in northeast Sikkim to Dhubri at the northwestern edge of the Shillong Plateau in the foreland. The dextral Dhubri-Chungthang fault zone (DCF) might segment the MHT between eastern Nepal and western Bhutan and connect the deformation front of the Himalaya with the Shillong Plateau in the foreland by forming the western boundary of a West-Assam block. In contrast, the eastern boundary of this block, hitherto associated with the Kopili foreland fault, appears to be diffuse. In eastern Bhutan, we image a seismogenic, flat portion of the MHT, which might be related to a partially creeping fault segment or increased background seismicity originating from the 2009 MW6.1 earthquake. In western-central Bhutan, clusters of micro-earthquakes at the front of the High-Himalayas indicate the presence of a mid-crustal ramp and stress buildup on a fully coupled MHT. The area bounded by the DCF in the west and the seismogenic MHT in the east has the potential for M7-8 earthquakes in Bhutan. Similarly, the DCF has the potential to host M7 earthquakes beneath the densely populated foreland basin as documented by the Dhubri earthquake of 1930, which is likely associated to this structure.

State-of-the-Art for Assessing Earthquake Hazards in the United States. Report 21. Seismic Source Zones of the Eastern United States and Seismic Zoning of the Atlantic Seaboard and Appalachian Regions.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-08-01

1812 earthquakes, and this produced Reelfoot Lake (Fuller, 1912). 10. .6. r. .,-- UPLIFT Uplift is known to be occurring in two regions in the...axes, as does the 11 mile (18 km) long Reelfoot Lake , formed during the 1811 and 1812 earthquakes (Fuller, 1912). The trend of the probable fault...the Reelfoot Lake basin to the northeast has subsided (Fig. 37). Monoclinal structure and shallow faults have been located along the scarp between the

Crustal dynamics studies in China

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, F. T.

1985-01-01

Geodynamics of Mainland China and Taiwan are discussed. The following research was performed: (1) the tectonics along the Tanlu fault in eastern China; (2) tectonics in the Taiwan Strait behind the collision zone in Taiwan; and (3) analysis of faulting in the vicinity of the Altyn Tagn fault. It is found that the existence of the fault is traced back to at least Jurassic with the deposition of conglomerate sandstones in the troungh along the present Tanlu fault branches in the Shantung Province. Taiwan is the product of collision between the Phillipine plate and the Asian plate and Taiwan came into being because of a former island arc.

Three Dimensional P-Wave Velocity Structure Beneath Eastern Turkey by Local Earthquake Tomography (LET) Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teoman, U. M.; Turkelli, N.; Gok, R.

2005-12-01

Recently, crustal structure and the tectonic evolution of Eastern Turkey region was extensively studied in the context of Eastern Turkey Seismic Experiment (ETSE) from late 1999 to August 2001. Collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates has been occurring along East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) and the Bitlis Suture, which made Eastern Turkey an ideal platform for scientific research. High quality local earthquake data from the ETSE seismic network were used in order to determine the 3-D P-wave velocity structure of upper crust for Eastern Turkey. Within the 32-station network, 524 well locatable earthquakes with azimuthal gaps < 200° and number of P-wave observations > 8 (corresponding to 6842 P-phase readings) were selected from the initial data set and simultaneously inverted. 1-D reference velocity model was derived by an iterative 1-D velocity inversion including the updated hypocenters and the station delays. The following 3-D tomographic inversion was iteratively performed by SIMULPS14 algorithm in a ``damped least-squares'' sense using the appropriate ray tracing technique, model parametrization and control parameters. As far as resolution is concerned, S waves were not included in this study due to strong attenuation, insufficient number of S phase readings and higher picking errors with respect to P phases. Several tests with the synthetic data were conducted to assess the solution quality, suggesting that the velocity structure is well resolved down to ~17km. Overall,resulting 3-D P-wave velocity model led to a more reliable hypocenter determination indicated by reduced event scattering and a significant reduction of %50 both in variance and residual (rms) values.With the influence of improved velocity model, average location errors did not exceed ~1.5km in horizontal and ~4km in vertical directions. Tomographic images revealed the presence of lateral velocity variations in Eastern Turkey. Existence of relatively low velocity zones (5.6 < Vp < 6.0 km/sec) along most of the vertical profiles possibly indicates the influence of major tectonic structures such as North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) and the Bitlis thrust belt correlated with the seismicity. Low velocity anomalies extend deeper along EAFZ down to ~15km compared to a depth of ~10km along NAFZ. Arabian plate is generally marked by relatively higher velocities (Vp > 6.2 km/sec) in 10-15 km depth range.

Quaternary tectonic faulting in the Eastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, R.L.

2006-01-01

Paleoseismological study of geologic features thought to result from Quaternary tectonic faulting can characterize the frequencies and sizes of large prehistoric and historical earthquakes, thereby improving the accuracy and precision of seismic-hazard assessments. Greater accuracy and precision can reduce the likelihood of both underprotection and unnecessary design and construction costs. Published studies proposed Quaternary tectonic faulting at 31 faults, folds, seismic zones, and fields of earthquake-induced liquefaction phenomena in the Appalachian Mountains and Coastal Plain. Of the 31 features, seven are of known origin. Four of the seven have nontectonic origins and the other three features are liquefaction fields caused by moderate to large historical and Holocene earthquakes in coastal South Carolina, including Charleston; the Central Virginia Seismic Zone; and the Newbury, Massachusetts, area. However, the causal faults of the three liquefaction fields remain unclear. Charleston has the highest hazard because of large Holocene earthquakes in that area, but the hazard is highly uncertain because the earthquakes are uncertainly located. Of the 31 features, the remaining 24 are of uncertain origin. They require additional work before they can be clearly attributed either to Quaternary tectonic faulting or to nontectonic causes. Of these 24, 14 features, most of them faults, have little or no published geologic evidence of Quaternary tectonic faulting that could indicate the likely occurrence of earthquakes larger than those observed historically. Three more features of the 24 were suggested to have had Quaternary tectonic faulting, but paleoseismological and other studies of them found no evidence of large prehistoric earthquakes. The final seven features of uncertain origin require further examination because all seven are in or near urban areas. They are the Moodus Seismic Zone (Hartford, Connecticut), Dobbs Ferry fault zone and Mosholu fault (New York City), Lancaster Seismic Zone and the epicenter of the shallow Cacoosing Valley earthquake (Lancaster and Reading, Pennsylvania), Kingston fault (central New Jersey between New York and Philadelphia), and Everona fault-Mountain Run fault zone (Washington, D.C., and Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia). ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

Exhumation at orogenic indentor corners under long-term glacial conditions: Example of the St. Elias orogen, Southern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spotila, James A.; Berger, Aaron L.

2010-07-01

Syntaxial bends in convergent plate boundaries, or indentor corners, display some of the most intriguing deformation patterns on Earth and are type localities for "aneurysms" of coupled erosion, thermal weakening, and strain. The St. Elias orogen in Alaska is a small, young convergent system that has been dominated by a glacial climate for much of its history and exhibits two prominent indentor corners that are not well understood. We have added 40 new apatite (U-Th)/He ages to the already extensive dataset for the low-temperature cooling history of this orogen to constrain the pattern of exhumation in these indentor corners. Ages from the western syntaxis show minor variation across the structural hinge, suggesting that the bend has little effect on the pattern of exhumation and that structures, including the Bagley fault, connect smoothly from the orogen core to the subduction zone to the southwest. Rock uplift on the north flank of the range appears to increase steadily towards the eastern syntaxis, which represents the apex in the right-angle bend between a transform fault in the south and the collision zone in the west. Based on age-elevation relationships, zones of relative rock uplift can be defined in which the Mt. Logan massif, or the area just north of the eastern syntaxis, experienced ˜ 4.8 km greater rock uplift than background levels northwest of the western syntaxis. A bulge in relative rock uplift is symmetric about the hinge in the eastern indentor corner. However, rates of denudation in this bulge are not as rapid as the core of the fold and thrust belt and are lower than those implied by detrital cooling ages from beneath the Seward Glacier. This implies that a large bull's eye of ultra-rapid (˜ 5 mm/yr) exhumation does not occur and that the subpopulation of young detrital ages may be sourced from a narrow transpressional zone along the Fairweather fault. Unlike the Himalayan syntaxes, it thus appears that an aneurysm of coupled erosion-strain has not developed in either indentor corner of the St. Elias orogen. This may indicate a limit to the degree to which glacial erosion can partition strain in convergent orogens. Similarly, the likely existence of a through-going dextral fault, the Totschunda fault, through the eastern syntaxis implies that tectonics, rather than surface processes, exerts the main control on strain partitioning in these corners.

The Eastern California Shear Zone as the northward extension of the southern San Andreas Fault

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thatcher, Wayne R.; Savage, James C.; Simpson, Robert W.

2016-01-01

Cluster analysis offers an agnostic way to organize and explore features of the current GPS velocity field without reference to geologic information or physical models using information only contained in the velocity field itself. We have used cluster analysis of the Southern California Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field to determine the partitioning of Pacific-North America relative motion onto major regional faults. Our results indicate the large-scale kinematics of the region is best described with two boundaries of high velocity gradient, one centered on the Coachella section of the San Andreas Fault and the Eastern California Shear Zone and the other defined by the San Jacinto Fault south of Cajon Pass and the San Andreas Fault farther north. The ~120 km long strand of the San Andreas between Cajon Pass and Coachella Valley (often termed the San Bernardino and San Gorgonio sections) is thus currently of secondary importance and carries lesser amounts of slip over most or all of its length. We show these first order results are present in maps of the smoothed GPS velocity field itself. They are also generally consistent with currently available, loosely bounded geologic and geodetic fault slip rate estimates that alone do not provide useful constraints on the large-scale partitioning we show here. Our analysis does not preclude the existence of smaller blocks and more block boundaries in Southern California. However, attempts to identify smaller blocks along and adjacent to the San Gorgonio section were not successful.

The Eastern California Shear Zone as the northward extension of the southern San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thatcher, W.; Savage, J. C.; Simpson, R. W.

2016-04-01

Cluster analysis offers an agnostic way to organize and explore features of the current GPS velocity field without reference to geologic information or physical models using information only contained in the velocity field itself. We have used cluster analysis of the Southern California Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity field to determine the partitioning of Pacific-North America relative motion onto major regional faults. Our results indicate the large-scale kinematics of the region is best described with two boundaries of high velocity gradient, one centered on the Coachella section of the San Andreas Fault and the Eastern California Shear Zone and the other defined by the San Jacinto Fault south of Cajon Pass and the San Andreas Fault farther north. The ~120 km long strand of the San Andreas between Cajon Pass and Coachella Valley (often termed the San Bernardino and San Gorgonio sections) is thus currently of secondary importance and carries lesser amounts of slip over most or all of its length. We show these first order results are present in maps of the smoothed GPS velocity field itself. They are also generally consistent with currently available, loosely bounded geologic and geodetic fault slip rate estimates that alone do not provide useful constraints on the large-scale partitioning we show here. Our analysis does not preclude the existence of smaller blocks and more block boundaries in Southern California. However, attempts to identify smaller blocks along and adjacent to the San Gorgonio section were not successful.

Paleomagnetic constraints on the timing and distribution of Cenozoic rotations in Central and Eastern Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gürer, Derya; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Özkaptan, Murat; Creton, Iverna; Koymans, Mathijs R.; Cascella, Antonio; Langereis, Cornelis G.

2018-03-01

To quantitatively reconstruct the kinematic evolution of Central and Eastern Anatolia within the framework of Neotethyan subduction accommodating Africa-Eurasia convergence, we paleomagnetically assess the timing and amount of vertical axis rotations across the Ulukışla and Sivas regions. We show paleomagnetic results from ˜ 30 localities identifying a coherent rotation of a SE Anatolian rotating block comprised of the southern Kırşehir Block, the Ulukışla Basin, the Central and Eastern Taurides, and the southern part of the Sivas Basin. Using our new and published results, we compute an apparent polar wander path (APWP) for this block since the Late Cretaceous, showing that it experienced a ˜ 30-35° counterclockwise vertical axis rotation since the Oligocene time relative to Eurasia. Sediments in the northern Sivas region show clockwise rotations. We use the rotation patterns together with known fault zones to argue that the counterclockwise-rotating domain of south-central Anatolia was bounded by the Savcılı Thrust Zone and Deliler-Tecer Fault Zone in the north and by the African-Arabian trench in the south, the western boundary of which is poorly constrained and requires future study. Our new paleomagnetic constraints provide a key ingredient for future kinematic restorations of the Anatolian tectonic collage.

Teleseismic P-wave Tomography and Mantle Dynamics beneath Eastern Tibet: Insight into Tengchong Volcano and Large Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, J., Sr.; Zhao, D.

2016-12-01

We determined a new 3-D P-wave velocity model of the upper mantle beneath eastern Tibet using 112,613 high-quality arrival-time data collected from teleseismic seismograms recorded by a new portable seismic array in Yunnan and permanent networks in southwestern China. Our results provide new insights into the mantle structure and dynamics of eastern Tibet. High-velocity (high-V) anomalies are revealed down to 200 km depth under the Sichuan basin and the Ordos and Alashan blocks. Low-velocity (low-V) anomalies are imaged in the upper mantle under the Kunlun-Qilian and Qinling fold zones, and the Songpan-Ganzi, Qiangtang, Lhasa and Chuan-Dian diamond blocks, suggesting that eastward moving low-V materials are extruded to eastern China after the obstruction by the Sichuan basin, and the Ordos and Alashan blocks. Furthermore, the extent and thickness of these low-V anomalies are correlated with the surface topography, suggesting that the uplift of eastern Tibet could be partially related to these low-V materials having a higher temperature and strong positive buoyancy. In the mantle transition zone (MTZ), broad high-V anomalies are visible from the Burma arc northward to the Kunlun fault and eastward to the Xiaojiang fault, and they are connected upward with the Wadati-Benioff seismic zone. These results suggest that the subducted Indian slab has traveled horizontally for a long distance after it descended into the MTZ, and return corner flow and deep slab dehydration have contributed to forming the low-V anomalies in the big mantle wedge. Our results shed new light on the deep origin of Tengchong volcano and large crustal earthquakes as well as the mantle dynamics of the eastern Tibetan plateau.

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.

The development of the East African Rift system in north-central Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hackman, B. D.; Charsley, T. J.; Key, R. M.; Wilkinson, A. F.

1990-11-01

Between 1980 and 1986 geological surveying to produce maps on a scale of 1:250,000 was completed over an area of over 100,000 km 2 in north-central Kenya, bounded by the Equator, the Ethiopian border and longitudes 36° and 38 °E. The Gregory Rift, much of which has the structure of an asymmetric half-graben, is the most prominent component of the Cenozoic multiple rift system which extends up to 200 km to the east and for about 100 km to the west, forming the Kenya dome. On the eastern shoulder and fringes two en echelon arrays of late Tertiary to Quaternary multicentre shields can be recognized: to the south is the Aberdares-Mount Kenya-Nyambeni Range chain and, to the north the clusters of Mount Kulal, Asie, Huri Hills and Marsabit, with plateau lavas and fissure vents south of Marsabit in the Laisamis area. The Gregory Rift terminates at the southern end of Lake Turkana. Further north the rift system splays: the arcuate Kinu Sogo fault zone forms an offset link with the central Ethiopian Rift system. In the rifts of north-central Kenya volcanism, sedimentation and extensional tectonics commenced and have been continuous since the late Oligocene. Throughout this period the Elgeyo Fault acted as a major bounding fault. A comparative study of the northern and eastern fringes of the Kenya dome with the axial graben reinforces the impression of regional E-W asymmetry. Deviations from the essential N-trend of the Gregory Rift reflect structural weaknesses in the underlying Proterozoic basement, the Mozambique Orogenic Belt: thus south of Lake Baringo the swing to the southeast parallels the axes of the ca. 620 Ma phase folds. Secondary faults associated with this flexure have created a "shark tooth" array, an expression of en echelon offsets of the eastern margin of the Gregory Rift in a transtensional stress regime: hinge zones where major faults intersect on the eastern shoulder feature intense box faulting and ramp structures which have counterparts in the rift system in southern Ethiopia. The NE- and ENE-trending fissures of the eastern fringes of the Kenya dome, notably in the Meru-Nyambeni areaand in the Huri and Marsabit shields, parallel late orogenic structures dated at around 580-480 Ma. Alkaline trends characterize the petrochemistry of the Cenozoic volcanics: In the Gregory Rift, voluminous Miocene alkali basalts, associated with hawaiite/mugearite lavas, define a trend culminating in the Miocene flood phonolites of the eastern shoulderand in the trachyphonolites, trachytes and peralkaline rhyolites, with associated pyroclastics, in central volcanoes such as Korosi, Paka and Silali. Such trends may manifest in the products of a single volcanic centre, also regionally on a broadly cyclic basis. On the eastern flanks of the Kenya dome the flood phonolites are less evident, but the same alkaline trends dominate the lava sequences, supplemented by nephelinitic extrusives in parts of the Nyambeni Range and in the Laisamis area. Results from recent seismicity surveys in the Laisamis area indicate that crustal extension may be currently active on the eastern fringes of the Kenya dome, but manifest at greater depths than in the axial Gregory Rift-Lake Turkana zone: a correlation is suggested with the ultra-alkaline petrochemistry of some of the eastern multicentre shields.

New insights on the recent and current deformation in Central-Eastern Iran, derived from a combined tectonic and GPS analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walpersdorf, A.; Manighetti, I.; Tavakoli, F.; Mousavi, Z.; Vergnolle, M.; Jadidi, A.; Hatzfeld, D.; Aghamohammadi, A.; Djamour, Y.; Nankali, H.; Sedighi, M.; Lutz, L.

2012-04-01

We have studied the recent to current deformation in Iran and especially Central-Eastern Iran by tightly combining tectonic and GPS analyses. Based on morphotectonic analyses of satellite images, we have identified and mapped the major active faults that dissect the entire ≈ 4500 km x 2500 km2 region that extends from Eastern Turkey to Western Afghanistan/Pakistan and hence encompasses Iran, emphasizing their large-scale organization and kinematic relationships. Doing so, we have identified the major fault systems that control the tectonics of Iran, especially in its central-eastern part. We have also analyzed the 11 years GPS record on the 92 stations deployed in central-eastern Iran in the framework of the Iranian-French collaboration. The GPS analysis reveals that all major faults identified as seismogenic in central-eastern Iran are indeed currently active and slipping at fast rates. The northerly-trending East Lut, West Lut, Kuhbanan, Anar and Deshir faults have a current right-lateral slip rate of 5.7 ± 0.9, 4.7 ± 1.7, 2.3 ± 1.9, 2.7 ± 1.3 and 0.5 ± 0.2 mm/yr, respectively, while the ≈ EW-trending Doruneh and Sedeh faults have a left-lateral current slip rate of 3.1 ± 1.8 and 1.7 ± 0.2 mm/yr, respectively. The large regions bounded by the northerly-striking faults behave as fairly rigid blocks that are all found to move towards both the N13°E ARA-EUR convergence direction and the WNW, at fast rates, in the range 6.5-12.5 and 1-5 mm/yr, respectively. Combined with the available data on the studied faults, our tectonic and geodetic results suggest that a bookshelf faulting strain transfer mechanism has been and is still operating in central-eastern Iran. The coeval dextral motion of the two major, overlapping, North Anatolian-Main Recent and Caucasus-Kopeh Dagh-Herat fault lines that embrace central-eastern Iran, induces a large-scale regional sinistral shear on either side of the region, which forces the northerly-trending right-lateral faults and the blocks they bound to rotate counterclockwise in the horizontal plane. The faults and blocks have been rotating over the last ≈12 Ma, at rates reaching 1.8 °/Ma, and are still currently rotating at about these rates. We estimate the sinistral shear imposed at both edges of the central-eastern rotating zone to be in the range 2.2 - 7.2 mm/yr. The Doruneh fault likely formed more recently than the other central-eastern Iranian faults, as the imposed sinistral shear was evolving from diffuse to more localized. As a consequence, the western half of the Doruneh fault currently accommodates a significant part of the imposed regional sinistral shear. Our study thus shows that the recent to current tectonics of central-eastern Iran is not only controlled by the ARA-EUR convergence, but also by the large-scale kinematics of the adjacent plates. We finally discuss the implications of the novel strain model that we propose on the seismicity that occurs in Central-Eastern Iran.

Implications of a localized zone of seismic activity near the Inner Piedmont-Blue Ridge boundary

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

Douglas, S.; Powell, C.

1994-03-01

A small but distinct cluster of earthquake activity is located in Henderson County, NC, near the boundary of the Inner Piedmont and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. Over twenty events have occurred within the cluster since 1776 and four had body-wave magnitudes exceeding 3.0. Average focal depth for instrumentally recorded events is 7.7 km. Epicenters plot within the Inner Piedmont, roughly 13 km from the surface expression of the Brevard fault zone. The reason for sustained earthquake activity in Henderson County is not known but the close spatial association of the events with the Brevard fault suggests a causal relationship. Themore » Brevard zone dips steeply to the SE and the events could be associated with the fault at depth. An even more intriguing possibility is that the events are associated with the intersection of the Brevard zone and the decollemont; this possibility is compatible with available information concerning the depth to the decollemont and the dip on the Brevard zone. An association of seismic activity with the Brevard zone at depth is supported by the presence of another small cluster of activity located in Rutherford County, NC. This cluster is located in the Inner Piedmont, roughly 30 km NE of the Henderson cluster and 16 km from the Brevard fault zone. Association of seismic activity with known faults is very rare in the eastern US and has implications for tectonic models and hazard evaluation. Additional research must be conducted to determine the feasibility that activity is associated with the Brevard zone.« less

Geodetic slip rate for the eastern California shear zone and the recurrence time of Mojave desert earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sauber, J.; Thatcher, W.; Solomon, S.C.; Lisowski, M.

1994-01-01

Where the San Andreas fault passes along the southwestern margin of the Mojave desert, it exhibits a large change in trend, and the deformation associated with the Pacific/North American plate boundary is distributed broadly over a complex shear zone. The importance of understanding the partitioning of strain across this region, especially to the east of the Mojave segment of the San Andreas in a region known as the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ), was highlighted by the occurrence (on 28 June 1992) of the magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake in this zone. Here we use geodetic observations in the central Mojave desert to obtain new estimates for the rate and distribution of strain across a segment of the ECSZ, and to determine a coseismic strain drop of ~770 ??rad for the Landers earthquake. From these results we infer a strain energy recharge time of 3,500-5,000 yr for a Landers-type earthquake and a slip rate of ~12 mm yr-1 across the faults of the central Mojave. The latter estimate implies that a greater fraction of plate motion than heretofore inferred from geodetic data is accommodated across the ECSZ.

Paleoseismology of the Southern Section of the Black Mountains and Southern Death Valley Fault Zones, Death Valley, United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohn, Marsha S.; Knott, Jeffrey R.; Mahan, Shannon

2014-01-01

The Death Valley Fault System (DVFS) is part of the southern Walker Lane–eastern California shear zone. The normal Black Mountains Fault Zone (BMFZ) and the right-lateral Southern Death Valley Fault Zone (SDVFZ) are two components of the DVFS. Estimates of late Pleistocene-Holocene slip rates and recurrence intervals for these two fault zones are uncertain owing to poor relative age control. The BMFZ southernmost section (Section 1W) steps basinward and preserves multiple scarps in the Quaternary alluvial fans. We present optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates ranging from 27 to 4 ka of fluvial and eolian sand lenses interbedded with alluvial-fan deposits offset by the BMFZ. By cross-cutting relations, we infer that there were three separate ground-rupturing earthquakes on BMFZ Section 1W with vertical displacement between 5.5 m and 2.75 m. The slip-rate estimate is ∼0.2 to 1.8 mm/yr, with an earthquake recurrence interval of 4,500 to 2,000 years. Slip-per-event measurements indicate Mw 7.0 to 7.2 earthquakes. The 27–4-ka OSL-dated alluvial fans also overlie the putative Cinder Hill tephra layer. Cinder Hill is offset ∼213 m by SDVFZ, which yields a tentative slip rate of 1 to 8 mm/yr for the SDVFZ.

Morphostructural evidence for Recent/active extension in Central Tanzania beyond the southern termination of the Kenya Rift.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Gall, B.; Rolet, J.; Gernigon, L.; Ebinger, C.; Gloaguen, R.

2003-04-01

The southern tip zone of the Kenya Rift on the eastern branch of the East African System is usually thought to occur in the so-called North Tanzanian Divergence. In this region, the narrow (50 km-wide) axial graben of southern Kenya splays southwards, via a major EW-trending volcanic lineament, into a 200 km-wide broad rifted zone with three separate arms of normal faulting and tilted fault blocks (Eyasi, Manyara and Pangani arms from W to E). Remote sensing analysis from Central Tanzania demonstrates that rift morphology exists over an area lying 400 km beyond the southern termination of the Kenya Rift. The most prominent rift structures are observed in the Kilombero region and consist of a 100 km-wide range of uplifted basement blocks fringed to the west by an E-facing half-graben inferred to reach depths of 6-8 km from aeromagnetic dataset. Physiographic features (fault scarps), and river drainage anomalies suggest that the present-day rift pattern in the Kilombero extensional province principally results from Recent/Neogene deformation. That assumption is also supported by the seismogenic character of a number of faults. The Kilombero half-graben is superimposed upon an earlier rift system, Karoo in age, which is totally overprinted and is only evidenced from its sedimentary infill. On the other hand, the nature and thickness of the inferred Neogene synrift section is still unknown. The Kilombero rifted zone is assumed to connect northwards into the central rift arm (Manyara) of the South Kenya Rift via a seismically active transverse fault zone that follows ductile fabrics within the Mozambican crystalline basement. The proposed rift model implies that incipient rifting propagates hroughout the cold and strong crust/lithosphere of Central Tanzania along Proterozoic (N140=B0E) basement weakness zones and earlier Karoo (NS)rift structures. A second belt of Recent-active linked fault/basins also extends further East from the Pangani rift arm to the offshore Zanzibar-Kerimbas graben system. The structural connection of the Kilombero rifted zone with the Lake Malawi rift further south is also envisaged and should imply the link of the eastern and western branchs of the East African Rift System south of the Tanzanian craton.

Evidence for faulting related to dissociation of gas hydrate and release of methane off the southeastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dillon, William P.; Danforth, W.W.; Hutchinson, D.R.; Drury, R.M.; Taylor, M.H.; Booth, J.S.

1998-01-01

This paper is part of the special publication Gas hydrates: relevance to world margin stability and climatic change (eds J.P. Henriet and J. Mienert). An irregular, faulted, collapse depression about 38 x 18 km in extent is located on the crest of the Blake Ridge offshore from the south- eastern United States. Faults disrupt the sea floor and terminate or sole out about 40-500 m below the sea floor at the base of the gas hydrate stable zone, which is identified from the location of the bottom simulating reflection (BSR). Normal faults are common but reverse faults and folds also are widespread. Folds commonly convert upward into faults. Sediment diapirs and deposits of sediments that were erupted onto the sea floor are also present. Sea-floor depressions at faults may represent locations of liquid/gas vents. The collapse was probably caused by overpressures and by the decoupling of the overlying sediments by gassy muds that existed just beneath the zone of gas hydrate stability.

Modes of orogen-parallel stretching and extensional exhumation in response to microplate indentation and roll-back subduction (Tauern Window, Eastern Alps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scharf, A.; Handy, M. R.; Favaro, S.; Schmid, S. M.; Bertrand, A.

2013-09-01

The Tauern Window exposes a Paleogene nappe stack consisting of highly metamorphosed oceanic (Alpine Tethys) and continental (distal European margin) thrust sheets. In the eastern part of this window, this nappe stack (Eastern Tauern Subdome, ETD) is bounded by a Neogene system of shear (the Katschberg Shear Zone System, KSZS) that accommodated orogen-parallel stretching, orogen-normal shortening, and exhumation with respect to the structurally overlying Austroalpine units (Adriatic margin). The KSZS comprises a ≤5-km-thick belt of retrograde mylonite, the central segment of which is a southeast-dipping, low-angle extensional shear zone with a brittle overprint (Katschberg Normal Fault, KNF). At the northern and southern ends of this central segment, the KSZS loses its brittle overprint and swings around both corners of the ETD to become subvertical, dextral, and sinistral strike-slip faults. The latter represent stretching faults whose displacements decrease westward to near zero. The kinematic continuity of top-east to top-southeast ductile shearing along the central, low-angle extensional part of the KSZS with strike-slip shearing along its steep ends, combined with maximum tectonic omission of nappes of the ETD in the footwall of the KNF, indicates that north-south shortening, orogen-parallel stretching, and normal faulting were coeval. Stratigraphic and radiometric ages constrain exhumation of the folded nappe complex in the footwall of the KSZS to have begun at 23-21 Ma, leading to rapid cooling between 21 and 16 Ma. This exhumation involved a combination of tectonic unroofing by extensional shearing, upright folding, and erosional denudation. The contribution of tectonic unroofing is greatest along the central segment of the KSZS and decreases westward to the central part of the Tauern Window. The KSZS formed in response to the indentation of wedge-shaped blocks of semi-rigid Austroalpine basement located in front of the South-Alpine indenter that was part of the Adriatic microplate. Northward motion of this indenter along the sinistral Giudicarie Belt offsets the Periadriatic Fault and triggered rapid exhumation of orogenic crust within the entire Tauern Window. Exhumation involved strike-slip and normal faulting that accommodated about 100 km of orogen-parallel extension and was contemporaneous with about 30 km of orogen-perpendicular, north-south shortening of the ETD. Extension of the Pannonian Basin related to roll-back subduction in the Carpathians began at 20 Ma, but did not affect the Eastern Alps before about 17 Ma. The effect of this extension was to reduce the lateral resistance to eastward crustal flow away from the zone of greatest thickening in the Tauern Window area. Therefore, we propose that roll-back subduction temporarily enhanced rather than triggered exhumation and orogen-parallel motion in the Eastern Alps. Lateral extrusion and orogen-parallel extension in the Eastern Alps have continued from 12 to 10 Ma to the present and are driven by northward push of Adria.

Plate rotations, fault slip rates, fault locking, and distributed deformation in northern Central America from 1999-2017 GPS observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, A. P.; DeMets, C.; Briole, P.; Cosenza, B.; Flores, O.; Guzman-Speziale, M.; Hernandez, D.; Kostoglodov, V.; La Femina, P. C.; Lord, N. E.; Lasserre, C.; Lyon-Caen, H.; McCaffrey, R.; Molina, E.; Rodriguez, M.; Staller, A.; Rogers, R.

2017-12-01

We describe plate rotations, fault slip rates, and fault locking estimated from a new 100-station GPS velocity field at the western end of the Caribbean plate, where the Motagua-Polochic fault zone, Middle America trench, and Central America volcanic arc faults converge. In northern Central America, fifty-one upper-plate earthquakes caused approximately 40,000 fatalities since 1900. The proximity of main population centers to these destructive earthquakes and the resulting loss of human life provide strong motivation for studying the present-day tectonics of Central America. Plate rotations, fault slip rates, and deformation are quantified via a two-stage inversion of daily GPS position time series using TDEFNODE modeling software. In the first stage, transient deformation associated with three M>7 earthquakes in 2009 and 2012 is estimated and removed from the GPS position time series. In Stage 2, linear velocities determined from the corrected GPS time series are inverted to estimate deformation within the western Caribbean plate, slip rates along the Motagua-Polochic faults and faults in the Central America volcanic arc, and the gradient of extension in the Honduras-Guatemala wedge. Major outcomes of the second inversion include the following: (1) Confirmation that slip rates on the Motagua fault decrease from 17-18 mm/yr at its eastern end to 0-5 mm/yr at its western end, in accord with previous results. (2) A transition from moderate subduction zone locking offshore from southern Mexico and parts of southern Guatemala to weak or zero coupling offshore from El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua along the Middle America trench. (3) Evidence for significant east-west extension in southern Guatemala between the Motagua fault and volcanic arc. Our study also shows evidence for creep on the eastern Motagua fault that diminishes westward along the North America-Caribbean plate boundary.

Interseismic coupling, seismic potential, and earthquake recurrence on the southern front of the Eastern Alps (NE Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheloni, D.; D'Agostino, N.; Selvaggi, G.

2014-05-01

Here we use continuous GPS observations to document the geodetic strain accumulation across the South-Eastern Alps (NE Italy). We estimate the interseismic coupling on the intracontinental collision thrust fault and discuss the seismic potential and earthquake recurrence. We invert the GPS velocities using the back slip approach to simultaneously estimate the relative angular velocity and the degree of interseismic coupling on the thrust fault that separates the Eastern Alps and the Venetian-Friulian plain. Comparison between the rigid rotation predicted motion and the shortening observed across the area indicates that the South-Eastern Alpine thrust front absorbs about 70% of the total convergence between the Adria and Eurasia plates. The coupling is computed on a north dipping fault following the continuous external seismogenic thrust front of the South-Eastern Alps. The modeled thrust fault is currently locked from the surface to a depth of ≈10 km. The transition zone between locked and creeping portions of the fault roughly corresponds with the belt of microseismicity parallel and to the north of the mountain front. The estimated moment deficit rate is 1.3 ± 0.4 × 1017 Nm/yr. The comparison between the estimated moment deficit and that released historically by the earthquakes suggests that to account for the moment deficit the following two factors or their combination should be considered: (1) a significant part of the observed interseismic coupling is released aseismically and (2) infrequent "large" events with long return period (> 1000 years) and with magnitudes larger than the value assigned to the largest historical events (Mw≈ 6.7).

Marine Geophysical Characterization of the Chain Fracture Zone in the Equatorial Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harmon, N.; Rychert, C.; Agius, M. R.; Tharimena, S.; Kendall, J. M.

2017-12-01

The Chain Fracture zone is part of a larger system of fracture zones along the Mid Atlantic Ridge that is thought to be one of the original zones of weakness during the break up of Pangea. It is over 300 km long and produces earthquakes as large as Mw 6.9 on segments of the active fault zone. Here we present the results of two marine geophysical mapping campaigns over the active part of the Chain Fracture zone as part of the PI-LAB (Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary) experiment. We collected swath bathymetry, backscatter imagery, gravity and total field magnetic anomaly. We mapped the fault scarps within the transform fault system using the 50 m resolution swath and backscatter imagery. In addition, a 30-40 mGal residual Mantle Bouguer Anomaly determined from gravity analysis suggests the crust is by up to 1.4-2.0 km beneath the Chain relative to the adjacent ridge segments. However, in the eastern 75 km of the active transform we find evidence for thicker crust. The active fault system cuts through the region of thicker crust and there is a cluster of MW > 6 earthquakes in this region. There is a cluster of similar sized earthquakes on the western end where thinner crust is inferred. This suggests that variations in melt production and crustal thickness at the mid ocean ridge systems may have only a minor effect on the seismicity and longevity of the transform fault system.

The Western Tauern Window (Eastern Alps): Timing and Interplay of Folds and Sinistral Shear Zones as Result of South-Alpine Indentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Susanne; Rosenberg, Claudio; Hammerschmidt, Konrad

2010-05-01

The Tauern Window (TW) is the only domain within the Eastern Alps where deep crustal, Tertiary metamorphic rocks were exhumed to surface. The window is bounded by large-scale faults, partly considered to be responsible for its exhumation (e.g., Selverstone 1988, Fügenschuh 1997), and it is also cross cut internally by large-scale shear zones, whose significance in terms of type and timing of deformation, exhumation, and large-scale kinematic links is the subject of our investigation. These shear zones (Ahorn, Olperer, Greiner, Ahrntal) are widespread throughout the western TW, from the mm- to the km-scale. They are sinistral and located in the steep limbs of upright antiforms, forming a mylonitic foliation, that strikes parallel to the axial planes of these upright folds. We present new structural and geochronological data, obtained by in-situ dating of microstructurally defined syn- and postkinematic grains, to constrain the duration and termination of folding and sinistral shearing. Previous dating suggested initiation of shearing contemporaneous to nappe stacking between 32-and 30Ma, ongoing until 15Ma (Glodny et al., 2008). However, the fabric of the dated grains was not related to deformation phases defined from structural overprinting relationships, and the classical separation technique did not allow to separate synkinematic from pre- and post- kinematic grains. The northern margin of the western TW is pervasively overprinted by the Ahorn Shear Zone (Rosenberg & Schneider 2008), which shows S-side up kinematic indicators in addition to the sinistral ones, and a pronounced southward increase in metamorphic grade from lower greenschist facies to amphibolite facies conditions, within 2km. Phengites of the mylonitic foliation dated with the Rb/Sr in-situ technique, yield formation ages of 14-24Ma . The southern margin of the western TW is overprinted by the sinistral Ahrntal Fault (Schneider et al. 2009), which cuts discordantly several nappes from the Zentralgneiss to the Upper Austroalpine units. Within the Upper Penninic nappes N-side up kinematic indicators occur, in addition to the sinistral ones. Newly formed biotites of Zentralgneiss rocks have been dated with the Rb/Sr technique (Kitzig et al. 2009), yielding 18-20Ma for their formation during sinistral deformation. Fine-grained phengites from the axial plane foliation of the upright folds were dated with the K/Ar method, yielding 14-17Ma. Ar/Ar in-situ LA analyses of sinistral mylonites (Ahorn, Olperer and Greiner) yield formation ages of syn-kinematic phengites between 24-12Ma. These grains are overgrown by post-kinematic phengites of 12-9Ma. Northeast of the western TW, sinistral shear is accommodated by the brittle sinistral SEMP Fault system, whose activity has been dated to 17Ma (Peresson & Decker 1997). Several sinistral shear zones (Ahorn, Greiner, Ahrntal) of the western TW may coalesce into the SEMP Fault (e.g., Linzer et al., 2002). In the west, the Ahorn Shear Zone terminates nearly 10km east of the Brenner Fault, into a NW-striking fold belt. The Ahrntal Fault continues into the Jaufen Fault, which merges with the brittle sinistral Giudicarie Fault. Motion along the Giudicarie Fault initiated in the Miocene (Stipp et al., 2004), or already in the Oligocene (Müller et al 2001). Based on these results, a temporal, kinematic and geometric continuity between sinistral shearing along the Giudicarie Fault, along the SEMP Fault, and throughout the western TW, can be assessed. The sinistral shear zones of the western TW are kinematically linked to upright folds, hence to crustal thickening. Upright folding and sinistral shearing were active since 24Ma and terminated at 12Ma. In summary, the sinistral displacements of the Giudicarie System appear to be partitioned into upright folds and sinistral, transpressive shear zones in the western Tauern Window, both of which contribute to its exhumation. The coalescence of the sinistral shear zones into the SEMP Fault System coincides with the eastern termination of the ENE-striking upright folds, possibly indicating transfer of shortening into a strike-slip displacement. Therefore, the western TW as a whole, represents a Miocene, sinistral transpressive belt, accommodating sinistral displacements associated with South-Alpine indentation by folding and sinistral shearing, and transferring these into sinistral movements associated with lateral escape along the SEMP System, until 12 Ma.

Spatial instability of the rift in the St. Paul multifault transform fracture system, Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokolov, S. Yu.; Zaraiskaya, Yu. A.; Mazarovich, A. O.; Efimov, V. N.; Sokolov, N. S.

2016-05-01

The structure of the acoustic basement of the eastern part of the St. Paul multifault transform fracture system hosts rift paleovalleys and a paleonodal depression that mismatch the position of the currently active zones. This displacement zone, which is composed of five fault troughs, is unstable in terms of the position of the rift segments, which jumped according to redistribution of stresses. The St. Paul system is characterized by straightening of the transform transition between two remote segments of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). The eastern part of the system contains anomalous bright-spot-like reflectors on the flattened basement, which is a result of atypical magmatism, that forms the standard ridge relief of the acoustic basement. Deformations of the acoustic basement have a presedimentation character. The present-day deformations with lower amplitude in comparison to the basement are accompanied by acoustic brightening of the sedimentary sequence. The axial Bouguer anomalies in the east of the system continue to the north for 120 km from the active segments of the St. Paul system. Currently seismically active segments of the spreading system are characterized by increasing amplitudes of the E-W displacement along the fault troughs. Cross-correlation of the lengths of the active structural elements of the MAR zone (segments of the ridge and transform fracture zones of displacement) indicates that, statistically, the multifault transform fracture system is a specific type of oceanic strike-slip faults.

Potential earthquake faults offshore Southern California, from the eastern Santa Barbara Channel south to Dana Point

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, M.A.; Sorlien, C.C.; Sliter, R.W.

2009-01-01

Urban areas in Southern California are at risk from major earthquakes, not only quakes generated by long-recognized onshore faults but also ones that occur along poorly understood offshore faults. We summarize recent research findings concerning these lesser known faults. Research by the U.S. Geological Survey during the past five years indicates that these faults from the eastern Santa Barbara Channel south to Dana Point pose a potential earthquake threat. Historical seismicity in this area indicates that, in general, offshore faults can unleash earthquakes having at least moderate (M 5-6) magnitude. Estimating the earthquake hazard in Southern California is complicated by strain partitioning and by inheritance of structures from early tectonic episodes. The three main episodes are Mesozoic through early Miocene subduction, early Miocene crustal extension coeval with rotation of the Western Transverse Ranges, and Pliocene and younger transpression related to plate-boundary motion along the San Andreas Fault. Additional complication in the analysis of earthquake hazards derives from the partitioning of tectonic strain into strike-slip and thrust components along separate but kinematically related faults. The eastern Santa Barbara Basin is deformed by large active reverse and thrust faults, and this area appears to be underlain regionally by the north-dipping Channel Islands thrust fault. These faults could produce moderate to strong earthquakes and destructive tsunamis. On the Malibu coast, earthquakes along offshore faults could have left-lateral-oblique focal mechanisms, and the Santa Monica Mountains thrust fault, which underlies the oblique faults, could give rise to large (M ??7) earthquakes. Offshore faults near Santa Monica Bay and the San Pedro shelf are likely to produce both strike-slip and thrust earthquakes along northwest-striking faults. In all areas, transverse structures, such as lateral ramps and tear faults, which crosscut the main faults, could segment earthquake rupture zones. ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

Pleistocene Brawley and Ocotillo Formations: Evidence for initial strike-slip deformation along the San Felipe and San Jacinto fault zonez, Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirby, S.M.; Janecke, S.U.; Dorsey, R.J.; Housen, B.A.; Langenheim, V.E.; McDougall, K.A.; Steeley, A.N.

2007-01-01

We examine the Pleistocene tectonic reorganization of the Pacific-North American plate boundary in the Salton Trough of southern California with an integrated approach that includes basin analysis, magnetostratigraphy, and geologic mapping of upper Pliocene to Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the San Felipe Hills. These deposits preserve the earliest sedimentary record of movement on the San Felipe and San Jacinto fault zones that replaced and deactivated the late Cenozoic West Salton detachment fault. Sandstone and mudstone of the Brawley Formation accumulated between ???1.1 and ???0.6-0.5 Ma in a delta on the margin of an arid Pleistocene lake, which received sediment from alluvial fans of the Ocotillo Formation to the west-southwest. Our analysis indicates that the Ocotillo and Brawley formations prograded abruptly to the east-northeast across a former mud-dominated perennial lake (Borrego Formation) at ???1.1 Ma in response to initiation of the dextral-oblique San Felipe fault zone. The ???25-km-long San Felipe anticline initiated at about the same time and produced an intrabasinal basement-cored high within the San Felipe-Borrego basin that is recorded by progressive unconformities on its north and south limbs. A disconformity at the base of the Brawley Formation in the eastern San Felipe Hills probably records initiation and early blind slip at the southeast tip of the Clark strand of the San Jacinto fault zone. Our data are consistent with abrupt and nearly synchronous inception of the San Jacinto and San Felipe fault zones southwest of the southern San Andreas fault in the early Pleistocene during a pronounced southwestward broadening of the San Andreas fault zone. The current contractional geometry of the San Jacinto fault zone developed after ???0.5-0.6 Ma during a second, less significant change in structural style. ?? 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

Testing thin-skinned inversion of a prerift salt-bearing passive margin (Eastern Prebetic Zone, SE Iberia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escosa, Frederic O.; Roca, Eduard; Ferrer, Oriol

2018-04-01

Detailed geologic mapping combined with well and seismic data from the Eastern Prebetic Zone (SE Iberia) reveal extensional and contractional structures that permit characterization of passive margin development and its incorporation into a thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt. The study area is represented by NW-directed, ENE-trending folds and thrusts faults locally disrupted by the NW-trending Matamoros Basin and the active Jumilla and La Rosa diapirs. These structures resulted from the thin-skinned inversion of the proximal part of the Eastern South Iberian passive margin containing prerift salt. Here, Upper Jurassic to Santonian thick-skinned extension controlled the accumulation of sediment over mobile prerift salt. This in turn defined the style of salt tectonics characterized by monoclinal drape folds, suprasalt extensional faults and diapirs. The structural and sedimentological analysis suggests that during extension, salt localizes strain thus decoupling sub- and suprasalt deformation. Thick-skinned extension controls suprasalt deformation as well as its location and distribution which changes over time. Salt also localizes strain during inversion. The preexisting salt structures, weaker than adjacent areas, preferentially absorb the contractional deformation. In addition, the stepped subsalt geometry that results from thick-skinned extension also controls the shortening propagation. Therefore, the degree of strain localization depends on the thickness of the suprasalt cover and on the dip of subsalt faults relative to the thin-skinned transport direction.

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.

Transverse tectonic structural elements across Himalayan mountain front, eastern Arunachal Himalaya, India: Implication of superposed landform development on analysis of neotectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhakuni, S. S.; Luirei, Khayingshing; Kothyari, Girish Ch.; Imsong, Watinaro

2017-04-01

Structural and morphotectonic signatures in conjunction with the geomorphic indices are synthesised to trace the role of transverse tectonic features in shaping the landforms developed along the frontal part of the eastern Arunachal sub-Himalaya. Mountain front sinuosity (Smf) index values close to one are indicative of the active nature of the mountain front all along the eastern Arunachal Himalaya, which can be directly attributed to the regional uplift along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT). However, the mountain front is significantly sinusoidal around junctions between HFT/MBT (Main Boundary Thrust) and active transverse faults. The high values of stream length gradient (SL) and stream steepness (Ks) indices together with field evidence of fault scarps, offset of terraces, and deflection of streams are markers of neotectonic uplift along the thrusts and transverse faults. This reactivation of transverse faults has given rise to extensional basins leading to widening of the river courses, providing favourable sites for deposition of recent sediments. Tectonic interactions of these transverse faults with the Himalayan longitudinal thrusts (MBT/HFT) have segmented the mountain front marked with varying sinuosity. The net result is that a variety of tectonic landforms recognized along the mountain front can be tracked to the complex interactions among the transverse and longitudinal tectonic elements. Some distinctive examples are: in the eastern extremity of NE Himalaya across the Dibang River valley, the NW-SE trending mountain front is attenuated by the active Mishmi Thrust that has thrust the Mishmi crystalline complex directly over the alluvium of the Brahmaputra plains. The junction of the folded HFT and Mishmi Thrust shows a zone of brecciated and pulverized rocks along which transverse axial planar fracture cleavages exhibit neotectonic activities in a transverse fault zone coinciding with the Dibang River course. Similarly, the transverse faults cut the mountain front along the Sesseri, Siluk, Siku, Siang, Mingo, Sileng, Dikari, and Simen rivers. At some such junctions, landforms associated with the active right-lateral strike-slip faults are superposed over the earlier landforms formed by transverse normal faults. In addition to linear transverse features, we see evidence that the fold-thrust belt of the frontal part of the Arunachal Himalaya has also been affected by the neotectonically active NW-SE trending major fold known as the Siang antiform that again is aligned transverse to the mountain front. The folding of the HFT and MBT along this antiform has reshaped the landscape developed between its two western and eastern limbs running N-S and NW-SE, respectively. The transverse faults are parallel to the already reported deep-seated transverse seismogenic strike-slip fault. Therefore, a single take home message is that any true manifestation of the neotectonics and seismic hazard assessment in the Himalayan region must take into account the role of transverse tectonics.

Insights into Near-Surface Structural Control of Hydrothermal Fluid Movement at Rabbit Creek Thermal Area, Yellowstone National Park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, B.; Elliot, M.; Sims, K. W. W.

2017-12-01

Recent geophysical imaging efforts at Yellowstone National Park have generated questions about the geologic controls of hydrothermal fluid movement within the parks thermal areas. Currently, faults and lava flow contacts are assumed to be the primary permeability pathways for deeper fluid migration to the surface. Although intuition dictates that these structures are responsible, few studies have definitively shown that this is true. Earlier geophysical imaging efforts of phase separation in Norris Geyser Basin have shown strong evidence for fractures and faulting conducting hydrothermal waters. However, no geologically mapped faults are at the surface to confirm these interpretations. Therefore, during the summer of 2017, UW surface geophysical data acquisition focused on understanding the geologic controls for a thermal area within the well-mapped Rabbit Creek Fault Zone (RCFZ). The RCFZ strikes N-S along the eastern edge of Midway Geyser Basin (i.e. the western edge of the Mallard Lake Dome) about 2.8 Km SE of Grand Prismatic spring. The section of the fault zone within the Rabbit Creek thermal area is exposed on the eastern valley wall and dips steeply to the west. Regardless at our site, this puts the two of the plateau rhyolites (i.e. the Biscuit Basin Flow and Mallard Lake flow) next to each other ( 100 m apart) with a small amount of overlying alluvial, glacial and hydrothermal deposits covering the actual fault trace. Interestingly, at least two mapped reverse faults from the Mallard Lake Dome trend NW-SE into the site and are interpreted to intersect to the RCFZ. At RCFZ, DC resistivity and seismic refraction profiling combined with Self-Potential, Magnetics, and Transient Electromagnetic soundings were acquired to provide images and in situ geophysical properties. These data highlight the variable fracturing and surface expressions of the hydrothermal fluids associated with the RCFZ and the NW trending fault zone associated with the Mallard Lake Dome. Therefore, the shallow geophysics at this one study area indicates faulting is the dominant control for hydrothermal waters reaching the surface.

Structure of the eastern Seattle fault zone, Washington state: New insights from seismic reflection data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liberty, L.M.; Pratt, T.L.

2008-01-01

We identify and characterize the active Seattle fault zone (SFZ) east of Lake Washington with newly acquired seismic reflection data. Our results focus on structures observed in the upper 1 km below the cities of Bellevue, Sammamish, Newcastle, and Fall City, Washington. The SFZ appears as a broad zone of faulting and folding at the southern boundary of the Seattle basin and north edge of the Seattle uplift. We interpret the Seattle fault as a thrust fault that accommodates north-south shortening by forming a fault-propagation fold with a forelimb breakthrough. The blind tip of the main fault forms a synclinal growth fold (deformation front) that extends at least 8 km east of Vasa Park (west side of Lake Sammamish) and defines the south edge of the Seattle basin. South of the deformation front is the forelimb break-through fault, which was exposed in a trench at Vasa Park. The Newcastle Hills anticline, a broad anticline forming the north part of the Seattle uplift east of Lake Washington, is interpreted to lie between the main blind strand of the Seattle fault and a backthrust. Our profiles, on the northern limb of this anticline, consistently image north-dipping strata. A structural model for the SFZ east of Lake Washington is consistent with about 8 km of slip on the upper part of the Seattle fault, but the amount of motion is only loosely constrained.

3-D kinematics analysis of surface ruptures on an active creeping fault at Chihshang, Eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Angelier, J.; Chen, H.; Chu, H.; Hu, J.

2003-12-01

The Chihshang fault is one of the most active segments of the Longitudinal Valley Fault, the plate suture between the converging Philippine and Eurasian plates. A destructive earthquake of M 7.1 with substantial surface scarps resulted from rupturing of the Chihshang fault in 1951. From that on, no big earthquake greater than M 5.5 occurred in this area. Instead, the Chihshang fault reveals a creeping behavior at a rapid rate of about 20 mm/yr at least during the past 20 years. The surface breaks of the creeping Chihshang fault can be observed at the several places. A typical feature is reverse-fault-like fractures on the retaining wall. We deployed small geodetic networks across the fault zone at five sites. Each network comprises of 5 to 15 benchmarks. Trilateration measurements including angles and distances as well as leveling among the benchmarks have been carried out on an annual basis or twice a year since 1998. Compared to previous other measurements which have shown the first order creep rate for the entire fault zone, the present geodetic data provides the detailed information of the surface movements across the fault zone which usually composed of more than one fault strands and folds structures. According to our data from the local geodetic networks, we are able to reconstruct the 3-D kinematics of surface deformation across the Chihshang fault zone. Multiple fault strands are common along the Chihshang fault. Oblique shortening occurred at all sites and was characterized by a combination of thrusts, backthrust and surface warps. Strike-slip motion can also be distinguished on some fault strands. It is worth to note that the cultural feature, such as concrete basement of strong resistance, sometimes acted as deflection of surface ruptures. It should be taken into consideration for mitigation against seismic hazards.

Geophysical data reveal the crustal structure of the Alaska Range orogen within the aftershock zone of the Mw 7.9 Denali fault earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, M.A.; Ratchkovski, N.A.; Nokleberg, W.J.; Pellerin, L.; Glen, J.M.G.

2004-01-01

Geophysical information, including deep-crustal seismic reflection, magnetotelluric (MT), gravity, and magnetic data, cross the aftershock zone of the 3 November 2002 Mw 7.9 Denali fault earthquake. These data and aftershock seismicity, jointly interpreted, reveal the crustal structure of the right-lateral-slip Denali fault and the eastern Alaska Range orogen, as well as the relationship between this structure and seismicity. North of the Denali fault, strong seismic reflections from within the Alaska Range orogen show features that dip as steeply as 25?? north and extend downward to depths between 20 and 25 km. These reflections reveal crustal structures, probably ductile shear zones, that most likely formed during the Late Cretaceous, but these structures appear to be inactive, having produced little seismicity during the past 20 years. Furthermore, seismic reflections mainly dip north, whereas alignments in aftershock hypocenters dip south. The Denali fault is nonreflective, but modeling of MT, gravity, and magnetic data suggests that the Denali fault dips steeply to vertically. However, in an alternative structural model, the Denali fault is defined by one of the reflection bands that dips to the north and flattens into the middle crust of the Alaska Range orogen. Modeling of MT data indicates a rock body, having low electrical resistivity (>10 ??-m), that lies mainly at depths greater than 10 km, directly beneath aftershocks of the Denali fault earthquake. The maximum depth of aftershocks along the Denali fault is 10 km. This shallow depth may arise from a higher-than-normal geothermal gradient. Alternatively, the low electrical resistivity of deep rocks along the Denali fault may be associated with fluids that have weakened the lower crust and helped determine the depth extent of the after-shock zone.

Paleogene strata of the Eastern Los Angeles basin, California: Paleogeography and constraints on neogene structural evolution

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCulloh, T.H.; Beyer, L.A.; Enrico, R.J.

2000-01-01

Post-Paleogene dextral slip of 8-9 km is demonstrated for the southeastern part of the Whittier fault zone in the eastern Los Angeles basin area of southern California. A linear axis of greatest thickness for the combined upper Paleocene and lower to lower-middle Eocene clastic formations intersects the fault zone and is offset by it to give the new measure. Fragmentary evidence hints that the Whittier structural zone may have exerted control on bathymetric-topographic relief and sedimentation even in latest Paleocene (ca. 54 Ma). A clear topographic influence was exerted by 20-17 Ma. Strike-slip and present deformational style is younger than ca. 8 Ma. Our Paleogene isopach map extends as far west as long 117??58'W and is a foundation for companion zonal maps of predominant lithology and depositional environments. Integration of new palynological data with published biostratigraphic results and both new and published lithologic and sedimentological interpretations support the zonal maps. Reconstruction of marine-nonmarine facies and fragmented basin margins yields a model for the northeastern corner of a Paleogene coastal basin. Palinspastic adjustment for the Neogene-Quaternary Whittier fault offset and a reasoned westerly extension of the northern edge of the basin model yield a reconstruction of Paleogene paleogeography-paleoceanography. Our reconstruction is based partly on the absence of both Paleocene and Eocene deposits beneath the unconformable base of the middle Miocene Topanga Group in a region nowhere less than 15 km wide between the Raymond-Sierra Madre-Cucamonga fault zone and the northern edge of the Paleocene basin. Thus, Paleogene strata of the Santa Monica Mountains could not have been offset from the northern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains by sinistral slip on those boundary faults. Structural rearrangements needed to accommodate the clockwise rotation of the western Transverse Ranges from the early Miocene starting position are thereby fixed.

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.

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.

Probing the mechanical properties of seismically active crust with space geodesy: Study of the coseismic deformation due to the 1992 Mw7.3 Landers (southern California) earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fialko, Yuri

2004-03-01

The coseismic deformation due to the 1992 Mw7.3 Landers earthquake, southern California, is investigated using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. The ERS-1 satellite data from the ascending and descending orbits are used to generate contiguous maps of three orthogonal components (east, north, up) of the coseismic surface displacement field. The coseismic displacement field exhibits symmetries with respect to the rupture plane that are suggestive of a linear relationship between stress and strain in the crust. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data show small-scale deformation on nearby faults of the Eastern California Shear Zone. Some of these faults (in particular, the Calico, Rodman, and Pinto Mountain faults) were also subsequently strained by the 1999 Mw7.1 Hector Mine earthquake. I test the hypothesis that the anomalous fault strain represents essentially an elastic response of kilometer-scale compliant fault zones to stressing by nearby earthquakes [, 2002]. The coseismic stress perturbations due to the Landers earthquake are computed using a slip model derived from inversions of the InSAR and GPS data. Calculations are performed for both homogeneous and transversely isotropic half-space models. The compliant zone model that best explains the deformation on the Calico and Pinto Mountain faults due to the Hector Mine earthquake successfully predicts the coseismic displacements on these faults induced by the Landers earthquake. Deformation on the Calico and Pinto Mountain faults implies about a factor of 2 reduction in the effective shear modulus within the ˜2 km wide fault zones. The depth extent of the low-rigidity zones is poorly constrained but is likely in excess of a few kilometers. The same type of structure is able to explain high gradients in the radar line of sight displacements observed on other faults adjacent to the Landers rupture. In particular, the Lenwood fault north of the Soggy Lake has likely experienced a few centimeters of left-lateral motion across <1-km-wide compliant fault zone having the rigidity reduction of more than a factor of 2. The inferred compliant fault zones are interpreted to be a result of extensive damage due to past earthquakes.

Long Indian Slab in the Mantle Transition Zone Under Eastern Tibet: Evidence from Teleseismic Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, J.; Zhao, D.; Zha, X.

2014-12-01

We present a new 3-D P-wave velocity model of the upper mantle under eastern Tibet determined from 113,831 high-quality teleseismic arrival-time data. Our data are hand-picked from seismograms of 784 teleseismic events (30o-90o) with magnitudes of 5.2 or greater. These events were recorded by 21 portable seismic stations deployed in Yunnan during April 2010 to July 2011 and 259 permanent stations of Chinese provincial seismic networks during September 2008 to December 2011 in the study region. Our results provide new insights into the mantle structure and dynamics of eastern Tibet. High-velocity (high-V) anomalies are revealed down to 200 km depth under stable cratonic regions, such as Sichuan basin, Ordos and Alashan blocks. Prominent low-velocity (low-V) anomalies are revealed in the upper mantle under the Kunlun-Qinling fold zone, Songpan-Ganzi, Qiangtang, Lahsa, and Chuan-Dian diamond blocks, suggesting that the eastward moving low-V materials are obstructed by Sichuan basin, Ordos and Alashan blocks, and they could be extruded through the Qinling fold zone and the Chuan-Dian block to eastern China. In addition, the extent and thickness of these low-V anomalies are well correlated with the surface topography, suggesting that uplift of eastern Tibet is closely related to the low-V anomalies which may reflect hot materials and have strong buoyancy. In the mantle transition zone, broad high-V anomalies are visible from the Burma arc northward to the Kunlun fault and eastward to the Xiaojiang fault, which extend for a total of approximately 700 km. The high-V anomalies are connected upward to the Wadati-Benioff seismic zone beneath the Burma arc. These results suggest that the Indian slab has subducted horizontally for a long distance in the mantle transition zone after it descended into the mantle, and its deep dehydration has contributed to forming the low-V anomalies in the big mantle wedge above the slab. Our present results shed new light on the formation and evolution of the Tibetan plateau.

Structural model of the eastern Achara-Trialeti fold and thrust belt using seismic reflection profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alania, Victor; Chabukiani, Alexander; Enukidze, Onise; Razmadze, Alexander; Sosson, Marc; Tsereteli, Nino; Varazanashvili, Otar

2017-04-01

Our study focused on the structural geometry at the eastern Achara-Trialeti fold and thrust belt (ATFTB) located at the retro-wedge of the Lesser Caucasus orogen (Alania et al., 2016a). Our interpretation has integrated seismic reflection profiles, several oil-wells, and the surface geology data to reveal structural characteristics of the eastern ATFTB. Fault-related folding theories were used to seismic interpretation (Shaw et al., 2004). Seismic reflection data reveal the presence of basement structural wedge, south-vergent backthrust, north-vergent forethrust and some structural wedges (or duplex). The rocks are involved in the deformation range from Paleozoic basement rocks to Tertiary strata. Building of thick-skinned structures of eastern Achara-Trialeti was formed by basement wedges propagated from south to north along detachment horizons within the cover generating thin-skinned structures. The kinematic evolution of the south-vergent backthrust zone with respect to the northward propagating structural wedge (or duplexes). The main style of deformation within the backthrust belt is a series of fault-propagation folds. Frontal part of eastern ATFTB are represent by triangle zone (Alania et al., 2016b; Sosson et al., 2016). A detailed study was done for Tbilisi area: seismic refection profiles, serial balanced cross-sections, and earthquakes reveal the presence of an active blind thrust fault beneath Tbilisi. 2 & 3-D structural models show that 2002 Mw 4.5 Tbilisi earthquake related to a north-vergent blind thrust. Empirical relations between blind fault rupture area and magnitude suggest that these fault segments could generate earthquakes of Mw 6.5. The growth fault-propagation fold has been observed near Tbilisi in the frontal part of eastern ATFTB. Seismic reflection profile through Ormoiani syncline shows that south-vergent growth fault-propagation fold related to out-of-the-syncline thrust. The outcrop of fault-propagation fold shown the geometry of the hangingwall structure with the syn-folding growth stratal sequence. Pre-growth Oligocene strata are overlain by Late (?) Quaternary alluvial fan gravels, sands and clays. Growth unconformity of back-limb showing flat clays unconformably on top of Oligocene sandstone and shale beds. The growth strata geometry of growth fold is related to the progressive limb-rotation model (Hardy & Poblet, 1994). References Alania, V., et al., 2016a. Structure of the eastern Achara-Trialeti fold and thrust belt using seismic reflection profiles: implication for tectonic model of the Lesser Caucasus orogen. 35TH International Geological Congress (IGC), 27 August - 4 September, 2016, Cape Town, South Africa. Alania, V., et al., 2016b. Growth structures, piggyback basins and growth strata of Georgian part of Kura foreland fold and thrust belt: implication for Late Alpine kinematic evolution. Geological Society, London, Special Publications no. 428, doi:10.1144/SP428.5. Hardy, S., and J. Poblet, 1994. Geometric and numerical model of progressive limb rotation in detachment folds: Geology, v. 22, p. 371-374. Shaw, J., Connors, C. & J. Suppe, 2005. Seismic interpretation of contractional fault-related folds. AAPG Studies in Geology 53, 156 pp. Sosson, M., et al., 2016. The Eastern Black Sea-Caucasus region during Cretaceous: new evidence to constrain its tectonic evolution. Compte-Rendus Geosciences, v. 348, Issue 1, p. 23-32.

Extensional collapse along the Sevier Desert reflection, northern Sevier Desert basin, western United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coogan, James C.; Decelles, Peter G.

1996-10-01

Newly released and previously published seismic reflection data from the northern Sevier Desert basin provide a complete seismic transect between the tilted western margin of the basin and the eastern breakaway zone. When tied to well and surface age data, the transect delineates a continuum of extensional fault and basin fill geometries that developed between late Oligocene and Pleistocene time across the basin. A minimum of 18 km of top-to-the-west normal displacement is estimated across the Sevier Desert from only the most conspicuous growth geometries and offsets across listric normal faults that sole downward into the Sevier Desert reflection (SDR). The SDR clearly marks a normal fault zone beneath the entire basin, where stratal truncations are imaged for 50% of the 39 km length of the reflection east of the Cricket Mountains block. Restoration of extensional displacement along this entire 39 km fault length is necessary to reconstruct the pre-Oligocene configuration and erosion level of Sevier thrust sheets across the Sevier Desert area. The SDR normal fault zone underlies the former topographic crest of the Sevier orogenic belt, where it accommodated extensional collapse after cessation of regional contractile tectonism.

ERTS-1 imagery of eastern Africa: A first look at the geological structure of selected areas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mohr, P. A. (Principal Investigator)

1972-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Imagery of the African rift system resolves the major Cainozoic faults, zones of warping, and associated volcanism. It also clearly depicts the crystal grain of the Precambrian rocks where these are exposed. New structural features, or new properties of known features such as greater extent, continuity, and linearity are revealed by ERTS-1 imagery. This applies, for example, to the NE-SW fracture zones in Yemen, the Aswa mylonite zone at the northern end of the Western Rift, the Nandi fault of western Kenya, the linear faults of the Elgeyo escarpment in the Gregory Rift, and the hemibasins of warped Tertiary lavas on the Red Sea margin of Yemen, matching those of Ethiopian plateau-Afar margin. A tentative scheme is proposed, relating the effect on the pattern of Cainozoic faulting of the degree of obliquity to Precambrian structural trend. It is particularly noteworthy that, even where the Precambrian grain determines the rift faulting to be markedly oblique to the overall trend of the rift trough, for example, in central Lake Tanganyika, the width of the trough is not significantly increased. Some ground mapped lithological boundaries are obscure on ERTS-1 imagery.

An update of Quaternary faults of central and eastern Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weldon, Ray J.; Fletcher, D.K.; Weldon, E.M.; Scharer, K.M.; McCrory, P.A.

2002-01-01

This is the online version of a CD-ROM publication. We have updated the eastern portion of our previous active fault map of Oregon (Pezzopane, Nakata, and Weldon, 1992) as a contribution to the larger USGS effort to produce digital maps of active faults in the Pacific Northwest region. The 1992 fault map has seen wide distribution and has been reproduced in essentially all subsequent compilations of active faults of Oregon. The new map provides a substantial update of known active or suspected active faults east of the Cascades. Improvements in the new map include (1) many newly recognized active faults, (2) a linked ArcInfo map and reference database, (3) more precise locations for previously recognized faults on shaded relief quadrangles generated from USGS 30-m digital elevations models (DEM), (4) more uniform coverage resulting in more consistent grouping of the ages of active faults, and (5) a new category of 'possibly' active faults that share characteristics with known active faults, but have not been studied adequately to assess their activity. The distribution of active faults has not changed substantially from the original Pezzopane, Nakata and Weldon map. Most faults occur in the south-central Basin and Range tectonic province that is located in the backarc portion of the Cascadia subduction margin. These faults occur in zones consisting of numerous short faults with similar rates, ages, and styles of movement. Many active faults strongly correlate with the most active volcanic centers of Oregon, including Newberry Craters and Crater Lake.

Extensional Tectonics of SW Anatolia In relation to Slab Edge Processes in the Eastern Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaymakci, N.; Özacar, A.; Langereis, C. G.; Ozkaptan, M.; Koç, A.; Uzel, B.; Gulyuz, E.; Sözbilir, H.

2017-12-01

The tectonics of SW Anatolia is expressed in terms of emplacement of Lycian Nappes during the Eocene to Middle Miocene and synconvergent extension as part of the Aegean-West Anatolian extensional tectonic regime. Recent studies identified that there is a tear in the northwards subducting African Oceanic lithosphere along the Pliny-Strabo Trenches (PST). Such tears are coined as Subduction Transform-Edge Propagator (STEP) faults developed high angle to trenches. Hypothetically, the evolution of a STEP fault is somewhat similar to strike-slip fault zones and resultant asymmetric role-back of the subducting slab leads to differential block rotations and back arc type extension on the overriding plate. Recent studies claimed that the tear along the PST propagated NE on-land and developed Fethiye-Burdur Fault/Shear Zone (FBFZ) in SW Turkey. We have conducted a rigorous paleomagnetic study containing more than 3000 samples collected from 88 locations and 11700 fault slip data sets from 198 locations distributed evenly all over SW Anatolia spanning from Middle Miocene to Late Pliocene to test if FBFZ ever existed. The results show that there is slight (20°) counter-clockwise rotation 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, constructed paleostress configurations, along the so-called FBFZ and within the 300 km diameter of the proposed fault zone, indicated that almost all the faults that are parallel to subparallel to the zone are almost pure normal faults similar to earthquake focal mechanisms suggesting active extension in the region. It is important to note that we have not encountered any significant strike-slip motion parallel to so-called "FBFZ" to support presence and transcurrent nature of it. On the contrary, the region is dominated by extensional deformation and strike-slip components are observed only on the NW-SE striking transfer faults, which are almost perpendicular to zone that accommodated extension and normal motion. We claim that the sinistral Fethiye Burdur Fault/shear (Zone) is a myth and there is no tangible evidence to support the existence of such a strike-slip fault or a shear zone. This research is supported by TUBITAK - Grant Number 111Y239.

The Quaternary thrust system of the northern Alaska Range

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bemis, Sean P.; Carver, Gary A.; Koehler, Richard D.

2012-01-01

The framework of Quaternary faults in Alaska remains poorly constrained. Recent studies in the Alaska Range north of the Denali fault add significantly to the recognition of Quaternary deformation in this active orogen. Faults and folds active during the Quaternary occur over a length of ∼500 km along the northern flank of the Alaska Range, extending from Mount McKinley (Denali) eastward to the Tok River valley. These faults exist as a continuous system of active structures, but we divide the system into four regions based on east-west changes in structural style. At the western end, the Kantishna Hills have only two known faults but the highest rate of shallow crustal seismicity. The western northern foothills fold-thrust belt consists of a 50-km-wide zone of subparallel thrust and reverse faults. This broad zone of deformation narrows to the east in a transition zone where the range-bounding fault of the western northern foothills fold-thrust belt terminates and displacement occurs on thrust and/or reverse faults closer to the Denali fault. The eastern northern foothills fold-thrust belt is characterized by ∼40-km-long thrust fault segments separated across left-steps by NNE-trending left-lateral faults. Altogether, these faults accommodate much of the topographic growth of the northern flank of the Alaska Range.Recognition of this thrust fault system represents a significant concern in addition to the Denali fault for infrastructure adjacent to and transecting the Alaska Range. Although additional work is required to characterize these faults sufficiently for seismic hazard analysis, the regional extent and structural character should require the consideration of the northern Alaska Range thrust system in regional tectonic models.

Clay Mineralogy, Authigenic Smectite Concentration, and Fault Weakening of the San Gregorio Fault; Moss Beach, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzoni, S.; Moore, J.; Bish, D. L.

2002-12-01

The apparently weak nature of the San Andreas fault system poses a fundamental geophysical question. The San Gregorio fault at Moss Beach, CA is an active splay of the right-lateral San Andreas fault zone and has a total offset of about 150 km. At Moss Beach, the San Gregorio fault offsets Pliocene sedimentary rocks and consists of a clay-rich gouge zone, eastern sandstone block, and western mudstone block. In the presence of fluids, smectite clays can swell and become very weak to shearing. We studied a profile of samples across the fault zone and wall rocks to determine if there is a concentration of smectite in the gouge zone and propose a possible formation mechanism. Samples were analyzed using standard quantitative X-ray diffraction methods and software recently developed at Los Alamos National Lab. XRD results show a high smectite/illite (weak clay/strong clay) ratio in the gouge (S/I ratio=2-4), lower in the mudstone (S/I ratio=2), and very low in the sandstone (S/I ratio=1). The variability of smectite/illite ratio in the gouge zone may be evidence of preferential alteration where developed shear planes undergo progressive smectite enrichment. The amount of illite layers in illite/smectites is 5-30%, indicating little illitization; therefore, these fault rocks have not undergone significant diagenesis above 100 degrees C and illite present must be largely detrital. Bulk mineralogy shows significant anti-correlation of smectite with feldspar, especially in the gouge, suggesting authigenic smectite generation from feldspar. Under scanning-electron microscope inspection, smectites have fibrous, grain coating growth fabrics, also suggesting smectite authigenesis. If in situ production of smectite via chemical alteration is possible in active faults, it could have significant implications for self-generated weakening of faults above the smectite-to-illite transition (<150 degrees C, or 5-7km).

A fault-based model for crustal deformation, fault slip-rates and off-fault strain rate in California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zeng, Yuehua; Shen, Zheng-Kang

2016-01-01

We invert Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity data to estimate fault slip rates in California using a fault‐based crustal deformation model with geologic constraints. The model assumes buried elastic dislocations across the region using Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast Version 3 (UCERF3) fault geometries. New GPS velocity and geologic slip‐rate data were compiled by the UCERF3 deformation working group. The result of least‐squares inversion shows that the San Andreas fault slips at 19–22  mm/yr along Santa Cruz to the North Coast, 25–28  mm/yr along the central California creeping segment to the Carrizo Plain, 20–22  mm/yr along the Mojave, and 20–24  mm/yr along the Coachella to the Imperial Valley. Modeled slip rates are 7–16  mm/yr lower than the preferred geologic rates from the central California creeping section to the San Bernardino North section. For the Bartlett Springs section, fault slip rates of 7–9  mm/yr fall within the geologic bounds but are twice the preferred geologic rates. For the central and eastern Garlock, inverted slip rates of 7.5 and 4.9  mm/yr, respectively, match closely with the geologic rates. For the western Garlock, however, our result suggests a low slip rate of 1.7  mm/yr. Along the eastern California shear zone and southern Walker Lane, our model shows a cumulative slip rate of 6.2–6.9  mm/yr across its east–west transects, which is ∼1  mm/yr increase of the geologic estimates. For the off‐coast faults of central California, from Hosgri to San Gregorio, fault slips are modeled at 1–5  mm/yr, similar to the lower geologic bounds. For the off‐fault deformation, the total moment rate amounts to 0.88×1019  N·m/yr, with fast straining regions found around the Mendocino triple junction, Transverse Ranges and Garlock fault zones, Landers and Brawley seismic zones, and farther south. The overall California moment rate is 2.76×1019  N·m/yr, which is a 16% increase compared with the UCERF2 model.

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.

Tectonic interpretation of the Andrew Bain transform fault: Southwest Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sclater, John G.; Grindlay, Nancy R.; Madsen, John A.; Rommevaux-Jestin, Celine

2005-09-01

Between 25°E and 35°E, a suite of four transform faults, Du Toit, Andrew Bain, Marion, and Prince Edward, offsets the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) left laterally 1230 km. The Andrew Bain, the largest, has a length of 750 km and a maximum transform domain width of 120 km. We show that, currently, the Nubia/Somalia plate boundary intersects the SWIR east of the Prince Edward, placing the Andrew Bain on the Nubia/Antarctica plate boundary. However, the overall trend of its transform domain lies 10° clockwise of the predicted direction of motion for this boundary. We use four transform-parallel multibeam and magnetic anomaly profiles, together with relocated earthquakes and focal mechanism solutions, to characterize the morphology and tectonics of the Andrew Bain. Starting at the southwestern ridge-transform intersection, the relocated epicenters follow a 450-km-long, 20-km-wide, 6-km-deep western valley. They cross the transform domain within a series of deep overlapping basins bounded by steep inward dipping arcuate scarps. Eight strike-slip and three dip-slip focal mechanism solutions lie within these basins. The earthquakes can be traced to the northeastern ridge-transform intersection via a straight, 100-km-long, 10-km-wide, 4.5-km-deep eastern valley. A striking set of seismically inactive NE-SW trending en echelon ridges and valleys, lying to the south of the overlapping basins, dominates the eastern central section of the transform domain. We interpret the deep overlapping basins as two pull-apart features connected by a strike-slip basin that have created a relay zone similar to those observed on continental transforms. This transform relay zone connects three closely spaced overlapping transform faults in the southwest to a single transform fault in the northeast. The existence of the transform relay zone accounts for the difference between the observed and predicted trend of the Andrew Bain transform domain. We speculate that between 20 and 3.2 Ma, an oblique accretionary zone jumping successively northward created the en echelon ridges and valleys in the eastern central portion of the domain. The style of accretion changed to that of a transform relay zone, during a final northward jump, at 3.2 Ma.

New sidescan sonar and gravity evidence that the Nova-Canton Trough is a fracture zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joseph, Devorah; Taylor, Brian; Shor, Alexander N.

1992-05-01

A 1990 sidescan sonar survey in the eastern region of the Nova-Canton Trough mapped 138°-striking abyssal-hill fabric trending into 70°-striking trough structures. The location and angle of intersection of the abyssal hills with the eastern Nova-Canton Trough effectively disprove a spreading-center origin of this feature. Free-air gravity anomalies derived from satellite altimetry data show continuity, across the Line Islands, of the Nova-Canton Trough with the Clipperton Fracture Zone. The Canton-Clipperton trend is copolar, about a pole at 30°S, 152°W, with other coeval Pacific-Farallon fracture-zone segments, from the Pau to Marquesas fracture zones. This copolarity leads us to postulate a Pacific-Farallon spreading pattern for the magnetic quiet zone region north and east of the Manihiki Plateau, with the Nova-Canton Trough originating as a transform fault in this system.

Geologic map of the Sauk River 30- by 60-minute quadrangle, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tabor, R.W.; Booth, D.B.; Vance, J.A.; Ford, A.B.

2002-01-01

Summary -- The north-south-trending regionally significant Straight Creek Fault roughly bisects the Sauk River quadrangle and defines the fundamental geologic framework of it. Within the quadrangle, the Fault mostly separates low-grade metamorphic rocks on the west from medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Cascade metamorphic core. On the west, the Helena-Haystack melange and roughly coincident Darrington-Devils Mountain Fault Zone separate the western and eastern melange belts to the southwest from the Easton Metamorphic Suite, the Bell Pass melange, and rocks of the Chilliwack Group, to the northeast. The tectonic melanges have mostly Mesozoic marine components whereas the Chilliwack is mostly composed of Late Paleozoic arc rocks. Unconformably overlying the melanges and associated rocks are Eocene volcanic and sedimentary rocks, mostly infaulted along the Darrington-Devils Mountain Fault Zone. These younger rocks and a few small Eocene granitic plutons represent an extensional tectonic episode. East of the Straight Creek Fault, medium to high-grade regional metamorphic rocks of the Nason, Chelan Mountains, and Swakane terranes have been intruded by deep seated, Late Cretaceous granodioritic to tonalitic plutons, mostly now orthogneisses. Unmetamorphosed mostly tonalitic intrusions on both sides of the Straight Creek fault range from 35 to 4 million years old and represent the roots of volcanoes of the Cascade Magmatic Arc. Arc volcanic rocks are sparsely preserved east of the Straight Creek fault, but dormant Glacier Peak volcano on the eastern margin of the quadrangle is the youngest member of the Arc. Deposits of the Canadian Ice Sheet are well represented on the west side of the quadrangle, whereas alpine glacial deposits are common to the east. Roughly 5000 years ago lahars from Glacier Peak flowed westward filling major valleys across the quadrangle.

Active Tectonics of the Far North Pacific Observed with GPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, J.; Freymueller, J. T.; Jiang, Y.; Leonard, L. J.; Hyndman, R. D.; Mazzotti, S.

2017-12-01

The idea that the tectonics of the northeastern Pacific is defined by relatively discrete deformation along the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates has given way to a more complex picture of broad plate boundary zones and distributed deformation. This is due in large part to the Plate Boundary Observatory and several focused GPS studies, which have greatly increased the density of high-quality GPS data throughout the region. We will present an updated GPS velocity field in a consistent reference frame as well as a new, integrated block model that sheds light on regional tectonics and provides improved estimates of motion along faults and their potential seismic hazard. Crustal motions in southern Alaska are strongly influenced by the collision and flat-slab subduction of the Yakutat block along the central Gulf of Alaska margin. In the area nearest to the collisional front, small blocks showing evidence of internal deformation are required. East of the front, block motions show clockwise rotation into the Canadian Cordillera while west of the front there are counterclockwise rotations that extend along the Alaska forearc, suggesting crustal extrusion. Farther from the convergent margin, the crust appears to move as rigid blocks, with uniform motion over large areas. In western Alaska, block motions show a southwesterly rotation into the Bering Sea. Arctic Alaska displays southeasterly motions that gradually transition into easterly motion in Canada. Much of the southeastern Alaska panhandle and coastal British Columbia exhibit northwesterly motions. Although the relative plate motions are mainly accommodated along major faults systems, including the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte transform system, the St. Elias fold-and-thrust belt, the Denali-Totschunda system, and the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone, a number of other faults accommodate lesser but still significant amounts of motion in the model. These faults include the eastern Denali/Duke River system, the Castle Mountain fault, the western Denali fault, the Kaltag fault, and the Kobuk fault. Based on the expanded GPS data set, locked or partially locked sections of the Alaska subduction zone may extend as far north and east as the eastern Alaska Range.

Geology of Joshua Tree National Park geodatabase

USGS Publications Warehouse

Powell, Robert E.; Matti, Jonathan C.; Cossette, Pamela M.

2015-09-16

The database in this Open-File Report describes the geology of Joshua Tree National Park and was completed in support of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS). The geologic observations and interpretations represented in the database are relevant to both the ongoing scientific interests of the USGS in southern California and the management requirements of NPS, specifically of Joshua Tree National Park (JOTR).Joshua Tree National Park is situated within the eastern part of California’s Transverse Ranges province and straddles the transition between the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The geologically diverse terrain that underlies JOTR reveals a rich and varied geologic evolution, one that spans nearly two billion years of Earth history. The Park’s landscape is the current expression of this evolution, its varied landforms reflecting the differing origins of underlying rock types and their differing responses to subsequent geologic events. Crystalline basement in the Park consists of Proterozoic plutonic and metamorphic rocks intruded by a composite Mesozoic batholith of Triassic through Late Cretaceous plutons arrayed in northwest-trending lithodemic belts. The basement was exhumed during the Cenozoic and underwent differential deep weathering beneath a low-relief erosion surface, with the deepest weathering profiles forming on quartz-rich, biotite-bearing granitoid rocks. Disruption of the basement terrain by faults of the San Andreas system began ca. 20 Ma and the JOTR sinistral domain, preceded by basalt eruptions, began perhaps as early as ca. 7 Ma, but no later than 5 Ma. Uplift of the mountain blocks during this interval led to erosional stripping of the thick zones of weathered quartz-rich granitoid rocks to form etchplains dotted by bouldery tors—the iconic landscape of the Park. The stripped debris filled basins along the fault zones.Mountain ranges and basins in the Park exhibit an east-west physiographic grain controlled by left-lateral fault zones that form a sinistral domain within the broad zone of dextral shear along the transform boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. Geologic and geophysical evidence reveal that movement on the sinistral faults zones has resulted in left steps along the zones, resulting in the development of sub-basins beneath Pinto Basin and Shavers and Chuckwalla Valleys. The sinistral fault zones connect the Mojave Desert dextral faults of the Eastern California Shear Zone to the north and east with the Coachella Valley strands of the southern San Andreas Fault Zone to the west.Quaternary surficial deposits accumulated in alluvial washes and playas and lakes along the valley floors; in alluvial fans, washes, and sheet wash aprons along piedmonts flanking the mountain ranges; and in eolian dunes and sand sheets that span the transition from valley floor to piedmont slope. Sequences of Quaternary pediments are planed into piedmonts flanking valley-floor and upland basins, each pediment in turn overlain by successively younger residual and alluvial surficial deposits.

Geometry and kinematics of the Triassic rift basin in Jameson Land (East Greenland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guarnieri, Pierpaolo; Brethes, Anaïs.; Rasmussen, Thorkild M.

2017-04-01

The Triassic rift basin along the east Greenland margin described in this paper is represented by NE-SW trending basins and highs segmented by NW-SE trending transfer zones. Coarse-grained sediments along the eastern side of Jameson Land are shown to be hosted in half-graben structures belonging to the Carlsberg Fjord Basin that is bounded by NW dipping normal faults mapped and described after fieldwork in the Klitdal area in Liverpool Land. New aeromagnetic and electromagnetic data together with new drill cores allow the reinterpretation of available seismic lines showing the continuation of the Triassic rift basin toward the SW where it is buried under the Upper Triassic postrift sediments and the Jurassic successions of the Jameson Land Basin. The N-S trending Liverpool Land, interpreted as the boundary block of the Triassic basin, is shown to represent a structural high inherited from the Late Carboniferous tectonics and faulted during the Triassic rifting. The Carlsberg Fjord Basin and the Klitdal Fault System described in this paper should be seen as analogues to the Helgeland Basin in the Norwegian offshore that is bounded by the Ylvingen Fault Zone and to the Papa and West of Shetlands Basins that are bounded by the Spine Fault. The Triassic rift zone and transfer faults on both conjugate margins show a straightforward correlation with the trends of the initial spreading line and fracture zones of the northeast Atlantic indicating a possible inheritance of the Triassic rifting.

Palinspastic reconstruction of southeastern California and southwestern Arizona for the middle Miocene

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richard, Stephen M.

1992-01-01

A paleogeographic reconstruction of southeastern California and southwestern Arizona at 10 Ma was made based on available geologic and geophysical data. Clockwise rotation of 39 deg was reconstructed in the eastern Transverse Ranges, consistent with paleomagnetic data from late Miocene volcanic rocks, and with slip estimates for left-lateral faults within the eastern Transverse Ranges and NW-trending right lateral faults in the Mojave Desert. This domain of rotated rocks is bounded by the Pinto Mountain fault on the north. In the absence of evidence for rotation of the San Bernardino Mountains or for significant right slip faults within the San Bernardino Mountains, the model requires that the late Miocene Pinto Mountain fault become a thrust fault gaining displacement to the west. The Squaw Peak thrust system of Meisling and Weldon may be a western continuation of this fault system. The Sheep Hole fault bounds the rotating domain on the east. East of this fault an array of NW-trending right slip faults and south-trending extensional transfer zones has produced a basin and range physiography while accumulating up to 14 km of right slip. This maximum is significantly less than the 37.5 km of right slip required in this region by a recent reconstruction of the central Mojave Desert. Geologic relations along the southern boundary of the rotating domain are poorly known, but this boundary is interpreted to involve a series of curved strike slip faults and non-coaxial extension, bounded on the southeast by the Mammoth Wash and related faults in the eastern Chocolate Mountains. Available constraints on timing suggest that Quaternary movement on the Pinto Mountain and nearby faults is unrelated to the rotation of the eastern Transverse Ranges, and was preceded by a hiatus during part of Pliocene time which followed the deformation producing the rotation. The reconstructed Clemens Well fault in the Orocopia Mountains, proposed as a major early Miocene strand of the San Andreas fault, projects eastward towards Arizona, where early Miocene rocks and structures are continuous across its trace. The model predicts a 14 deg clockwise rotation and 55 km extension along the present trace of the San Andreas fault during late Miocene and early Pliocene time. Palinspastic reconstructions of the San Andreas system based on this proposed reconstruction may be significantly modified from current models.

Dislocation models of interseismic deformation in the western United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, F.F.; McCrory, P.; Svarc, J.; Murray, J.

2008-01-01

The GPS-derived crustal velocity field of the western United States is used to construct dislocation models in a viscoelastic medium of interseismic crustal deformation. The interseismic velocity field is constrained by 1052 GPS velocity vectors spanning the ???2500-km-long plate boundary zone adjacent to the San Andreas fault and Cascadia subduction zone and extending ???1000 km into the plate interior. The GPS data set is compiled from U.S. Geological Survey campaign data, Plate Boundary Observatory data, and the Western U.S. Cordillera velocity field of Bennett et al. (1999). In the context of viscoelastic cycle models of postearthquake deformation, the interseismic velocity field is modeled with a combination of earthquake sources on ???100 known faults plus broadly distributed sources. Models that best explain the observed interseismic velocity field include the contributions of viscoelastic relaxation from faulting near the major plate margins, viscoelastic relaxation from distributed faulting in the plate interior, as well as lateral variations in depth-averaged rigidity in the elastic lithosphere. Resulting rigidity variations are consistent with reduced effective elastic plate thickness in a zone a few tens of kilometers wide surrounding the San Andreas fault (SAF) system. Primary deformation characteristics are captured along the entire SAF system, Eastern California Shear Zone, Walker Lane, the Mendocino triple junction, the Cascadia margin, and the plate interior up to ???1000 km from the major plate boundaries.

Brittle deformation and exhumation mechanisms in the core of the Eastern Alps, The Tauern Window

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertrand, Audrey; Garcia, Sebastian; Rosenberg, Claudio

2010-05-01

The Tauern Window (TW) is a Tertiary structural and thermal dome located in the core of the Eastern Alpine orogen and in front of the Dolomite indenter. The Penninic basement and cover units within the TW attained their thermal peak about 30 Myr ago (e.g., Selverstone et al., 1992) followed by cooling and exhumation from Early Oligocene to late Miocene time (e.g., Grundmann and Morteani, 1985). Most exhumation was partly accommodated by two normal faults at the western and eastern ends of the TW (Brenner and Katschberg faults, respectively). Although these normal faults are well described in the literature, their roles in the exhumation of the TW are still under debate: Exhumation accommodated primarily by folding and erosion (e.g., Rosenberg et al., 2004) versus exhumation mainly accommodated by Brenner and Katschberg normal faulting (e.g., Selverstone, 1988; Ratschbacher et al., 1989). New fault-slip data from the TW allow us to reconstruct paleostress axes by inversion and to constrain the relative roles of the folding and orogen-parallel extension during the late deformation history of the TW, in the brittle-field. Our results show little evidence of compression and a clear zoning of the paleostress field in the TW. In the central part of the TW, the σ1 direction is sub-horizontal N-S to NE-SW (strike-slip), whereas it is steep in the footwall of the Brenner and the Katschberg normal faults. Local variability of the σ3 direction are observed; indeed, the σ3 direction varies from E-W to WNW-ESE along the Brenner fault, to NW-SE along the Jaufen fault, the inferred southern continuation of the Brenner fault (Schneider et al., this session). Along the Katschberg fault, the σ3 direction is mainly NNW-SSE oriented, which is consistent with extension in front of a triangular dead zone shape induced by the WSW-striking Dolomites indenter. Nearly no evidence of a stress field compatible with upright folding (D2 phase of deformation) was found in the brittle domain. Taken together, our results suggest that the brittle crust of the TW was mostly affected by a strike-slip state of stress, which grades into extension at the eastern and western margins of the dome. This suggests that the inverse regime associated with the upright folds terminated before these structures entered the brittle field. Hence, the strike-slip regime postdates in a short time-span the reverse one. The brittle crust of the TW affected by the pure-compressional regime may have been eroded or perhaps there was never any compression after the crust was exhumed to above the ductile-brittle transition. References Grundmann, G., and Morteani, G., 1985, The young uplift and thermal history of the central Eastern Alps (Austria/Italy), evidence from apatite fission track ages. Jahrb. der Geo. Bundesanstalt, 128, 197-216. Ratschbacher, L., Frisch, W., Neubauer, F., Schmid, S. M., and Neugebauer, J., 1989, Extension in compressional orogenic belts: The eastern Alps. Geology, 17, 404-407. Rosenberg, C. L., Brun, J.-P., and Gapais, D., 2004, An indentation model of the Eastern Alps and the origin of the Tauern Window. Geology, 32, 997-1000. Schneider, S., Bertrand, A. & Rosenberg, C.L. The Jaufental Fault: a kinematic link between the Tauern Window and south-Alpine Indentation. Abstract EGU2010. Selverstone, J., 1988, Evidence for East-West crustal extension in the eastern Alps: implications for the unroofing history of the Tauern Window. Tectonics, 7, 87-105. Selverstone, J., Franz, G., Thomas, S., Getty, S., 1992. Fluid variability in 2 GPa eclogites as an indicator of fluid behavior during subduction. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 112, 341-357.

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.

Structural analysis characterization of permeability pathways across reservoir-seal interface - South-Eastern Utah; Results from integrated sedimentological, structural, and geochemical studies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrie, E. S.; Evans, J. P.; Richey, D.; Flores, S.; Barton, C.; Mozley, P.

2015-12-01

Sedimentary rocks in the San Rafael Swell, Utah, were deformed by Laramide compression and subsequent Neogene extension. We evaluate the effect of fault damage zone morphology as a function of structural position, and changes in mechanical stratigraphy on the distribution of secondary minerals across the reservoir-seal pair of the Navajo Sandstone and overlying Carmel Formation. We decipher paleo-fluid migration and examine the effect faults and fractures have on reservoir permeability and efficacy of top seal for a range of geo-engineering applications. Map-scale faults have an increased probability of allowing upward migration of fluids along the fault plane and within the damage zone, potentially bypassing the top seal. Field mapping, mesoscopic structural analyses, petrography, and geochemical observations demonstrate that fault zone thickness increases at structural intersections, fault relay zones, fault-related folds, and fault tips. Higher densities of faults with meters of slip and dense fracture populations are present in relay zones relative to single, discrete faults. Curvature analysis of the San Rafael monocline and fracture density data show that fracture density is highest where curvature is highest in the syncline hinge and near faults. Fractures cross the reservoir-seal interface where fracture density is highest and structural diagensis includes mineralization events and bleaching and calcite and gypsum mineralization. The link between fracture distributions and structural setting implys that transmissive fractures have predictable orientations and density distributions. At the m- to cm- scale, deformation-band faults and joints in the Navajo Sandstone penetrate the reservoir-seal interface and transition into open-mode fractures in the caprock seal. Scanline analysis and petrography of veins provide evidence for subsurface mineralization and fracture reactivation, suggesting that the fractures act as loci for fluid flow through time. Heterolithic caprock seals with variable fracture distributions and morphology highlight the strong link between the variation in material properties and the response to changing stress conditions. The variable connectivity of fractures and the changes in fracture density plays a critical role in subsurface fluid flow.

Deformation evolution of Eastern Sichuan-Xuefeng fold-thrust belt in South China: Insights from analogue modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wengang; Zhou, Jianxun; Yuan, Kang

2018-04-01

The Eastern Sichuan-Xuefeng fold-thrust belt (CXFTB) located in South China has received wide attention due to its distinctive deformation styles and close relationships with natural gas preservation, but its deformation evolution still remains controversial. In order to study further this issue, we designed three sets of analogue models. Based on the results of the models, we suggest that: 1) the deformation in the CXFTB may simultaneously initiate along two zones nearby the Dayong and Qiyueshan faults at ∼190 Ma, and then progressively propagate into the interiors of the Western Hunan-Hubei and Eastern Sichuan domains at ∼140-150 Ma, and finally reach the front of the Huayingshan fault at ∼120 Ma; 2) the difference in décollement depth is the main factor determining the patterns of folds in different domains of the CXFTB; and 3) the Eastern Sichuan domain may have a basement significantly different from those of the Western Sichuan and Western Hunan-Hubei domains.

High resolution seismic imaging of faults beneath Limón Bay, northern Panama Canal, Republic of Panama

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pratt, Thomas L.; Holmes, Mark; Schweig, Eugene S.; Gomberg, Joan S.; Cowan, Hugh A.

2003-01-01

High-resolution seismic reflection profiles from Limo??n Bay, Republic of Panama, were acquired as part of a seismic hazard investigation of the northern Panama Canal region. The seismic profiles image gently west and northwest dipping strata of upper Miocene Gatu??n Formation, unconformably overlain by a thin (<20 m) sequence of Holocene muds. Numerous faults, which have northeast trends where they can be correlated between seismic profiles, break the upper Miocene strata. Some of the faults have normal displacement, but on many faults, the amount and type of displacement cannot be determined. The age of displacement is constrained to be Late Miocene or younger, and regional geologic considerations suggest Pliocene movement. The faults may be part of a more extensive set of north- to northeast-trending faults and fractures in the canal region of central Panama. Low topography and the faults in the canal area may be the result of the modern regional stress field, bending of the Isthmus of Panama, shearing in eastern Panama, or minor deformation of the Panama Block above the Caribbean subduction zone. For seismic hazard analysis of the northern canal area, these faults led us to include a source zone of shallow faults proximal to northern canal facilities. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interpretation of shallow crustal structure of the Imperial Valley, California, from seismic reflection profiles

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

Severson, L.K.

1987-05-01

Eight seismic reflection profiles (285 km total length) from the Imperial Valley, California, were provided to CALCRUST for reprocessing and interpretation. Two profiles were located along the western margin of the valley, five profiles were situated along the eastern margin and one traversed the deepest portion of the basin. These data reveal that the central basin contains a wedge of highly faulted sediments that thins to the east. Most of the faulting is strike-slip but there is evidence for block rotations on the scale of 5 to 10 kilometers within the Brawley Seismic Zone. These lines provide insight into themore » nature of the east and west edges of the Imperial Valley. The basement at the northwestern margin of the valley, to the north of the Superstition Hills, has been normal-faulted and blocks of basement material have ''calved'' into the trough. A blanket of sediments has been deposited on this margin. To the south of the Superstition Hills and Superstition Mountain, the top of the basement is a detachment surface that dips gently into the basin. This margin is also covered by a thick sequence sediments. The basement of the eastern margin consists of metamorphic rocks of the upper plate of the Chocolate Mountain Thrust system underlain by the Orocopia Schist. These rocks dip to the southeast and extend westward to the Sand Hills Fault but do not appear to cross it. Thus, the Sand Hills Fault is interpreted to be the southern extension of the San Andreas Fault. North of the Sand Hills Fault the East Highline Canal seismicity lineament is associated with a strike-slip fault and is probably linked to the Sand Hills Fault. Six geothermal areas crossed by these lines, in agreement with previous studies of geothermal reservoirs, are associated with ''faded'' zones, Bouguer gravity and heat flow maxima, and with higher seismic velocities than surrounding terranes.« less

Depth variations of friction rate parameter derived from dynamic modeling of GPS afterslip associated with the 2003 Mw 6.5 Chengkung earthquake in eastern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. C.; Liu, Z. Y. C.; Shirzaei, M.

2016-12-01

The Chihshang fault lies at the plate suture between the Eurasian and the Philippine Sea plates along the Longitudinal Valley in eastern Taiwan. Here we investigate depth variation of fault frictional parameters derived from the post-seismic slip model of the 2003 Mw 6.5 Chengkung earthquake. Assuming a rate-strengthening friction, we implement an inverse dynamic modeling scheme to estimate the frictional parameter (a-b) and reference friction coefficient (μ*) in depths by taking into account: pre-seismic stress as well as co-seismic and post-seismic coulomb stress changes associated with the 2003 Chengkung earthquake. We investigate two coseismic models by Hsu et al. (2009) and Thomas et al. (2014). Model parameters, including stress gradient, depth dependent a-b and μ*, are determined from fitting the transient post-seismic geodetic signal measured at 12 continuous GPS stations. In our inversion scheme, we apply a non-linear optimization algorithm, Genetic Algorithm (GA), to search for the optimum frictional parameters. Considering the zone with velocity-strengthening frictional properties along Chihshang fault, the optimum a-b is 7-8 × 10-3 along the shallow part of the fault (0-10 km depth) and 1-2 × 10-2 in 22-28 km depth. Optimum solution for μ* is 0.3-0.4 in 0-10 km depth and reaches 0.8 in 22-28 km depth. The optimized stress gradient is 54 MPa/ km. The inferred frictional parameters are consistent with the laboratory measurements on clay-rich fault zone gouges comparable to the Lichi Melange, which is thrust over Holocene alluvial deposits across the Chihshang fault, considering the main rock composition of the Chihshang fault, at least at the upper kilometers level of the fault. Our results can facilitate further studies in particular on seismic cycle and hazard assessment of active faults.

Role of the offshore Pedro Banks left-lateral strike-slip fault zone in the plate tectonic evolution of the northern Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ott, B.; Mann, P.; Saunders, M.

2013-12-01

Previous workers, mainly mapping onland active faults on Caribbean islands, defined the northern Caribbean plate boundary zone as a 200-km-wide bounded by two active and parallel strike-slip faults: the Oriente fault along the northern edge of the Cayman trough with a GPS rate of 14 mm/yr, and and the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault zone (EPGFZ) with a rate of 5-7 mm/yr. In this study we use 5,000 km of industry and academic data from the Nicaraguan Rise south and southwest of the EPGFZ in the maritime areas of Jamaica, Honduras, and Colombia to define an offshore, 700-km-long, active, left-lateral strike-slip fault in what has previously been considered the stable interior of the Caribbean plate as determined from plate-wide GPS studies. The fault was named by previous workers as the Pedro Banks fault zone because a 100-km-long segment of the fault forms an escarpment along the Pedro carbonate bank of the Nicaraguan Rise. Two fault segments of the PBFZ are defined: the 400-km-long eastern segment that exhibits large negative flower structures 10-50 km in width, with faults segments rupturing the sea floor as defined by high resolution 2D seismic data, and a 300-km-long western segment that is defined by a narrow zone of anomalous seismicity first observed by previous workers. The western end of the PBFZ terminates on a Quaternary rift structure, the San Andres rift, associated with Plio-Pleistocene volcanism and thickening trends indicating initial rifting in the Late Miocene. The southern end of the San Andreas rift terminates on the western Hess fault which also exhibits active strands consistent with left-lateral, strike-slip faults. The total length of the PBFZ-San Andres rift-Southern Hess escarpment fault is 1,200 km and traverses the entire western end of the Caribbean plate. Our interpretation is similar to previous models that have proposed the "stable" western Caribbean plate is broken by this fault whose rate of displacement is less than the threshold recognizable from the current GPS network (~3 mm/yr). The Late Miocene age of the fault indicates it may have activated during the Late Miocene to recent Hispaniola-Bahamas oblique collision event.

Paleoseismological Study of the Eastern Part of Venta de Bravo Fault, Acambay Graben, Central Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

León Loya, R. A.; Lacan, P.; Ortuňo, M.; Ana Paula, H.; Štěpančíková, P.; Stemberk, J.; Zuniga, R. R.; Aguirre-Diaz, G. J.

2016-12-01

Intraplate earthquakes represent a significant risk to the cities located within the central part of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt as illustrated by the 1912 6.9 Mw Acambay earthquake. The epicenter was located 80 km northeast from Mexico City. The Acambay Graben is a part of a tectonic active intra-arc graben and bounded to the north by the 42 km south-dipping Acambay-Tixmadejé fault and to the south by the 73 km north-dipping Pastores (PF) and Venta de Bravo fault (VBF) zone. This last fault system has been linked to a 5.3 mb earthquake in 1979. In this study four trenches were dug exposing volcanic deposits, fluvio-lacustrine sediments, colluvial deposits and paleosols in the eastern part of the Venta de Bravo fault. We present evidence for two paleoearthquakes in the last 30 ka. The correlation of the events identified in a previous work in the western tip of the PF and our results in the eastern tip of the VBF is still an open question. However, using empirical relationships the expected maximum magnitude for joint rupture of these two faults with a 73 km trace is Mw=7, this magnitude is above the average of magnitudes estimations done in the other seismogenic sources in the region studied before, suggesting that the south border of the graben could be one of the most dangerous seismogenic source in the surrounding area of Mexico City.

Geotechnical and Surface Wave Investigation of Liquefaction and Strong Motion Instrumentation sites of the Denali Fault, Mw 7.9, Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayen, R.; Thompson, E.; Minasian, D.; Collins, B.; Moss, R.; Sitar, N.; Carver, G.

2003-12-01

Following the Mw 7.9 earthquake on the Denali and Totschunda faults on 3 November 2002, we conducted two investigations to map the regional extent and severity of liquefaction ground failures and assess the geotechnical properties of these sites, as well as profile the soil properties beneath three seismometers located at Alyeska Pump Stations 9, 10, and 11. The most noteworthy observations are that liquefaction damage was focused towards the eastern end of the rupture area. For example, liquefaction features in the river bars of the Tanana River, north of the fault-break, are sparsely located from Fairbanks to Delta, but are pervasive throughout the eastern area of the break to Northway Junction, the eastern limit of our survey. Likewise, for the four glacier-proximal rivers draining toward the north, little or no liquefaction was observed on the western Delta and Johnson Rivers, whereas the eastern Robertson River and non-glacial Tok River, and especially the Nabesna River, had observable-to-abundant fissures and sand vents. Several rivers systems were studied in detail. The Nabesna River emerges from its glacier, and drains and fines northward as it crosses the fault zone resulting in an asymmetrical liquefaction pattern. South of the fault, falling liquefaction resistance of soil (fining from sandy gravel to gravely sand) and rising loads from ground motions (approaching the fault) abruptly intersect such that there is a well defined, narrow, soil transition from undisturbed-to-fully liquefied approximately 5 kilometers from the fault. North of the fault, both liquefaction resistance (continued fining) and ground motions fall in tandem, leaving a much broader zone of liquefaction. The Delta River liquefaction occurrence is more complex, where side-entering glacial rivers form non-liquefiable gravel fans and alter the composition and compactness of the main-stem deposits. Immediately upstream of the gravelly Canwell glacier tributary, and immediately at the fault crossing, liquefaction features are abundant. To characterize soil properties, we used a portable continuous sine wave-spectral analysis of surface waves (CSS-SASW) apparatus to profile the shear wave velocity of the ground, and an auger to profile the corresponding texture of the river deposits. We occupied 25 liquefaction evaluation test sites along with the three Alyeska seismometer sites. On the Nabesna, Delta and other rivers, we only find liquefaction features in soil deposits where normalized shear wave velocities fall below 225 m/s. Severity of fissures and lateral spreads dramatically increase in soils as the velocities fall, especially below 170 m/s. In some cases, the most pronounced ground failures are far from the fault zone (60-100 km) in extremely loose, low velocity fine sands. Geotechnical testing performed on field samples revealed that liquefied soils ranged from well graded sandy gravels in close proximity to the fault (< 5km) to silty sands and low plasticity silts at greater distances. At the Alyeska pump station seismometer sites, we are able to invert profiles of shear wave velocity to depths of 140-200 meters. The averaged NEHRP (30 meter) velocities for pump stations 9, 10, and 11 are 376 m/s, 316 m/s, and 362 m/s, respectively.

Correlation chart of Pennsylvanian rocks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania showing approximate position of coal beds, coal zones, and key stratigraphic units: Chapter D.2 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruppert, Leslie F.; Trippi, Michael H.; Slucher, Ernie R.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

2014-01-01

Because of the many names used to identify individual coal beds and coal zones in the historic Appalachian basin coal-mining districts, coal bed designations may differ even more than stratigraphic nomenclature. In eastern Kentucky, northwest of the Pine Mountain thrust fault on the Cumberland overthrust sheet, for example, coal beds or coal zones equivalent to the Lower Elkhorn coal zone (within the Pikeville Formation) are identified also as the Eagle coal zone, Pond Creek coal zone, and Blue Gem coal bed (fig. 1). Southeast of the Pine Mountain thrust fault, yet still in Kentucky, equivalent coals in this same interval are known as the Imboden and Rich Mountain. Moreover, this same interval of coal is identified as the Blue Gem coal in Tennessee, the Imboden coal bed or Campbell Creek or Pond Creek coal zones in Virginia, and the Eagle coal zone in West Virginia.

Interseismic secular deformation in Southern California from InSAR-derived maps over the time period between 1992 and 2006

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivet, D. N.; Fialko, Y.

2007-12-01

We analyzed secular deformation in Southern California using an extensive catalog of InSAR data that spans 15 years between 1992 and 2006. We generated a map of the satellite line-of-sight displacements based on a stack of ~300 interferograms from 6 adjacent tracks of the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites covering Southern California. The main limitation to the accuracy of InSAR measurements of tectonic deformation is the atmospheric phase delay. We introduce a new method aimed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the InSAR- derived maps of secular deformation. The method involves identifying SAR acquisitions that are highly affected by atmospheric noise, and an optimal choice of interferometric pairs for stacking. We begin by generating a set of all possible interferometric pairs having baselines and time spans within prescribed limits. We then select interferograms with sufficiently high correlation. Subsequently, we identify noisy SAR acquisitions by means of calculating RMS of the phase signal. Finally, we generate a stack of interferograms by following a "connectivity tree" that minimizes contributions of noisy scenes. Using this method we obtained a continuous velocity field characterizing surface deformation in Southern California over the last 15 years. We identify interseismic deformation on a number of major faults, including those of the southern San Andreas system, and the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). We study the time dependency from 1992 to 2006 of those deformation patterns. Variations in the line-of- sight velocity across the Eastern California Shear Zone are non-monotonic, with the maximum along the strike of the Hector Mine fault of ~4 mm/yr, and total LOS velocity between the eastern and western boundaries of the shear zone of less than 2 mm/yr. We observe increases in the radar range to the east of ECSZ. This signal most likely results from subsidence east of the Death Valley-Mule Springs fault system, either due to hydrologic effects, or dip-slip tectonics. No resolvable interseismic deformation is detected across the Garlock fault. The Blackwater fault is associated with line-of-sight velocity of 2 mm/yr. By combining data from the ascending and descending satellite orbits, we infer that most of that strain is associated with the differential vertical motion across the fault (east side up), so that the accelerated strike-slip motion on the deep extension of the Blackwater fault is not required.

The feature of the focal mechanism solutions and tectonic stress field around the focus of Zaduo earthquake (Ms 6.3) in eastern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Y.; Zeng, Z.; Shuang, X.; Li, X.

2017-12-01

On 17th October, 2016, an earthquake of Ms6.3 occurred in Zaduo County, Qinghai Province (32.9°N, 95.0°E), 159 km away from the epicenter of Yushu Ms7.3 earthquake in 2011. The earthquake is located in the eastern Tibet Plateau and the north region of Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. Using the broadband seismic waveform data form regional networks, we determined the focal mechanism solutions (FMSs) of 83 earthquakes (M>3.5) occurred in Zaduo and its adjacent areas from 2009 to 2017. We also collected another 63 published FMSs and then inversed the current tectonic stress field in study region using the damped linear inversion method. The results show that the Zaduo earthquake is a normal oblique earthquake. The FMSs in our study region are mainly in strike-slip and normal fault patterns. The strike-slip earthquakes are mainly distributed in Yushu-Ganzi, Zaduo and Yanshiping fault zones, and the normal faulting events occurred in Nu Jiang fault zone and Nierong County and its vicinity, the south and southwest of the study areas. The tectonic stress field results indicate that the stress distribution in the north and east of the study region changes homogeneously and slowly. From west to east, the σ1 gradually changes from NNE to NE direction, and the σ3 varies from NWW to NW direction. Both the maximum (σ1) and minimum (σ3) principal stress axes in the study area are nearly horizontal, except in the Nu Jiang fault zone and its vicinity, the south of the study area, which is in a normal faulting stress regime (σ1 is vertical and σ3 is horizontal). The localized normal faulting stress field in the south area, which is almost limited in a semicircle, indicates that a high pressure and low viscosity body with low S-wave velocity and high conductivity might exists beneath the anomaly area. And there may be another semicircle abnormal area beyond the south of the study region. Waveform data for this study are provided by Data Management Centre of China National Seismic Network at Institute of Geophysics (SEISDMC, doi:10.11998/SeisDmc/SN), China Earthquake Networks Center and GS, QH, SC, XZ Seismic Networks, China Earthquake Administration. This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China under Grant No.41230206.

Geotechnical Reconnaissance of the 3 November 2002, Mw 7.9, Denali- Earthquake, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayen, R.; Sitar, N.; Carver, G.; Collins, B.; Moss, R.

2002-12-01

Following the Mw 7.9 earthquake on the Denali and Totschunda faults on 3 November 2002, we conducted a reconnaissance of the region to investigate geotechnical and surface rupture features of the event. The focus of our investigation was to characterize the spatial extent and amplitude of ground failures and fault displacements, and assess damage to structures. As a first step, our team flew along the Denali fault from the Black Rapids Glacier, west of the Richardson Highway, to the Glenn Highway (Tok Cut-off). We also conducted a brief air reconnaissance of the southern part of the Totschunda fault northwest of the Nabesna River, and brief ground surveys where the fault intersected the highways and the TAPS pipeline. The most noteworthy aerial observations were that geotechnical and structural damages appeared to be focused towards the eastern end of the Denali- fault rupture area. For example, liquefaction features in the bars of the Tanana River, north of the fault-break, are sparsely located from Fairbanks to Delta, but are pervasive throughout the eastern area of the break to Northway Junction, the eastern limit of our survey. Likewise, for the four glacier-proximal rivers draining toward the north, little or no liquefaction was observed on the western Delta and Johnson Rivers whereas, the eastern Johnson and Tok Rivers and, especially, the Nabesna River had observable-to-abundant fissures and sand vents. Another curious aspect of the apparent differences in strong motion along and across the fault was the abundance of landslide and rock avalanche features on the south side of the fault and a dearth of these features on the northern side. Ice on frozen lakes and ponds were shattered within about 30-40 km of the fault along the western part of the surface rupture and to the east became more widespread. In the Northway region ice on most lakes was broken at distances of more than 100 km. The surface rupture was very linear, continuous, and confined to a relatively narrow zone composed over much of its length by closely spaced en-echelin breaks. Few significant branches or splays were observed. The apparent slip on the Denali Fault was also observed to increase to the east from Black Rapids Glacier toward the Mentasta Village area. , On the Totschunda fault, the rupture decreased in slip before dying out approximately 5 kilometers northwest of the Nabesna River. Where the fault crossed the trans-Alaska pipeline, dislocation occurred along a series of en echelon fissures. One of these en echelon breaks intersected the end of one of the Teflon surfaced skids (sleepers) that supports the pipe in the fault zone, displacing it about a meter but not damaging the pipe. Strong shaking and movement of the pipe resulted in damage to 8 horizontal support members, and 9 anchored supports near the fault crossing. These affects were not critical to the integrity of the pipeline, which performed well during the event. This reconnaissance was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Advancements in understanding the aeromagnetic expressions of basin-margin faults—An example from San Luis Basin, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grauch, V. J.; Bedrosian, Paul A.; Drenth, Benjamin J.

2013-01-01

Herein, we summarize and expand on an investigation of the sources of aeromagnetic anomalies related to faults along the eastern margin of the San Luis Basin, northern Rio Grande Rift, Colorado (Grauch et al., 2010). Similar to the faults examined in the central Rio Grande Rift, magnetic sources can be completely explained by tectonic juxtaposition and produce multiple, vertically stacked magnetic contrasts at individual faults. However, the geologic sources are different. They arise from both the sedimentary cover and the underlying bedrock rather than from stratified sediments. In addition, geologic evidence for secondary growth or destruction of magnetic minerals at the fault zone is lacking.

A LATE BRITTLE COMPONENT OF MOTION WITHIN THE DUCTILE EASTERN SIERRA CREST SHEAR ZONE (ESCSZ) ALONG THE EASTERN BOUNDARY OF THE TOLUMNE BATHOLITH IN THE SADDLEBAG LAKE, CA AREA. WHITESIDES, Andrew1, ENRIQUEZ, Marcus2 , HARDY, Jill1 , EHRET, Philip1, IANNONE, Monika1, CULBERT, Kristan1 GROSS, Ben3, LODEWYK, Jessica3, CAO, Wenrong1 , ZHANG, Tao1, MEMETI, Valbone3, PATERSON, Scott1 SCHMIDT, Keegan4. (1) Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740, awhitesi@usc.edu , (2) Department of Geological Sciences, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032, (3) Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, Campus Box 1169, 1 Brookings Dr, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, (4) Division of Natural Science and Mathematics, Lewis-Clark State College, 500 8th Ave., Lewiston, ID 83501

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitesides, A. S.; Enriquez, M.; Hardy, J.; Ehret, P.; Iannone, M.; Culbert, K. N.; Gross, M. B.; Lodewyk, J.; Cao, W.; Zhang, T.; Memeti, V.; Paterson, S. R.; Schmidt, K. L.

2009-12-01

During mapping (by the Undergraduate Team Research program, University of Southern California) in the Saddlebag Lake pendant just along the eastern margin of the Tuolumne batholith we have discovered a brittle slip component in the ESCSZ that juxtaposes largely metasedimentary and metavolcanic rock packages. The metasedimentary package is dominated by bedded sandstones and siltstones and local conglomerates whereas the metavolcanics show a large range of volcanic and volcaniclastic units. All of the units dip steeply and have an average N-NW strike. Dextral oblique ductile shear is distributed in domains in both rock packages with varying width from ~2 km in the South to ~1 km in the North. Shear sense in planes at high angles to a steep to SW plunging mineral lineation include S-C structures, shear bands, asymmetrical folding, sigma and delta clasts, and asymmetrical boudins. Partitioning of shear is common with the metarhyolites and metasediments showing higher non-coaxial strain than in the metaandesite and metadacite units. Map-scale “z-shaped” asymmetrical folds within the shear zone are also consistent with dextral shearing. Folded and sheared dikes of the 88-85 Ma Cathedral Peak phase of the Tuolumne batholith are common in the shear zone. A newly discovered brittle slip surface with breccias, gouge, and local pseudotachylite and large quartz veins was also mapped in the center of the ductile shear zone typically along the contact between the western metasedimentary and eastern metavolcanics (often a metarhyolite at the contact) on the east. Local slickenlines, steps, and offset dikes indicate that the brittle fault also had oblique dextral movement, similar to the ductile shear zone. In the mapped area no dikes originating from the TB cross the brittle fault and some are terminated at the brittle fault surface We interpret these observations to indicate northward displacement of the metasedimentary package by first ductile then brittle faulting during cooling and possibly uplift of this region with the youngest motion post 82 Ma.

Active tectonics around the Yakutat indentor: New geomorphological constraints on the eastern Denali, Totschunda and Duke River Faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marechal, Anaïs; Ritz, Jean-François; Ferry, Matthieu; Mazzotti, Stephane; Blard, Pierre-Henri; Braucher, Régis; Saint-Carlier, Dimitri

2018-01-01

The Yakutat collision in SE Alaska - SW Yukon is an outstanding example of indentor tectonics. The impinging Yakutat block strongly controls the pattern of deformation inland. However, the relationship between this collision system and inherited tectonic structures such as the Denali, Totschunda, and Duke River Faults remains debated. A detailed geomorphological analysis, based on high-resolution imagery, digital elevation models, field observations, and cosmogenic nuclide dating, allow us to estimate new slip rates along these active structures. Our results show a vertical motion of 0.9 ± 0.3 mm/yr along the whole eastern Denali Fault, while the dextral component of the fault tapers to less than 1 mm/yr ∼80 km south of the Denali-Totschunda junction. In contrast, the Totschunda Fault accommodates 14.6 ± 2.7 mm/yr of right-lateral strike-slip along its central section ∼100 km south of the junction. Further south, preliminary observations suggest a slip rate comprised between 3.5 and 6.5 mm/yr along the westernmost part of the Duke River thrust fault. Our results highlight the complex partitioning of deformation inland of the Yakutat collision, where the role and slip rate of the main faults vary significantly over distances of ∼100 km or less. We propose a schematic model of present-day tectonics that suggests ongoing partitioning and reorganization of deformation between major inherited structures, relay zones, and regions of distributed deformation, in response to the radial stress and strain pattern around the Yakutat collision eastern syntaxis.

Seismicity and stress transfer studies in eastern California and Nevada: Implications for earthquake sources and tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ichinose, Gene Aaron

The source parameters for eastern California and western Nevada earthquakes are estimated from regionally recorded seismograms using a moment tensor inversion. We use the point source approximation and fit the seismograms, at long periods. We generated a moment tensor catalog for Mw > 4.0 since 1997 and Mw > 5.0 since 1990. The catalog includes centroid depths, seismic moments, and focal mechanisms. The regions with the most moderate sized earthquakes in the last decade were in aftershock zones located in Eureka Valley, Double Spring Flat, Coso, Ridgecrest, Fish Lake Valley, and Scotty's Junction. The remaining moderate size earthquakes were distributed across the region. The 1993 (Mw 6.0) Eureka Valley earthquake occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone. Careful aftershock relocations were used to resolve structure from aftershock clusters. The mainshock appears to rupture along the western side of the Last Change Range along a 30° to 60° west dipping fault plane, consistent with previous geodetic modeling. We estimate the source parameters for aftershocks at source-receiver distances less than 20 km using waveform modeling. The relocated aftershocks and waveform modeling results do not indicate any significant evidence of low angle faulting (dips > 30°. The results did reveal deformation along vertical faults within the hanging-wall block, consistent with observed surface rupture along the Saline Range above the dipping fault plane. The 1994 (Mw 5.8) Double Spring Flat earthquake occurred along the eastern Sierra Nevada between overlapping normal faults. Aftershock migration and cross fault triggering occurred in the following two years, producing seventeen Mw > 4 aftershocks The source parameters for the largest aftershocks were estimated from regionally recorded seismograms using moment tensor inversion. We estimate the source parameters for two moderate sized earthquakes which occurred near Reno, Nevada, the 1995 (Mw 4.4) Border Town, and the 1998 (Mw 4.7) Incline Village Earthquakes. We test to see how such stress interactions affected a cluster of six large earthquakes (Mw 6.6 to 7.5) between 1915 to 1954 within the Central Nevada Seismic Belt. We compute the static stress changes for these earthquake using dislocation models based on the location and amount of surface rupture. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Correlation between deep fluids, tremor and creep along the central San Andreas fault

USGS Publications Warehouse

Becken, M.; Ritter, O.; Bedrosian, P.A.; Weckmann, U.

2011-01-01

The seismicity pattern along the San Andreas fault near Parkfield and Cholame, California, varies distinctly over a length of only fifty kilometres. Within the brittle crust, the presence of frictionally weak minerals, fault-weakening high fluid pressures and chemical weakening are considered possible causes of an anomalously weak fault northwest of Parkfield. Non-volcanic tremor from lower-crustal and upper-mantle depths is most pronounced about thirty kilometres southeast of Parkfield and is thought to be associated with high pore-fluid pressures at depth. Here we present geophysical evidence of fluids migrating into the creeping section of the San Andreas fault that seem to originate in the region of the uppermost mantle that also stimulates tremor, and evidence that along-strike variations in tremor activity and amplitude are related to strength variations in the lower crust and upper mantle. Interconnected fluids can explain a deep zone of anomalously low electrical resistivity that has been imaged by magnetotelluric data southwest of the Parkfield-Cholame segment. Near Cholame, where fluids seem to be trapped below a high-resistivity cap, tremor concentrates adjacent to the inferred fluids within a mechanically strong zone of high resistivity. By contrast, subvertical zones of low resistivity breach the entire crust near the drill hole of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth, northwest of Parkfield, and imply pathways for deep fluids into the eastern fault block, coincident with a mechanically weak crust and the lower tremor amplitudes in the lower crust. Fluid influx to the fault system is consistent with hypotheses of fault-weakening high fluid pressures in the brittle crust.

Recent faulting and microearthquakes at the intersection of the Vema Fracture Zone and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowlett, Hugh; Forsyth, Donald W.

1984-07-01

New air gun reflection profiles, 3.5-kHz reflection profiles, and microearthquake data recorded by an array of ocean bottom seismographs form the basis for this study of the transition from a spreading center to a major transform fault. Disturbances of the thick, normally flat-lying, turbidite deposits provide indications of recent vertical motions. At the western intersection of the fracture zone with the median valley there is a depression in the sediments that represents the southerly extension of the median valley into the fracture zone valley. The depression is terminated abruptly on the south by the active transform fault, which acts as a locus for vertical as well as horizontal displacement. Flat-lying, undisturbed sediments terminate abruptly at the fault. The western boundary of the depression is much broader and is characterized by a series of slumplike steps. To the west, there is little or no evidence for uplift or tilting of sediments which might indicate vertical recovery of the crust as it spreads away from the depression. This suggests that uplift and recovery out of the depression is episodic in nature and has been inactive over the last million years along the western boundary. To the east there is clear evidence of uplift and tilting of sedimentary layers. A basement ridge emerging from the sediments is currently being uplifted and rotated in a manner analogous to processes responsible for the creation and cancellation of median valley relief. The transition between the spreading center and the transform fault appears to take place within 1-2 km. The width of the transform fault just east of the depression is less than a kilometer. Microearthquakes were located and displayed by new methods that directly account for nonlinearities associated with small arrays. Microearthquakes located by three or more ocean bottom seismometers show that the greatest seismic activity occurs along the eastern walls of the median valley, at the basement ridge, in the eastern portion of the depression and in the crestal mountains. Very little activity is associated with the western edge of the transform depression and the trace of the transform fault.

Deciphering the Influence of Crustal Flexure and Shear Along the Margins of the Eastern Snake River Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, S. D.

2016-12-01

The kinematic evolution of the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) remains highly contested. A lack of strike-slip faults bounding the ESRP serves as a primary assumption in many leading kinematic models. Recent GPS geodesy has highlighted possible shear zones along the ESRP yet regional strike-slip faults remain unidentified. Oblique movement within dense arrays of high-angle conjugate normal faults, paralleling the ESRP, occur within a discrete zone of 50 km on both margins of the ESRP. These features have long been attributed to progressive crustal flexure and subsidence within the ESRP, but are capable of accommodating the observed strain without necessitating large scale strike-slip faults. Deformation features within an extensive Neogene conglomerate provide field evidence for dextral shear in a transtensional system along the northern margin of the ESRP. Pressure-solution pits and cobble striations provide evidence for a horizontal ENE/WSW maximum principal stress orientation, consistent with the hypothesis of a dextral Centennial shear zone. Fold hinges, erosional surfaces and stratigraphic datums plunging perpendicular into the ESRP have been attributed to crustal flexure and subsidence of the ESRP. Similar Quaternary folds plunge obliquely into the ESRP along its margins where diminishing offset along active normal faults trends into linear volcanic features. In all cases, orientations and distributions of plunging fold structures display a correlation to the terminus of active Basin and Range faults and linear volcanic features of the ESRP. An alternative kinematic model, rooted in kinematic disparities between Basin and Range faults and parallelling volcanic features may explain the observed downwarping as well as provide a mechanism for the observed shear along the margins of the ESRP. By integrating field observations with seismic, geodetic and geomorphic observations this study attempts to decipher the signatures of crustal flexure and shear along the margins of the ESRP. Decoupling the influence of these distinct processes on deformation features bounding the ESRP will aid in our understanding of the kinematic evolution of this highly complex region.

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.

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.

Early Tertiary Anaconda metamorphic core complex, southwestern Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Neill, J. M.; Lonn, J.D.; Lageson, D.R.; Kunk, Michael J.

2004-01-01

A sinuous zone of gently southeast-dipping low-angle Tertiary normal faults is exposed for 100 km along the eastern margins of the Anaconda and Flint Creek ranges in southwest Montana. Faults in the zone variously place Mesoproterozoic through Paleozoic sedimentary rocks on younger Tertiary granitic rocks or on sedimentary rocks older than the overlying detached rocks. Lower plate rocks are lineated and mylonitic at the main fault and, below the mylonitic front, are cut by mylonitic mesoscopic to microscopic shear zones. The upper plate consists of an imbricate stack of younger-on-older sedimentary rocks that are locally mylonitic at the main, lowermost detachment fault but are characteristically strongly brecciated or broken. Kinematic indicators in the lineated mylonite indicate tectonic transport to the east-southeast. Syntectonic sedimentary breccia and coarse conglomerate derived solely from upper plate rocks were deposited locally on top of hanging-wall rocks in low-lying areas between fault blocks and breccia zones. Muscovite occurs locally as mica fish in mylonitic quartzites at or near the main detachment. The 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum obtained from muscovite in one mylonitic quartzite yielded an age of 47.2 + 0.14 Ma, interpreted to be the age of mylonitization. The fault zone is interpreted as a detachment fault that bounds a metamorphic core complex, here termed the Anaconda metamorphic core complex, similar in age and character to the Bitterroot mylonite that bounds the Bitterroot metamorphic core complex along the Idaho-Montana state line 100 km to the west. The Bitterroot and Anaconda core complexes are likely components of a continuous, tectonically integrated system. Recognition of this core complex expands the region of known early Tertiary brittle-ductile crustal extension eastward into areas of profound Late Cretaceous contractile deformation characterized by complex structural interactions between the overthrust belt and Laramide basement uplifts, overprinted by late Tertiary Basin and Range faulting. ?? 2004 NRC Canada.

Surface Rupture Characteristics and Rupture Mechanics of the Yushu Earthquake (Ms7.1), 14/04/2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, J.; Li, H.; Xu, Z.; Li, N.; Wu, F.; Guo, R.; Zhang, W.

2010-12-01

On April 14th 2010, a disastrous earthquake (Ms 7.1) struck Yushu County, Qinghai Province, China, killing thousands of people. This earthquake occurred as a result of sinistral strike-slip faulting on the western segment of the Xianshuihe Fault zone in eastern Tibetan Plateau. Our group conducted scientific investigation in the field on co-seismic surface rupture and active tectonics in the epicenter area immediately after the earthquake. Here, we introduce our preliminary results on the surface ruptures and rupture mechanics of the Yushu Earthquake. The surface rupture zone of Yushu earthquake, which is about 49 km-long, consists of 3 discontinuous left stepping rupture segments, which are 19 km, 22 km, and about 8 km, respectively, from west to east. Each segment consists of a series of right stepping en-echelon branch ruptures. The branch ruptures consist of interphase push-up and tension fissures or simply en-echelon tension fissures. The co-seismic displacements had been surveyed with a total station in detail on landmarks such as rivers, gullies, roads, farmlands, wire poles, and fences. The maximum offset measured is 2.3m, located near the Guoyangyansongduo Village. There are 3 offset peaks along the rupture zone corresponding to the 3 segments of the surface rupture zone. The maximum offsets in the west, central, and east segment rupture zones are 1.4m, 2.3m, and 1.6m respectively. The surface rupture zone of Yushu earthquake strikes in a 310°NW direction. The fault plane dips to the northeast and the dip angle is about 81°. The rupture zone is developed in transtension setting. Tension normal fault developed during the sinistral strike-slip process of the fault. The valley west of Yushu City and the Longbao Lake are both pull-apart basins formed during the transtension activity of the fault.

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.

Structural Inventory of Great Basin Geothermal Systems and Definition of Favorable Structural Settings

DOE Data Explorer

Faulds, James E.

2013-12-31

Over the course of the entire project, field visits were made to 117 geothermal systems in the Great Basin region. Major field excursions, incorporating visits to large groups of systems, were conducted in western Nevada, central Nevada, northwestern Nevada, northeastern Nevada, east‐central Nevada, eastern California, southern Oregon, and western Utah. For example, field excursions to the following areas included visits of multiple geothermal systems: - Northwestern Nevada: Baltazor Hot Spring, Blue Mountain, Bog Hot Spring, Dyke Hot Springs, Howard Hot Spring, MacFarlane Hot Spring, McGee Mountain, and Pinto Hot Springs in northwest Nevada. - North‐central to northeastern Nevada: Beowawe, Crescent Valley (Hot Springs Point), Dann Ranch (Hand‐me‐Down Hot Springs), Golconda, and Pumpernickel Valley (Tipton Hot Springs) in north‐central to northeast Nevada. - Eastern Nevada: Ash Springs, Chimney Hot Spring, Duckwater, Hiko Hot Spring, Hot Creek Butte, Iverson Spring, Moon River Hot Spring, Moorman Spring, Railroad Valley, and Williams Hot Spring in eastern Nevada. - Southwestern Nevada‐eastern California: Walley’s Hot Spring, Antelope Valley, Fales Hot Springs, Buckeye Hot Springs, Travertine Hot Springs, Teels Marsh, Rhodes Marsh, Columbus Marsh, Alum‐Silver Peak, Fish Lake Valley, Gabbs Valley, Wild Rose, Rawhide‐ Wedell Hot Springs, Alkali Hot Springs, and Baileys/Hicks/Burrell Hot Springs. - Southern Oregon: Alvord Hot Spring, Antelope Hot Spring‐Hart Mountain, Borax Lake, Crump Geyser, and Mickey Hot Spring in southern Oregon. - Western Utah: Newcastle, Veyo Hot Spring, Dixie Hot Spring, Thermo, Roosevelt, Cove Fort, Red Hill Hot Spring, Joseph Hot Spring, Hatton Hot Spring, and Abraham‐Baker Hot Springs. Structural controls of 426 geothermal systems were analyzed with literature research, air photos, google‐Earth imagery, and/or field reviews (Figures 1 and 2). Of the systems analyzed, we were able to determine the structural settings of more than 240 sites. However, we found that many “systems” consisted of little more than a warm or hot well in the central part of a basin. Such “systems” were difficult to evaluate in terms of structural setting in areas lacking in geophysical data. Developed database for structural catalogue in a master spreadsheet. Data components include structural setting, primary fault orientation, presence or absence of Quaternary faulting, reservoir lithology, geothermometry, presence or absence of recent magmatism, and distinguishing blind systems from those that have surface expressions. Reviewed site locations for all 426 geothermal systems– Confirmed and/or relocated spring and geothermal sites based on imagery, maps, and other information for master database. Many systems were mislocated in the original database. In addition, some systems that included several separate springs spread over large areas were divided into two or more distinct systems. Further, all hot wells were assigned names based on their location to facilitate subsequent analyses. We catalogued systems into the following eight major groups, based on the dominant pattern of faulting (Figure 1): - Major normal fault segments (i.e., near displacement maxima). - Fault bends. - Fault terminations or tips. - Step‐overs or relay ramps in normal faults. - Fault intersections. - Accommodation zones (i.e., belts of intermeshing oppositely dipping normal faults), - Displacement transfer zones whereby strike‐slip faults terminate in arrays of normal faults. - Transtensional pull‐aparts. These settings form a hierarchal pattern with respect to fault complexity. - Major normal faults and fault bends are the simplest. - Fault terminations are typically more complex than mid‐segments, as faults commonly break up into multiple strands or horsetail near their ends. - A fault intersection is generally more complex, as it generally contains both multiple fault strands and can include discrete di...

The Najd Fault System of Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stüwe, Kurt; Kadi, Khalid; Abu-Alam, Tamer; Hassan, Mahmoud

2014-05-01

The Najd Fault System of the Arabian-Nubian Shield is considered to be the largest Proterozoic Shear zone system on Earth. The shear zone was active during the late stages of the Pan African evolution and is known to be responsible for the exhumation of fragments of juvenile Proterozoic continental crust that form a series of basement domes across the shield areas of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. A three year research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and supported by the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) has focused on structural mapping, petrology and geochronology of the shear zone system in order to constrain age and mechanisms of exhumation of the domes - with focus on the Saudi Arabian side of the Red Sea. We recognise important differences in comparison with the basement domes in the Eastern desert of Egypt. In particular, high grade metamorphic rocks are not exclusively confined to basement domes surrounded by shear zones, but also occur within shear zones themselves. Moreover, we recognise both exhumation in extensional and in transpressive regimes to be responsible for exhumation of high grade metamorphic rocks in different parts of the shield. We suggest that these apparent structural differences between different sub-regions of the shield largely reflect different timing of activity of various branches of the Najd Fault System. In order to tackle the ill-resolved timing of the Najd Fault System, zircon geochronology is performed on intrusive rocks with different cross cutting relationships to the shear zone. We are able to constrain an age between 580 Ma and 605 Ma for one of the major branches of the shear zone, namely the Ajjaj shear zone. In our contribution we present a strain map for the shield as well as early geochronological data for selected shear zone branches.

Aerial gamma ray and magnetic survey: Nebraska/Texas survey, Waco quadrangle of Texas

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

Not Available

1980-02-01

The Waco quadrangle of eastern Texas lies within the northern Gulf Coastal Province. The area contains portions of the Ouachita Tectonic Belt, and the East Texas-Athens Embayment. The Mexia-Talco Fault Zone strikes NNW through the center of the area. West of the fault zone, Eocene neritic sediments are dominant, whereas Cretaceous platform deposits cover most of the area west of the zone. Examination of available literature shows no known uranium deposits (or occurrences) within the quadrangle. One hundred forty-four groups of uranium samples were defined as anomalous and discussed briefly in this report. None are considered significant. Most appear tomore » be of cultural origin. Magnetic data in the quadrangle are dominantly low frequency/low amplitude wavelengths, which suggest that sources may be extremely deep.« less

Interseismic coupling, seismic potential and earthquake recurrence on the southern front of the Eastern Alps (NE Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheloni, Daniele; D'Agostino, Nicola; Selvaggi, Giulio

2014-05-01

The interaction of the African, Arabian, and Eurasia plates in the "greater" Mediterranean region yields to a broad range of tectonic processes including active subduction, continental collision, major continental strike-slip faults and "intra-plate" mountain building. In this puzzling region the convergence between Adria microplate and Eurasia plate is partly or entirely absorbed within the South-Eastern Alps, where the Adriatic lithosphere underthrusts beneath the mountain belt. Historical seismicity and instrumentally recorded earthquakes show thrust faulting on north-dipping low-angle faults in agreement with geological observations of active mountain building and active fold growing at the foothills of the South-Eastern Alps. In this study, we use continuous GPS observations to document the geodetic strain accumulation across the South-Eastern Alps (NE Italy). We estimate the pattern of interseismic coupling on the intra-continental collision north-dipping thrust faults that separate the Eastern Alps and the Venetian-Friulian plain using the back-slip approach and discuss the seismic potential and earthquake recurrence. Comparison between the rigid-rotation predicted motion and the shortening observed across the studied area indicates that the South-Eastern Alpine thrust front absorbs about 80% of the total convergence rate between the Adria microplate and Eurasia plate. The modelled thrust fault is currently locked from the surface to a depth of approximately 10 km. The transition zone between locked and creeping portions of the fault roughly corresponds with the belt of microseismicity parallel and to the north of the mountain front. The estimated moment deficit rate is 1.27±0.14×10^17 Nm/yr. The comparison between the estimated moment deficit and that released historically by the earthquakes suggests that to account for the moment deficit the following two factors or their combination should be considered: (1) a significant part of the observed interseismic coupling is released aseismically by folding or creeping; (2) infrequent "large" events with long return period (>1000 years) and with magnitudes larger than the value assigned to the largest historical events (Mw≡6.7).

Geodynamic Evolution of the Banda Sea Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaymakci, N.; Decker, J.; Orange, D.; Teas, P.; Van Heiningen, P.

2013-12-01

We've carried out a large on- and offshore study in Eastern Indonesia to characterize the major structures and to provide constraints on the Neogene geodynamic evolution of the Banda Sea region. The onshore portion utilized remote sensing data and published geology. We tied the onshore to the offshore using recently acquired high resolution bathymetric data (16m and 25m bin size) and 2D seismic profiles that extend from Sulawesi in the west to Irian Jaya in the east across the northern part of the Banda Arc. We interpret the northern boundary of the 'Birds Head' (BH) of Papua, the Sorong Fault, to be a sinistral strike-slip fault zone with a minimum of 48 km displacement over the last few million years. The western boundary fault of Cendrawasih Basin defines the eastern boundary of BH and corresponds to the Wandamen Peninsula which comprises high pressure metamorphic rocks, including eclogite and granulite facies rocks, with exhumation ages from 4 to 1 Ma. Earthquake focal mechanism solutions indicate that the eastern boundary of BH is linked with a large scale offshore normal fault which we suggest may be related to the exhumation of the Wandamen Peninsula. The eastern boundary of Cendrawasih Basin is defined by a large transpressive belt along which BH is decoupled from the rest of Papua / Irian Jaya. This interpretation is supported by recent GPS studies. We propose that the BH and the Pacific plate are coupled, and therefore the Birds Head is therefore completely detached from Irian Jaya. Furthermore, Aru Basin, located at the NE corner of Banda Arc, is a Fault-Fault-Transform (FFT) type triple junction. According to available literature information the Banda Sea includes three distinct basins with different geologic histories; the North Banda Sea Basin (NBSB) was opened during 12-7 Ma, Wetar-Damar Basin (WDB) during 7-3.5 Ma and Weber Basin (WB) 3-0 Ma. Our bathymetric and seismic data indicated that the NBSB and Weber Basin lack normal oceanic crust and are probably floored by exhumed mantle, while WDB seems to have normal oceanic crust. These basins thought to be developed sequentially from north to south, possibly due to back arc extension resulting from trench retreat and roll-back of the northwards subducting Indo-Australian oceanic plate below the SE Eurasian margin along the Sunda-Banda subduction zone. We suggest that a trench-perpendicular tear in the subducting slab extends from the southwestern corner of Celebes Sea to the northeastern corner of Seram Island. It defines the southern boundary of the Banggai-Sula and Bird's Head (BH) blocks and northern boundary of Banda Sea micro-plate. The dominant character of this structure is sinistral strike-slip fault zone that eastward gradually become transpressional to ultimately thrusting at the tip of the tear east of Seram Island. Here, deformation results in a large accretionary wedge, the Seram Accretionary Belt (SAB) that is partitioned by intensely sheared strike-slip faults. The deformation mechanisms within the SAB is difficult to interpret due to poor seismic imaging below a shallow (Pliocene?) unconformity and the inferred complexity of the deformation within the belt. However, geometries of faults and fault blocks are very well pronounced on bathymetric data which provide hints for the deformation style of the belt.

A study of microseismicity in northern Baja California, Mexico

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, T. L.; Koczynski, T.; Madrid, J.

1976-01-01

Five microearthquake instruments were operated for 2 months in 1974 in a small mobile array deployed at various sites near the Agua Blanca and San Miguel faults. An 80-km-long section of the San Miguel fault zone is presently active seismically, producing the vast majority of recorded earthquakes. Very low activity was recorded on the Agua Blanca fault. Events were also located near normal faults forming the eastern edge of the Sierra Juarez suggesting that these faults are active. Hypocenters on the San Miguel fault range in depth from 0 to 20 km although two-thirds are in the upper 10 km. A composite focal mechanism showing a mixture of right-lateral and dip slip, east side up, is similar to a solution obtained for the 1956 San Miguel earthquake which proved consistent with observed surface deformation.

The 2011 Virginia M5.8 earthquake: Insights from seismic reflection imaging into the influence of older structures on eastern U.S. seismicity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pratt, Thomas L.; Horton, J. Wright; Spear, D.B.; Gilmer, A.K.; McNamara, Daniel E.

2015-01-01

The Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake of 23 August 2011 occurred at 6– 8 km depth within the allochthonous terranes of the Appalachian Piedmont Province, rupturing an ~N36°E striking reverse fault dipping ~50° southeast. This study used the Interstate Highway 64 seismic refl ection profi le acquired ~6 km southwest of the hypocenter to examine the structural setting of the earthquake. The profi le shows that the 2011 earthquake and its aftershocks are almost entirely within the early Paleozoic Chopawamsic volcanic arc terrane, which is bounded by listric thrust faults dipping 30°–40° southeast that sole out into an ~2-km-thick, strongly refl ective zone at 7– 12 km depth. Refl ectors above and below the southward projection of the 2011 earthquake focal plane do not show evidence for large displacement, and the updip projection of the fault plane does not match either the location or trend of a previously mapped fault or lithologic boundary. The 2011 earthquake thus does not appear to be a simple reactivation of a known Paleozoic thrust fault or a major Mesozoic rift basin-boundary fault. The fault that ruptured appears to be a new fault, a fault with only minor displacement, or to not extend the ~3 km from the aftershock zone to the seismic profi le. Although the Paleozoic structures appear to infl uence the general distribution of seismicity in the area, Central Virginia seismic zone earthquakes have yet to be tied directly to specifi c fault systems mapped at the surface or imaged on seismic profiles.

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).

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

Focal mechanisms and the stress regime in NE and SW Tanzania, East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brazier, Richard A.; Nyblade, Andrew A.; Florentin, Juliette

2005-07-01

We report 12 new focal mechanisms from earthquakes in NE and SW Tanzania where the stress regime within the East African rift system is not well constrained. Focal mechanisms for events at the intersection of the Lake Tanganyika and Rukwa rifts in SW Tanzania indicate a complicated stress pattern with possible dextral strike-slip motion on some faults but oblique motion on others (either sinistral on NW striking faults or dextral on NE striking faults). Within the Rukwa rift, focal mechanisms indicate normal dip-slip motion with NE-SW opening. In NE Tanzania where the Eastern rift impinges on the margin of the Tanzania Craton, fault motions are consistent with a zone of distributed block faults and sub E-W extension. All twelve earthquakes likely nucleated within the crust.

Integration of remote sensing, geochemical and field data in the Qena-Safaga shear zone: Implications for structural evolution of the Eastern Desert, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Din, Gamal Kamal; Abdelkareem, Mohamed

2018-05-01

The Qena-Safaga shear zone (QSSZ) represents a significant structural characteristic in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Remote Sensing, field and geochemical data were utilized in the present study. The results revealed that the QSSZ dominated by metamorphic complex (MC) that intruded by syn-tectonic granitoids. The low angle thrust fault brings calc-alkaline metavolcanics to overlie MC and its association. Subsequently, the area is dissected by strike-slip faults and the small elongated basins of Hammamat sediments of Precambrian were accumulated. The MC intruded by late-to post-tectonic granites (LPG) and Dokhan Volcanics which comprise felsic varieties forming distinctive columnar joints. Remote sensing analysis and field data revealed that major sub-vertical conspicuous strike-slip faults (SSF) including sinistral NW-SE and dextral ca. E-W shaped the study area. Various shear zones that accompanying the SSF are running NW-SE, NE-SW, E-W, N-S and ENE-WSW. The obtained shear sense presented a multiphase of deformation on each trend. i.e., the predominant NW-SE strike-slip fault trend started with sinistral displacement and is reactivated during later events to be right (dextral) strike slip cutting with dextral displacement the E-W trending faults; while NE-SW movements are cut by both the N-S and NNW - SSE trends. Remote sensing data revealed that the NW-SE direction that dominated the area is associated with hydrothermal alteration processes. This allowed modifying the major and trace elements of the highly deformed rocks that showed depletion in SiO2 and enrichments in Fe2O3, MnO, Al2O3, TiO2, Na2O, K2O, Cu, Zn and Pb contents. The geochemical signatures of major and trace elements revealed two types of granites including I-type calc-alkaline granites (late-to post-tectonic) that formed during an extensional regime. However, syn-tectonic granitoids are related to subduction-related environment.

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.

Hydrogeologic aspects of the Knippa Gap area in eastern Uvalde and western Medina counties, Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lambert, Rebecca B.; Clark, Allan K.; Pedraza, Diana E.; Morris, Robert R.

2014-01-01

The Edwards aquifer is the primary source of potable water for the San Antonio area in south-central Texas. The Knippa Gap area is a structural low (trough) postulated to channel or restrict flow in the Edwards aquifer in eastern Uvalde and western Medina Counties, Tex. To better understand the function of the Knippa Gap, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, developed the first detailed surficial geologic map of the Knippa Gap area with data and information obtained from previous investigations and field observations. A simplified version of the detailed geologic map depicting the hydrologic units, faulting, and structural dips of the Knippa Gap area is provided in this fact sheet. The map shows that groundwater flow in the Edwards aquifer is influenced by the Balcones Fault Zone, a structurally complex area of the aquifer that contains relay ramps that have formed in extensional fault systems and allowed for deformational changes along fault blocks. Faulting in southeast Uvalde and southwest Medina Counties has produced relay-ramp structures that dip downgradient to the structural low (trough) of the Knippa Gap.

GONAF - A borehole Geophysical Observatory around the North Anatolian Fault in the Eastern Sea of Marmara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohnhoff, Marco; Dresen, Georg; Ceken, Ulubey; Tuba Kadarioglu, Filiz; Feyiz Kartal, Recai; Kilic, Tugbay; Nurlu, Murat; Yanik, Kenan; Acarel, Digdem; Bulut, Fatih; Ito, Hisao; Johnson, Wade; Malin, Peter Eric; Mencin, Dave

2017-04-01

The Marmara section of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) runs under water and is located less than 20 km from the 15-million-person population center of Istanbul at its eastern portion. Based on historical seismicity data, recurrence times forecast an impending magnitude M>7 earthquake for this region. The permanent GONAF Geophysical Observatory at the North Anatolian Fault has been installed around this section to help capture the seismic and strain activity preceding, during, and after such an anticipated event. The GONAF observatory is currently comprised of seven 300 m deep vertical seismic profiling stations and four collocated 100 m deep borehole strainmeters. Five of the stations are located on the land surrounding the Princes Islands segment below the eastern Sea of Marmara and two are on the near-fault Princes Islands south of Istanbul. The 300 m boreholes have 1, 2, and 15 Hz 3-C seismometers near their bottoms. Above this are vertical, 1 Hz, seismometers at 210, 140, and 70 m depths. The strainmeter boreholes are located within a few meters of the seismometer boreholes and contain horizontal strain tensor sensors and 2 Hz 3-C seismometers at their bottoms. This selection of instruments and depths was done so as to ensure high-precision and broad-frequency earthquake monitoring and vertical profiling, all under low-noise conditions. GONAF is the first ICDP-driven project with a primarily focus on long-term monitoring of fault-zone dynamics. It has already contributed to earthquake hazard studies in the Istanbul area in several ways. Combining GONAF recordings with existing regional seismic stations now allows monitoring of the NAFZ offshore Istanbul down to magnitudes M<0. GONAF also improves the resolution of earthquake hypocenters and source parameters, better defining local fault branches, their seismicity, and earthquake potential. Using its vertical distribution of sensors, it has directly measured depth-dependent seismic site-effects for ground shaking studies. GONAF is starting to address fundamental questions related to earthquake nucleation, rupture dynamics, temporal changes of material properties and strain.

Palaeopermeability anisotropies of a strike-slip fault damage zone: 3D Insights of quantitative fluid flow from µCT analysis.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomila, R.; Arancibia, G.; Nehler, M.; Bracke, R.; Morata, D.

2017-12-01

Fault zones and their related structural permeability are a key aspect in the migration of fluids through the continental crust. Therefore, the estimation of the hydraulic properties (palaeopermeability conditions; k) and the spatial distribution of the fracture mesh within the damage zone (DZ) are critical in the assessment of fault zones behavior for fluids. The study of the real spatial distribution of the veinlets of the fracture mesh (3D), feasible with the use of µCT analyses, is a first order factor to unravel both, the real structural permeability conditions of a fault-zone, and the validation of previous (and classical) estimations made in 2D analyses in thin-sections. This work shows the results of a fault-related fracture mesh and its 3D spatial distribution in the damage-zone of the Jorgillo Fault (JF), an ancient subvertical left-lateral strike-slip fault exposed in the Atacama Fault System in northern Chile. The JF is a ca. 20 km long NNW-striking strike-slip fault with sinistral displacement of ca. 4 km. The methodology consisted of drilling 5 mm vertically oriented plugs at several locations within the JF damage zone. Each specimen was scanned with an X-Ray µCT scanner, to assess the fracture mesh, with a voxel resolution of ca. 4.5 µm in the 3D reconstructed data. Tensor permeability modeling, using Lattice-Boltzmann Method, through the segmented microfracture mesh show GMkmin (geometric mean values) of 2.1x10-12 and 9.8x10-13 m2, and GMkmax of 6.4x10-12 and 2.1x10-12 m2. A high degree of anisotropy of the DZ permeability tensor both sides of the JF (eastern and western side, respectively) is observed, where the k values in the kmax plane are 2.4 and 1.9 times higher than the kmin direction at the time of fracture sealing. This style of anisotropy is consistent with the obtained for bedded sandstones supporting the idea that damage zones have an analogous effect - but vertically orientated - on bulk permeability (in low porosity rocks) as stratigraphic layering, where across-strike khorizontal of a fault is lower when compared with the kvertical and kfault parallel. Acknowledgements: This work is a contribution to FONDAP-CONICYT Project 15090013 and CONICYT- BMBF International Scientific Collaborative Research Program Project PCCI130025/FKZ01DN14033. R.G. Ph.D. is funded by CONICYT Scholarship 21140021.

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

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.

Kinematics of the Snake River Plain and Centennial Shear Zone, Idaho, from GPS and earthquatte data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Payne, Suzette J.

New horizontal Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities at 405 sites using GPS phase data collected from 1994 to 2010 along with earthquakes, faults, and volcanic features reveal how contemporary strain is accommodated in the Northern Basin and Range Province. The 1994-2010 velocity field has observable gradients arising from both rotation and strain. Kinematic interpretations are guided by using a block-model approach and inverting velocities, earthquake slip vector azimuths, and dike-opening rates to simultaneously solve for angular velocities of the blocks and uniform horizontal strain rate tensors within selected blocks. The Northern Basin and Range block model has thirteen blocks representing tectonic provinces based on knowledge of geology, seismicity, volcanism, active tectonic faults, and regions with differences in observed velocities. Ten variations of the thirteen blocks are tested to assess the statistical significance of boundaries for tectonic provinces, motions along those boundaries, and estimates of long-term deformation within the provinces. From these tests, a preferred model with seven tectonic provinces is determined by applying a maximum confidence level of ≥99% probability to F-distribution tests between two models to indicate one model with added boundaries has a better fit to the data over a second model. The preferred model is varied to test hypotheses of post-seismic viscoelastic relaxation, significance of dikes in accommodating extension, and bookshelf faulting in accommodating shear. Six variations of the preferred model indicate time-varying components due to viscoelastic relaxation from the 1959 Hebgen Lake, Montana and 1983 Borah Peak, Idaho earthquakes have either ceased as of 2002 or are too small to be evident in the observed velocities. Inversions with dike-opening models indicate that the previously hypothesized rapid extension by dike intrusion in volcanic rift zones to keep pace with normal faulting is not currently occurring in the Snake River Plain. Alternatively, the preferred model reveals a low deforming region (-0.1 +/- 0.4 x 10-9 yr -1, which is not discernable from zero) covering 125 km x 650 km within the Snake River Plain and Owyhee-Oregon Plateau that is separated from the actively extending adjacent Basin and Range regions by narrow belts of localized shear. Velocities reveal rapid extension occurs to the north of the Snake River Plain in the Centennial Tectonic Belt (5.6 +/- 0.7 x 10 -9 yr-1) and to the south in the Intermountain Seismic Belt and Great Basin (3.5 +/- 0.2 x 10-9 yr-1). The "Centennial Shear Zone" is a NE-trending zone of up to 1.5 mm yr -1 of right-lateral shear and is the result of rapid extension in the Centennial Tectonic Belt adjacent to the low deforming region of the Snake River Plain. Variations of the preferred model that test the hypothesis of bookshelf faulting demonstrate shear does not drive Basin and Range extension in the Centennial Tectonic Belt. Instead, the velocity gradient across the Centennial Shear Zone indicates that shear is distributed and deformation is due to strike-slip faulting, distributed simple shear, regional-scale rotation, or any combination of these. Near the fastest rates of right-lateral slip, focal mechanisms are observed with strike-slip components of motion consistent with right-lateral shear. Here also, the segment boundary between two E-trending Basin and Range faults, which are oriented subparallel to the NE-trending shear zone, provides supporting Holocene to mid-Pleistocene geologic evidence for accommodation of right-lateral shear in the Centennial Shear Zone. The southernmost ends of NW-trending Basin and Range faults in the Centennial Tectonic Belt at their juncture with the eastern Snake River Plain could accommodate right-lateral shear through components of left-lateral oblique slip. Right-lateral shear may be accommodated by components of strike-slip motion on multiple NE-trending faults since geologic evidence does not support slip along one continuous NE-trending fault along the boundary between the eastern Snake River Plain and Centennial Tectonic Belt. Regional velocity gradients are best fit by nearby poles of rotation for the Centennial Tectonic Belt, Snake River Plain, Owyhee-Oregon Plateau, and eastern Oregon, indicating that clockwise rotation is driven by extension to the south in the Great Basin and not by Yellowstone hotspot volcanism or from localized extension in the Centennial Tectonic Belt. The velocity field may reveal long-term motions of the Northern Basin and Range Province. GPS-derived clockwise rotation rates are consistent with paleomagnetic rotation rates in 15--12 Ma basalts in eastern Oregon and in Eocene volcanic rocks (˜48 Ma) within the Centennial Tectonic Belt.

Crustal strength anisotropy influences landscape form and longevity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, S. G.; Koons, P. O.; Upton, P.; Tucker, G. E.

2013-12-01

Lithospheric deformation is increasingly recognized as integral to landscape evolution. Here we employ a coupled orogenic and landscape model to test the hypothesis that strain-induced crustal failure exerts the dominant control on rates and patterns of orogenic landscape evolution. We assume that erodibility is inversely proportional to cohesion for bedrock rivers host to bedload abrasion. Crustal failure can potentially reduce cohesion by several orders of magnitude along meter scale planar fault zones. The strain-induced cohesion field is generated by use of a strain softening upper crustal rheology in our orogenic model. Based on the results of our coupled model, we predict that topographic anisotropy found in natural orogens is largely a consequence of strain-induced anisotropy in the near surface strength field. The lifespan and geometry of mountain ranges are strongly sensitive to 1) the acute division in erodibility values between the damaged fault zones and the surrounding intact rock and 2) the fault zone orientations for a given tectonic regime. The large division in erodibility between damaged and intact rock combined with the dependence on fault zone orientation provides a spectrum of rates at which a landscape will respond to tectonic or climatic perturbations. Knickpoint migration is about an order of magnitude faster along the exposed cores of fault zones when compared to rates in intact rock, and migration rate increases with fault dip. The contrast in relative erosion rate confines much of the early stage fluvial erosion and establishes a major drainage network that reflects the orientations of exposed fault zones. Slower erosion into the surrounding intact rock typically creates small tributaries that link orthogonally to the structurally confined channels. The large divide in fluvial erosion rate permits the long term persistence of the tectonic signal in the landscape and partly contributes to orogen longevity. Landscape morphology and channel tortuosity together provide critical information on the orientation and spatial distribution of fault damage and the relevant tectonic regime. Our landscape evolution models express similar mechanisms and produce drainage network patterns analogous to those seen in the Southern Alps of New Zealand and the Himalayan Eastern Syntaxis, both centers of active lithospheric deformation.

A Model of Subduction of a Mid-Paleozoic Oceanic Ridge - Transform Fault System along the Eastern North American Margin in the Northern Appalachians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuiper, Y. D.

2016-12-01

Crustal-scale dextral northeasterly trending ductile-brittle fault systems and increased igneous activity in mid-Paleozoic eastern New England and southern Maritime Canada are interpreted in terms of a subducted oceanic spreading ridge model. In the model, the fault systems form as a result of subduction of a spreading ridge-transform fault system, similar to the way the San Andreas fault system formed. Ridge subduction results in the formation of a sub-surface slab window, mantle upwelling, and increased associated magmatism in the overlying plate. The ridge-transform system existed in the Rheic Ocean, and was subducted below parts of Ganderia, Avalonia and Meguma in Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The subduction zone jumped southeastward as a result of accretion of Avalonia. Where the ridge-transform system was subducted, plate motions changed from predominantly convergent between the northern Rheic Ocean and Laurentian plates to predominantly dextral between the southern Rheic Ocean and Laurentian plates. In the model, dextral fault systems include the Norumbega fault system between southwestern New Brunswick and southern Maine and New Hampshire, and the Kennebecasis, Belle Isle and Caledonia faults in southeastern New Brunswick. A latest Silurian transition from arc- to within-plate- magmatism in the Coastal Volcanic Belt in eastern Maine may suggest the onset of ridge subduction. Examples of increased latest Silurian to Devonian within-plate magmatism include the Cranberry Island volcanic series and coastal Maine magmatic province in Maine, and the South Mountain Batholith in Nova Scotia. Widespread Devonian to earliest Carboniferous granitic to intermediate plutons, beyond the Coastal Volcanic Belt towards southern Maine and central New Hampshire, may outline the shape of a subsurface slab window. The possibility of ridge-transform subduction in Newfoundland and in the southern Appalachians will be discussed. The northern Appalachians may be a unique location along the Eastern North American Margin and possibly on Earth, in that it may preserve the only known evidence for an ancient Mendocino-style triple junction and San Andreas-type fault.

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.

Analysis of soft-sediment deformation structures in Neogene fluvio-lacustrine deposits of Çaybağı Formation, Eastern Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koç Taşgin, Calibe; Türkmen, İbrahim

2009-06-01

During the Neogene, both strike-slip and extensional regimes coexisted in eastern Turkey and, a number of fault-bounded basins associated with the East Anatolian Fault System developed. The Çaybağı Formation (Late Miocene-Early Pliocene) deposited in one of these basins consists of fluvio-lacustrine deposits. Numerous soft-sediment deformation structures are encountered in this formation, particularly in conglomerates, medium- to coarse-grained tuffaceous sandstones and claystones: folded structures (slumps, convolute laminations, and simple recumbent folds), water-escape structures (intruded sands, internal cusps, interpenetrative cusps and sand volcanoes), and load structures (load casts, pseudonodules, flame structures, and pillow structures). These structures are produced by liquefaction and/or fluidization of the unconsolidated sediments during a seismic shock. Consequently, the existence of seismically-induced deformation structures in the Çaybağı Formation and the association with a Neogene intraformational unconformity, growth faults, and reverse faults in the Çaybağı basin attest to the tectonic activity in this area during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene. The East Anatolian Fault System, in particular the Uluova fault zone, is the most probable seismogenic source. Earthquakes with a magnitude of over 5 in the Richter scale can be postulated.

Coulomb Stress Accumulation along the San Andreas Fault System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Bridget; Sandwell, David

2003-01-01

Stress accumulation rates along the primary segments of the San Andreas Fault system are computed using a three-dimensional (3-D) elastic half-space model with realistic fault geometry. The model is developed in the Fourier domain by solving for the response of an elastic half-space due to a point vector body force and analytically integrating the force from a locking depth to infinite depth. This approach is then applied to the San Andreas Fault system using published slip rates along 18 major fault strands of the fault zone. GPS-derived horizontal velocity measurements spanning the entire 1700 x 200 km region are then used to solve for apparent locking depth along each primary fault segment. This simple model fits remarkably well (2.43 mm/yr RMS misfit), although some discrepancies occur in the Eastern California Shear Zone. The model also predicts vertical uplift and subsidence rates that are in agreement with independent geologic and geodetic estimates. In addition, shear and normal stresses along the major fault strands are used to compute Coulomb stress accumulation rate. As a result, we find earthquake recurrence intervals along the San Andreas Fault system to be inversely proportional to Coulomb stress accumulation rate, in agreement with typical coseismic stress drops of 1 - 10 MPa. This 3-D deformation model can ultimately be extended to include both time-dependent forcing and viscoelastic response.

Paleomagnetism and magnetic fabric of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia: Evidence for oblique convergence and non-rotational reactivation of a Mesozoic intra-continental rift

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez Díaz, G.; Speranza, F.; Faccenna, C.; Bayona, G.; Mora, A.

2012-12-01

The Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (EC) is a double-verging mountain system inverting a Mesozoic rift, and bounded by major reverse faults that locally involve crystalline and metamorphic Precambrian-Lower Paleozoic basement rocks, as well as Upper Paleozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic sequences. In map view the EC is a curved mountain belt with a regional structural strike that ranges from NNE in the southern part to NNW in the northern part. The origin of its curvature has not been studied or discussed so far. We report on an extensive paleomagnetic and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) investigation of the EC, in order to address to test its non-rotational vs. oroclinal nature. Fifty-eight sites were gathered from Cretaceous to Miocene marine and continental strata, both from the southern and northern parts of the EC; additionally, we examined the southern Maracaibo plate, at the junction between the Santander Massif and the Merida Andes of Colombia (Cucuta zone). Twenty-three sites reveal no rotation of the EC range with respect to stable South America. In contrast, a 35°±9° clockwise rotation is documented in four post-Miocene magnetically overprinted sites from the Cucuta zone. Magnetic lineations from AMS analysis do not trend parallel to the chain, but are oblique to the main strike of the orogenic belt. By also considering GPS evidence of a ~1 cm/yr ENE displacement of central-western Colombia accommodated by the EC, we suggest that the late Miocene-recent deformation occurred by a ENE oblique convergence reactivating a NNE rift zone. Our data show that the EC is a non-rotational chain, and that the locations of the Mesozoic rift and the mountain chain roughly correspond. One possible solution is that the oblique shortening is partitioned in pure dip-slip shear characterizing thick-skinned frontal thrust sheets (well-known along both chain fronts), and by range-parallel right-lateral strike-slip fault(s), which have not been identified yet and likely occur in the axial part of the EC. The clockwise rotation in the Cucuta zone reflects late Cenozoic and ongoing right-lateral strike-slip displacement occurring along buried faults parallel to the Boconó fault system, possibly connected with the right-lateral faults inferred along the axial part of the EC.

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.

Tectonic significance of Kibaran structures in Central and Eastern Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumvegeri, B. T.

Tectonical movements of the Kibaran belt (1400-950 Ma) can be subdivided into two major deformation events, corresponding to tight, upright or recumbent folds, thrust faults, nappes and stretching lineation with a general plunging southwards. At the regional scale, the stretching lineation, associated with thrust faults and nappes is interpreted as an indication of a northwards moving direction. The shear zone with mafic-ultramafic rocks across Burundi, MW-Tanzania, SW-Uganda and NE-Zaïre is the suture zone of the Kibaran belt. Kibaran metamorphism is plurifacial and has four epizodes. The second, syn-D2, is the most important and constitutes the climax; it reached the granulite facies. The succession of tectonic, metamorphic and magmatic features suggests geotectonic evolution by subduction-collision.

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.

Structural setting of Fimiston- and Oroya-style pyrite-telluride-gold lodes, Paringa South mine, Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie: 1. Shear zone systems, porphyry dykes and deposit-scale alteration zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mueller, Andreas G.

2017-07-01

The Golden Mile in the 2.7 Ga Eastern Goldfields Province of the Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia, has produced 385 million tonnes of ore at a head grade of 5.23 g/t gold (1893-2016). Gold-pyrite ore bodies (Fimiston Lodes) trace kilometre-scale shear zone systems centred on the D2 Golden Mile Fault, one of three northwest striking sinistral strike-slip faults segmenting upright D1 folds. The Fimiston shear zones formed as D2a Riedel systems in greenschist-facies (actinolite-albite) tholeiitic rocks, the 700-m-thick Golden Mile Dolerite (GMD) sill and the Paringa Basalt (PB), during left-lateral displacement of up to 12 km on the D2 master faults. Pre-mineralisation granodiorite dykes were emplaced into the D2 shear zones at 2674 ± 6 Ma, and syn-mineralisation diorite porphyries at 2663 ± 11 Ma. The widespread infiltration of hydrothermal fluid generated chlorite-calcite and muscovite-ankerite alteration in the Golden Mile, and paragonite-ankerite-chloritoid alteration southeast of the deposit. Fluid infiltration reactivated the D2 shear zones causing post-porphyry displacement of up to 30 m at principal Fimiston Lodes moving the southwest block down and southeast along lines pitching 20°SE. D3 reverse faulting at the southwest dipping GMD-PB contact of the D1 Kalgoorlie Anticline formed the 1.3-km-long Oroya Shoot during late gold-telluride mineralisation. Syn-mineralisation D3a reverse faulting alternated with periods of sinistral strike-slip (D2c) until ENE-WSW shortening prevailed and was accommodated by barren D3b thrusts. North-striking D4 strike-slip faults of up to 2 km dextral displacement crosscut the Fimiston Lodes and the barren thrusts, and control gold-pyrite quartz vein ore at Mt. Charlotte (2651 ± 9 Ma).

Viscoelastic shear zone model of a strike-slip earthquake cycle

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, F.F.

2001-01-01

I examine the behavior of a two-dimensional (2-D) strike-slip fault system embedded in a 1-D elastic layer (schizosphere) overlying a uniform viscoelastic half-space (plastosphere) and within the boundaries of a finite width shear zone. The viscoelastic coupling model of Savage and Prescott [1978] considers the viscoelastic response of this system, in the absence of the shear zone boundaries, to an earthquake occurring within the upper elastic layer, steady slip beneath a prescribed depth, and the superposition of the responses of multiple earthquakes with characteristic slip occurring at regular intervals. So formulated, the viscoelastic coupling model predicts that sufficiently long after initiation of the system, (1) average fault-parallel velocity at any point is the average slip rate of that side of the fault and (2) far-field velocities equal the same constant rate. Because of the sensitivity to the mechanical properties of the schizosphere-plastosphere system (i.e., elastic layer thickness, plastosphere viscosity), this model has been used to infer such properties from measurements of interseismic velocity. Such inferences exploit the predicted behavior at a known time within the earthquake cycle. By modifying the viscoelastic coupling model to satisfy the additional constraint that the absolute velocity at prescribed shear zone boundaries is constant, I find that even though the time-averaged behavior remains the same, the spatiotemporal pattern of surface deformation (particularly its temporal variation within an earthquake cycle) is markedly different from that predicted by the conventional viscoelastic coupling model. These differences are magnified as plastosphere viscosity is reduced or as the recurrence interval of periodic earthquakes is lengthened. Application to the interseismic velocity field along the Mojave section of the San Andreas fault suggests that the region behaves mechanically like a ???600-km-wide shear zone accommodating 50 mm/yr fault-parallel motion distributed between the San Andreas fault system and Eastern California Shear Zone. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.

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

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.

Use of Fault Displacement Vector to Identify Future Zones of Seismicity: An Example from the Earthquakes of Nepal Himalayas.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naim, F.; Mukherjee, M. K.

2017-12-01

Earthquakes occur due to fault slip in the subsurface. They can occur either as interplate or intraplate earthquakes. The region of study is the Nepal Himalayas that defines the boundary of Indian-Eurasian plate and houses the focus of the most devastating earthquakes. The aim of the study was to analyze all the earthquakes that occurred in the Nepal Himalayas upto May 12, 2015 earthquake in order to mark the regions still under stress and vulnerable for future earthquakes. Three different fault systems in the Nepal Himalayas define the tectonic set up of the area. They are: (1) Main Frontal Thrust(MFT), (2) Main Central Thrust(MCT) and (3) Main Boundary Thrust(MBT) that extend from NW to SE. Most of the earthquakes were observed to occur between the MBT and MCT. Since the thrust faults are dipping towards NE, the focus of most of the earthquakes lies on the MBT. The methodology includes estimating the dip of the fault by considering the depths of different earthquake events and their corresponding distance from the MBT. In order to carry out stress analysis on the fault, the beach ball diagrams associated with the different earthquakes were plotted on a map. Earthquakes in the NW and central region of the fault zone were associated with reverse fault slip while that on the South-Eastern part were associated with a strike slip component. The direction of net slip on the fault associated with the different earthquakes was known and from this a 3D slip diagram of the fault was constructed. The regions vulnerable for future earthquakes in the Nepal Himalaya were demarcated on the 3D slip diagram of the fault. Such zones were marked owing to the fact that the slips due to earthquakes cause the adjoining areas to come under immense stress and this stress is directly proportional to the amount of slip occuring on the fault. These vulnerable zones were in turn projected on the map to show their position and are predicted to contain the epicenter of the future earthquakes.

Palaeotsunamis and tsunami hazards in the Eastern Mediterranean.

PubMed

England, Philip; Howell, Andrew; Jackson, James; Synolakis, Costas

2015-10-28

The dominant uncertainties in assessing tsunami hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean are attached to the location of the sources. Reliable historical reports exist for five tsunamis associated with earthquakes at the Hellenic plate boundary, including two that caused widespread devastation. Because most of the relative motion across this boundary is aseismic, however, the modern record of seismicity provides little or no information about the faults that are likely to generate such earthquakes. Independent geological and geophysical observations of two large historical to prehistorical earthquakes, in Crete and Rhodes, lead to a coherent framework in which large to great earthquakes occurred not on the subduction boundary, but on reverse faults within the overlying crust. We apply this framework to the less complete evidence from the remainder of the Hellenic plate boundary zone, identifying candidate sources for future tsunamigenic earthquakes. Each such source poses a significant hazard to the North African coast of the Eastern Mediterranean. Because modern rates of seismicity are irrelevant to slip on the tsunamigenic faults, and because historical and geological data are too sparse, there is no reliable basis for a probabilistic assessment of this hazard, and a precautionary approach seems advisable. © 2015 The Author(s).

The southern Whidbey Island fault: An active structure in the Puget Lowland, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, S.Y.; Potter, C.J.; Armentrout, J.M.; Miller, J.J.; Finn, C.; Weaver, C.S.

1996-01-01

Information from seismic-reflection profiles, outcrops, boreholes, and potential field surveys is used to interpret the structure and history of the southern Whidbey Island fault in the Puget Lowland of western Washington. This northwest-trending fault comprises a broad (as wide as 6-11 km), steep, northeast-dipping zone that includes several splays with inferred strike-slip, reverse, and thrust displacement. Transpressional deformation along the southern Whidbey Island fault is indicated by alongstrike variations in structural style and geometry, positive flower structure, local unconformities, out-of-plane displacements, and juxtaposition of correlative sedimentary units with different histories. The southern Whidbey Island fault represents a segment of a boundary between two major crustal blocks. The Cascade block to the northeast is floored by diverse assemblages of pre-Tertiary rocks; the Coast Range block to the southwest is floored by lower Eocene marine basaltic rocks of the Crescent Formation. The fault probably originated during the early Eocene as a dextral strike-slip fault along the eastern side of a continental-margin rift. Bending of the fault and transpressional deformation began during the late middle Eocene and continues to the present. Oblique convergence and clockwise rotation along the continental margin are the inferred driving forces for ongoing deformation. Evidence for Quaternary movement on the southern Whidbey Island fault includes (1) offset and disrupted upper Quaternary strata imaged on seismic-reflection profiles; (2) borehole data that suggests as much as 420 m of structural relief on the Tertiary-Quaternary boundary in the fault zone; (3) several meters of displacement along exposed faults in upper Quaternary sediments; (4) late Quaternary folds with limb dips of as much as ???9??; (5) large-scale liquefaction features in upper Quaternary sediments within the fault zone; and (6) minor historical seismicity. The southern Whidbey Island fault should be considered capable of generating large earthquakes (Ms ???7) and represents a potential seismic hazard to residents of the Puget Lowland.

Transverse zones controlling the structural evolution of the Zipaquira Anticline (Eastern Cordillera, Colombia): Regional implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García, Helbert; Jiménez, Giovanny

2016-08-01

We report paleomagnetic, magnetic fabric and structural results from 21 sites collected in Cretaceous marine mudstones and Paleogene continental sandstones from the limbs, hinge and transverse zones of the Zipaquira Anticline (ZA). The ZA is an asymmetrical fold with one limb completely overturned by processes like gravity and salt tectonics, and marked by several axis curvatures. The ZA is controlled by at least two (2) transverse zones known as the Neusa and Zipaquira Transverse Zones (NTZ and ZTZ, respectively). Magnetic mineralogy methods were applied at different sites and the main carriers of the magnetic properties are paramagnetic components with some sites being controlled by hematite and magnetite. Magnetic fabric analysis shows rigid-body rotation for the back-limb in the ZA, while the forelimb is subjected to internal deformation. Structural and paleomagnetic data shows the influence of the NTZ and ZTZ in the evolution of the different structures like the ZA and the Zipaquira, Carupa, Rio Guandoque, Las Margaritas and Neusa faults, controlling several factors as vergence, extension, fold axis curvature and stratigraphic detatchment. Clockwise rotations unraveled a block segmentation following a discontinuos model caused by transverse zones and one site reported a counter clockwise rotation associated with a left-lateral strike slip component for transverse faults (e.g. the Neusa Fault). We propose that diverse transverse zones have been active since Paleogene times, playing an important role in the tectonic evolution of the Cundinamarca sub-basin and controlling the structural evolution of folds and faults with block segmentation and rotations.

Interior Western U. S. Deformation Coming into Focus with Maturing Survey and Continuous GPS Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thatcher, W. R.; Svarc, J. L.

2010-12-01

Active Basin and Range (BR) extension produces spectacular fault-generated topography spread over ~800 km in the interior western US. However, present-day deformation rates are relatively low east of the San Andreas fault system and Cascadia subduction zone and ± 1 mm/yr precision in GPS velocity is needed to pinpoint the major faults that accommodate extension. Typically, 3 years of continuous (CGPS) operation and 8 years of sparsely repeated survey (SGPS) network occupations are required to attain this precision. U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) survey networks and Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) continuous station records are now long enough to meet these requirements. USGS and PBO station coverage is generally complementary. PBO coverage established since 2005 within the ~1000 km x 1500 km deforming zone is relatively complete at ~100 km station spacing; USGS survey-mode profiles established during 1999-2003 are dense; typical station spacing is ~25 km and results are sufficiently precise to determine localized velocity gradients of 1 mm/yr or greater (over ~25-50 km distances) across mapped active strike-slip and normal faults traversed by the SGPS profiles. The great majority of geologically young faults appear to slip at rates less than 1 mm/yr but rates are measurably higher near the western and eastern edges of the BR. There is a marked transition in NE California from strike-slip faulting at rates of ~ 4 mm/yr across the northern Walker Lane zone to pure extension north of about Mt. Lassen. This distinct boundary is apparently related to the prevalence of strike-slip tractions on the San Andreas plate boundary south of the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ) to tensile stresses caused by Cascadia slab retreat north of the MTJ. A horizontal extension rate of 3 mm/yr is observed across the north-striking Hat Creek and related normal faults immediately north of Lassen, but this extension decreases to no more than 1 mm/yr in the Klamath Basin, about 150 km to the north. Extension rates could be as high as ~1 mm/yr across the Surprise Valley fault (near the California-Nevada border) and the Steens Mountain-Pueblo Mountains fault (SE Oregon). But elsewhere in Oregon, Idaho and Montana, extension rates are < 1 mm/yr and only on the eastern edge of the BR, across the Wasatch and related faults in central Utah, do rates reach 3 mm/yr.

Aerial gamma ray and magnetic survey: Nebraska/Texas survey, Texarkana Quadrangle of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Final report

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

Not Available

The Texarkana quadrangle of eastern Texas and portions of three adjacent states lies within the northern Gulf Coastal Province. The area contains portions of the Ouachita Tectonic Belt and the East Texas-Athens Embayment. The Mexia-Talco Fault Zone strikes roughly east-west through the center of the quadrangle. North of the fault zone Cretaceous platform deposits dominate, whereas Eocene neritic sediments cover most of the area south of the zone. Examination of available literature shows no known uranium deposits (or occurrences) within the quadrangle. One hundred fifty-nine groups of uranium samples were defined as anomalies and discussed briefly in this report. Nonemore » were considered significant, and most appeared to be of cultural origin. Magnetic data in the quadrangle are dominantly low frequency/low amplitude wavelengths, which suggests that sources may be extremely deep.« less

Long term seismic observation using ocean bottom seismographs in Marmara Sea, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, N.; Pinar, A.; Kalafat, D.; Yamamoto, Y.; Citak, S.; Comoglu, M.; Çok, Ö.; Ogutcu, Z.; Suvarikli, M.; Tunc, S.; Gurbuz, C.; Ozel, N.; Kaneda, Y.

2015-12-01

The North Anatolian Fault crosses the Marmara Sea with a direction of E-W. There are many large earthquakes repeatedly along the fault with a linkage each other. Due to recent large eastern Aegean earthquake with M6, the Marmara Sea is the "blank zone". Japan and Turkey have a SATREPS collaborative study to clarify the structural characters, construct fault models, simulate the strong motion and tsunami, evaluate these risks with hazard maps and educate disaster prevention for local governments and residents. Our activity is one of the most basic studies, and the objectives are to clarify hypocenter locations, monitor the move, and construct fault models referring seismic/magnetotelluric structures, geodetic nature and trenching works. The target area is from western Marmara Sea to the off Istanbul area along the north Anatolian Fault. We deployed ten Ocean Bottom Seismographs (OBSs) between the Tekirdag Basin and the Central Basin in September, 2014. Then, we added five Japanese OBSs and deployed them at the western end of the Marmara Sea and the eastern Central Basin to extend observed area in March, 2015. The OBS has a three-component velocity sensor with a natural frequency of 4.5 Hz and a hydrophone. Japanese team have clarified seismicity around Japan using the OBS. The magnitude of the detected events is 1.0-1.5. We retrieved all 15 OBSs in July, 2015 and deployed them again on the same locations after data copy and battery maintenance. We started OBS data analysis combined with land stations data. Now we detect events automatically using these data and succeeded detection of over one thousand around the north Anatolian Fault. The tentative results show heterogeneous seismicity. The western and central basins have relative high seismicity and the seismogenic zone becomes thicker rather than previous estimation. Then we will evaluate hypocenter locations with high resolution and discuss the shape of faults in each segment and their linkage.

Timing of large earthquakes since A.D. 800 on the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas fault zone at Thousand Palms Oasis, near Palm Springs, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fumal, T.E.; Rymer, M.J.; Seitz, G.G.

2002-01-01

Paleoseismic investigations across the Mission Creek strand of the San Andreas fault at Thousand Palms Oasis indicate that four and probably five surface-rupturing earthquakes occurred during the past 1200 years. Calendar age estimates for these earthquakes are based on a chronological model that incorporates radio-carbon dates from 18 in situ burn layers and stratigraphic ordering constraints. These five earthquakes occurred in about A.D. 825 (770-890) (mean, 95% range), A.D. 982 (840-1150), A.D. 1231 (1170-1290), A.D. 1502 (1450-1555), and after a date in the range of A.D. 1520-1680. The most recent surface-rupturing earthquake at Thousand Palms is likely the same as the A.D. 1676 ?? 35 event at Indio reported by Sieh and Williams (1990). Each of the past five earthquakes recorded on the San Andreas fault in the Coachella Valley strongly overlaps in time with an event at the Wrightwood paleoseismic site, about 120 km northwest of Thousand Palms Oasis. Correlation of events between these two sites suggests that at least the southernmost 200 km of the San Andreas fault zone may have ruptured in each earthquake. The average repeat time for surface-rupturing earthquakes on the San Andreas fault in the Coachella Valley is 215 ?? 25 years, whereas the elapsed time since the most recent event is 326 ?? 35 years. This suggests the southernmost San Andreas fault zone likely is very near failure. The Thousand Palms Oasis site is underlain by a series of six channels cut and filled since about A.D. 800 that cross the fault at high angles. A channel margin about 900 years old is offset right laterally 2.0 ?? 0.5 m, indicating a slip rate of 4 ?? 2 mm/yr. This slip rate is low relative to geodetic and other geologic slip rate estimates (26 ?? 2 mm/yr and about 23-35 mm/yr, respectively) on the southernmost San Andreas fault zone, possibly because (1) the site is located in a small step-over in the fault trace and so the rate is not be representative of the Mission Creek fault, (2) slip is partitioned northward from the San Andreas fault and into the eastern California shear zone, and/or (3) slip is partitioned onto the Banning strand of the San Andreas fault zone.

Crustal extension and transform faulting in the southern Basin Range Province. [California, Arizona, and Nevada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liggett, M. A. (Principal Investigator); Childs, J. F.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Field reconnaissance and study of geologic literature guided by analysis of ERTS-1 MSS imagery have led to a hypothesis of tectonic control of Miocene volcanism, plutonism, and related mineralization in part of the Basin Range Province of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. The easterly trending right-lateral Las Vegas Shear Zone separates two volcanic provinces believed to represent areas of major east-west crustal extension. One volcanic province is aligned along the Colorado River south of the eastern termination of the Las Vegas Shear Zone; the second province is located north of the western termination of the shear zone in southern Nye County, Nevada. Geochronologic, geophysical, and structural evidence suggests that the Las Vegas Shear Zone may have formed in response to crustal extension in the two volcanic provinces in a manner similar to the formation of a ridge-ridge transform fault, as recognized in ocean floor tectonics.

Kinematics, seismotectonics and seismic potential of the eastern sector of the European Alps from GPS and seismic deformation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serpelloni, E.; Vannucci, G.; Anderlini, L.; Bennett, R. A.

2016-10-01

We present a first synoptic view of the seismotectonics and kinematics of the eastern sector of the European Alps using geodetic and seismological data. The study area marks the boundary between the Adriatic and the Eurasian plates, through a wide zone of deformation including a variety of tectonic styles within a complex network of crustal and lithospheric faults. A new dense GPS velocity field, new focal mechanisms and seismic catalogues, with uniformly re-calibrated magnitudes (from 1005), are used to estimate geodetic and seismic deformation rates and to develop interseismic kinematic and fault locking models. Kinematic indicators from seismological and geodetic data are remarkably consistent at different spatial scales. In addition to large-scale surface motion, GPS velocities highlight more localized deformation features revealing a complex configuration of interacting tectonic blocks, for which new constraints are provided in this work accounting for elastic strain build up at faults bonding rotating blocks. The geodetic and seismological data highlight two belts of higher deformation rates running WSW-ENE along the Eastern Southern Alps (ESA) in Italy and E-W in Slovenia, where deformation is more distributed. The highest geodetic strain-rates are observed in the Montello-Cansiglio segment of the ESA thrust front, for which the higher density of the GPS network provides indications of limited interseismic locking. Most of the dextral shear between the Eastern Southern Alps and the Eastern Alps blocks is accommodated along the Fella-Sava fault rather than the Periadriatic fault. In northern Croatia and Slovenia geodetic and seismological data allow constraining the kinematics of the active structures bounding the triangular-shaped region encompassing the Sava folds, which plays a major role in accommodating the transition from Adria- to Pannonian-like motion trends. The analysis of the seismic and geodetic moment rates provides new insights into the seismic potential along the ESA front.

Seismotectonics of the Armutlu peninsula (Marmara Sea, NW Turkey) from geological field observation and regional moment tensor inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinscher, J.; Krüger, F.; Woith, H.; Lühr, B. G.; Hintersberger, E.; Irmak, T. S.; Baris, S.

2013-11-01

The Armutlu peninsula, located in the eastern Marmara Sea, coincides with the western end of the rupture of the 17 August 1999, İzmit MW 7.6 earthquake which is the penultimate event of an apparently westward migrating series of strong and disastrous earthquakes along the NAFZ during the past century. We present new seismotectonic data of this key region in order to evaluate previous seismotectonic models and their implications for seismic hazard assessment in the eastern Marmara Sea. Long term kinematics were investigated by performing paleo strain reconstruction from geological field investigations by morphotectonic and kinematic analysis of exposed brittle faults. Short term kinematics were investigated by inverting for the moment tensor of 13 small to moderate recent earthquakes using surface wave amplitude spectra. Our results confirm previous models interpreting the eastern Marmara Sea Region as an active transtensional pull-apart environment associated with significant NNE-SSW extension and vertical displacement. At the northern peninsula, long term deformation pattern did not change significantly since Pliocene times contradicting regional tectonic models which postulate a newly formed single dextral strike slip fault in the Marmara Sea Region. This area is interpreted as a horsetail splay fault structure associated with a major normal fault segment that we call the Waterfall Fault. Apart from the Waterfall Fault, the stress strain relation appears complex associated with a complicated internal fault geometry, strain partitioning, and reactivation of pre-existing plane structures. At the southern peninsula, recent deformation indicates active pull-apart tectonics constituted by NE-SW trending dextral strike slip faults. Earthquakes generated by stress release along large rupture zones seem to be less probable at the northern, but more probable at the southern peninsula. Additionally, regional seismicity appears predominantly driven by plate boundary stresses as transtensional faulting is consistent with the southwest directed far field deformation of the Anatolian plate.

Structural control on the CO2 release west of Mt. Epomeo resurgent block (Ischia, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vita, S.; Marotta, E.; Ventura, G.; Chiodini, G.

2003-04-01

Volcanism at Ischia started more than 150 ka B.P. and continued until the last eruption occurred in 1302 A.D. Ischia is dominated by the caldera forming eruption of Mt. Epomeo Green Tuff (55 ka), which was followed by block resurgence inside the caldera from 33 ka B.P. Resurgence influenced the volcanic activity determining the conditions for magma ascent mainly along the eastern edge of the resurgent block. The resurgent area has a poligonal shape resulting from reactivation of regional faults and by activation of faults related to volcanotectonism. The western sector is bordered by inward dipping, high angle strike-slip/reverse faults testifying a compressional stress regime in this area. These features are cut by late outward dipping normal faults due to gravitational stress. The activity of the volcanic system is testified by seismicity and thermal manifestations. Fumarolic activity concentrates along the faults that borders westward the Mt. Epomeo resurgent block, where the Green Tuff overlies fractured lavas. The structural data show that, outside the most active degassing zone, fractures show a NNW-SSE strike and dip toward Mt. Epomeo. These fractures delimit the northern sector of Mt. Epomeo and show strike and dip consistent with the inward dipping reverse faults. Inside the degassing area fractures show a NW-SE strike and dip outward Mt. Epomeo. These gravity-related faults cut the lavas where the hydrothermal circulation is active. The dip direction of the NW-SE striking fractures within the degassing zone is not consistent with that of the strike-slip/reverse faults (i.e. towards NE) but agrees well with that of the gravity-induced faults (dip direction towards SW). Inside the degassing zone, NW-SE striking faults with lengths not exceeding the hydrothermalized extension occur. This arrangement indicate that the syn-resurgence faults act as permeability barriers, whereas the youngest faults act as the main fluid pathway.

Progressive failure during the 1596 Keicho earthquakes on the Median Tectonic Line active fault zone, southwest Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, M.; Toda, S.; Nishizaka, N.; Onishi, K.; Suzuki, S.

2015-12-01

Rupture patterns of a long fault system are controlled by spatial heterogeneity of fault strength and stress associated with geometrical characteristics and stress perturbation history. Mechanical process for sequential ruptures and multiple simultaneous ruptures, one of the characteristics of a long fault such as the North Anatolian fault, governs the size and frequency of large earthquakes. Here we introduce one of the cases in southwest Japan and explore what controls rupture initiation, sequential ruptures and fault branching on a long fault system. The Median Tectonic Line active fault zone　(hereinafter MTL) is the longest and most active fault in Japan. Based on historical accounts, a series of M ≥ 7 earthquakes occurred on at least a 300-km-long portion of the MTL in 1596. On September 1, the first event occurred on the Kawakami fault segment, in Central Shikoku, and the subsequent events occurred further west. Then on September 5, another rupture initiated from the Central to East Shikoku and then propagated toward the Rokko-Awaji fault zone to Kobe, a northern branch of the MTL, instead of the eastern main extent of the MTL. Another rupture eventually extended to near Kyoto. To reproduce this progressive failure, we applied two numerical models: one is a coulomb stress transfer; the other is a slip-tendency analysis under the tectonic stress. We found that Coulomb stress imparted from historical ruptures have triggered the subsequent ruptures nearby. However, stress transfer does not explain beginning of the sequence and rupture directivities. Instead, calculated slip-tendency values show highly variable along the MTL: high and low seismic potential in West and East Shikoku. The initiation point of the 1596 progressive failure locates near the boundary in the slip-tendency values. Furthermore, the slip-tendency on the Rokko-Awaji fault zone is far higher than that of the MTL in Wakayama, which may explain the rupture directivity toward Kobe-Kyoto.

The geology of the Oceanographer Transform: The ridge-transform intersection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karson, J. A.; Fox, P. J.; Sloan, H.; Crane, K. T.; Kidd, W. S. F.; Bonatti, E.; Stroup, J. B.; Fornari, D. J.; Elthon, D.; Hamlyn, P.; Casey, J. F.; Gallo, D. G.; Needham, D.; Sartori, R.

1984-06-01

Seven dives in the submersible ALVIN and four deep-towed (ANGUS) camera lowerings have been made at the eastern ridge-transform intersection of the Oceanographer Transform with the axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These data constrain our understanding of the processes that create and shape the distinctive morphology that is characteristic of slowly-slipping ridge-transform-ridge plate boundaries. Although the geological relationships observed in the rift valley floor in the study area are similar to those reported for the FAMOUS area, we observe a distinct change in the character of the rift valley floor with increasing proximity to the transform. Over a distance of approximately ten kilometers the volcanic constructional terrain becomes increasingly more disrupted by faulting and degraded by mass wasting. Moreover, proximal to the transform boundary, faults with orientations oblique to the trend of the rift valley are recognized. The morphology of the eastern rift valley wall is characterized by inward-facing scarps that are ridge-axis parallel, but the western rift valley wall, adjacent to the active transform zone, is characterized by a complex fault pattern defined by faults exhibiting a wide range of orientations. However, even for transform parallel faults no evidence for strike-slip displacement is observed throughout the study area and evidence for normal (dip-slip) displacement is ubiquitous. Basalts, semi-consolidated sediments (chalks, debris slide deposits) and serpentinized ultramafic rocks are recovered from localities within or proximal to the rift valley. The axis of accretion-principal transform displacement zone intersection is not clearly established, but appears to be located along the E-W trending, southern flank of the deep nodal basin that defines the intersection of the transform valley with the rift floor.

Latest Quaternary paleoseismology and evidence of distributed dextral shear along the Mohawk Valley fault zone, northern Walker Lane, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard; Personius, Stephen; Crone, Anthony J.; Mahan, Shannon; Angster, Stephen

2014-01-01

The dextral-slip Mohawk Valley fault zone (MVFZ) strikes northwestward along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada in the northern Walker Lane. Geodetic block modeling indicates that the MVFZ may accommodate ~3 mm/yr of regional dextral strain, implying that it is the highest slip-rate strike-slip fault in the region; however, only limited geologic data are available to constrain the system’s slip rate and earthquake history. We mapped the MVFZ using airborne lidar data and field observations and identified a site near Sulphur Creek for paleoseismic investigation. At this site, oblique dextral-normal faulting on the steep valley margin has created a closed depression that floods annually during spring snowmelt to form an ephemeral pond. We excavated three fault-perpendicular trenches at the site and exposed pond sediment that interfingers with multiple colluvial packages eroded from the scarp that bounds the eastern side of the pond. We documented evidence for four surface-rupturing earthquakes on this strand of the MVFZ. OxCal modeling of radiocarbon and luminescence ages indicates that these earthquakes occurred at 14.0 ka, 12.8 ka, 5.7 ka, and 1.9 ka. The mean ~4 kyr recurrence interval is inconsistent with slip rates of ~3 mm/yr; these rates imply surface ruptures of more than 10 m per event, which is geologically implausible for the subdued geomorphic expression and 60 km length of the MVFZ. We propose that unidentified structures not yet incorporated into geodetic models may accommodate significant dextral shear across the northern Walker Lane, highlighting the role of distributed deformation in this region.

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments of Sabah, east Malaysia: accounting for local earthquake activity near Ranau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khalil, Amin E.; Abir, Ismail A.; Ginsos, Hanteh; Abdel Hafiez, Hesham E.; Khan, Sohail

2018-02-01

Sabah state in eastern Malaysia, unlike most of the other Malaysian states, is characterized by common seismological activity; generally an earthquake of moderate magnitude is experienced at an interval of roughly every 20 years, originating mainly from two major sources, either a local source (e.g. Ranau and Lahad Dato) or a regional source (e.g. Kalimantan and South Philippines subductions). The seismicity map of Sabah shows the presence of two zones of distinctive seismicity, these zones are near Ranau (near Kota Kinabalu) and Lahad Datu in the southeast of Sabah. The seismicity record of Ranau begins in 1991, according to the international seismicity bulletins (e.g. United States Geological Survey and the International Seismological Center), and this short record is not sufficient for seismic source characterization. Fortunately, active Quaternary fault systems are delineated in the area. Henceforth, the seismicity of the area is thus determined as line sources referring to these faults. Two main fault systems are believed to be the source of such activities; namely, the Mensaban fault zone and the Crocker fault zone in addition to some other faults in their vicinity. Seismic hazard assessments became a very important and needed study for the extensive developing projects in Sabah especially with the presence of earthquake activities. Probabilistic seismic hazard assessments are adopted for the present work since it can provide the probability of various ground motion levels during expected from future large earthquakes. The output results are presented in terms of spectral acceleration curves and uniform hazard curves for periods of 500, 1000 and 2500 years. Since this is the first time that a complete hazard study has been done for the area, the output will be a base and standard for any future strategic plans in the area.

Geoelectric structure of northern Cambay rift basin from magnetotelluric data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danda, Nagarjuna; Rao, C. K.; Kumar, Amit

2017-10-01

Broadband and long-period magnetotelluric data were acquired over the northern part of the Cambay rift zone along an east-west profile 200 km in length. The decomposed TE- and TM-mode data were inverted using a 2-D nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm to obtain the lithospheric structure of the region. A highly conductive ( 1000 S) layer was identified within the Cambay rift zone and interpreted as thick Quaternary and Tertiary sediments. The crustal conductors found in the profile were due to fluid emplacement in the western part, and the presence of fluids and/or interconnected sulfides caused by metamorphic phases in the eastern part. The demarcation of the Cambay rift zone is clearly delineated with a steeply dipping fault on the western margin, whereas the eastern margin of the rift zone gently dips along the NE-SW axis, representing a half-graben structure. A highly resistive body identified outside the rift zone is interpreted as an igneous granitic intrusive complex. Moderately conductive (30-100 Ω-m) zones indicate underplating and the presence of partial melt due to plume-lithosphere interactions.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

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.

Effects of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes on the Aso volcanic edifice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajima, Yasuhisa; Hasenaka, Toshiaki; Torii, Masayuki

2017-05-01

Large earthquakes occurred in the central part of Kumamoto Prefecture on April 14-16, 2016, causing severe damage to the northern segment of the Hinagu faults and the eastern segment of the Futagawa faults. Earthquake surface ruptures appeared along these faults and on the Aso volcanic edifice, which in turn generated landslides. We conducted landform change analysis of the central cones of Aso volcano by using satellite and aerial photographs. First, we categorized the topographical changes as surface scarps, arc-shaped cracks, and linear cracks. Field survey indicated that landslides caused the scarps and arc-shaped cracks, whereas faulting caused the linear cracks. We discovered a surface rupture concentration zone (RCZ) formed three ruptures bands with many surface ruptures and landslides extending from the west foot to the center of the Aso volcanic edifice. The magmatic volcanic vents that formed during the past 10,000 years are located along the north margin of the RCZ. Moreover, the distribution and dip of the core of rupture concentration zone correspond with the Nakadake craters. We conclude that a strong relationship exists between the volcanic vents and fault structures in the central cones of Aso volcano.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Cenozoic Structural and Stratigraphic Evolution of the Ulukışla and Sivas Basins (Central and Eastern Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gürer, Derya; Darin, Michael H.; van Hinsbergen, Douwe J. J.; Umhoefer, Paul J.

2017-04-01

Because subduction is a destructive process, the surface record of subduction-dominated systems is naturally incomplete. Sedimentary basins may hold the most complete record of processes related to subduction, accretion, collision, and ocean closure, and thus provide key information for understanding the kinematic evolution of orogens. In central and eastern Anatolia, the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene stratigraphic record of the Ulukışla and Sivas basins supports the hypothesis that these once formed a contiguous basin. Importantly, their age and geographic positions relative to their very similar basement units and ahead of the Arabian indenter provide a critical record of pre-, syn- and post-collisional processes in the Anatolian Orogen. The Ulukışla-Sivas basin was dissected and translated along the major left-lateral Ecemiş fault zone. Since then, the basins on either side of the fault evolved independently, with considerably more plate convergence accommodated to the east in the Sivas region (eastern Anatolia) than in the Ulukışla region (central Anatolia). This led to the deformation of marine sediments and underlying ophiolites and structural growth of the Sivas Fold-and-Thrust Belt (SSFTB) since latest Eocene time, which played a major role in marine basin isolation and disconnection, along with a regionally important transition to continental conditions with evaporite deposition starting in the early Oligocene. We use geologic mapping, fault kinematic analysis, paleomagnetism, apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology, and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology to characterize the architecture, deformation style, and structural evolution of the region. In the Ulukışla basin, dominantly E-W trending normal faults became folded or inverted due to N-S contraction since the Lutetian (middle Eocene). This was accompanied by significant counter-clockwise rotations, and post-Lutetian burial of the Niǧde Massif along the transpressional Ecemiş fault zone. Since Miocene time, the Ecemiş fault zone has been active as an extensional structure responsible for the re-exhumation of the Niǧde Massif in its footwall. To the east and in front of the Arabian indenter, the Sivas Basin evolved during Paleogene collision of the Tauride micro-continent (Africa) with the Pontides (Eurasia), but prior to Arabia collision. The thin-skinned SSFTB is a >300 km-long by 30 km-wide E-W-elongate, convex-north arcuate belt of compressional structures in Late Cretaceous to Miocene strata. It is characterized by NE- to E-trending upright folds with slight northward asymmetry, south-dipping thrust faults, and overturned folds in Paleogene strata indicating predominantly northward vergence. Several thrusts are south-vergent, typically displacing younger (Miocene) units. Structural relationships and AFT data reveal a sequence of initial crustal shortening and rapid exhumation in the late Eocene and Oligocene, an early-middle Miocene phase of relative tectonic quiescence and regional unconformity development, and a final episode of contraction during the late Miocene. Pliocene and younger units are only locally deformed by either halokinesis or transpression along diffuse and low-strain faults. Paleomagnetic data from the SSFTB reveal significant counter-clockwise rotations since Eocene time. Miocene strata north of the SSFTB consistently show moderate clockwise rotations. Our results indicate that collision-related growth of the orogen ended by the latest Miocene, coeval with or shortly after initiation of the North Anatolian fault zone.

Millennial slip-rates along the eastern Kunlun fault and rapid evolution of channel morphology in the yellow river headwaters, northeastern Tibet, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harkins, Nathan W.

A mechanical description of the interplay between ongoing crustal deformation and topographic evolution within the Tibetan Plateau remains outstanding, and thus our ability to describe the mechanisms responsible for the creation of this and other continental plateaus is limited. In this work, we employ a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the Quaternary record of active tectonism and coeval topographic evolution in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Fluvial channel topographic data paired with geochronologically calibrated measures of erosion rate reveal a headward migrating wave of dramatically accelerated incision rates in the headwaters of the Yellow River, which drains a large portion of northeastern Tibet. This transient increase in incision is likely driven by downstream base-level changes along the plateau margin and is superimposed onto a broad region of higher erosion rates confined to the plateau itself, within the Anyemaqen Shan (mountains). The Kunlun fault, one of the major active strike-slip faults of Tibet, trends through the Anyemaqen Shan. Using a careful approach towards quantifying millennial slip-rates along this fault zone based on the age of offset landforms, we constrain the Pleistocene kinematics of the eastern portion of the Kunlun fault and link this deformation to tectonically-driven erosion in the Anyemaqen Shan. Consideration of the age and morphology of fluvial terraces offset by the fault both highlights uncertainties associated with slip-rate determinations and allow more confident quantification of the allowable range of slip-rates at sites that take advantage of these features. Several new slip-rate determinations from this study at select locations corroborate a small number of previous determinations to identify an eastward decreasing slip-rate gradient and termination of the Kunlun fault within the Anyemaqen Shan. Existing geodetic data reveals a similar pattern of eastward-decreasing distributed shear across the fault zone. The spatial coincidence of tectonically driven erosion in the Anyemaqen Shan with the slip-rate gradient and termination the Kunlun fault implies that the crust of the northeastern plateau has the ability to accumulate regionally distributed permanent strain. Therefore, traditional 'rigid-body' rotation type descriptions of Tibetan Plateau kinematics fail to describe deformation on the northeastern plateau.

Crustal Strain Patterns in Magmatic and Amagmatic Early Stage Rifts: Border Faults, Magma Intrusion, and Volatiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebinger, C. J.; Keir, D.; Roecker, S. W.; Tiberi, C.; Aman, M.; Weinstein, A.; Lambert, C.; Drooff, C.; Oliva, S. J. C.; Peterson, K.; Bourke, J. R.; Rodzianko, A.; Gallacher, R. J.; Lavayssiere, A.; Shillington, D. J.; Khalfan, M.; Mulibo, G. D.; Ferdinand-Wambura, R.; Palardy, A.; Albaric, J.; Gautier, S.; Muirhead, J.; Lee, H.

2015-12-01

Rift initiation in thick, strong continental lithosphere challenges current models of continental lithospheric deformation, in part owing to gaps in our knowledge of strain patterns in the lower crust. New geophysical, geochemical, and structural data sets from youthful magmatic (Magadi-Natron, Kivu), weakly magmatic (Malawi, Manyara), and amagmatic (Tanganyika) sectors of the cratonic East African rift system provide new insights into the distribution of brittle strain, magma intrusion and storage, and time-averaged deformation. We compare and contrast time-space relations, seismogenic layer thickness variations, and fault kinematics using earthquakes recorded on local arrays and teleseisms in sectors of the Western and Eastern rifts, including the Natron-Manyara basins that developed in Archaean lithosphere. Lower crustal seismicity occurs in both the Western and Eastern rifts, including sectors on and off craton, and those with and without central rift volcanoes. In amagmatic sectors, lower crustal strain is accommodated by slip along relatively steep border faults, with oblique-slip faults linking opposing border faults that penetrate to different crustal levels. In magmatic sectors, seismicity spans surface to lower crust beneath both border faults and eruptive centers, with earthquake swarms around magma bodies. Our focal mechanisms and Global CMTs from a 2007 fault-dike episode show a local rotation from ~E-W extension to NE-SE extension in this linkage zone, consistent with time-averaged strain recorded in vent and eruptive chain alignments. These patterns suggest that strain localization via widespread magma intrusion can occur during the first 5 My of rifting in originally thick lithosphere. Lower crustal seismicity in magmatic sectors may be caused by high gas pressures and volatile migration from active metasomatism and magma degassing, consistent with high CO2 flux along fault zones, and widespread metasomatism of xenoliths. Volatile release and migration may be critical to strength reduction of initially cold, strong cratonic lithosphere. Our comparisons suggest that large offset border faults that develop very early in rift history create fluid pathways that maintain the initial along-axis segmentation until magma (if available), reaches mid-crustal levels.

The Pliocene-Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Cilicia and Adana basins, eastern Mediterranean: Special reference to the development of the Kozan Fault zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aksu, A. E.; Walsh-Kennedy, S.; Hall, J.; Hiscott, R. N.; Yaltırak, C.; Akhun, S. D.; Çifçi, G.

2014-05-01

A grid of high-resolution multi-channel seismic reflection profiles allows the detailed mapping of the Kozan Fault zone in the Cilicia and Adana basins. The zone is delineated by an arcuate zone consisting of several ENE-WSW and NNE-SSW striking, closely-spaced high-angle extensional faults which define an ~ 300 km long and 15-20 km-wide “lazy-S” shaped structure along the southeastern fringes of the Taurus Mountain and along the northwestern margins of the Cilicia and Adana basins. In the Cilicia Basin the zone consists of several high-angle faults which exhibit small dip separations on the M-reflector and have tip points situated mainly in the lower and middle portion of the Pliocene-Quaternary succession. In the Adana Basin a family of northeast-striking and southeast dipping extensional faults occurs along the western and northwestern margin of the basin. The faults cut down with relatively steep dip into the ~ 700 ms thick Tortonian and older Miocene successions. Multi-channel seismic reflection profiles show that three prominent seismic markers divide the uppermost Messinian-Recent successions in the Cilicia and Adana basins into three subunits: the uppermost Messinian-Lower Pliocene subunit 1C between the M- and A-reflectors, the Upper Pliocene subunit 1B between the A- and P-reflectors and the Quaternary subunit 1A between the P-reflector and the seafloor. Prominent delta lobes are identified in the seismic profiles that are correlated with the ancestral Göksu River. Isopach maps constructed using depth-converted seismic reflection profiles show clear temporal and spatial variations of the delta lobes of the Göksu River during the latest Messinian-Recent. The uppermost Messinian-Lower Pliocene delta lobe is situated furthest to the northeast whereas the youngest Quaternary lobe is situated furthest to the southwest, with 20-35 km displacement along a northeast-southwest line, which suggests a conservative estimate of 0.43-0.75 cm/yr sinistral slip for the Kozan Fault zone.

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.

Seismicity in the platform regions of Ukraine in the zones of anomalous electrical conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kushnir, A. N.; Kulik, S. N.; Burakhovich, T. K.

2013-05-01

It is established for the first time that there are several regions in Ukraine, in which the earthquakes occurring within platform territory are correlated to the anomalous conductive structures in the Earth's crust and upper mantle. These regions are identified as (1) Donbass and the eastern part of the Dnieper-Donetsk Depression (DDD); (2) eastern margin of the Ingulets-Krivoi Rog suture zone in the area of the Krivoi Rog-Kremenchug fault zone; (3) the western part of the Cis-Azov megablock; (4) the western boundary of the Ukrainian Shield and its slope; (5) North Dobruja and Pre-Dobrujan Depression. The reconstructed tree-dimensional (3D) geoelectrical models of the Earth's crust and upper mantle feature anomalously low values of electric resistivity. The earthquake sources in the platform areas of Ukraine are localized above the top and in the upper parts of the crustal anomalies of electrical conductivity.

Comparison of magmatic and amagmatic rift zone kinematics using full moment tensor inversions of regional earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaye Oliva, Sarah; Ebinger, Cynthia; Shillington, Donna; Albaric, Julie; Deschamps, Anne; Keir, Derek; Drooff, Connor

2017-04-01

Temporary seismic networks deployed in the magmatic Eastern rift and the mostly amagmatic Western rift in East Africa present the opportunity to compare the depth distribution of strain, and fault kinematics in light of rift age and the presence or absence of surface magmatism. The largest events in local earthquake catalogs (ML > 3.5) are modeled using the Dreger and Ford full moment tensor algorithm (Dreger, 2003; Minson & Dreger, 2008) to better constrain source depth and to investigate non-double-couple components. A bandpass filter of 0.02 to 0.10 Hz is applied to the waveforms prior to inversion. Synthetics are based on 1D velocity models derived during seismic analysis and constrained by reflection and tomographic data where available. Results show significant compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) and isotropic components for earthquakes in magmatic rift zones, whereas double-couple mechanisms predominate in weakly magmatic rift sectors. We interpret the isotropic components as evidence for fluid-involved faulting in the Eastern rift where volatile emissions are large, and dike intrusions well documented. Lower crustal earthquakes are found in both amagmatic and magmatic sectors. These results are discussed in the context of the growing database of complementary geophysical, geochemical, and geological studies in these regions as we seek to understand the role of magmatism and faulting in accommodating strain during early continental rifting.

Low temperature thermochronology in the Eastern Alps: Implications for structural and topographic evolution

PubMed Central

Wölfler, Andreas; Stüwe, Kurt; Danišík, Martin; Evans, Noreen J.

2012-01-01

According to new apatite fission track, zircon- and apatite (U–Th)/He data, we constrain the near-surface history of the southeastern Tauern Window and adjacent Austrolapine units. The multi-system thermochronological data demonstrate that age-elevation correlations may lead to false implications about exhumation and cooling in the upper crust. We suggest that isothermal warping in the Penninic units that are in the position of a footwall, is due to uplift, erosion and the buildup of topography. Additionally we propose that exhumation rates in the Penninic units did not increase during the Middle Miocene, thus during the time of lateral extrusion. In contrast, exhumation rates of the Austroalpine hangingwall did increase from the Paleogene to the Neogene and the isotherms in this unit were not warped. The new zircon (U–Th)/He ages as well as zircon fission track ages from the literature document a Middle Miocene exhumation pulse which correlates with a period of enhanced sediment accumulation during that time. However, enhanced sedimentation- and exhumation rates at the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, as observed in the Western- and Central Alps, cannot be observed in the Eastern Alps. This contradicts a climatic trigger for surface uplift, and makes a tectonic trigger and/or deep-seated mechanism more obvious to explain surface uplift in the Eastern Alps. In combination with already published geochronological ages, our new data demonstrate Oligocene to Late Miocene fault activity along the Möll valley fault that constitutes a major shear zone in the Eastern Alps. In this context we suggest a geometrical and temporal relationship of the Katschberg-, Polinik–Möll valley- and Mur–Mürz faults that define the extruding wedge in the eastern part of the Eastern Alps. Equal deformation- and fission track cooling ages along the Katschberg–Brenner- and Simplon normal faults demonstrate overall Middle Miocene extension in the whole alpine arc. PMID:27065501

Rock Uplift above the Yakutat Megathrust on Montague Island, Prince William Sound, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, K.; Armstrong, P. A.; Haeussler, P. J.; Arkle, J. C.

2011-12-01

The Yakutat microplate is subducting shallowly (~6°) beneath the North American Plate at a rate of approximately 53 mm/yr to the northwest. Deformation from this flat- slab subduction extends >600 km inland and has resulted in regions of focused rock uplift and exhumation in the Alaska Range, central Chugach Mountains, and St. Elias Mountains. Many questions still remain about how strain is partitioned between these regions of focused uplift, particularly in the Prince William Sound (southern Chugach Mountains) on Montague Island. Montague Island (and adjacent Hinchinbrook Island) are ~20 km above the megathrust where there is a large degree of coupling between the subducting Yakutat microplate and overriding North American Plate. Montague Island is of particular interest because it lies between two areas of rapid rock uplift focused in the St. Elias/eastern Chugach Mountains and the western Chugach Mountains. In the St. Elias/eastern Chugach Mountains, faulting related to collisional processes and bending of fault systems causes rapid rock uplift. About 200 km farther northwest in the western Chugach Mountains, recent rock uplift is caused by underplating along the megathrust that is focused within a syntaxial bend of major fault systems and mountain ranges. Montague Island bounds the southern margin of Prince William Sound, and is steep, narrow, and elongate (81 km long and ~15 km wide). The maximum relief is 914 m, making for very steep, mountainous topography considering the narrow width of the island. During the Mw 9.2 earthquake in 1964, the Patton Bay and Hanning Bay reverse faults were reactivated, with 7 and 5 m of vertical offset, respectively. Both faults dip ~60° NW and strike NE-SW parallel to the long-axis of the island and parallel to geomorphic features including lineaments, elongate valleys, and escarpments. Prominent ~450 m high escarpments are present along the SE-facing side of the island, which suggests rapid and sustained uplift. New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and fission-track (AFT) ages are 1.3 - 1.5 Ma and 4.4 Ma, respectively, at the SW end of Montague Island and AHe ages are 4.4 - 4.6 Ma at the NE end. These age and geomorphic constraints indicate that Montague Island marks a narrow zone of intense deformation probably related to thin-skinned thrust faulting and/or pop-up structures above the megathrust. The youngest AHe ages from Montague Island are similar to those from farther east along the St. Elias - Bagley fault systems implying that the south and east sides of Montague Island, and perhaps the along-trend eastern part of Hinchinbrook Island, may be the westward extension of these fault systems. Additional cooling ages will help constrain the spatial extent of this zone of deformation and potential links with other structural zones caused by Yakutat collision and subduction.

Precise seismic velocity structure beneath the Hokkaido corner, northern Japan: Arc-arc collision and the 1970 M 6.7 Hidaka region earthquake and the 1982 M 7.1 Urakawa-oki earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kita, S.; Hasegawa, A.; Nakajima, J.; Okada, T.; Matsuzawa, T.; Katsumata, K.

2011-12-01

Using arrival-time data both from the nationwide Kiban seismic network and from a dense temporary seismic network covering the area of the Hokkaido corner [Katsumata et al., 2002a; 2003, JGR], we precisely determined three-dimensional seismic velocity structure beneath this area to understand the collision process between the Kuril and northeasetern Japan forearcs. Tomographic inversions were performed with smaller grid spacing [5 x 10 x 5 km] than our previous study [Kita et al., 2010b, EPSL] by using the double-difference tomography method [Zhang and Thurber, 2003; 2006]. Inhomogeneous seismic velocity structure was more precisely imaged in the Hokkaido corner at depths of 0-120 km. A broad low-velocity zone of P- and S- waves having velocities of crust materials with a total volume of 80 km x 100 km x 50 km is distributed to the west of the Hidaka metamorphic belt (the Hidaka main thrust) at depths of 30-90km. On the other hand, several small-scale high-velocity zones having velocities of mantle materials were detected at depths of 0-35 km), inclined east-northeastward at a high angle of 40-60 degrees. All of these anomaly high velocity zones are respectively located in the deeper extension of the Neogene thrust faults, striking almost N-S direction and dipping 40-50 degrees at depths of 0-10km [e.g. Ito 2000]. The largest high-velocity zone is located in the deeper extension of the Hidaka main thrust, being in contact with the eastern edge of the low-V zone. This high-V zone reaches near the surface at the Hidaka metamorphic belt and its southern edge is located just beneath the Horoman-peridotite, which is one of the most famous peridotite outcrops. Moreover, the boundary of the high-V zone with the broad low-V zone corresponds to the fault plane of the 1970 Mj 6.7 Hidaka region earthquake [Moriya 1972]. Another high-V zone is located within the broad low-V zone at depths of 20-30km and in the deeper extension of thrust, which belongs to the Ishikari Low land eastern edge fault groups. The western boundary of this small high-V zone corresponds to the fault plane of the 1982 Mj 7.1 Urakawa-oki earthquake [Moriya et al, 1983]. Both of the hanging walls of the fault planes of two M 7 class big earthquakes have anomalously high velocities, while both of the foot walls have low velocities. A considerable number of earthquakes, including aftershocks of these two big earthquake and, occur in the broad low-V zone at depths of 0-80 km (even at depths of the mantle wedge), whereas seismicity is very low in other areas. These present observations provide important in formation to deepen our understanding of the ongoing arc-arc collision process and earthquake generation mechanism in the Hokkaido corner.

Late Cenozoic extension and crustal doming in the India-Eurasia collision zone: New thermochronologic constraints from the NE Chinese Pamir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiede, Rasmus C.; Sobel, Edward R.; Chen, Jie; Schoenbohm, Lindsay M.; Stockli, Daniel F.; Sudo, Masafumi; Strecker, Manfred R.

2013-06-01

northward motion of the Pamir indenter with respect to Eurasia has resulted in coeval thrusting, strike-slip faulting, and normal faulting. The eastern Pamir is currently deformed by east-west oriented extension, accompanied by uplift and exhumation of the Kongur Shan (7719 m) and Muztagh Ata (7546 m) gneiss domes. Both domes are an integral part of the footwall of the Kongur Shan extensional fault system (KES), a 250 km long, north-south oriented graben. Why active normal faulting within the Pamir is primarily localized along the KES and not distributed more widely throughout the orogen has remained unclear. In addition, relatively little is known about how deformation has evolved throughout the Cenozoic, despite refined estimates on present-day crustal deformation rates and microseismicity, which indicate where crustal deformation is presently being accommodated. To better constrain the spatiotemporal evolution of faulting along the KES, we present 39 new apatite fission track, zircon U-Th-Sm/He, and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages from a series of footwall transects along the KES graben shoulder. Combining these data with present-day topographic relief, 1-D thermokinematic and exhumational modeling documents successive stages, rather than synchronous deformation and gneiss dome exhumation. While the exhumation of the Kongur Shan commenced during the late Miocene, extensional processes in the Muztagh Ata massif began earlier and have slowed down since the late Miocene. We present a new model of synorogenic extension suggesting that thermal and density effects associated with a lithospheric tear fault along the eastern margin of the subducting Alai slab localize extensional upper plate deformation along the KES and decouple crustal motion between the central/western Pamir and eastern Pamir/Tarim basin.

Growth stratal records of instantaneous and progressive limb rotation in the Precordillera thrust belt and Bermejo basin, Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zapata, TomáS. R.; Allmendinger, Richard W.

1996-10-01

Analysis of synorogenic deposits preserved near the thrust front zone of the Precordillera fold and thrust belt and in the Bermejo foreland basin in central Argentina documents the evolution of deformation during the last 5 Myr as well as the thrust system kinematics. Seismic lines across the area display examples of progressive and instantaneous limb rotations. The easternmost thrust plate of the Central Precordillera, the Niquivil thrust, experienced episodic motion in two main stages: a first thrust movement as a fault-propagation fold and a second movement as a high-angle anticlinal breakthrough fault after a period of quiescence. Growth strata deposited in the La Pareja intermontane basin and the Las Salinas and Bermejo anticline recorded continuous growth of Eastern Precordilleran structures beginning at ˜2.7 Ma, with uplift rates of ˜0.3 mm/yr for the Niquivil anticline, 1.08 mm/yr for the Las Salinas anticline, and between ˜0.6 and 0.38 mm/yr during the last ˜2 Myr for the Bermejo anticline. Once the Eastern Precordillera began to grow, the propagation of the Niquivil thrust stopped, restricting the deformation to the young Vallecito out-of sequence thrust. The complex geometry of growth strata deposited on the back limb of the Las Salinas anticline can be explained by using a model of a two-step fault propagation fold with constant layer thickness. The Bermejo anticline of the Eastern Precordillera is formed by the simultaneous propagation of a shallow fault, responsible for the fold shape, and a deep fault that produced vertical uplift. A growth triangle that documents instantaneous forelimb rotation for a fault-propagation fold is recorded for the first time in a published seismic line.

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).

Near-surface structural model for deformation associated with the February 7, 1812, New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Odum, J.K.; Stephenson, W.J.; Shedlock, K.M.; Pratt, T.L.

1998-01-01

The February 7, 1812, New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake (M [moment magnitude] 8) was the third and final large-magnitude event to rock the northern Mississippi Embayment during the winter of 1811-1812. Although ground shaking was so strong that it rang church bells, stopped clocks, buckled pavement, and rocked buildings up and down the eastern seaboard, little coseismic surface deformation exists today in the New Madrid area. The fault(s) that ruptured during this event have remained enigmatic. We have integrated geomorphic data documenting differential surficial deformation (supplemented by historical accounts of surficial deformation and earthquake-induced Mississippi River waterfalls and rapids) with the interpretation of existing and recently acquired seismic reflection data, to develop a tectonic model of the near-surface structures in the New Madrid, Missouri, area. This model consists of two primary components: a northnorthwest-trending thrust fault and a series of northeast-trending, strike-slip, tear faults. We conclude that the Reelfoot fault is a thrust fault that is at least 30 km long. We also infer that tear faults in the near surface partitioned the hanging wall into subparallel blocks that have undergone differential displacement during episodes of faulting. The northeast-trending tear faults bound an area documented to have been uplifted at least 0.5 m during the February 7, 1812, earthquake. These faults also appear to bound changes in the surface density of epicenters that are within the modern seismicity, which is occurring in the stepover zone of the left-stepping right-lateral strike-slip fault system of the modern New Madrid seismic zone.

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure and deformation in east-central China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Yang, X.; Ouyang, L.; Li, J.

2017-12-01

We conduct a non-linear joint inversion of receiver functions and Rayleigh wave dispersions to obtain the crustal and upper mantle velocity structure in east-central China. In the meanwhile, the lithosphere and upper mantle deformation beneath east-central China is also evaluated with teleseismic shear wave splitting measurements. The resulting velocity model reveals that to the east of the North-South Gravity Lineament, the crust and the lithosphere are significantly thinned. Furthermore, three extensive crustal/lithospheric thinning sub-regions are clearly identified within the study area. This indicates that the modification of the crust and lithosphere in central-eastern China is non-uniform due to the heterogeneity of the lithospheric strength. Extensive crustal and lithospheric thinning could occur in some weak zones such as the basin-range junction belts and large faults. The structure beneath the Dabie orogenic belt is complex due to the collision between the North and South China Blocks during the Late Paleozoic-Triassic. The Dabie orogenic belt is generally delineated by a thick crust with a mid-crust low-velocity zone and a two-directional convergence in the lithospheric scale. Obvious velocity contrast exhibits in the crust and upper mantle at both sides of the Tanlu fault, which suggests the deep penetration of this lithospheric-scale fault. Most of our splitting measurements show nearly E-W trending fast polarization direction which is slightly deviating from the direction of plate motion. The similar present-day lithosphere structure and upper mantle deformation may imply that the eastern NCC and the eastern SCB were dominated by a common dynamic process after late Mesozoic, i.e., the westward subduction of Pacific plate and the retreat of the subduction plate. The westward subduction of the Philippine plate and the long-range effects of the collision between the Indian plate and Eurasia plate during Cenozoic may have also contributed to the present velocity structure and stress environment of eastern China.

Quantifying retro-foreland evolution in the Eastern Pyrenees.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grool, Arjan R.; Ford, Mary; Huismans, Ritske S.

2015-04-01

The northern Pyrenees form the retro-foreland of the Pyrenean orogen. Modelling studies show that retro-forelands have several contrasting characteristics compared to pro-forelands: They tend to show a constant tectonic subsidence during the growth phase of an orogen, and no tectonic subsidence during the steady-state phase. Retro-forelands are also not displaced into the core of the orogen once the steady state phase is achieved. This means they tend to preserve the subsidence history from the growth phase of the orogen, but little or no history from the steady state phase. The northeastern Pyrenees (Carcassonne high) are a good location to test these characteristics against real-world data, because syn-orogenic sediments are preserved and the lack of postrift thermal subsidence and Triassic salt reduce complicating factors. In order to test the model, quantification of the following parameters is needed: Timing, amount and distribution of deformation, subsidence and sedimentation. We use subsurface, field, map and literature data to construct 2 balanced and restored cross sections through the eastern north Pyrenean foreland, stretching from the Montagne Noire in the north, to the Axial Zone in the south. We will link this to published thermochronology data to further constrain the evolution of the retro-foreland and investigate the link with the Axial Zone towards the south. We will quantify subsidence, deformation and sedimentation and link them to exhumation phases in the North Pyrenean Zone (NPZ) and the Axial Zone. The north Pyrenean retro-foreland is divided into two parts: the external foreland basin (Aquitaine basin) to the north and the North Pyrenean Zone to the south, separated by the North Pyrenean Frontal Thrust (NPFT). South of the NPZ lies the Axial Zone, separated from the retro-foreland by the North Pyrenean Fault which is believed to be the suture between Iberia and Europe. The NPFT was the breakaway fault on the European continent during the Apto-Albian rifting phase and was strongly inverted during the Pyrenean orogeny. South of the NPFT we find Lower Cretaceous and older sediments, including Triassic salt. These sediments are completely absent north of the NPFT (on Carcassonne high), indicating its significance during the extensional phase. The retro-foreland is deformed by fault-propagation folds above basement-involving thrusts. A slow northward propagation of deformation and sedimentation is clearly visible. The preserved thickness of Upper Cretaceous sediments corresponds with the retro-foreland model's prediction that early subsidence records are preserved. Two distinct deformation phases are recognized, but not the latest Oligocene phase that is found in the pro-foreland (southern Pyrenees). This could indicate a steady state during the late Oligocene.We quantify and constrain the evolution of the eastern Pyrenean retro-foreland basin, investigate the link with the axial zone and investigate the pre-orogenic configuration of the region that currently constitutes the eastern Pyrenean retro-foreland.

Neotectonic reactivation of shear zones and implications for faulting style and geometry in the continental margin of NE Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bezerra, F. H. R.; Rossetti, D. F.; Oliveira, R. G.; Medeiros, W. E.; Neves, B. B. Brito; Balsamo, F.; Nogueira, F. C. C.; Dantas, E. L.; Andrades Filho, C.; Góes, A. M.

2014-02-01

The eastern continental margin of South America comprises a series of rift basins developed during the breakup of Pangea in the Jurassic-Cretaceous. We integrated high resolution aeromagnetic, structural and stratigraphic data in order to evaluate the role of reactivation of ductile, Neoproterozoic shear zones in the deposition and deformation of post-rift sedimentary deposits in one of these basins, the Paraíba Basin in northeastern Brazil. This basin corresponds to the last part of the South American continent to be separated from Africa during the Pangea breakup. Sediment deposition in this basin occurred in the Albian-Maastrichtian, Eocene-Miocene, and in the late Quaternary. However, our investigation concentrates on the Miocene-Quaternary, which we consider the neotectonic period because it encompasses the last stress field. This consisted of an E-W-oriented compression and a N-S-oriented extension. The basement of the basin forms a slightly seaward-tilted ramp capped by a late Cretaceous to Quaternary sedimentary cover ~ 100-400 m thick. Aeromagnetic lineaments mark the major steeply-dipping, ductile E-W- to NE-striking shear zones in this basement. The ductile shear zones mainly reactivated as strike-slip, normal and oblique-slip faults, resulting in a series of Miocene-Quaternary depocenters controlled by NE-, E-W-, and a few NW-striking faults. Faulting produced subsidence and uplift that are largely responsible for the present-day morphology of the valleys and tablelands in this margin. We conclude that Precambrian shear zone reactivation controlled geometry and orientation, as well as deformation of sedimentary deposits, until the Neogene-Quaternary.

Is Downtown Seattle on the Hanging Wall of the Seattle Fault?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt, T. L.

2008-12-01

The Seattle fault is an ~80-km-long thrust or reverse fault that trends east-west beneath the Puget Lowland of western Washington State, and is interpreted to extend beneath the Seattle urban area just south of the downtown area. The fault ruptured about A.D. 930 in a large earthquake that uplifted parts of the Puget Sound shoreline as much as 7 m, caused a tsunami in Puget Sound and extensive landslides throughout the area. Seismic reflection profiles indicate that the fault has 3 or more fault splays that together form the Seattle fault zone. Models for the Seattle fault zone vary considerably, but most models place the northern edge of the Seattle fault zone south of the downtown area. These interpretations require that the fault zone shifts about 2 km to the south in the Seattle area relative to its location to the east (Bellevue) and west (Bainbridge Island). Potential field anomalies, particularly prominent magnetic highs associated with dipping, shallow conglomerate layers, are not continuous in the downtown Seattle area as observed to the east and west. Compilation and re-interpretation of all the existing seismic profiles in the area indicate that the northern strand of the Seattle fault, specifically a fold associated with the northernmost, blind fault strand, lies beneath the northern part of downtown Seattle, about 1.5 to 2 km farther north than has previously been interpreted. This study focuses on one previously unpublished seismic profile in central Puget Sound that shows a remarkable image of the Seattle fault, with shallow subhorizontal layers disrupted or folded by at least two thrust faults and several shallow backthrusts. These apparently Holocene layers are arched gently upwards, with the peak of the anticline in line with Alki and Restoration Points on the east and west sides of Puget Sound, respectively. The profile shows that the shallow part of the northern fault strand dips to the south at about 35 degrees, consistent with the 35 to 40 degree dip previously interpreted from tomography data. A second fault strand about 2 km south of the northern strand causes gentle folding of the Holocene strata. Two prominent backthrusts occur on the south side of the anticline, with the southern backthrust on strike with a prominent scarp on the eastern shoreline. A large erosional paleochannel beneath west Seattle and the Duwamish waterway extends beneath Elliot Bay and obscures potential field anomalies and seismic reflection evidence for the fault strands. However, hints of fault-related features on the profiles in Elliot Bay, and clear images in Lake Washington, indicate that the fault strands extend beneath the city of Seattle in the downtown area. If indeed the northern strand of the Seattle fault lies beneath the northern part of downtown Seattle, the downtown area may experience ground deformation during a major Seattle fault earthquake and that focusing of energy in the fault zone may occur farther north than previously estimated.

Anisotropic Rayleigh-wave phase velocities beneath northern Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legendre, Cédric P.; Zhao, Li; Huang, Win-Gee; Huang, Bor-Shouh

2015-02-01

We explore the Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity structure beneath northern Vietnam over a broad period range of 5 to 250 s. We use the two-stations technique to derive the dispersion curves from the waveforms of 798 teleseismic events recoded by a set of 23 broadband seismic stations deployed in northern Vietnam. These dispersion curves are then inverted for both isotropic and azimuthally anisotropic Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity maps in the frequency range of 10 to 50 s. Main findings include a crustal expression of the Red River Shear Zone and the Song Ma Fault. Northern Vietnam displays a northeast/southwest dichotomy in the lithosphere with fast velocities beneath the South China Block and slow velocities beneath the Simao Block and between the Red River Fault and the Song Da Fault. The anisotropy in the region is relatively simple, with a high amplitude and fast directions parallel to the Red River Shear Zone in the western part. In the eastern part, the amplitudes are generally smaller and the fast axis displays more variations with periods.

Late Mesozoic and possible early Tertiary accretion in western Washington State: the Helena-Haystack melange and the Darrington- Devils Mountain fault zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tabor, R.W.

1994-01-01

The Helena-Haystack melange (HH melange) and coincident Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone (DDMFZ) in northwestern Washington separate two terranes, the northwest Cascade System (NWCS) and the western and eastern melange belts (WEMB). The two terranes of Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks superficially resemble each other but record considerable differences in structural and metamorphic history. The HH melange is a serpentinite-matrix melange containing blocks of adjacent terranes but also exotic blocks. The HH melange must have formed between early Cretaceous and late middle Eocene time, because it contains tectonic clasts of early Cretaceous Shuksan Greenschist and is overlain by late middle Eocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The possible continuation of the DDMFZ to the northwest as the San Juan and the West Coast faults on Vancouver Island suggests that the structure has had a major role in the emplacement of all the westernmost terranes in the Pacific Northwest. -from Author

Field based geothermal exploration: Structural controls in the Tarutung Basin/North Central Sumatra (Indonesia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nukman, M.; Moeck, I.

2012-04-01

The Tarutung Basin is one of several basins along the prominent Sumatra Fault System (SFS) which represents a dextral strike slip fault zone segmented into individual fault strands. The basins are located at right-stepping transfer. The Tarutung Basin hosts geothermal manifestations such as hot springs and travertines indicating a geothermal system with some decent potential in the subsurface. As part of geothermal exploration, field geology is investigated focusing on how the structural setting controls the thermal manifestation distribution. A complex fault pattern is now newly mapped and evidences sinistral faults striking E-W (Silangkitang), normal faults striking SE-NW at the eastern strand of Tarutung Basin (Sitompul) and normal faults striking NW-SE at the western strand of the basin (Sitaka). These structures form an angle greater than 450 with respect to the current maximum principal stress which is oriented in N-S. Secondary sinistral shear fractures identified as antithetic Riedel shears can be correlated with hot spring locations at Silangkitang, forming an angle of 500 with respect to the current maximum stress. A large angle of normal fault and antithetic Riedel shear trend with respect to the current maximum stress direction indicates that the structures have been rotated. Unidentified dextral strike slip faults might exist at the eastern strand of Tarutung Basin to accommodate the clockwise rotation between the eastern boundary of the basin and the NW-SE striking normal fault of Panabungan. Normal faults striking parallel with the SFS East of the basin are interpreted as dilatational jogs caused by the clockwise rotated block movement with respect to the NW-SE fault trend sinistral shear along ENE-WSW faults. Silicified pryroclastics in association with large discharge at hot springs at these NW-SE striking normal faults support this hypothesis. As proposed by Nivinkovich (1976) and Nishimura (1986) Sumatra has rotated 20° clockwise since the last two million years due to the increase in sea-floor spreading rate of the Indian-Australian plate. The combination of regional clockwise rotation of Sumatra with local clockwise rotation caused by simple shear along the dextral SFS might generate the complex fault pattern which controls fluid flow of thermal water and placement of hot springs. Acknowledgements : Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, DAAD. German Ministry for Education and Research, BMBF. Badan Geologi - KESDM Bandung, Indonesia.

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.

Along-Strike Variation in Geometry and Kinematics of a Major, Active Intracontinental Thrust System: the Pred-Terskey Fault Zone, Kyrgyz Tien Shan, Central Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgette, R. J.; Weldon, R. J.; Abdrakhmatov, K. Y.; Ormukov, C.

2004-12-01

The Pred-Terskey fault zone defines the southern margin of the Issyk-Kul basin, extending eastward over 250 km from at least the Chu River to the Kazakhstan border, and appears to be one of the most active zones in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Despite a diversity of structural styles and changes of vergence at the surface, the lateral continuity and overall geometry of the zone is consistent with a single north vergent thrust at depth, which uplifts the Terskey Range and generally tilts the south margin of the basin to the north. This northward tilting of the margin is probably due to a flattening of the fault as it approaches the surface. In spite of historical quiescence, it is likely capable of producing great earthquakes. We have conducted detailed field mapping coupled with terrace profiling and dating at seven representative, well-exposed areas of the fault zone. Based on these field observations and satellite image and air photo interpretation along the entire zone, we identify three major divisions in structural style expressed at the surface. The western segment is typified by the Tura-Su, Ak-Terek and Ton areas. A series of left-stepping, south-vergent, basement-involved reverse faults and folds are uplifting the southern margin of the Issyk-Kul basin in this area. The resulting uphill-facing scarps have trapped and diverted many of the rivers flowing north from the Terskey Range. Tertiary strata and Quaternary geomorphic surfaces show consistent, progressive northward tilting across the entire zone. The west-central segment is represented by the Kajy-Say area. South-vergent reverse faults and a north-vergent backthrust have uplifted an arcuate granite block. Offshore of this area, the lake floor descends to a sharp break in slope with a low relief area at a depth of about 650 m. Late Quaternary geomorphic features do not show evidence of tilting. In contrast to the areas east and west, the major north-dipping thrust is likely planar over this segment and daylights at the lake floor break in slope. The east-central segment is exemplified by the Barskaun and Jety Oguz areas. A high angle reverse fault juxtaposes Paleozoic rock against Tertiary sediments. To the north, a thrust fault with a sinuous trace places north-dipping Tertiary rock over the nearly horizontal basin floor. Quaternary terraces in the hanging wall of this fault record progressive northward tilting. North of the thrust fault a series of anticlines are growing out of the basin sediments. The eastern segment, which includes the Jergalan River valley, lacks a low angle thrust fault at the basin margin. Along this segment, the basement reverse fault uplifts Paleozoic rock against Quaternary basin sediment. To the north of this range-bounding structure, late Quaternary terraces are offset by south-vergent scarps. We are calculating geologic slip rates for each of the seven sites along the Pred-Terskey zone by dating terraces and constructing structural models consistent with both the rock and terrace records. Based on preliminary radiocarbon dates, a prominent Jety Oguz River terrace is 50 +/- 10 ka. The terrace is tilted 0.5° relative to the modern river, and with the low angle fault branching off of the basement reverse fault at dips ranging between 45° and 90° , the slip rate of this fault is 6 +/- 4 mm/yr. This is consistent with the GPS shortening rate across the Pred-Terskey zone at this longitude.

Paleomagnetic Data Bearing on the Eastern and Southern Boundaries of the Walker Lane Belt Transfer System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grow, J. S.; Geissman, J. W.; Oldow, J. S.

2007-12-01

In west-central Nevada, a transfer zone, which initiated in the mid-Miocene, presently links, via the Mina Deflection, right-lateral faults of the Eastern California Shear Zone to the south and the Central Nevada Seismic Belt and Walker Lane to the north. This transfer zone, the early inception of which is characterized by moderate (20-30°) clockwise crustal rotations previously identified (e.g., Candelaria Hills and surrounding ranges), along with right-lateral structures to the south and north, are part of a diffuse zone of intracontinental deformation that accommodates some 25 percent of the motion between the Pacific and North American plates. Although the northern and western boundaries of the transfer zone are relatively well defined by paleomagnetic data, the eastern and southeastern boundaries remain poorly constrained. Additional paleomagnetic data are being obtained from mid-to-late Tertiary volcanic rocks, presumably lying within (e.g., Montezuma Range, Palmetto Mountains, Monte Cristo Range) and outside (e.g., Goldfield Hills, San Antonio Mountains, Slate Ridge) of the transfer zone. Areas outside of the transfer zone are inferred to have not undergone any appreciable rotation since its inception. Volcanic rocks as well as shallow intrusions ranging in age from Oligocene to mid-Pliocene have been sampled (N=187) from inside and outside of the inferred southern and eastern boundaries of the transfer zone. Overall, the collection responds very favorably to progressive demagnetization; initial results are tentatively interpreted as suggesting the absence of appreciable rotation of the San Antonio Range (Tonopah, Nevada area and farther north). The extent to which areas near the eastern and southeastern boundaries have been rotated is under investigation. These data will aid in a better understanding of differential block rotation and tilting throughout the development of the west-central Nevada transfer system from the mid-Miocene to late Pliocene.

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.

Joint Inversion of 1-D Magnetotelluric and Surface-Wave Dispersion Data with an Improved Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm and Application to the Data of the Longmenshan Fault Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Pingping; Tan, Handong; Peng, Miao; Ma, Huan; Wang, Mao

2018-05-01

Magnetotellurics and seismic surface waves are two prominent geophysical methods for deep underground exploration. Joint inversion of these two datasets can help enhance the accuracy of inversion. In this paper, we describe a method for developing an improved multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-SBX) and applying it to two numerical tests to verify the advantages of the algorithm. Our findings show that joint inversion with the NSGA-SBX method can improve the inversion results by strengthening structural coupling when the discontinuities of the electrical and velocity models are consistent, and in case of inconsistent discontinuities between these models, joint inversion can retain the advantages of individual inversions. By applying the algorithm to four detection points along the Longmenshan fault zone, we observe several features. The Sichuan Basin demonstrates low S-wave velocity and high conductivity in the shallow crust probably due to thick sedimentary layers. The eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau shows high velocity and high resistivity in the shallow crust, while two low velocity layers and a high conductivity layer are observed in the middle lower crust, probably indicating the mid-crustal channel flow. Along the Longmenshan fault zone, a high conductivity layer from 8 to 20 km is observed beneath the northern segment and decreases with depth beneath the middle segment, which might be caused by the elevated fluid content of the fault zone.

Contemporary recent extension and compression in the central Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tibaldi, A.; Bonali, F. L.

2018-02-01

Although extension in the high Andes vs. compression in the lowlands has already been widely discussed in the literature, for the first time we recognized both extensional and contractional structures that developed contemporaneously during late Pliocene-Quaternary times in a wide area of the central Andean chain (about 90,000 km2), where crustal earthquake data are missing. This area comprises north-eastern Chile, south-western Bolivia and north-western Argentina, and extends from the Puna Plateau to the Altiplano-volcanic belt. Late Pliocene-Quaternary folds, with hinge lines trending NNE-SSW to N-S, are mostly located along the westernmost part of the volcanic belt and the eastern part of the Western Cordillera. Locally, there are coeval reverse faults, parallel to the folds, which reach up to the surface; particularly, the Miscanti Ridge, Tolocha Fault and La Casualidad Ridge may be the morphostructural expression of tens-km-long fault-propagation folds, which locally show topographic scarps hundreds of meters high. North and east of the contractional structures, we found evidence of late Pliocene-Quaternary normal faults striking N-S in the southern part of the study area, and NW-SE in the northern part. Well-developed grabens are present in the higher areas of the volcanic belt and in the transition zone with the Puna Plateau. The surface rupture zones of normal fault swarms range 8-24 km in length, with single fault strands up to 18 km long, which are typical of tectonic structures. The distribution in space and time of the studied contractional and extensional structures indicates that they originated in the same time period; we thus address the challenging question regarding the possible origin of the stress sources, by analysing possible causes such as volcanotectonics, high topography, orogeny collapse, and gravitational spreading of the orogen, in relation also with the role played by inherited structures. We finally analyse the relations between the different structures and magma upwelling, and the potential for seismic hazard.

A refinement of the chronology of rift-related faulting in the Broadly Rifted Zone, southern Ethiopia, through apatite fission-track analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balestrieri, Maria Laura; Bonini, Marco; Corti, Giacomo; Sani, Federico; Philippon, Melody

2016-03-01

To reconstruct the timing of rift inception in the Broadly Rifted Zone in southern Ethiopia, we applied the fission-track method to basement rocks collected along the scarp of the main normal faults bounding (i) the Amaro Horst in the southern Main Ethiopian Rift and (ii) the Beto Basin in the Gofa Province. At the Amaro Horst, a vertical traverse along the major eastern scarp yielded pre-rift ages ranging between 121.4 ± 15.3 Ma and 69.5 ± 7.2 Ma, similarly to two other samples, one from the western scarp and one at the southern termination of the horst (103.4 ± 24.5 Ma and 65.5 ± 4.2 Ma, respectively). More interestingly, a second traverse at the Amaro northeastern terminus released rift-related ages spanning between 12.3 ± 2.7 and 6.8 ± 0.7 Ma. In the Beto Basin, the ages determined along the base of the main (northwestern) fault scarp vary between 22.8 ± 3.3 Ma and 7.0 ± 0.7 Ma. We ascertain through thermal modeling that rift-related exhumation along the northwestern fault scarp of the Beto Basin started at 12 ± 2 Ma while in the eastern margin of the Amaro Horst faulting took place later than 10 Ma, possibly at about 8 Ma. These results suggest a reconsideration of previous models on timing of rift activation in the different sectors of the Ethiopian Rift. Extensional basin formation initiated more or less contemporaneously in the Gofa Province (~ 12 Ma) and Northern Main Ethiopian Rift (~ 10-12 Ma) at the time of a major reorganization of the Nubia-Somalia plate boundary (i.e., 11 ± 2 Ma). Afterwards, rift-related faulting involved the Southern MER (Amaro Horst) at ~ 8 Ma, and only later rifting seemingly affected the Central MER (after ~ 7 Ma).

Near-shore Evaluation of Holocene Faulting and Earthquake Hazard in the New York City Metropolitan Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cormier, M. H.; King, J. W.; Seeber, L.; Heil, C. W., Jr.; Caccioppoli, B.

2016-12-01

During its relatively short historic period, the Atlantic Seaboard of North America has experienced a few M6+ earthquakes. These events raise the specter of a similar earthquake occurring anywhere along the eastern seaboard, including in the greater New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. Indeed, the NYC Seismic Zone is one of several concentrations of earthquake activity that stand out in the field of epicenters over eastern North America. Various lines of evidence point to a maximum magnitude in the M7 range for metropolitan NYC - a dramatic scenario that is counterbalanced by the low probability of such an event. Several faults mapped near NYC strike NW, sub-normal to the NE-striking structural trends of the Appalachians, and all earthquake sequences with well-established fault sources in the NYC seismic zone originate from NW-striking faults. With funding from the USGS Earthquake Hazard Program, we recently (July 2016) collected 85 km of high-resolution sub-bottom (CHIRP) profiles along the north shore of western Long Island Sound, immediately adjacent to metropolitan NYC. This survey area is characterized by a smooth, 15.5 kyr-old erosional surface and overlying strata with small original relief. CHIRP sonar profiles of these reflectors are expected to resolve fault or fold-related vertical relief (if present) greater than 50 cm. They would also resolve horizontal fault displacements with similar resolution, as may be expressed by offsets of either sedimentary or geomorphic features. No sedimentary cover on the land portion of the metro area offers such ideal reference surfaces, which are continuous in both time and space. Seismic profiles have a spacing of 200 m and have been acquired mostly perpendicular to the NW-striking faults mapped on land. These new data will be analyzed systematically for all resolvable features and then interpreted, distinguishing sedimentary, geomorphic, and tectonic features. The absence of evidence of post-glacial tectonic deformation would be a reliable negative result with implications regarding the lateral dimensions and southeastward continuity of the brittle faults mapped on land, and their potential for generation of large earthquakes with surface ruptures.

New Field Observations About 19 August 1966 Varto earthquake, Eastern Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurboga, S.

2013-12-01

Some destructive earthquakes in the past and even in the recent have several mysteries. For example, magnitude, epicenter location, faulting type and source fault of an earthquake have not been detected yet. One of these mysteries events is 19 August 1966 Varto earthquake in Turkey. 19 August 1966 Varto earthquake (Ms = 6.8) was an extra ordinary event at the 40 km east of junction between NAFS and EAFS which are two seismogenic system and active structures shaping the tectonics of Turkey. This earthquake sourced from Varto fault zone which are approximately 4 km width and 43 km length. It consists of faults which have parallel to sub-parallel, closely-spaced, north and south-dipping up to 85°-88° dip amount. Although this event has 6.8 (Ms) magnitude that is big enough to create a surface rupture, there was no clear surface deformation had been detected. This creates the controversial issue about the source fault and the mechanism of the earthquake. According to Wallace (1968) the type of faulting is right-lateral. On the other hand, McKenzie (1972) proposed right-lateral movement with thrust component by using the focal mechanism solution. The recent work done by Sançar et al. (2011) claimed that type of faulting is pure right-lateral strike-slip and there is no any surface rupture during the earthquake. Furthermore, they suggested that Varto segment in the Varto Fault Zone was most probably not broken in 1966 earthquake. This study is purely focused on the field geology and trenching survey for the investigation of 1966 Varto earthquake. Four fault segments have been mapped along the Varto fault zone: Varto, Sazlica, Leylekdağ and Çayçati segments. Because of the thick volcanic cover on the area around Varto, surface rupture has only been detected by trenching survey. Two trenching survey have been applied along the Yayikli and Ağaçalti faults in the Varto fault zone. Consequently, detailed geological work in the field and trenching survey indicate that a) source of 1966 earthquake is Varto segment in Varto Fault Zone, b) many of the surface deformations observed just after the earthquake is lateral-spreading and small landslides, c) surface rupture was created with 10 cm displacement at the surface with thrust component. Because of the volcanic cover and activation of many faults, ground surface rupture could not be seen clearly which has been expected after 6.8 magnitude earthquake, d) faulting type is right-lateral component with thrust component. Keywords: 1966 Varto earthquake, paleoseismology, right-lateral fault with thrust component.

Hydrogeological impacts of a railway tunnel in fractured Precambrian gneiss rocks (south-eastern Norway)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kværner, Jens; Snilsberg, Petter

2013-11-01

Groundwater monitoring along the Romeriksporten tunnel, south-eastern Norway, provided an opportunity for studying the impacts of tunnelling on groundwater in fractured Precambrian gneiss rocks, and examining relations between bedrock hydrology, tectonic weakness zones and catchments. Tunnel leakage resulted in groundwater drawdown up to 35 m in weakness zones, converted groundwater discharge zones into recharge zones, and affected groundwater chemistry. The magnitude of drawdown and fluctuations in groundwater level differed between weakness zones, and varied with distance from the tunnel route, tunnel leakage, and recharge from catchments. Clear differences in groundwater level and fluctuation patterns indicated restricted groundwater flow between weakness zones. The groundwater drawdowns demonstrated coherent water-bearing networks to 180-m depth in faults and fracture zones. Similar groundwater levels with highly correlated fluctuations demonstrated hydraulic connectivity within fracture zones. Different groundwater drawdown and leakage in weakness zones with different appearance and influence of tectonic events demonstrated the importance of the geological history for bedrock hydrogeology. Water injection into the bedrock counteracted groundwater drawdowns. Even moderate leakage to underground constructions may lead to large groundwater drawdown in areas with small groundwater recharge. Hydrogeological interpretation of tectonic weakness zones should occur in the context of geological history and local catchment hydrology.

Structural framework of a major intracontinental orogenic termination zone: The easternmost Tien Shan, China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cunningham, D.; Owen, L.A.; Snee, L.W.; Li, Ji

2003-01-01

The Barkol Tagh and Karlik Tagh ranges of the easternmost Tien Shan are a natural laboratory for studying the fault architecture of an active termination zone of a major intracontinental mountain range. Barkol and Karlik Tagh and lesser ranges to the north are bounded by active thrust faults that locally deform Quaternary sediments. Major thrusts in Karlik Tagh connect along strike to the east with the left-lateral Gobi-Tien Shan Fault System in SW Mongolia. From a Mongolian perspective. Karlik Tagh represents a large restraining bend for this regional strike-slip fault system, and the entire system of thrusts and strike-slip faults in the Karlik Tagh region defines a horsetail splay fault geometry. Regionally, there appears to be a kinematic transition from thrust-dominated deformation in the central Tien Shan to left-lateral transpressional deformation in the easternmost Tien Shan. This transition correlates with a general eastward decrease in mountain belt width and average elevation and a change in the angular relationship between the NNE-directed maximum horizontal stress in the region and the pre-existing basement structural grain, which is northwesterly in the central Tien Shan (orthogonal to SHmax) but more east-west in the eastern Tien Shan (acute angular relationship with SHmax . Ar-Ar ages indicate that major range-bounding thrusts in Barkol and Karlik Tagh are latest Permian-Triassic ductile thrust zones that underwent brittle reactivation in the Late Cenozoic. It is estimated that the modern mountain ranges of the extreme easternmost Tien Shan could have been constructed by only 10-15 km of Late Cenozoic horizontal shortening.

Geologic map of the Strawberry Butte 7.5’ quadrangle, Meagher County, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reynolds, Mitchell W.; Brandt, Theodore R.

2017-06-19

The 7.5′ Strawberry Butte quadrangle in Meagher County, Montana near the southwest margin of the Little Belt Mountains, encompasses two sharply different geologic terranes.  The northern three-quarters of the quadrangle are underlain mainly by Paleoproterozoic granite gneiss, across which Middle Cambrian sedimentary rocks rest unconformably.  An ancestral valley of probable late Eocene age, eroded northwest across the granite gneiss terrane, is filled with Oligocene basalt and overlying Miocene and Oligocene sandstone, siltstone, tuffaceous siltstone, and conglomerate.  The southern quarter of the quadrangle is underlain principally by deformed Mesoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Newland Formation, which are intruded by Eocene biotite hornblende dacite dikes.  In this southern terrane, Tertiary strata are exposed only in a limited area near the southeast margin of the quadrangle.  The distinct terranes are juxtaposed along the Volcano Valley fault zone—a zone of recurrent crustal movement beginning possibly in Mesoproterozoic time and certainly established from Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian to late Tertiary time.  Movement along the fault zone has included normal faulting, the southern terrane faulted down relative to the northern terrane, some reverse faulting as the southern terrane later moved up against the northern terrane, and lateral movement during which the southern terrane likely moved west relative to the northern terrane.  Near the eastern margin of the quadrangle, the Newland Formation is locally the host of stratabound sulfide mineralization adjacent to the fault zone; west along the fault zone across the remainder of the quadrangle are significant areas and bands of hematite and iron-silicate mineral concentrations related to apparent alteration of iron sulfides.  The map defines the distribution of a variety of surficial deposits, including the distribution of hematite-rich colluvium and iron-silicate boulders.  The southeast corner of the quadrangle is the site of active exploration and potential development for copper from the sulfide-bearing strata of the Newland Formation.

Geodetic Constraints on Fault Slip Rates and Seismic Hazard in the Greater Las Vegas Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, W. C.; Kreemer, C.; Blewitt, G.; Broermann, J.; Bennett, R. A.

2014-12-01

We address fundamental questions about how contemporary tectonic deformation of the crust in the southern Great Basin occurs in the region around Las Vegas (LV) Nevada, western Arizona and eastern California. This area lies in the intersection of the eastern Walker Lane Belt, southern Great Basin and western Colorado Plateau (CP), sharing features of transtensional and extensional deformation associated with Pacific/North America relative motion. We use GPS data collected from 48 stations of the MAGNET semi-continuous network and 77 stations from continuous networks including BARGEN and EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory. MAGNET stations have been observed for a minimum of 7 years, while most continuous stations have longer records. From these data we estimate the velocity of crustal motion for all stations with respect to the stable North America reference frame NA12. To correct for transients from recent large earthquakes including the 1999 Hector Mine and 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah events we use models of co- and post-seismic deformation, subtracting the predicted motions from the time series before estimating interseismic stain rates. We find approximately 2 mm/yr of relative motion distributed over 200 km centered on Las Vegas, with a mean strain accumulation rate of 10 × 10-9 yr-1, with lower rates of predominantly extensional strain to the east and higher rates of predominantly shear deformation to the west. The mean strain rate is lower than that of the western Walker Lane but about twice that of eastern Nevada where e.g., the Wells, NV MW 6.0 earthquake occurred in 2008. From this new velocity field we generated a horizontal tensor strain rate map and a crustal block motion model to portray the transition of active strain from the CP into the Walker Lane. For faults in the Las Vegas Valley, including the Eglington Fault and Frenchman Mountain Fault, the observed velocity gradients and model results are consistent with normal slip rates of 0.2 mm/yr, which are typical for the region. The Stateline Fault system experiences dextral slip of at least 0.4 mm/yr while normal faults south of LV collectively accommodate 0.9 mm/yr of east-west extension across a zone ~150 km wide. We see no evidence for concentrations of deformation or isolated rigid microplates within this zone.

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 .

Ductile bookshelf faulting: A new kinematic model for Cenozoic deformation in northern Tibet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuza, A. V.; Yin, A.

2013-12-01

It has been long recognized that the most dominant features on the northern Tibetan Plateau are the >1000 km left-slip strike-slip faults (e.g., the Atyn Tagh, Kunlun, and Haiyuan faults). Early workers used the presence of these faults, especially the Kunlun and Haiyuan faults, as evidence for eastward lateral extrusion of the plateau, but their low documented offsets--100s of km or less--can not account for the 2500 km of convergence between India and Asia. Instead, these faults may result from north-south right-lateral simple shear due to the northward indentation of India, which leads to the clockwise rotation of the strike-slip faults and left-lateral slip (i.e., bookshelf faulting). With this idea, deformation is still localized on discrete fault planes, and 'microplates' or blocks rotate and/or translate with little internal deformation. As significant internal deformation occurs across northern Tibet within strike-slip-bounded domains, there is need for a coherent model to describe all of the deformational features. We also note the following: (1) geologic offsets and Quaternary slip rates of both the Kunlun and Haiyuan faults vary along strike and appear to diminish to the east, (2) the faults appear to kinematically link with thrust belts (e.g., Qilian Shan, Liupan Shan, Longmen Shan, and Qimen Tagh) and extensional zones (e.g., Shanxi, Yinchuan, and Qinling grabens), and (3) temporal relationships between the major deformation zones and the strike-slip faults (e.g., simultaneous enhanced deformation and offset in the Qilian Shan and Liupan Shan, and the Haiyuan fault, at 8 Ma). We propose a new kinematic model to describe the active deformation in northern Tibet: a ductile-bookshelf-faulting model. With this model, right-lateral simple shear leads to clockwise vertical axis rotation of the Qaidam and Qilian blocks, and left-slip faulting. This motion creates regions of compression and extension, dependent on the local boundary conditions (e.g., rigid Tarim vs. eastern China moving eastward relative to Eurasia), which results in the development of thrust and extensional belts. These zones heterogeneously deform the wall-rock of the major strike-slip faults, causing the faults to stretch (an idea described by W.D. Means 1989 GEOLOGY). This effect is further enhanced by differential fault rotation, leading to more slip in the west, where the effect of India's indentation is more pronounced, than in the east. To investigate the feasibility of this model, we have examined geologic offsets, Quaternary fault slip rates, and GPS velocities, both from existing literature and our own observations. We compare offsets with the estimated shortening and extensional strain in the wall-rocks of the strike-slip faults. For example, if this model is valid, the slip on the eastern segment of the Haiyuan fault (i.e., ~25 km) should be compatible with shortening in the Liupan Shan and extension in the Yinchuan graben. We also present simple analogue model experiments to document the strain accumulated in bookshelf fault systems under different initial and boundary conditions (e.g., rigid vs. free vs. moving boundaries, heterogeneous or homogenous materials, variable strain rates). Comparing these experimentally derived strain distributions with those observed within the plateau can help elucidate which factors dominantly control regional deformation.

Neotectonic Geomorphology of the Owen Stanley Oblique-slip Fault System, Eastern Papua New Guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, L.; Mann, P.; Taylor, F.

2003-12-01

Previous GPS studies have shown that the Australia-Woodlark plate boundary bisects the Papuan Peninsula of Papua New Guinea and that interplate motion along the boundary varies from about 19 mm/yr of orthogonal opening in the area of the western Woodlark spreading center and D'Entrecasteaux Islands, to about 12 mm/yr of highly oblique opening in the central part of the peninsula, to about 10 mm/yr of transpressional motion on the western part of the peninsula. We have compiled a GIS database for the peninsula that includes a digital elevation model, geologic map, LANDSAT and radar imagery, and earthquake focal mechanisms. This combined data set demonstrates the regional importance of the 600-km-long Owen Stanley fault system (OSFS) in accommodating interplate motion and controlling the geomorphology and geologic exposures of the peninsula. The OSFS originated as a NE-dipping, reactivated Oligocene-Early Miocene age ophiolitic suture zone between an Australian continental margin and the Melanesian arc system. Pliocene to recent motion on the plate boundary has reactivated motion on the former NE-dipping thrust fault either as a NE-dipping normal fault in the eastern area or as a more vertical strike-slip fault in the western area. The broadly arcuate shape of the OSFS is probably an inherited feature from the original thrust fault. Faults in the eastern area (east of 148° E) exhibit characteristics expected for normal and oblique slip faults including: discontinuous fault traces bounding an upthrown highland block and a downthrown coastal plain or submarine block, transfer faults parallel to the opening direction, scarps facing to both the northeast and southwest, and spatial association with recent volcanism. Faults in the western area (west of 148° E) exibit characteristics expected for left-lateral strike-slip faults including: linear and continuous fault trace commonly confined to a deep, intermontane valley and sinistral offsets and deflections of rivers and streams by 0.5 to 1.2 km. The northern edge of the OSFS merges with the Ramu-Markham strike-slip fault near Lae. SW tilting of the footwall block (Papuan Peninsula) is responsible for the asymmetrical topographic profile of the peninsula and drowned topography along the southern coast of the peninsula.

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

Quantifying Quaternary Deformation in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes Using Cosmogenic Nuclide Geochronology and Fluvial Geomorphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalman, E.; Taylor, M. H.; Veloza-fajardo, G.; Mora, A.

2014-12-01

Northwest South America is actively deforming through the interaction between the Nazca, South American, and Caribbean plates. Though the Colombian Andes are well studied, much uncertainty remains in the rate of Quaternary deformation along the east directed frontal thrust faults hundreds of kilometers in board from the subduction zones. The eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera (EC) preserve deformed landforms, allowing us to quantify incision rates. Using 10Be in-situ terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) geochronology, we dated 2 deformed fluvial terraces in the hanging wall of the Guaicaramo thrust fault. From the 10Be concentration and terrace profile relative to local base level, we calculated incision rates. We present a reconstructed slip history of the Guaicaramo thrust fault and its Quaternary slip rate. Furthermore, to quantify the regional Quaternary deformation, we look at the fluvial response to tectonic uplift. Approximately 20 streams along the eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera (EC) were studied using a digital elevation model (DEM). From the DEM, longitudinal profiles were created and normalized channel steepness (Ksn) values calculated from plots of drainage area vs. slope. Knickpoints in the longitudinal profiles can record transient perturbations or differential uplift. Calculated Ksn values indicate that the EC is experiencing high rates of uplift, with the highest mean Ksn values occurring in the Cocuy region. Mean channel steepness values along strike of the foothills are related to increasing uplift rates from south to north. In contrast, we suggest that high channel steepness values in the south appear to be controlled by high rates of annual precipitation.

Forearc Basin Structure in the Andaman-Nicobar Segment of the Sumatra-Andaman Subduction Zone: Insight from High-Resolution Seismic Reflection Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeremans, R. E.; Singh, S. C.

2014-12-01

The Andaman-Nicobar subduction is the northernmost segment of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone and marks the western boundary of the Andaman Sea, which is a complex backarc extensional basin. We present the interpretation of a new set of deep seismic reflection data acquired across the Andaman-Nicobar forearc basin, from 8°N to 11°N, to understand the structure and evolution of the forearc basin, focusing on how the obliquity of convergence affects deformation in the forearc, as well as on the Diligent (DF) and Eastern Margin Faults (EMF). Constraining the evolution of this basin, which is strongly related to the collision of India and Eurasia, can help shed light onto present-day deformation processes along this segment of the subduction zone, where convergence is highly oblique and little data is available. We find that he DF is a backthrust and corresponds to the Mentawai (MFZ) and West Andaman Fault (WAF) systems further south, offshore Sumatra. The DF is expressed as a series of mostly landward verging folds and faults, deforming the early to late Miocene sediments. The DF seems to root from the boundary between the accretionary complex and the continental backstop, where it meets the EMF. The EMF marks the western boundary of the forearc basin; it is associated with subsidence and is expressed as a deep piggyback basin, associated with recent Pliocene to Pleistocene subsidence at the western edge of the forearc basin. The eastern edge of the forearc basin is marked by the Invisible Bank (IB), which is thought to be tilted and uplifted continental crustal block. Subsidence along the EMF and uplift and tilting of the IB seem to be related to different opening phases in the Andaman Sea. The sliver Andaman-Nicobar Fault (ANF), which is the active northward extension of the Great Sumatra sliver Fault (GSF), lies to the east of the IB, and marks the boundary between continental crust underlying the forearc basin and crust accreted at the Andaman Sea Spreading Center.

The Rock Record of Seismic Nucleation: examples from pseudotachylites beneath the Whipple Detachment Fault, eastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega-Arroyo, D.; Behr, W. M.; Gentry, E.

2017-12-01

The mechanisms that lead to nucleation and dynamic weakening in the middle crust are not well understood. Proposed mechanisms include flash heating of asperities, thermal pressurization of pore fluids, dynamic instabilities, and fracture interactions. We investigate this issue in the rock record using exhumed mid-crustal rocks exposed beneath the Whipple Detachment fault (WDF) in eastern CA. Analysis of pseudotachylites (PS) beneath the WDF, representing paleo-earthquakes, reveal two types: Type 1 PS exhibit little to no precursory cataclasis and are concentrated along shear bands at the margins of feldspar-rich lenses embedded in more quartz-rich domains. These appear synkinematic with S-C fabrics in the surrounding mylonites and they exhibit finely dynamically recrystallized grains in quartz at their margins, suggesting coeval ductile deformation. By contrast, Type 2 PS occur along the principal slip surface of a brittle shear zone and show evidence for precursory cataclasis, brecciation, and fracturing. Some cataclasites inject into the host rock, forming eddies along the boundary with the PS. Slip appears to localize progressively into a 2 cm thick fault core, with PS concentrated primarily in the interior- the presence of solidified melt and fluidized cataclasite as clasts within the fault core suggests multiple slip events are preserved. We interpret the two types of pseudotachylites to represent different conditions and mechanisms of earthquake nucleation near the brittle-ductile transition (BDT). Type 1 PS are interpreted to represent nucleation in deeper sections of the BDT by failure along mineralogically-controlled stress concentrations hosted within an otherwise viscously deforming mylonite. Our data suggest that these do not develop into large-magnitude EQ's because seismic slip is dampened into the surrounding quartz-rich viscous matrix; instead they may represent deep microseismicity and/or seismic tremor. By contrast, Type 2 PS are interpreted to nucleate when thermally pressurized pore fluids are able to escape into the permeable damage zone, causing a recovery in the fault's effective friction, and promoting melting. Type 2 PS appear to experience greater weakening, accumulate larger slip, and may represent larger-magnitude seismicity at the base of the seismogenic zone.

Structural inheritance versus magmatic weakening: What controls the style of deformation at rift segment boundaries in the Gulf of California, Mexico?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seiler, Christian; Gleadow, Andrew; Kohn, Barry

2013-04-01

Rifts are commonly segmented into several hundred kilometre long zones of opposing upper-plate transport direction with boundaries defined by accommodation and transfer zones. A number of such rift segments have been recognized in the Gulf of California, a youthful oceanic basin that is currently undergoing the rift-drift transition. However, detailed field studies have so far failed to identify suitable structures that could accommodate the obvious deformation gradients between different rift segments, and the nature of strain transfer at segment boundaries remains enigmatic. The Bocana transfer zone (BTZ) in central Baja California is a linear, WNW striking structural discontinuity separating two rift segments with different magnitudes and styles of extensional deformation. North of the BTZ, the Libertad fault is part of the Main Gulf Escarpment, which represents the breakaway fault that separates the Gulf of California rift to the east from the relatively stable western portion of the Baja peninsula. The N-striking Libertad escarpment developed during the Late Miocene (~10-8Ma) and exhibits a topographic relief of ca. 1,000m along a strike-length of ca. 50km. Finite displacement decreases from ~1000m in the central fault segment to ~500m further south, where the fault bends SE and merges with the BTZ. In the hanging wall of the Libertad fault, a series of W-tilted horsts are bound along their eastern margins by two moderate-displacement E-dipping normal faults. South of the BTZ, extension was much less than further north, which explains the comparatively subdued relief and generally shallower tilt of pre-rift strata in this area. The BTZ itself is characterized by two en echelon WNW-ESE striking dextral-oblique transfer faults with a significant down-to-the-NNE extensional component. Strain is transferred from the Libertad breakaway fault onto the transfer faults over a distance of >20km through a network of interacting normal, oblique and strike-slip faults. The shape, location and orientation of the main faults were strongly influenced by pre-existing rheological heterogeneities. Major normal faults are parallel to either the Mesozoic metamorphic foliation or Cretaceous intrusive contacts, and developed where the foliation was at a high angle to the extension direction. In contrast, the oblique-slip faults of the BTZ formed parallel to the metamorphic foliation where formlines are at a small angle to the regional extension direction. Compared to the BTZ, deformation in other known accommodation zones of the Gulf of California rift occurred distributed across a much wider zone, and appropriate transfer faults are either lacking or minor. In these cases, however, the accommodation zones coincide with the locations of significant pre- and synrift volcanism, suggesting that thermal weakening associated with magmatic activity may have promoted the distribution of strain across a wider region instead of localising it into discrete transfer faults.

Constraints on Lithospheric Rheology From Fault Displacement Rate Histories and Numerical Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavier, L. L.; Bennett, R. A.; Anderson, M. L.; Matti, J. C.

2005-05-01

Recent displacement rate and geodetic data on the San Andreas, San Jacinto and eastern California shear zone suggest that changes in the geometry and/or the magnitude of the applied forces on the crust (e.g., a general or local change in fault strike relative to plate motion) can generate strain repartitioning within the crust on time scales of millions to thousands of years. The rates over which this repartitioning takes place in response to changing forces are controlled by the rheological evolution of the lithosphere. We investigate the implications of observed fault displacement histories for the rheology of the lithosphere using 2.5 D numerical experiments of deformation in an analogue system. The numerical technique used allows for the spontaneous formation of elastoplastic shear zones and flow in a Maxwell viscoelastic lower crust. The results show that when a strike slip fault is rotated to strike obliquely to the direction of relative plate motion it causes changes in bending and frictional stresses due to the formation of topography. To accommodate these changes, a conjugate system of oblique-striking strike slip faults develops. The total displacement is then slowly distributed over the new fault system on the time scale of mountain building (i.e. million of years). The rate of change is dependent on the strength of the lithosphere as well as the amount of obliquity applied on the initial strike-slip fault. In other numerical experiments we show that in a system of multiple strike-slip fault zones, displacement rate changes can occur over a time scale of about 100 kyr. This time scale corresponds to the Maxwell time at the brittle ductile transition (BDT). In such a system the lithospheric displacement is alternatively distributed (over 100 kyr) in clusters localized in lower crustal channels and over strike-slip fault zones. We show that the clustering time scale is controlled by the ratio of upper to lower crustal strength. This incomplete exercise shows how displacement rates data sets spanning thousands to millions of years can be used to constrain numerical experiments of lithospheric deformation and, in doing so, place new constraints on the rheology of the lithosphere.

Documentation for Initial Seismic Hazard Maps for Haiti

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frankel, Arthur; Harmsen, Stephen; Mueller, Charles; Calais, Eric; Haase, Jennifer

2010-01-01

In response to the urgent need for earthquake-hazard information after the tragic disaster caused by the moment magnitude (M) 7.0 January 12, 2010, earthquake, we have constructed initial probabilistic seismic hazard maps for Haiti. These maps are based on the current information we have on fault slip rates and historical and instrumental seismicity. These initial maps will be revised and improved as more data become available. In the short term, more extensive logic trees will be developed to better capture the uncertainty in key parameters. In the longer term, we will incorporate new information on fault parameters and previous large earthquakes obtained from geologic fieldwork. These seismic hazard maps are important for the management of the current crisis and the development of building codes and standards for the rebuilding effort. The boundary between the Caribbean and North American Plates in the Hispaniola region is a complex zone of deformation. The highly oblique ~20 mm/yr convergence between the two plates (DeMets and others, 2000) is partitioned between subduction zones off of the northern and southeastern coasts of Hispaniola and strike-slip faults that transect the northern and southern portions of the island. There are also thrust faults within the island that reflect the compressional component of motion caused by the geometry of the plate boundary. We follow the general methodology developed for the 1996 U.S. national seismic hazard maps and also as implemented in the 2002 and 2008 updates. This procedure consists of adding the seismic hazard calculated from crustal faults, subduction zones, and spatially smoothed seismicity for shallow earthquakes and Wadati-Benioff-zone earthquakes. Each one of these source classes will be described below. The lack of information on faults in Haiti requires many assumptions to be made. These assumptions will need to be revisited and reevaluated as more fieldwork and research are accomplished. We made two sets of maps using different assumptions about site conditions. One set of maps is for a firm-rock site condition (30-m averaged shear-wave velocity, Vs30, of 760 m/s). We also developed hazard maps that contain site amplification based on a grid of Vs30 values estimated from topographic slope. These maps take into account amplification from soils. We stress that these new maps are designed to quantify the hazard for Haiti; they do not consider all the sources of earthquake hazard that affect the Dominican Republic and therefore should not be considered as complete hazard maps for eastern Hispaniola. For example, we have not included hazard from earthquakes in the Mona Passage nor from large earthquakes on the subduction zone interface north of Puerto Rico. Furthermore, they do not capture all the earthquake hazards for eastern Cuba.

Fault block kinematics at a releasing stepover of the Eastern California shear zone: Partitioning of rotation style in and around the Coso geothermal area and nascent metamorphic core complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pluhar, Christopher J.; Coe, Robert S.; Lewis, Jonathan C.; Monastero, Francis C.; Glen, Jonathan M. G.

2006-10-01

Pliocene lavas and sediments of Wild Horse Mesa in the Coso Range, CA exhibit clockwise vertical-axis rotation of fault-bounded blocks. This indicates localization of one strand of the Eastern California shear zone/Walker Lane Belt within a large-scale, transtensional, dextral, releasing stepover. We measured rotations paleomagnetically relative to two different reference frames. At two localities we averaged secular variation through sedimentary sections to reveal rotation or its absence relative to paleogeographic north. Where sediments are lacking we used areally-extensive lava flows from individual cooling units or short eruptive episodes to measure the relative rotation of localities by comparing their paleomagnetic remanence directions to one another. At the western edge of Wild Horse Mesa the fanglomerate member of the Coso Formation (c.a. 3 Ma) exhibits between 8.4° ± 7.8° and 26.2° ± 9.0° (two endmember models of a continuum) absolute clockwise rotation. Within Wild Horse Mesa, 3-3.5 Ma lavas at 5 different localities exhibit about 12.0° ± 4.6° (weighted mean) clockwise rotation relative to the margins of the area, a result statistically indistinguishable from the absolute rotation. Hence the segment of the Eastern California shear zone passing through Wild Horse Mesa has caused vertical axis rotation of fault-bounded blocks as part of the overall dextral shear strain. The magnitude of block rotation at Wild Horse Mesa suggests that rotation has accommodated: 1) 1.5 km of dextral shear along an azimuth of about north 30° west since ca. 3 Ma between the area's bounding faults and 2) 2 km of extension perpendicular to the Coso Wash normal fault during this same period. This corresponds to 13-25% extension across the mesa. In contrast to Wild Horse Mesa, the opposite (western) side of the trace of the Coso Wash normal fault hosts the Coso geothermal area and what Monastero et al. [F.C. Monastero, A.M. Katzenstein, J.S. Miller, J.R. Unruh, M.C. Adams, K. Richards-Dinger, The Coso geothermal field: a nascent metamorphic core complex, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 117 (2005) 1534-1553.] characterize as a nascent metamorphic core complex. Consistent with upper plate disruption above a detachment, surface rocks (i.e. the upper plate of the detachment system) at the Coso geothermal area are tilted westward. However they appear to exhibit no detectable rotation. Thus, the style of block rotation may be partitioned: with clockwise vertical-axis rotation dominating in the Wild Horse Mesa and horizontal axis rotation (tilting) in the geothermal area.

Lateral extrusion of Tunisia : Contribution of Jeffara Fault (southern branch) and Petroleum Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghedhoui, R.; Deffontaines, B.; Rabia, M. C.

2012-04-01

Contrasting to the northward African plate motion toward Eurasia and due to its geographic position in the North African margin, since early cretaceous, Tunisia seems to be submitted to an eastward migration. The aim of this work is to study the southern branch of this inferred tectonic splay that may guide the Tunisian extrusion characterised to the east by the Mediterranean sea as a free eastern boundary. The Jeffara Fault zone (southern Tunisia), represent a case example of such deformation faced by Tunisia. Helped by the results of previous researchers (Bouaziz, 1995 ; Rabiaa, 1998 ; Touati et Rodgers, 1998 ; Sokoutis D. et al., 2000 ; Bouaziz et al., 2002 ; Jallouli et al., 2005 ; Deffontaines et al., 2008…), and new evidences developed in this study, we propose a geodynamic Tunisian east extrusion model, due to such the northern African plate migration to the Eurasian one. In this subject, structural geomorphology is undertaken herein based on both geomorphometric drainage network analysis (Deffontaines et al., 1990), the Digital Terrain Model photo-interpretation (SRTM) combined with photo-interpretation of detailed optical images (Landsat ETM+), and confirmed by field work and numerous seismic profiles at depth. All these informations were then integrated within a GIS (Geodatabase) (Deffontaines 1990 ; Deffontaines et al. 1994 ; Deffontaines, 2000 ; Slama, 2008 ; Deffontaines, 2008) and are coherent with the eastern extrusion of the Sahel block. We infer that the NW-SE Gafsa-Tozeur, which continue to the Jeffara major fault zone acting as a transtensive right lateral motion since early cretaceous is the southern branch of the Sahel block extrusion. Our structural analyses prove the presence of NW-SE right lateral en-echelon tension gashes, NW-SE aligned salt diapirs, numerous folds offsets, en-echelon folds, and so on that parallel this major NW-SE transtensive extrusion fault zone.These evidences confirm the fact that the NW-SE Jeffara faults correspond to the tectonic accident, located in the south of the Tunisian extrusion, in favour of the eastern migration of the Sahel block toward the free Mediterranean sea boundary. Therefore this geodynamic movement explains the presence, in offshore area, of small elongated NW-SE, N-S &NE-SW petroleum transtensive basins and grabens. To conclude, at the regional scale, the structural geomorphologic approach combined with both field work and reflexion seismic profile analyses appear to be an excellent tool to prove & confirm the east Sahel block extrusion of the central Tunisian part caused by the northward migration of African plate. _______________________________________ Keywords : Geodynamics, Neotectonics, right lateral transtensive fault, Extrusion, Petroleum exploration, Geomorphometry, Digital Elevation Model, Geographic Information System (GIS), Geodatabase, Jeffara, South Tunisia.

Crustal Structure of the Ionian Basin and Eastern Sicily Margin: Results From a Wide-Angle Seismic Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dellong, David; Klingelhoefer, Frauke; Kopp, Heidrun; Graindorge, David; Margheriti, Lucia; Moretti, Milena; Murphy, Shane; Gutscher, Marc-Andre

2018-03-01

In the Ionian Sea (central Mediterranean) the slow convergence between Africa and Eurasia results in the formation of a narrow subduction zone. The nature of the crust of the subducting plate remains debated and could represent the last remnants of the Neo-Tethys ocean. The origin of the Ionian basin is also under discussion, especially concerning the rifting mechanisms as the Malta Escarpment could represent a remnant of this opening. This subduction retreats toward the south-east (motion occurring since the last 35 Ma) but is confined to the narrow Ionian basin. A major lateral slab tear fault is required to accommodate the slab roll-back. This fault is thought to propagate along the eastern Sicily margin but its precise location remains controversial. This study focuses on the deep crustal structure of the eastern Sicily margin and the Malta Escarpment. We present two two-dimensional P wave velocity models obtained from forward modeling of wide-angle seismic data acquired onboard the R/V Meteor during the DIONYSUS cruise in 2014. The results image an oceanic crust within the Ionian basin as well as the deep structure of the Malta Escarpment, which presents characteristics of a transform margin. A deep and asymmetrical sedimentary basin is imaged south of the Messina strait and seems to have opened between the Calabrian and Peloritan continental terranes. The interpretation of the velocity models suggests that the tear fault is located east of the Malta Escarpment, along the Alfeo fault system.

Earthquake Clustering on Normal Faults: Insight from Rate-and-State Friction Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biemiller, J.; Lavier, L. L.; Wallace, L.

2016-12-01

Temporal variations in slip rate on normal faults have been recognized in Hawaii and the Basin and Range. The recurrence intervals of these slip transients range from 2 years on the flanks of Kilauea, Hawaii to 10 kyr timescale earthquake clustering on the Wasatch Fault in the eastern Basin and Range. In addition to these longer recurrence transients in the Basin and Range, recent GPS results there also suggest elevated deformation rate events with recurrence intervals of 2-4 years. These observations suggest that some active normal fault systems are dominated by slip behaviors that fall between the end-members of steady aseismic creep and periodic, purely elastic, seismic-cycle deformation. Recent studies propose that 200 year to 50 kyr timescale supercycles may control the magnitude, timing, and frequency of seismic-cycle earthquakes in subduction zones, where aseismic slip transients are known to play an important role in total deformation. Seismic cycle deformation of normal faults may be similarly influenced by its timing within long-period supercycles. We present numerical models (based on rate-and-state friction) of normal faults such as the Wasatch Fault showing that realistic rate-and-state parameter distributions along an extensional fault zone can give rise to earthquake clusters separated by 500 yr - 5 kyr periods of aseismic slip transients on some portions of the fault. The recurrence intervals of events within each earthquake cluster range from 200 to 400 years. Our results support the importance of stress and strain history as controls on a normal fault's present and future slip behavior and on the characteristics of its current seismic cycle. These models suggest that long- to medium-term fault slip history may influence the temporal distribution, recurrence interval, and earthquake magnitudes for a given normal fault segment.

Unraveling the Earthquake History of the Denali Fault System, Alaska: Filling a Blank Canvas With Paleoearthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, D. P.; Haeussler, P. J.; Seitz, G. G.; Dawson, T. E.; Stenner, H. D.; Matmon, A.; Crone, A. J.; Personius, S.; Burns, P. B.; Cadena, A.; Thoms, E.

2005-12-01

Developing accurate rupture histories of long, high-slip-rate strike-slip faults is is especially challenging where recurrence is relatively short (hundreds of years), adjacent segments may fail within decades of each other, and uncertainties in dating can be as large as, or larger than, the time between events. The Denali Fault system (DFS) is the major active structure of interior Alaska, but received little study since pioneering fault investigations in the early 1970s. Until the summer of 2003 essentially no data existed on the timing or spatial distribution of past ruptures on the DFS. This changed with the occurrence of the M7.9 2002 Denali fault earthquake, which has been a catalyst for present paleoseismic investigations. It provided a well-constrained rupture length and slip distribution. Strike-slip faulting occurred along 290 km of the Denali and Totschunda faults, leaving unruptured ?140km of the eastern Denali fault, ?180 km of the western Denali fault, and ?70 km of the eastern Totschunda fault. The DFS presents us with a blank canvas on which to fill a chronology of past earthquakes using modern paleoseismic techniques. Aware of correlation issues with potentially closely-timed earthquakes we have a) investigated 11 paleoseismic sites that allow a variety of dating techniques, b) measured paleo offsets, which provide insight into magnitude and rupture length of past events, at 18 locations, and c) developed late Pleistocene and Holocene slip rates using exposure age dating to constrain long-term fault behavior models. We are in the process of: 1) radiocarbon-dating peats involved in faulting and liquefaction, and especially short-lived forest floor vegetation that includes outer rings of trees, spruce needles, and blueberry leaves killed and buried during paleoearthquakes; 2) supporting development of a 700-900 year tree-ring time-series for precise dating of trees used in event timing; 3) employing Pb 210 for constraining the youngest ruptures in sag ponds on the eastern and western Denali fault; and 4) using volcanic ashes in trenches for dating and correlation. Initial results are: 1) Large earthquakes occurred along the 2002 rupture section 350-700 yrb02 (2-sigma, calendar-corrected, years before 2002) with offsets about the same as 2002. The Denali penultimate rupture appears younger (350-570 yrb02) than the Totschunda (580-700 yrb02); 2) The western Denali fault is geomorphically fresh, its MRE likely occurred within the past 250 years, the penultimate event occurred 570-680 yrb02, and slip in each event was 4m; 3) The eastern Denali MRE post-dates peat dated at 550-680 yrb02, is younger than the penultimate Totschunda event, and could be part of the penultimate Denali fault rupture or a separate earthquake; 4) A 120-km section of the Denali fault between tNenana glacier and the Delta River may be a zone of overlap for large events and/or capable of producing smaller earthquakes; its western part has fresh scarps with small (1m) offsets. 2004/2005 field observations show there are longer datable records, with 4-5 events recorded in trenches on the eastern Denali fault and the west end of the 2002 rupture, 2-3 events on the western part of the fault in Denali National Park, and 3-4 events on the Totschunda fault. These and extensive datable material provide the basis to define the paleoseismic history of DFS earthquake ruptures through multiple and complete earthquake cycles.

Morphologie et cinématique d'une faille holocène dans les monts Péloritains (Sicile) ; implications géodynamiques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hippolyte, Jean-Claude; Bouillin, Jean-Pierre

1999-11-01

The recent fault system of eastern Sicily can be identified in the Peloritan Mountains, in particular where it cross-cuts carbonate ranges in areas preserved from strong torrential erosion. The scarp of the Mount Kalfa fault results from normal sinistral slip at a mean rate of 0.9 mm·yr -1 during the Würm to Present east-west extension. This normal fault belongs to the Apenninico-Calabro-Sicilian rift zone that cross-cuts the Tyrrhenian arc. Its Sicilian and Apenninic segments enable characterization of a Middle-Late Pleistocene change of the stress regime that could have occurred during a steepening without subduction of the Ionian slab (along Calabria) and its lateral detachment.

GPS-derived slip rates of active faults in eastern Venezuela, along the southeastern Caribbean PBZ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Audemard, F. A.; Beck, C.; Jouanne, F.; Reinoza, C. E.; Fegag

2013-05-01

For over 20 years, GPS campaign measurements have been performed in eastern Venezuela, as well as in other areas of the country, by different scientific groups and in the frame of different either national or international efforts and/or projects, essentially aiming at the estimation of the rate of motion along the major Quaternary faults (i.e., Boconó, San Sebastián and El Pilar faults) composing the plate boundary zone (PBZ) between the Caribbean and South America, along onshore northern and western Venezuela. The slip rates and sense of slip of those major faults derived from the comparison of several GPS campaigns carried out through the years have confirmed the slip data (fault kinematics) previously derived from geologic data, through comprehensive neotectonic and paleoseismic studies mainly made by the FUNVISIS' Earth Sciences Dpt. staff. In a rough way, we could conclude that those faults are dextrally moving at a rate in the order of 10-12 mm/a. More recently, it has been shown that the El Pilar fault has a locking depth close to 10 km deep and that about half of the PBZ dextral motion is accommodated as creep, reducing the seismic hazard for northeastern Venezuela almost by half. On the contrary, in the near past, very little attention has been paid to the secondary active faulting in eastern Venezuela. In that sense, FUNVISIS, in collaboration with the Université de Savoie, started the monitoring of these secondary features by installing 36 brass benchmarks on bedrock in that region in 2003, which have been occupied 3 times, in late 2003 and 2005 and in early 2013. The comparison between the 2003 and 2005 occupations shows promising results, such as: a) The Charagato fault on Cubagua island is left-lateral with a slip rate of about 2 mm/a; b) slip vectors across the El Pilar fault tend to head to the ESE, suggesting that the tectonic regime is compressive transcurrent to transcurrent compressional (transpressional); c) The NW-SE-trending San Francisco fault, in the eastern Interior range, appears to be dextral with a preliminary slip rate of few mm/a; d) the Northern Coast fault, paralleling the El Pilar fault, is also dextral and slips at about 2 mm/a and e) a similar situation seems to display the San Sebastián fault in the Gulf of Cariaco, north of Cumaná, near its eastern tip. We expect that the 2013 occupation, carried out over 9 years later than the first one, will allow estimating more accurately the slip rates of the slower subordinate active faults of the region. This is a contribution to cooperation projects FONACIT-ECOS Nord PI-2003000090 and -2009000818 (French codes V04U01 and V10U01, respectively), French DyETI Programme, as well as Venezuelan FONACIT 2002000478 (GEODINOS) and LOCTI (Cumaná and GIAME) projects. Michel Bechtold, Victor Cano, Luis Melo, Reinaldo Ollarves, Fabián Rada, José Antonio Rodríguez, Javier Sánchez and Aurelien Van Welden are contributing FEGAG members.

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?

Comparision between crustal density and velocity variations in Southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Langenheim, V.E.; Hauksson, E.

2001-01-01

We predict gravity from a three-dimensional Vp model of the upper crust and compare it to the observed isostatic residual gravity field. In general this comparison shows that the isostatic residual gravity field reflects the density variations in the upper to middle crust. Both data sets show similar density variations for the upper crust in areas such as the Peninsular Ranges and the Los Angeles basin. Both show similar variations across major faults, such as the San Andreas and Garlock faults in the Mojave Desert. The difference between the two data sets in regions such as the Salton Trough, the Eastern California Shear Zone, and the eastern Ventura basin (where depth to Moho is <30 km), however, suggests high-density middle to lower crust beneath these regions. Hence the joint interpretation of these data sets improves the depth constraints of crustal density variations.

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 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan (China) Earthquake: exploring the role of crustal heterogeneities from finite element analysis of DInSAR coseismic deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyriakopoulos, Christodoulos; Trasatti, Elisa; Atzori, Simone; Bignami, Christian; Chini, Marco; Stramondo, Salvatore; Tolomei, Christiano

2010-05-01

A destructive (Mw 7.9) earthquake struck the Sichuan province (China) on May 12, 2008. The seismic event, the largest in China in more than three decades and referred as the Wenchuan earthquake, ruptured approximately 280 km of the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault and about 70 km of the Guanxian-Anxian fault. Surface effects were suffered over a wide epicentral area (about 300 km E-W and 250 km N-S). The huge earthquake took place within the context of long term uplift of the Longmen Shan range in eastern Tibet. The Longmen Shan fault zone is the main tectonic boundary between the Sichuan basin and eastern Tibet and is characterized by a large topographic relief (from 500m a.s.l. to more than 4000m) and large variations in rheological properties. The coseismic deformation is imaged by a set of ALOS-PALSAR L-band SAR interferograms. We use an unprecedented high number of data (25 frames from 6 adjacent tracks) to encompass the entire coseismic area. The resulting mosaic of differential interferograms covers an overall area of about 340 km E-W and 240 km N-S. The complex geophysical context of Longmen Shan and the variations of the fault geometry along its length can be better handled by means of numerical methods. The fault geometry is constrained by inversions of geodetic data and by taking into account the geological features of eastern Tibet and Sichuan basin. As a result, we build a Finite Element (FE) model consisting of two non planar faults embedded in a non-homogeneous medium with real topography of the area. We develop a procedure to perform inversions of DInSAR data based on FE computed Green functions of the surface displacement field. We retrieve a complex slip distribution on the fault segments in a heterogeneous medium with realistic surface topography.

Implications of river morphology response to Dien Bien Phu fault in NW Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, K.; Chen, Y.; Lam, D.

2007-12-01

In northern Vietnam, most rivers are flowing southeastward sub- or parallel to the valley of Red River and characterized by long but narrow catchments. The Dien Bien Phu fault is associated with the most seismically active zone in Vietnam and situated in the potential eastern boundary of the rotating southeastern Tibetan block. It cuts the Da River, the largest tributary of Red River in northwest Vietnam and has distorted the drainage basin resulting in complex river patterns. To assess the river morphology response to active Dien Bien Phu fault, we use 1/50,000 topographic data and ASTER images to map the precise river courses and digital elevation model data of SRTM to retrieve and analyze the river profiles. From the mapping results, the N-S striking fault results in three conspicuous north-trending river valleys coincided with the different fault segments to facilitate the measurement and reconstruction of the offsets along the fault. Further combining the longitudinal profile analysis we obtain ca. 10 km offsets by deflected river as the largest left-lateral displacement recorded along the active fault. The restored results show the downstream paleochannel of the Da River had been abandoned and becomes two small tributaries in opposite flow directions at present due to differential crustal uplift. Also the present crisscross valley at the junction of the Da River and the fault is resulted from the capture by another river which has been also deflected by the neotectonics. Based on our observations on river response, the Dien Bien Phu fault is a sinistral dominant fault with an uplift occurring in its eastern block. Furthermore the active Dien Bien Phu fault does not cut through the Red River northward indicating the western block of the fault can not be regarded as a single rigid block. There should be possible to find NW-SE trending faults paralleling to Red River to accommodate the deformation of the western block of the fault.

Implications of river morphology response to Dien Bien Phu fault in NW Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, K.; Chen, Y.; Lam, D.

2004-12-01

In northern Vietnam, most rivers are flowing southeastward sub- or parallel to the valley of Red River and characterized by long but narrow catchments. The Dien Bien Phu fault is associated with the most seismically active zone in Vietnam and situated in the potential eastern boundary of the rotating southeastern Tibetan block. It cuts the Da River, the largest tributary of Red River in northwest Vietnam and has distorted the drainage basin resulting in complex river patterns. To assess the river morphology response to active Dien Bien Phu fault, we use 1/50,000 topographic data and ASTER images to map the precise river courses and digital elevation model data of SRTM to retrieve and analyze the river profiles. From the mapping results, the N-S striking fault results in three conspicuous north-trending river valleys coincided with the different fault segments to facilitate the measurement and reconstruction of the offsets along the fault. Further combining the longitudinal profile analysis we obtain ca. 10 km offsets by deflected river as the largest left-lateral displacement recorded along the active fault. The restored results show the downstream paleochannel of the Da River had been abandoned and becomes two small tributaries in opposite flow directions at present due to differential crustal uplift. Also the present crisscross valley at the junction of the Da River and the fault is resulted from the capture by another river which has been also deflected by the neotectonics. Based on our observations on river response, the Dien Bien Phu fault is a sinistral dominant fault with an uplift occurring in its eastern block. Furthermore the active Dien Bien Phu fault does not cut through the Red River northward indicating the western block of the fault can not be regarded as a single rigid block. There should be possible to find NW-SE trending faults paralleling to Red River to accommodate the deformation of the western block of the fault.

Neotectonics of interior Alaska and the late Quaternary slip rate along the Denali fault system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haeussler, Peter J.; Matmon, Ari; Schwartz, David P.; Seitz, Gordon G.

2017-01-01

The neotectonics of southern Alaska (USA) are characterized by a several hundred kilometers–wide zone of dextral transpressional that spans the Alaska Range. The Denali fault system is the largest active strike-slip fault system in interior Alaska, and it produced a Mw 7.9 earthquake in 2002. To evaluate the late Quaternary slip rate on the Denali fault system, we collected samples for cosmogenic surface exposure dating from surfaces offset by the fault system. This study includes data from 107 samples at 19 sites, including 7 sites we previously reported, as well as an estimated slip rate at another site. We utilize the interpreted surface ages to provide estimated slip rates. These new slip rate data confirm that the highest late Quaternary slip rate is ∼13 mm/yr on the central Denali fault near its intersection with the eastern Denali and the Totschunda faults, with decreasing slip rate both to the east and west. The slip rate decreases westward along the central and western parts of the Denali fault system to 5 mm/yr over a length of ∼575 km. An additional site on the eastern Denali fault near Kluane Lake, Yukon, implies a slip rate of ∼2 mm/yr, based on geological considerations. The Totschunda fault has a maximum slip rate of ∼9 mm/yr. The Denali fault system is transpressional and there are active thrust faults on both the north and south sides of it. We explore four geometric models for southern Alaska tectonics to explain the slip rates along the Denali fault system and the active fault geometries: rotation, indentation, extrusion, and a combination of the three. We conclude that all three end-member models have strengths and shortcomings, and a combination of rotation, indentation, and extrusion best explains the slip rate observations.

Gravity interpretation to image the geologic structures of the coastal zone in Al Qunfudhah area, southwest Saudi Arabia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sulaiman, Aseem; Elawadi, Eslam; Mogren, Saad

2018-06-01

This study provides interpretation and modeling of gravity survey data to map the subsurface basement relief and controlling structures of a coastal area in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia as an aid to groundwater potential assessment. The gravity survey data were filtered and analyzed using different edge detection and depth estimation techniques and concluded by 2-D modeling conducted along representative profiles to obtain the topography and depth variations of the basement surface in the area. The basement rocks are exposed in the eastern part of the area but dip westward beneath a sedimentary cover to depths of up to 2200 m in the west, while showing repeated topographic expressions related to a tilted fault-block structure that is dominant in the Red Sea rift zone. Two fault systems were recognized in the area. The first is a normal fault system trending in the NNW-SSE direction that is related to the Red Sea rift, and the second is a cross-cutting oblique fault system trending in the NE-SW direction. The interaction between these two fault systems resulted in the formation of a set of closed basins elongated in the NNW-SSE direction and terminated by the NE-SW fault system. The geomorphology and sedimentary sequences of these basins qualify them as potential regions of groundwater accumulation.

Micro-seismicity and seismotectonic study in Western Himalaya-Ladakh-Karakoram using local broadband seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanna, Nagaraju; Gupta, Sandeep; Prakasam, K. S.

2018-02-01

We document the seismic activity and fault plane solutions (FPSs) in the Western Himalaya, Ladakh and Karakoram using data from 16 broadband seismographs operated during June 2002 to December 2003. We locate 206 earthquakes with a local magnitude in the range of 1.5 to 4.9 and calculate FPSs of 19 selected earthquakes based on moment tensor solutions. The earthquakes are distributed throughout the study region and indicate active tectonics in this region. The observed seismicity pattern is quite different than a well-defined pattern of seismicity, along the Main Central Thrust zone, in the eastern side of the study region (i.e., Kumaon-Garhwal Himalaya). In the Himalaya region, the earthquakes are distributed in the crust and upper mantle, whereas in the Ladakh-Karakoram area the earthquakes are mostly confined up to crustal depths. The fault plane solutions show a mixture of thrust, normal and strike-slip type mechanisms, which are well corroborated with the known faults/tectonics of the region. The normal fault earthquakes are observed along the Southern Tibet Detachment, Zanskar Shear Zone, Tso-Morari dome, and Kaurik-Chango fault; and suggest E-W extension tectonics in the Higher and Tethys Himalaya. The earthquakes of thrust mechanism with the left-lateral strike-slip component are seen along the Kistwar fault. The right-lateral strike-slip faulting with thrust component along the bending of the Main Boundary Thrust and Main Central Thrust shows the transpressional tectonics in this part of the Himalaya. The observed earthquakes with right-lateral strike-slip faulting indicate seismically active nature of the Karakoram fault.

Mountain building in the central Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kono, Masaru; Fukao, Yoshio; Yamamoto, Akihiko

1989-04-01

The Central Andes is the middle part of the Andean chain between about 13°S and 27°S, characterized by the parallel running high mountain chains (the Western and Eastern Cordilleras) at the edges of high plateaus with a height of about 4000 m and a width of 200 to 450 km (the Altiplano-Puna). From the examination of geophysical and geological data in this area, including earthquakes, deformation, gravity anomaly, volcanism, uplift history, and plate motion, we conclude that the continued plate subduction with domination of compressive stress over the entire arc system is the main cause of the tectonic style of the Central Andes. We propose that the present cycle of mountain building has continued in the Cenozoic with the most active phase since the Miocene, and that the present subduction angle (30°) is not typical in that period but that subduction with more shallowly dipping oceanic lithosphere has prevailed at least since the Miocene, because of the young and buoyant slab involved. This situation is responsible for the production of a broad zone of partial melt in the mantle above the descending slab. Addition of volcanic materials was not restricted to the western edge (where active volcanoes of the Western Cordillera exist) but extended to the western and central portion of the Altiplano-Puna. The western half of the Central Andes is essentially isostatic because the heat transferred with the volcanic activities softened the crust there. In the eastern edge, the thermal effect is small, and the crust is strongly pushed by the westward moving South American plate. This caused the shortening of crustal blocks due to reverse faulting and folding in the Eastern Cordillera and Amazonian foreland. The magmatism and crustal accretion are dominant at the western end of the mountain system and decrease eastward, while the compression and consequent crustal shortening are strongest at the eastern end and wane toward west. These two processes are superposed between the two mountain chains and form high plateaus there: the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru and the Puna of Argentina. This interpretation is supported by the observation that (1) Neogene sedimentary formations have been uplifted to high elevations without heavy distortion in the Altiplano and the Western Cordillera, (2) no significant reverse fault systems are observed on the Altiplano, (3) Neogene volcanic rocks and volcanic centers since the Miocene are not restricted to the Western Cordillera but are widely distributed over most of the Altiplano, (4) most of the Altiplano is in a zone of high heat flow values, (5) thick Paleozoic rocks are strongly folded and faulted in the Eastern Cordillera with little volcanism and no large-scale plutonism in the Cenozoic age, (6) crustal earthquakes with reverse fault mechanisms are concentrated on the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera and Amazonian foreland, and (7) the crustal thickness suddenly decreases at the junction of the Eastern Cordillera and the Amazon Basin, exactly at the place of reverse earthquakes.

Deformation of the Calabrian accretionary wedge and relative kinematics of the Calabrian and Peloritan backstops: Insights from multibeam bathymetry, high-resolution reflection and wide-angle seismics and analog modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dellong, David; Gutscher, Marc-Andre; Klingelhoefer, Frauke; Graindorge, David; Kopp, Heidrun; Moretti, Milena; Marsset, Bruno; Mercier de Lepinay, Bernard; Dominguez, Stephane; Malavieille, Jacques

2016-04-01

Recently acquired swath bathymetric data in the Ionian Sea document in unprecedented detail the morphostructure and dynamics of the Calabrian accretionary wedge. A boundary zone between the eastern and western lobes of the accretionary wedge is examined here. Relative displacement between the Calabrian and Peloritan backstops is expected to cause dextral strike-slip deformation between the lobes. A wide-angle seismic profile was acquired in Oct. 2014 with the R/V Meteor (DIONYSUS survey) recorded by 25 Ocean-bottom seismometers (Geomar and Ifremer instruments) and 3 land-stations (INGV stations). Inversion and forward modeling of these seismic data reveal a 5-10 km deep asymmetric rift zone between the Malta Escarpment and the SW tip of Calabria. Analog modeling was performed to test if the origin of this rift could be related to the relative kinematics of the Calabrian and Peloritan backstops. Modeling, using two independently moving backstops, produces a zone of dextral transtension and subsidence in the accretionary wedge between two lobes. This corresponds well to the asymmetric rift observed in the southward prolongation of the straits of Messina faults. Paradoxically however, this dextral displacement does not appear to traverse the external Calabrian accretionary wedge, where prominent curved lineaments observed indicate a sinistral sense of motion. One possible explanation is that the dextral kinematic motion is transferred into a region of crisscrossing faults in the internal portion of the Eastern lobe. The bathymetry and high-resolution reflection seismic images indicate ongoing compression at the deformation front of both the western and eastern lobes. Together with the analog modeling results, these observations unambiguously demonstrate that the western lobe remains tectonically active.

A new perspective on the significance of the Ranotsara shear zone in Madagascar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schreurs, Guido; Giese, Jörg; Berger, Alfons; Gnos, Edwin

2010-12-01

The Ranotsara shear zone in Madagascar has been considered in previous studies to be a >350-km-long, intracrustal strike-slip shear zone of Precambrian/Cambrian age. Because of its oblique strike to the east and west coast of Madagascar, the Ranotsara shear zone has been correlated with shear zones in southern India and eastern Africa in Gondwana reconstructions. Our assessment using remote sensing data and field-based investigations, however, reveals that what previously has been interpreted as the Ranotsara shear zone is in fact a composite structure with a ductile deflection zone confined to its central segment and prominent NW-SE trending brittle faulting along most of its length. We therefore prefer the more neutral term “Ranotsara Zone”. Lithologies, tectonic foliations, and axial trace trajectories of major folds can be followed from south to north across most of the Ranotsara Zone and show only a marked deflection along its central segment. The ductile deflection zone is interpreted as a result of E-W indentation of the Antananarivo Block into the less rigid, predominantly metasedimentary rocks of the Southwestern Madagascar Block during a late phase of the Neoproterozoic/Cambrian East African Orogeny (c. 550-520 Ma). The Ranotsara Zone shows significant NW-SE striking brittle faulting that reactivates part of the NW-SE striking ductile structures in the flexure zone, but also extends along strike toward the NW and toward the SE. Brittle reactivation of ductile structures along the central segment of the Ranotsara Zone, confirmed by apatite-fission track results, may have led to the formation of a shallow Neogene basin underlying the Ranotsara plain. The present-day drainage pattern suggests on-going normal fault activity along the central segment. The Ranotsara Zone is not a megascale intracrustal strike-slip shear zone that crosscuts the entire basement of southern Madagascar. It can therefore not be used as a piercing point in Gondwana reconstructions.

Estimating Strain Accumulation in the New Madrid and Wabash Valley Seismic Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, T. J.; Calais, E.

2014-12-01

The mechanical behaviour -- and hence earthquake potential -- of faults in continental interiors is a question of critical importance for the resultant seismic hazard, but no consensus has yet been reached on this controversial topic. The debate has focused on the central and eastern United States, in particular the New Madrid Seismic Zone, struck by three magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes in 1811--1812, and to a lesser extent the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone just to the north. A key aspect of this issue is the rate at which strain is currently accruing on those faults in the plate interior, a quantity that remains debated. Understanding if the present-day strain rates indicate sufficient motion to account for the historical and paleoseismological earthquakes by steady-state fault behaviour, or if strain accumulation is time-dependent in this area, is critical for investigating the causative process driving this seismicity in the plate interior, and how regional strain reflects the interplay between stresses arising from different geological processes. Here we address this issue with an analysis of up to 14 years of continuous GPS data from a network of 200 sites in the central United States centred on the New Madrid and Wabash Valley seismic zones. We find that high-quality sites in these regions show motions that are consistently within the 95% confidence limit of zero deformation relative to a rigid background. These results place an upper bound on regional strain accrual of 0.2 mm/yr and 0.5 mm/yr in the New Madrid and Wabash Valley Seismic Zones, respectively. These results, together with increasing evidence for temporal clustering and spatial migration of earthquake sequences in continental interiors, indicate that either tectonic loading rates or fault properties vary with time in the NMSZ and possibly plate-wide.

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.

Mapping the Influence of Prior Tectonism on Seismicity in the Central and Eastern US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyd, O. S.; Levandowski, W.; Ramirez-Guzman, L.; Zellman, M.; Briggs, R.

2015-12-01

From the Atlantic margin to the Rockies, most earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. occur in ancient tectonic zones, yet many such features have been historically quiescent. If all intraplate stress were transferred from plate boundaries or bases, the stress field would be broadly uniform, with all well-oriented faults equally likely to slip. But faults are not the only product of tectonism; intrusions, metamorphism, or any number of other alterations may modify crustal and/or upper mantle density, leaving behind lithostatic pressure gradients that can locally elevate or reduce stress on faults. With data provided by Earthscope, we are working to map lithospheric density across the U.S. and to quantify gravitational body-forces using analytical and finite-element methods. Regional-scale 3D models show that gravitational forces focus seismicity and reorient principal stress both in the New Madrid seismic zone and the western Great Plains. Sedimentary fill and low elevation encourage Reelfoot Rift-normal contraction, yet along-strike variations in lower crustal density rotate body-forces beneath New Madrid to interfere constructively with far-field compression, augmenting differential stress by 5-10 MPa. On the plains of SE Colorado and SE Wyoming, the Cheraw and Wheatland/Whalen faults collocate with multiply reactivated Proterozoic sutures, enigmatic Quaternary extension, and focused seismicity with regionally anomalous NW-SE moment tensor T-axes. Earthscope data help reveal anomalously buoyant lower crust beneath each suture -­- which we hypothesize reflects hydration by Farallon slab-derived fluids that have preferentially migrated along ancient fracture networks -- that generates 10 MPa of localized suture-normal tension, consistent with geomorphic strain- and seismic stress-indicators. As continent-wide seismic models emerge from Earthscope data, we will continue to map regions where inherited structures encourage intraplate seismicity.

Fore-arc basin deformation in the Andaman-Nicobar segment of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone: Insight from high-resolution seismic reflection data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moeremans, Raphaële E.; Singh, Satish C.

2015-08-01

The Andaman-Nicobar region is the northernmost segment of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone and marks the western boundary of the Andaman Sea, which is a complex active back-arc extensional basin. We present the interpretation of a new set of deep seismic reflection data acquired across the Andaman-Nicobar fore-arc basin, from 8°N to 11°N, in order to better understand its structure and evolution, focusing on (1) how obliquity of convergence affects deformation in the fore arc, (2) the nature and role of the Diligent Fault (DF), and (3) the Eastern Margin Fault (EMF). Despite the obliquity of convergence, back thrusting and compression seem to dominate the Andaman-Nicobar fore-arc basin deformation. The DF is primarily a back thrust and corresponds to the Mentawai and West Andaman Fault systems farther in the south, along Sumatra. The DF is expressed in the fore-arc basin as a series of mostly landward verging folds and faults, deforming the early to late Miocene sediments. The DF seems to root from the boundary between the accretionary complex and the continental backstop, where it meets the EMF. The EMF marks the western boundary of the fore-arc basin; it is associated with subsidence and is expressed as a deep piggyback basin, containing recent Pliocene to Pleistocene sediments. The eastern edge of the fore-arc basin is the Invisible Bank (IB), which is thought to be tilted and uplifted continental crust. Subsidence along the EMF and uplift and tilting of the IB seem to be related to different opening phases in the Andaman Sea.

Late Mesozoic deformations of the Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogenic belt, Northeast Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fridovsky, Valery

2016-04-01

The Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogenic belt marks the boundary between the Kolyma-Omolon superterrane (microcontinent) and the submerged eastern margin of the North Asian craton. The orogenic system is remark able for its large number of economically viable gold deposits (Natalka, Pavlik, Rodionovskoe, Drazhnoe, Bazovskoe, Badran, Malo-Tarynskoe, etc.). The Verkhoyansk - Kolyma orogenic belt is subdivided into Kular-Nera and the Polousny-Debin terranes. The Kular-Nera terrane is mainly composed of the Upper Permian, Triassic, and Lower Jurassic black shales that are metamorphosed at lower greenschist facies conditions. The Charky-Indigirka and the Chai-Yureya faults separate the Kular-Nera from the Polousny-Debin terrane that is predominantly composed of the Jurassic flyschoi dturbidites. The deformation structure of the region evolved in association with several late Mesozoic tectonic events that took place in the north-eastern part ofthe Paleo-Pacific. In Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous several generations of fold and thrust systems were formed due to frontal accretion of the Kolyma-Omolon superterrane to the eastern margin of the North Asian craton.Thrusting and folding was accompanied by granitic magmatism, metamorphic reworking of the Late Paleozoic and the Early Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, and formation of Au-Sn-W mineralization. Three stages of deformation related to frontal accretion can be distinguished. First stage D1 has developed in the north-eastern part of the Verkhoyansk - Kolyma orogenic belt. Early tight and isoclinal folds F1 and assosiated thrusts are characteristic of D1. Major thrusts, linear concentric folds F2 and cleavage were formed during D2. The main ore-controlling structures are thrust faults forming imbricate fan systems. Frontal and oblique ramps and systems of bedding and cross thrusts forming duplexes are common. It is notable that mineralized tectonized zones commonly develop along thrusts at the contacts of rocks of contrasting competence. The superimposed structures are recognized from the early cleavage deformations. Folds F3 are often chevron type, open or tight. D1, D2 and D3 deformations are coaxial. In the Late-Neocomian-Aptian the Kolyma-Omolon superterrane started moving to the west. As a result, the thrust faults were reactivated with sinistral strike-slip motions along fault planes. At that time, granitoids of the North and Transverse belts were emplaced in the northwestern part of the Kolyma-Omolon superterrane. The strike slip faults were associated with cross open folds. The postacrettionary stage is associated with the development of the Albian-Late Cretaceous Okhotsk-Chukotka subduction zone. During this stage strike-slip faults and associated deformation structures were superimposed upon accretion-related tectonic structures of the Verkhoyansk - Kolyma orogenic belt.

Crustal structure of the Ionian basin and eastern Sicily margin : results from a wide angle seismic survey and implication for the crustal nature and origin of the basin, and the recent tear fault location

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutscher, M. A.; Dellong, D.; Klingelhoefer, F.; Kopp, H.; Graindorge, D.; Margheriti, L.; Moretti, M.

2017-12-01

In the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean) the slow convergence between Africa and Eurasia results in the formation of a narrow subduction zone. The nature of the crust and lithosphere of the subducting plate remain debated and could represent the last remnants of the Neo-Tethys ocean. The rifting mechanism that produced the Ionian basin are also still under discussion with the Malta escarpment representing a possible remnant of this opening. At present, this subduction is still retreating to the south-east (motion occurring since the last 35 Ma) but is confined to the narrow Ionian Basin. In order to accommodate slab roll-back, a major lateral slab tear fault is required. This fault is thought to propagate along the eastern Sicily margin but its precise location remains controversial. This study focuses on the deep crustal structure of the Eastern-Sicily margin and the Malta Escarpment by presenting two wide-angle velocity profiles crossing these structures roughly orthogonally. The data used for the forward velocity modeling were acquired onboard the R/V Meteor during the DIONYSUS cruise in 2014. The results image an oceanic crust within the Ionian basin as well as the deep structure of the Malta Escarpment which presents characteristics of a transform margin. A deep and asymmetrical sedimentary basin is imaged south of the Messina strait and seems to have opened in between the Calabrian and Peloritan continental terranes. The interpretation of the velocity models suggests that the tear fault is located east of the Malta Escarpment, along the Alfeo fault system.

Long-term slip rate of the southern San Andreas Fault, from 10Be-26Al surface exposure dating of an offset alluvial fan

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

der Woerd, J v; Klinger, Y; Sieh, K

We determine the long-term slip rate of the southern San Andreas Fault in the southeastern Indio Hills using {sup 10}Be and {sup 26}Al isotopes to date an offset alluvial fan surface. Field mapping complemented with topographic data, air photos and satellite images allow to precisely determine piercing points across the fault zone that are used to measure an offset of 565 {+-} 80 m. A total of twenty-six quartz-rich cobbles from three different fan surfaces were collected and dated. The tight cluster of nuclide concentrations from 19 samples out of 20 from the offset fan surface implies a simple exposuremore » history, negligible prior exposure and erosion, and yield an age of 35.5 {+-} 2.5 ka. The long-term slip rate of the San Andreas Fault south of Biskra Palms is thus 15.9 {+-} 3.4 mm/yr. This rate is about 10 mm/yr slower than geological (0-14 ka) and short-term geodetic estimates for this part of the San Andreas Fault implying changes in slip rate or in faulting behavior. This result puts new constraints on the slip rate of the San Jacinto and on the Eastern California Shear Zone for the last 35 ka. Our study shows that more sites along the major faults of southern California need to be targeted to better constrain the slip-rates over different time scales.« less

Modeling earthquake sequences along the Manila subduction zone: Effects of three-dimensional fault geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Hongyu; Liu, Yajing; Yang, Hongfeng; Ning, Jieyuan

2018-05-01

To assess the potential of catastrophic megathrust earthquakes (MW > 8) along the Manila Trench, the eastern boundary of the South China Sea, we incorporate a 3D non-planar fault geometry in the framework of rate-state friction to simulate earthquake rupture sequences along the fault segment between 15°N-19°N of northern Luzon. Our simulation results demonstrate that the first-order fault geometry heterogeneity, the transitional-segment (possibly related to the subducting Scarborough seamount chain) connecting the steeper south segment and the flatter north segment, controls earthquake rupture behaviors. The strong along-strike curvature at the transitional-segment typically leads to partial ruptures of MW 8.3 and MW 7.8 along the southern and northern segments respectively. The entire fault occasionally ruptures in MW 8.8 events when the cumulative stress in the transitional-segment is sufficiently high to overcome the geometrical inhibition. Fault shear stress evolution, represented by the S-ratio, is clearly modulated by the width of seismogenic zone (W). At a constant plate convergence rate, a larger W indicates on average lower interseismic stress loading rate and longer rupture recurrence period, and could slow down or sometimes stop ruptures that initiated from a narrower portion. Moreover, the modeled interseismic slip rate before whole-fault rupture events is comparable with the coupling state that was inferred from the interplate seismicity distribution, suggesting the Manila trench could potentially rupture in a M8+ earthquake.

Preliminary Geologic Map of the White Sulphur Springs 30' x 60' Quadrangle, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reynolds, Mitchell W.; Brandt, Theodore R.

2006-01-01

The geologic map of the White Sulphur Springs quadrangle, scale 1:100,000, was made as part of the Montana Investigations Project to provide new information on the stratigraphy, structure, and geologic history of the geologically complex area in west-central Montana. The quadrangle encompasses about 4,235 km2 (1,635 mi2), across part of the Smith River basin, the west end of the Little Belt Mountains, the Castle Mountains, and the upper parts of the basins of the North Forks of the Smith and Musselshell Rivers and the Judith River. Geologically the quadrangle extends across the eastern part of the Helena structural salient in the Rocky Mountain thrust belt, a segment of the Lewis and Clark tectonic zone, west end of the ancestral central Montana uplift, and the southwest edge of the Judith basin. Rocks and sediments in the White Sulphur Springs quadrangle are assigned to 88 map units on the basis of rock or sediment type and age. The oldest rock exposed is Neoarchean diorite that is infolded with Paleoproterozoic metamorphic rocks including gneiss, diorite, granite, amphibolite, schist, and mixed metamorphic rock types. A thick succession of the Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup unconformably overlies the metamorphic rocks and, in turn, is overlain unconformably by Phanerozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Across most of the quadrangle, the pre-Tertiary stratigraphic succession is intruded by Eocene dikes, sills, and plutons. The central part of the Little Belt Mountains is generally underlain by laccoliths and sheet-like bodies of quartz monzonite or dacite. Oligocene andesitic basalt flows in the western and southern part of the quadrangle document both the configuration of the late Eocene erosional surfaces and the extent of extensional faulting younger than early Oligocene in the area. Pliocene, Miocene, and Oligocene strata, mapped as 11 units, consist generally of interbedded sand, gravel, and tuffaceous sedimentary rock. Quaternary and Quaternary-Tertiary sediments rest across the older Cenozoic deposits and across all older rocks. The Quaternary and Quaternary-Tertiary deposits generally are gravels that mantle broad erosional surfaces on the flanks of the mountains, gravels in stream channels, and colluvium and landslide deposits on hill sides. Glacial deposits, representing at least two stages of glaciation, are present in the northern part of the Little Belt Mountains. The geologic structure of much of the northwest part of the quadrangle is a broad uplift, in the core of which the Paleoproterozoic and Neoarchean metamorphic rocks are exposed. Down plunge to the east, the succession of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks define an east-trending arch, cored locally by Mesoproterozoic strata of the Belt Supergroup. The north flank of the arch dips steeply north as a monocline. Stratigraphic relations among Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Jurassic strata document the recurrent uplift and erosion on that north flank. The broader arch of the Little Belt Mountains reflects the west plunge of the ancestral Central Montana uplift. The eastern extension of the Lewis and Clark tectonic zone is exposed in the southern half of the quadrangle where the Volcano Valley fault zone curves from west to southeast as a reverse fault along which the latest movement is up on the south side. The fault zone ends in an anticline in the south-central margin of the quadrangle. Stratigraphic overlap of Phanerozoic strata over the truncated edges of Mesoproterozoic units documents that the area of the eastern terminus of the fault zone was tectonically recurrently active. Northeast trending strike-slip faults displace Mesoproterozoic rocks in the northwest and south-central parts of the quadrangle. Several of those faults are overlain unconformably by the Middle Cambrian Flathead Sandstone. Other north-east and west-trending faults across the central part of the quadrangle are intruded by middle Eocene plutons. You

The Wallula fault and tectonic framework of south-central Washington, as interpreted from magnetic and gravity anomalies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blakely, Richard J.; Sherrod, Brian; Weaver, Craig S.; Wells, Ray; Rohay, Alan C.

2014-01-01

The Yakima fold and thrust belt (YFTB) in central Washington has accommodated regional, mostly north-directed, deformation of the Cascadia backarc since prior to emplacement of Miocene flood basalt of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). The YFTB consists of two structural domains. Northern folds of the YFTB strike eastward and terminate at the western margin of a 20-mGal negative gravity anomaly, the Pasco gravity low, straddling the North American continental margin. Southern folds of the YFTB strike southeastward, form part of the Olympic–Wallowa lineament (OWL), and pass south of the Pasco gravity low as the Wallula fault zone. An upper crustal model based on gravity and magnetic anomalies suggests that the Pasco gravity low is caused in part by an 8-km-deep Tertiary basin, the Pasco sub-basin, abutting the continental margin and concealed beneath CRBG. The Pasco sub-basin is crossed by north-northwest-striking magnetic anomalies caused by dikes of the 8.5 Ma Ice Harbor Member of the CRBG. At their northern end, dikes connect with the eastern terminus of the Saddle Mountains thrust of the YFTB. At their southern end, dikes are disrupted by the Wallula fault zone. The episode of NE–SW extension that promoted Ice Harbor dike injection apparently involved strike-slip displacement on the Saddle Mountains and Wallula faults. The amount of lateral shear on the OWL impacts the level of seismic hazard in the Cascadia region. Ice Harbor dikes, as mapped with aeromagnetic data, are dextrally offset by the Wallula fault zone a total of 6.9 km. Assuming that dike offsets are tectonic in origin, the Wallula fault zone has experienced an average dextral shear of 0.8 mm/y since dike emplacement 8.5 Ma, consistent with right-lateral stream offsets observed at other locations along the OWL. Southeastward, the Wallula fault transfers strain to the north-striking Hite fault, the possible location of the M 5.7 Milton-Freewater earthquake in 1936.

Imaging P and S attenuation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region, northern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eberhart-Phillips, Donna; Thurber, Clifford; Fletcher, Jon Peter B.

2014-01-01

We obtain 3-D Qp and Qs models for the Delta region of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, a large fluvial-agricultural portion of the Great Valley located between the Sierra Nevada batholith and the San Francisco Bay - Coast Ranges region of active faulting. Path attenuation t* values have been obtained for P and S data from 124 distributed earthquakes, with a longer variable window for S based on the energy integral. We use frequency dependence of 0.5 consistent with other studies, and weakly favored by the t* S data. A regional initial model was obtained by solving for Q as a function of velocity. In the final model, the Great Valley basin has low Q with very low Q (<50) for the shallowest portion of the Delta. There is an underlying strong Q contrast to the ophiolite basement which is thickest with highest Q under the Sacramento basin, and a change in structure is apparent across the Suisun Bay as a transition to thinner ophiolite. Moderately low Q is found in the upper crust west of the Delta region along the faults in the eastern North Bay Area, while, moderately high Q is found south of the Delta, implying potentially stronger ground motion for earthquake sources to the south. Very low Q values in the shallow crust along parts of the major fault zones may relate to sediment and abundant microfractures. In the lower crust below the San Andreas and Calaveras-Hayward-Rodgers Creek fault zones, the observed low Q is consistent with grain-size reduction in ductile shear zones and is lowest under the San Andreas which has large cumulative strain. Similarly moderately low Q in the ductile lower crust of the Bay Area block between the major fault zones implies a broad distributed shear zone.

Spatial stress variations in the aftershock sequence following the 2008 M6 earthquake doublet in the South Iceland Seismic Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hensch, M.; Árnadóttir, Th.; Lund, B.; Brandsdóttir, B.

2012-04-01

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is an approximately 80 km wide E-W transform zone, bridging the offset between the Eastern Volcanic Zone and the Hengill triple junction to the west. The plate motion is accommodated in the brittle crust by faulting on many N-S trending right-lateral strike-slip faults of 2-5 km separation. Major sequences of large earthquakes (M>6) has occurred repeatedly in the SISZ since the settlement in Iceland more than thousand years ago. On 29th May 2008, two M6 earthquakes hit the western part of the SISZ on two adjacent N-S faults within a few seconds. The intense aftershock sequence was recorded by the permanent Icelandic SIL network and a promptly installed temporary network of 11 portable seismometers in the source region. The network located thousands of aftershocks during the following days, illuminating a 12-17 km long region along both major fault ruptures as well as several smaller parallel faults along a diffuse E-W trending region west of the mainshock area without any preceding main rupture. This episode is suggested to be the continuation of an earthquake sequence which started with two M6.5 and several M5-6 events in June 2000. The time delay between the 2000 and 2008 events could be due to an inflation episode in Hengill during 1993-1998, that potentially locked N-S strike slip faults in the western part of the SISZ. Around 300 focal solutions for aftershocks have been derived by analyzing P-wave polarities, showing predominantly strike-slip movements with occasional normal faulting components (unstable P-axis direction), which suggests an extensional stress regime as their driving force. A subsequent stress inversion of four different aftershock clusters reveals slight variations of the directions of the average σ3 axes. While for both southern clusters, including the E-W cluster, the σ3 axes are rather elongated perpendicular to the overall plate spreading axis, they are more northerly trending for shallower clusters located further north. In this study we will try to shed light into whether the azimuth variations of σ3 is caused by stress changes due to the inflation-deflation episode in Hengill (NW of the activated fault zone) or solely depending to the depth of the aftershock clusters.

Fault evolution in the Potiguar rift termination, equatorial margin of Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Castro, D. L.; Bezerra, F. H. R.

2015-02-01

The transform shearing between South American and African plates in the Cretaceous generated a series of sedimentary basins on both plate margins. In this study, we use gravity, aeromagnetic, and resistivity surveys to identify architecture of fault systems and to analyze the evolution of the eastern equatorial margin of Brazil. Our study area is the southern onshore termination of the Potiguar rift, which is an aborted NE-trending rift arm developed during the breakup of Pangea. The basin is located along the NNE margin of South America that faces the main transform zone that separates the North and the South Atlantic. The Potiguar rift is a Neocomian structure located at the intersection of the equatorial and western South Atlantic and is composed of a series of NE-trending horsts and grabens. This study reveals new grabens in the Potiguar rift and indicates that stretching in the southern rift termination created a WNW-trending, 10 km wide, and ~ 40 km long right-lateral strike-slip fault zone. This zone encompasses at least eight depocenters, which are bounded by a left-stepping, en echelon system of NW-SE- to NS-striking normal faults. These depocenters form grabens up to 1200 m deep with a rhomb-shaped geometry, which are filled with rift sedimentary units and capped by postrift sedimentary sequences. The evolution of the rift termination is consistent with the right-lateral shearing of the equatorial margin in the Cretaceous and occurs not only at the rift termination but also as isolated structures away from the main rift. This study indicates that the strike-slip shearing between two plates propagated to the interior of one of these plates, where faults with similar orientation, kinematics, geometry, and timing of the major transform are observed. These faults also influence rift geometry.

Geophysical basin structure of the Cotonou (Dahomey/Benin) basin, West African Gulf of Guinea

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

Babalola, O.O.

1990-05-01

The frontier Cotonou basin (or Dahomey/Benin embayment), situated west of the prolific Niger Delta basin, appears from seismic, gravity, and aeromagnetic interpretation, as a series of grabens and troughs confined on the west and east by the Romanche and the Chain fracture zones, respectively. The Keta trough of the western basin rim was formed by a 2700-m southeasterly downthrow of the Adina fault. This trough is separated by a north-northeasterly fault from the Lome-Anecho gravity high. Eastward, the arcuate Allada-Adjohon trough is abutted on its southern flank by the northwest-trending Nokue-Afowo trough and separated from the northwesterly Ikorodu trough bymore » the 50-km-wide aeromagnetically inferred ro-Otta ridge. The Ikorodu trough is adjoined on the northwest by the Aiyetoro trough and on the southeast by the Yemoja offshore graben trending east northeast as the Seme oil-field structural trend. North of the regional northeasterly axial, gravity positive, structural divide (the continental precursor of the Charcot fracture zone) a series of half-grabens (notably the Aplahoue, Bohicon, and Keiou troughs), normal faulted eastward and downthrown in the west, dominate the landward western rim of the Cotonou basin. Graben-bounding faults control the upper valleys of the basin drainage, converge toward the regional intrabasin structural trend and continue into the Fenyi-koe fault and the Charcot fracture zone. These faults resulted from brittle dextral shear of continental crust oblique to local, preexisting north-northeast structural trends. In the eastern basin rim, preexisting north-northwest structural trends influenced the shearing stress regime to generate small, shallow, structurally bounded, east-northeast- and north-northwest trending grabens.« less

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.

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

Nugraha, Andri Dian, E-mail: andridn104@gmail.com; Widiyantoro, Sri; Shiddiqi, Hasbi Ash

Indonesian archipelago region is located in active tectonic setting and high seismicity zone. During the last decade, Indonesian was experienced with destructive major earthquakes causing damage and victims. The information of precise earthquake location parameters are very important in partular for earthquake early warning to the society and for advance seismic studies. In this study, we attempted to improve hypocenter location compiled by BMKG for time periods of April, 2009 up to June, 2014 for about 22,000 earthquake events around Indonesian region. For the firts time, we applied teleseismic double-difference relocation algorithm (teletomoDD) to improve hypocenter region in Indonesia regionmore » combining regional and teleseismic stations. Hypocenter relocation was performed utilizing local, regional, and teleseismic P-wave arrival time data. Our relocation result show that travel-time RMS errors were greatly reduced compared to the BMKG catalog. Seismicity at shallower depth (less than 50 km) shows significantly improvement especially in depth, and refined shallow geological structures, e.g. trench and major strike slip faults. Clustered seismicity is also detected beneath volcanic region, and probably related volcano activities and also major faults nearby. In the Sunda arc region, seismicity at shallower depth centered at two major distributions parallel to the trench strike direction, i.e. around fore-arc and in mainland that related to major fault, e.g. the Sumatran fault, and volcanic fronts. Below Central Java region, relocated hypocenter result showed double seismic zone pattern. A seismic gap is detected around the Sunda-Banda transition zone where transition between oceanic subduction to continental crust collision of Australian plate occurs. In Eastern Indonesia region, shallow earthquakes are observed related to major strike slip faults, e.g. Sorong and Palu-Koro fault, volcanism, and shallow part of subduction and collision zones. We also compare our result in the Sunda Arc region with slab1.0 model and our relocated seismicity shows good agreement with the previous slab geometry. Horizontal position shift of relocated events are mostly perpendicular to the trench directions.« less

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.)

Geologic map of the White Hall quadrangle, Frederick County, Virginia, and Berkeley County, West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doctor, Daniel H.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Parker, Ronald A.; Weary, David J.; Repetski, John E.

2010-01-01

The White Hall 7.5-minute quadrangle is located within the Valley and Ridge province of northern Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. The quadrangle is one of several being mapped to investigate the geologic framework and groundwater resources of Frederick County, Va., as well as other areas in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia. All exposed bedrock outcrops are clastic and carbonate strata of Paleozoic age ranging from Middle Cambrian to Late Devonian. Surficial materials include unconsolidated alluvium, colluvium, and terrace deposits of Quaternary age, and local paleo-terrace deposits possibly of Tertiary age. The quadrangle lies across the northeast plunge of the Great North Mountain anticlinorium and includes several other regional folds. The North Mountain fault zone cuts through the eastern part of the quadrangle; it is a series of thrust faults generally oriented northeast-southwest that separate the Silurian and Devonian clastic rocks from the Cambrian and Ordovician carbonate rocks and shales. Karst development in the quadrangle occurs in all of the carbonate rocks. Springs occur mainly near or on faults. Sinkholes occur within all of the carbonate rock units, especially where the rocks have undergone locally intensified deformation through folding, faulting, or some combination.

Tectonic evolution of the Northern Pyrenees. Results of the PYRAMID project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, Mary; Mouthereau, Fredéric; Christophoul, Fredéric; de Saint Blanquat, Michel; Espurt, Nicolas; Labaume, Pierre; Vergés, Jaume; Teixell, Antonio; Bellahsen, Nicolas; Vacharat, Arnaud; Pik, Raphael; Pironon, Jacques; Carpentier, Cédric; Angrand, Paul; Grool, Arjan; Salardon, Roland; Huismans, Ritske; Bader, Anne-Gaëlle; Baudin, Thierry; Aubourg, Charles

2017-04-01

The aims of the PYRAMID project funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche of France, were to investigate and constrain the 3D structural style and architecture of the North Pyrenean retrowedge and foreland basin, their evolution through time, to define the character and role of inherited crustal geometries, to investigate the interactions between deformation, fluids and thermicity in the different structural units, and to carry out source to sink studies In this talk we present a series of restored cross sections through the central and eastern Pyrenean retrowedge to illustrate structural style, amount and type of deformation and how it was accommodated within the upper crust along the orogen. The total amount of convergence appears to have been constant and the timing of onset of convergence was synchronous. However, in the retrowedge the complexity of the Cretaceous oblique rift system has led to high lateral structural variability. Inherited vertical late Variscan faults trending NE-SW to ENE-WSW segment the European crust and have strongly compartmentalised both retrowedge and foreland basin evolution along the orogen. Crustal scale restorations provide new evolutionary models for the geometry and style of inversion of the pre-orogenic hyper-extended rift system where mantle was exhumed in the most distal domain. Numerical models provide insight into retrowedge inversion. A new stratigraphic scheme has been developed for the eastern and central foreland. Subsidence analyses and foreland basin reconstructions document two pulses of convergence (Late Santonian to Early Paleocene and Eocene to Oligocene) separated by a quiet phase during the Paleocene. These phases can be linked to deformation in the North Pyrenean Zone thrust belt. The first phase was caused mainly by inversion and emplacement of the Metamorphic Internal Zone onto external zones associated with subduction of the exhumed mantle domain. Little or no relief was created during this phase although thermochronological data records the beginning of inversion in the eastern retrowedge. Full collision began in Early Eocene, distributed between the pro- and retro wedges, with only about 30% of convergence accommodated in the retrowedge. Low temperature thermochronology data records southward migrating exhumation of the axial zone while external basement massifs were being exhumed in the North Pyrenean Zone. The Cretaceous rift system was inverted by a combined thin-skinned-thick-skinned style with a decoupling level in the Keuper evaporites. The North Pyrenean Frontal thrust consists of a series of inverted Cretaceous rift margin faults, which in the east represent the main breakaway fault system.

GPS and seismic constraints on the M = 7.3 2009 Swan Islands earthquake: implications for stress changes along the Motagua fault and other nearby faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Shannon E.; DeMets, Charles; DeShon, Heather R.; Rogers, Robert; Maradiaga, Manuel Rodriguez; Strauch, Wilfried; Wiese, Klaus; Hernandez, Douglas

2012-09-01

We use measurements at 35 GPS stations in northern Central America and 25 seismometers at teleseismic distances to estimate the distribution of slip, source time function and Coulomb stress changes of the Mw = 7.3 2009 May 28, Swan Islands fault earthquake. This event, the largest in the region for several decades, ruptured the offshore continuation of the seismically hazardous Motagua fault of Guatemala, the site of the destructive Ms = 7.5 earthquake in 1976. Measured GPS offsets range from 308 millimetres at a campaign site in northern Honduras to 6 millimetres at five continuous sites in El Salvador. Separate inversions of geodetic and seismic data both indicate that up to ˜1 m of coseismic slip occurred along a ˜250-km-long rupture zone between the island of Roatan and the eastern limit of the 1976 M = 7.5 Motagua fault earthquake in Guatemala. Evidence for slip ˜250 km west of the epicentre is corroborated independently by aftershocks recorded by a local seismic network and by the high concentration of damage to structures in areas of northern Honduras adjacent to the western limit of the rupture zone. Coulomb stresses determined from the coseismic slip distribution resolve a maximum of 1 bar of stress transferred to the seismically hazardous Motagua fault and further indicate unclamping of normal faults along the northern shore of Honduras, where two M > 5 normal-faulting earthquakes and numerous small earthquakes were triggered by the main shock.

The Dauki Thrust Fault and the Shillong Anticline: An incipient plate boundary in NE India?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, E. K.; Seeber, L.; Steckler, M. S.; Akhter, S. H.; Mondal, D.; Lenhart, A.

2012-12-01

The Shillong Massif is a regional contractional structure developing across the Assam sliver of the Indian plate near the Eastern Syntaxis between the Himalaya and Burma arcs. Faulting associated with the Shillong Massif is a major source of earthquake hazard. The massif is a composite basement-cored asymmetric anticline and is 100km wide, >350km long and 1.8km high. The high relief southern limb preserves a Cretaceous-Paleocene passive margin sequence despite extreme rainfall while the gentler northern limb is devoid of sedimentary cover. This asymmetry suggests southward growth of the structure. The Dauki fault along the south limb builds this relief. From the south-verging structure, we infer a regional deeply-rooted north-dipping blind thrust fault. It strikes E-W and obliquely intersects the NE-SW margin of India, thus displaying three segments: Western, within continental India; Central, along the former passive margin; and Eastern, overridden by the west-verging Burma accretion system. We present findings from recent geologic fieldwork on the western and central segments. The broadly warped erosional surface of the massif defines a single anticline in the central segment, east of the intersection with the hinge zone of the continental margin buried by the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta. The south limb of the anticline forms a steep topographic front, but is even steeper structurally as defined by the Cretaceous-Eocene cover. Below it, Sylhet Trap Basalts intrude and cover Precambrian basement. Dikes, presumably parallel to the rifted margin, are also parallel to the front, suggesting thrust reactivation of rift-related faults. Less competent Neogene clastics are preserved only near the base of the mountain front. Drag folds in these rocks suggest north-vergence and a roof thrust above a blind thrust wedge floored by the Dauki thrust fault. West of the hinge zone, the contractional structure penetrates the Indian continent and bifurcates. After branching into the Dapsi Fault, the Dauki Fault continues westward as the erosion-deposition boundary combined with a belt of N-S shortening. The Dapsi thrust fault strikes WNW across the Shillong massif and dips NNE. It is mostly blind below a topographically expressed fold involving basement and passive-margin cover. Recent fieldwork has shown that the fault is better exposed in the west, where eventually Archean basement juxtaposes folded and steeply dipping fluvial sediment. Both Dauki and Dapsi faults probably continue beyond the Brahmaputra River, where extreme fluvial processes mask them. The area between the two faults is a gentle southward monocline with little or no shortening. Thus uplift of this area stems from slip on the Dauki thrust fault, not from pervasive shortening. The Burma foldbelt overrides the Shillong Plateau and is warped but continuous across the eastern segment of the Dauki fault. The Haflong-Naga thrust front north of the Dauki merges with the fold-thrust belt in the Sylhet basin to the south, despite >150km of differential advance due to much greater advance of the accretionary prism in the basin. Where the Dauki and Haflong-Naga thrusts cross, the thrust fronts are nearly parallel and opposite vergence. We trace a Dauki-related topographic front eastward across the Burma Range. This and other evidence suggest that the Dauki Fault continues below the foldbelt.

Structure and Evolution of the Central Andes of Peru

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez, L.; Pfiffner, O. A.

2009-04-01

Three major units make up the Andes in Peru: (1) The Western Cordillera consists of the Cretaceous Coastal Batholith intruding Jurassic to Cretaceous volcaniclastics (Casma group) in the west, and a fold-and-thrust belt of Mesozoic sediments in the east. Eocene and Miocene volcanics (Calipuy group and equivalents) overly all of these rock types. (2) The Central Highland contains a folded Paleozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary sequence overlain by thick Quaternary deposits. A major fault puts Neoproterozoic basement rocks of the Eastern Cordillera next to these units. (3) In the Eastern Cordillera, Late Paleozoic clastic successions unconformably overly folded Early Paleozoic sediments and a Neoproterozoic basement in the east. Permian (locally Triassic) granitoids intruded these units and were affected by folding and thrusting. In the core of the Eastern Cordillera, Early Cretaceous overly Early or Late Paleozoic strata. To the west, a thrust belt of Paleozoic to Cenozoic strata forms the transition to the foreland of the Brasilian shield. The most external part of this thrust belt involves Pliocene sediments and is referred to as Subandine zone. The Coastal Batholith is internally undeformed. The adjacent fold-and-thrust belt to the east is characterized by tight, nearly isoclinal upright folds with amplitudes of up to 1000 m. At the surface only Cretaceous rocks are observed. Using balancing techniques, a detachment horizon at the base of the Lowermost Cretaceous (Goyallarisquizga group - Oyon Formation) can be proposed. Further east, folds are more open, asymmetric and east verging, Jurassic sediments appear in the cores of the anticlines. The abrupt change in style from upright tight folding in the west to more open folding in the east is explained by a primary difference in the depositional sequence, most probably associated with synsedimentary faulting. The overlying volcanics of the Calipuy group and equivalents are, in turn, only slightly folded. In the Northern part of the Western Cordillera, near Huaraz, a vertical fault puts a Late Miocene to Early Pliocene batholith (Cordillera Blanca) in direct contact to Miocene volcanics (Calipuy group, Cordillera Negra). The structure of the Central Highlands is characterized by relatively open folds in the Paleozoic to Mesozoic strata. Overlying Quaternary deposits are tilted and locally even folded. Eocene to Miocene undeformed granitoids intrude these structures. A swarm of NNW-SSE striking and steeply dipping faults separate the Eastern Cordillera from the Highlands. Some of these faults suggest block faulting. However, near Huancayo a clear indication of strike-slip motion could be found. The Neoproterozoic basement rocks and the Early Paleozoic sediments are unconformably overlain by Late Paleozoic sediments which in turn are folded. Within the Subandine zone, the structural style is characterized by east directed imbricate thrusting. The thrust faults cut down into the crystalline basement going west, suggesting a detachment within upper crustal crystalline basement rocks. In the Central Peruvian Andes, compressional deformation events progressed from west to east. Early Cretaceous plutons of the coast batholith intruded folded Jurassic to Early Cretaceous volcaniclastic rocks of the Casma group and suggest an Early Cretaceous phase of shortening in the Pacific coastal area of the Western Cordillera (referred to as Mochica phase in the literature). Within the Western Cordillera, a major phase of pre-Eocene erosion removed a substantial amount of the tight upright folds. The youngest strata folded are of Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene age (Red Beds). The overlying volcanics are slightly younger (middle Eocene) and bracket the tight folding, referred to as Inca phase, to Late Paleocene to Early Eocene times. This is corroborated by Eocene to Miocene granitic intrusions in the adjacent fold-and-thrust belt. Still younger deformations, referred to as Quechua Phase, produced gentle folds within the Eocene volcanics. Vertical motions in the Cordillera Blanca juxtaposed a Late Miocene-Pliocene batholith to Late Miocene volcanics. These movements are post-Pleistonce in age and still active. In the Central High Zone, even Pleistocene deposits were tilted and locally folded. Timing of the steeply dipping faults bordering the Eastern Cordillera is more difficult to assess. Cretaceous strata in tectonic contact with Neoproterozoic basement indicate a Cenozoic age. But within the fold-and-thrust belt of the Subandine zone in the east, youngest strata affected by thrusting are progressively younger toward the east. They suggest thrust propagation ranging from Oligocene to Pliocene age. These young thrust faults were responsible for the uplift of the Central Highland to their present elevation.

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.

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liggett, M. A. (Principal Investigator)

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Research progress in an investigation using ERTS-1 MSS imagery to study regional tectonics and related natural resources is summarized. Field reconnaissance guided by analysis of ERTS-1 imagery has resulted in development of a tectonic model relating strike-slip faulting to crustal extension in the southern Basin Range Province. The tectonics of the northern Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone and spacially associated volcanism and mercury mineralization were also investigated. Field work in the southern Sierra Nevada has confirmed the existence of faults and diabase dike swarms aligned along several major lineaments first recognized in ERTS-1 imagery. Various image enhancement and analysis techniques employed in the study of ERTS-1 data are summarized.

Near-field investigations of the Landers earthquake sequence, April to July 1992

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sieh, K.; Jones, L.; Hauksson, E.; Hudnut, K.; Eberhart-Phillips, D.; Heaton, T.; Hough, S.; Hutton, K.; Kanamori, H.; Lilje, A.; Lindvall, Scott; McGill, S.F.; Mori, J.; Rubin, C.; Spotila, J.A.; Stock, J.; Thio, H.K.; Treiman, J.; Wernicke, B.; Zachariasen, J.

1993-01-01

The Landers earthquake, which had a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.3, was the largest earthquake to strike the contiguous United States in 40 years. This earthquake resulted from the rupture of five major and many minor right-lateral faults near the southern end of the eastern California shear zone, just north of the San Andreas fault. Its Mw 6.1 preshock and Mw 6.2 aftershock had their own aftershocks and foreshocks. Surficial geological observations are consistent with local and far-field seismologic observations of the earthquake. Large surficial offsets (as great as 6 meters) and a relatively short rupture length (85 kilometers) are consistent with seismological calculations of a high stress drop (200 bars), which is in turn consistent with an apparently long recurrence interval for these faults.

Kinematic evolution of southern Hellenides (western Crete, Greece)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chatzaras, V.; Xypolias, P.; Kokkalas, S.; Koukouvelas, I. K.

2010-05-01

Combined kinematic, structural and paleostress analyses were performed to reevaluate the tectonic evolution of the southern Hellenides in western Crete. Our work shows that the structural architecture of the study area was mainly established by two contractional deformation phases. SSW-directed thrusting from Oligocene to lower Miocene times (D1 phase) lead to brittle stacking of the upper thrust sheets and concomitant ductile exhumation-related imbrication of the lower HP tectonic units (Phyllite-Quartzite (PQ), Tripali and Plattenkalk units). Kinematic analysis in the PQ unit reveals a main southward ductile transport followed by late bulk coaxial deformation. The PQ unit rocks comprise the body of a crustal scale shear zone confined at its base by a major ductile thrust and in accordance with the proposed models we suggest that the exhumation process of the PQ unit involved S-directed ductile extrusion. Structural trends of ductile D1 thrusts define a salient bounded to the east by a NE-trending transverse zone situated in the western margin of the Lefka Ori window. At the eastern limb of the salient, the trajectories of L1 stretching lineation formed on a gently dipping S1 foliation in the PQ unit, show a clockwise rotation with proximity to the transverse zone. This suggests that the latter acted as an oblique buttress against the southward extruding PQ unit rocks causing their lateral escape. D2 phase was governed by regional NNW to NNE compression and involved significant folding and out-of-sequence with respect to D1 thrusting. The early D2a phase is related to the brittle-stage of exhumation of the HP-units and spans from middle to upper Miocene. D2a deformation involved thrust-related folding, tectonic imbrication and the formation of a middle Miocene thrust-top basin. The F2a folds are characterized by a predominant S(SE)-vergence and show a pronounced curvature of their hinge orientations from a regional E-W to a local NE-SW trend, the latter only present at the eastern limb of the salient. In the transverse zone, combined forward-directed imbricate thrusting and backthrusting lead to the development of a major pop-up structure and a triangle zone. Moreover, the trend of compression axes at the salient's eastern limb are deflected from the regional NNE to NNW orientation to a local NW orientation perpendicular to the transverse zone. These findings suggest that the transverse zone should have served as an oblique ramp to the southward transport of HP-rocks, while the steep dip of the ramp may has impeded displacement of the PQ unit rocks up the ramp acting as a buttress to their foreland propagation. The late D2b phase lasted from upper Miocene to Pleistocene and involved SW-directed thrust-related folding with synchronous sinistral strike-slip faulting and NE-striking normal faulting causing extension parallel to F2b fold hinges. The D2b-related paleostress field is characterized by local NE compression and NW extension orientations defining a transpressive to pure extensive regime. Where these coexist, the normal faults related to tension cut all previous structures suggesting that the extension postdates compression. This could possibly be attributed to a relaxation of the NE compression, which progressively evolved to the NW extension. The described kinematic evolution of southern Hellenides in western Crete reveals that the NE-trending transverse zone, which is possibly aligned with an inherited rift-related Mesozoic fault system, exerted significant control on the deformation pattern at progressively shallower structural levels within the crust.

Fault pattern at the northern end of the Death Valley - Furnace Creek fault zone, California and Nevada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liggett, M. A. (Principal Investigator); Childs, J. F.

1974-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The pattern of faulting associated with the termination of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone in northern Fish Lake Valley, Nevada was studied in ERTS-1 MSS color composite imagery and color IR U-2 photography. Imagery analysis was supported by field reconnaissance and low altitude aerial photography. The northwest-trending right-lateral Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone changes northward to a complex pattern of discontinuous dip slip and strike slip faults. This fault pattern terminates to the north against an east-northeast trending zone herein called the Montgomery Fault Zone. No evidence for continuation of the Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone is recognized north of the Montgomery Fault Zone. Penecontemporaneous displacement in the Death Valley-Furnace Creek Fault Zone, the complex transitional zone, and the Montgomery Fault Zone suggests that the systems are genetically related. Mercury mineralization appears to have been localized along faults recognizable in ERTS-1 imagery within the transitional zone and the Montgomery Fault Zone.

Interpretations from multichannel seismic-reflection profiles of the deep crust crossing South Carolina and Georgia from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Coast

USGS Publications Warehouse

Behrendt, John C.

1985-01-01

The Appalachian décollement does not appear continuous from the Appalachian Mountains to the coast but rather appears to extend southeastward only to the Carolina slate belt. A series of reflections on lines S4, S6, and S8 and on the COCORP line is interpreted as evidence of southeastward-dipping imbricate faults, from the Brevard fault on the northwest to beyond the Augusta fault, which marks the southeastern extent of the Eastern Piedmont fault zone. The Carolina slate belt is characterized on the four seismic profiles by a complex series of diffractions and reflections extending from less than 1 s to 8 s. These arrivals are possibly the result of layering in the metasedimentary rocks complexly disrupted by the imbricate faults. A number of Triassic (?) basins are apparent in the reflection data for the rifted Charleston terrane identified from low-gradient magnetic anomalies.

Evidence for a Nascent Rift in South Sudan: Westward Extension of the East African Rift System?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maceira, M.; Van Wijk, J. W.; Coblentz, D. D.; Modrak, R. T.

2013-12-01

Joint inversion of seismic and gravity data of eastern Africa reveals a low seismic wave velocity arm stretching from the southern Main Ethiopian rift westward in an east-west direction that has not been noticed in earlier work. The zone of low velocities is located in the upper mantle and is not overlain by a known structural rift expression. We analyzed the local pattern of seismicity and the stresses in the African plate to interpret this low velocity arm. The zone of low velocities is located within the Central African Fold Belt, which dissects the northern and southern portions of the African continent. It is seismically active with small to intermediate sized earthquakes occurring in the crust. Seven earthquake solutions indicate (oblique) normal faulting and low-angle normal faulting with a NS to NNW-SSE opening direction, as well as strike-slip faulting. This pattern of deformation is typically associated with rifting. The present day stress field in northeastern Africa reveals a tensional state of stress at the location of the low velocity arm with an opening direction that corresponds to the earthquake data. We propose that the South Sudan low velocity zone and seismic center are part of an undeveloped, nascent rift arm. The arm stretches from the East African Rift system westward.

Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the eastern Gulf of Aden conjugate passive margins: Narrowness and asymmetry in oblique rifting context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nonn, Chloé; Leroy, Sylvie; Khanbari, Khaled; Ahmed, Abdulhakim

2017-11-01

Here, we focus on the yet unexplored eastern Gulf of Aden, on Socotra Island (Yemen), Southeastern Oman and offshore conjugate passive margins between the Socotra-Hadbeen (SHFZ) and the eastern Gulf of Aden fracture zones. Our interpretation leads to onshore-offshore stratigraphic correlation between the passive margins. We present a new map reflecting the boundaries between the crustal domains (proximal, necking, hyper-extended, exhumed mantle, proto-oceanic and oceanic domains) and structures using bathymetry, magnetic surveys and seismic reflection data. The most striking result is that the magma-poor conjugate margins exhibit asymmetrical architecture since the thinning phase (Upper Rupelian-Burdigalian). Their necking domains are sharp ( 40-10 km wide) and their hyper-extended domains are narrow and asymmetric ( 10-40 km wide on the Socotra margin and 50-80 km wide on the Omani margin). We suggest that this asymmetry is related to the migration of the rift center producing significant lower crustal flow and sequential faulting in the hyper-extended domain. Throughout the Oligo-Miocene rifting, far-field forces dominate and the deformation is accommodated along EW to N110°E northward-dipping low angle normal faults. Convection in the mantle near the SHFZ may be responsible of change in fault dip polarity in the Omani hyper-extended domain. We show the existence of a northward-dipping detachment fault formed at the beginning of the exhumation phase (Burdigalien). It separates the northern upper plate (Oman) from southern lower plate (Socotra Island) and may have generated rift-induced decompression melting and volcanism affecting the upper plate. We highlight multiple generations of detachment faults exhuming serpentinized subcontinental mantle in the ocean-continent transition. Associated to significant decompression melting, final detachment fault may have triggered the formation of a proto-oceanic crust at 17.6 Ma and induced late volcanism up to 10 Ma. Finally, the setting up of a steady-state oceanic spreading center occurs at 17 Ma.

Multi-temporal InSAR measurement of interseimic motion on the eastern Tibet border

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doin, M. P.; Lasserre, C.; He, P.; de Sigoyer, J.

2014-12-01

We use here SAR interferometry using archived Envisat data to map the interseismic deformation of eastern Tibet. The area under study starts just South of the Haiyuan fault, crosses the eastern termination of the Kunlun fault and the bend on the XianShuiHe fault to the South. It includes the Longriba fault system, an active structure located 150 km west of the Longmen Shan front (Xu et al., 2008, Ren et al., 2013). GPS data suggest that it may accommodate a large part of the present-day relative movement (6-8 mm/yr) between the Aba block and the south China block (Thatcher, 2007, Shen et al 2005). The Longriba and the Longmen Shan faults might be linked at depth by a decollement zone or by ductile shear in the crust (Shu et al., 2008). We process three adjacent Envisat 1000 km long swaths crossing this mountainous and vegetated terrain using a small baseline strategy. The interferograms show numerous phase perturbations that mask the interseismic motion due to : (1) coherence loss, (2) stratified atmospheric delays, (3) DEM error contribution, (4) the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. We will show how we tackle these limitations and display the effect of successive corrections. Focus will first be brought to the corrections applied before filtering and unwrapping, that increase phase spatial continuity. We estimate empirically stratified atmospheric delay polynomial relationship, depending on azimuth and elevation, on wrapped interferograms. We then estimate the local DEM error for each pixel. Multi-looking and filtering are based on various measures of pixel reliability in order to increase the signal to noise ratio of filtered interferograms. Finally, unwrapping is obtained by a region growing algorithm, from the most reliable areas to the least, avoiding to cross layover areas. Time series of phase delay maps in the Longriba area are dominated by a side lobe of the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake. After its extraction and correction, principal component analysis clearly evidences a linear trend modulated south of the Longriba fault system by post-seismic transient motion, in agreement with GPS data (Huang et al., 2014). Finally, we obtain a LOS velocity map of interseismic motion with an amplitude of a few mm/yr. We will discuss strain localization along the main eastern Tibet faults and possible vertical motion.

Using paleomagnetism to expand the observation time window of plate locking along subduction zones: evidence from the Chilean fore-arc sliver (38°S - 42°S)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Moreno, Catalina; Speranza, Fabio; Di Chiara, Anita

2017-04-01

Fore-arc crustal motion has been usually addressed by the analysis of earthquake slip vectors and, since the last twenty years, by velocity fields derived from Global Positioning System (GPS) data. Yet this observation time window (few decades) can be significantly shorter than a complete seismic cycle or constrained to interseismic periods where the postseismic deformation release, the vicinity of other important faults, and the slip partitioning in oblique subduction may hinder the finite deformation pattern. Paleomagnetic data may yield finite rotations occurring since rock formation, thus provide a much longer observation time span in the order of millions or tens of millions of years. The cumulative permanent or nonreversing deformation in function of the considered geological formation age can represent the average over many seismic cycles, thus significantly complement "instantaneous" information derived from seismic and GPS data. With the aim of evaluate the strike-variation and evolution of the plate coupling along the Chilean subduction zone, here we report on the paleomagnetism of 43 Oligocene-Pleistocene volcanic sites from the fore-arc sliver between 38°S and 42°S. Sites were gathered west of the 1000 km long Liquiñe-Ofqui dextral fault zone (LOFZ) that represents the eastern fore-arc sliver boundary. Nineteen reliable sites reveal that the fore arc is characterized by counterclockwise (CCW) rotations of variable magnitude, except at 40°S - 41°S, where ultrafast (>50°/Myr) clockwise (CW) rotations occur within a 30 km wide zone adjacent to the LOFZ. CCW rotation variability (even at close sites) and rapidity (>10°/Myr) suggest that the observed block rotation pattern is related to NW-SE seismically active sinistral faults crosscutting the whole fore arc. According to previously published data, CW rotations up to 170° also occur east of the LOFZ and have been related to ongoing LOFZ shear. We suggest that the occurrence and width of the eastern fore-arc sliver undergoing CW rotations is a function of plate coupling along the subduction zone interface. Zones of high coupling enhance stress normal to the LOFZ, induce high LOFZ strength, and yield a wide deformation zone characterized by CW rotations. Conversely, low coupling imply a weak LOFZ, a lack of CW rotations, and a fore arc entirely dominated by CCW rotations related to sinistral fault kinematics. Our locking inferences are in good agreement with those recently derived by GPS analysis and indicate that seismotectonic segment coupling has remained virtually unchanged during the last 5Ma.

Late Quaternary faulting in the Vallo di Diano basin (southern Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villani, F.; Pierdominici, S.; Cinti, F. R.

2009-12-01

The Vallo di Diano is the largest Quaternary extensional basin in the southern Apennines thrust-belt axis (Italy). This portion of the chain is highly seismic and is currently subject to NE-extension, which triggers large (M> 6) normal-faulting earthquakes along NW-trending faults. The eastern edge of the Vallo di Diano basin is bounded by an extensional fault system featuring three main NW-trending, SW-dipping, right-stepping, ~15-17 km long segments (from north to south: Polla, Atena Lucana-Sala Consilina and Padula faults). Holocene activity has been documented so far only for the Polla segment. We have therefore focused our geomorphological and paleoseismological study on the southern portion of the system, particularly along the ~ 4 km long Atena Lucana-Sala Consilina and Padula faults overlap zone. The latter is characterized by a complex system of coalescent alluvial fans, Middle Pleistocene to Holocene in age. Here we recognized a > 4 km long and 0.5-1.4 km wide set of scarps (ranging in height between 1 m and 2.5 m) affecting Late Pleistocene - Holocene alluvial fans. In the same area, two Late Pleistocene volcanoclastic layers at the top of an alluvial fan exposed in a quarry are affected by ~ 1 m normal displacements. Moreover, a trench excavated across a 2 m high scarp affecting a Holocene fan revealed warping of Late Holocene debris flow deposits, with a total vertical throw of about 0.3 m. We therefore infer the overlap zone of the Atena Lucana-Sala Consilina and Padula faults is a breached relay ramp, generated by hard-linkage of the two fault segments since Late Pleistocene. This ~ 32 km long fault system is active and is capable of generating Mw ≥6.5 earthquakes.

Thermal waters of the Yemen Arab Republic

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

Dowgiallo, J.

1986-01-01

Thermal waters (30-61/sup 0/C) occur in springs and shallow drill-holes (max. 300 m) in several areas of the Yemen Arab Republic. Their mineral content is generally low ( < 1000-2000 ppm TDS) except for waters with high CO/sub 2/ content and those directly influenced by the evaporitic Baid formation (Tertiary) in the Western Lowlands along the Red Sea. The temperature anomalies occur in areas of Quaternary basaltic volcanism (Aden formation) and in fault zones connected with the eastern margin of the Red Sea graben. In the latter zones radiogenic heat may be contributed by Tertiary granitic intrusions.

Seismic Images of the Non-Volcanic Tremor Region around Cholame, California, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutjahr, S.; Buske, S.

2012-04-01

We reprocessed the industry seismic reflection profile "WSJ-6" which is so far the only seismic profile crossing the San Andreas fault at the non-volcanic tremor region around Cholame. The profile "WSJ-6" runs from Morro Bay eastward to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and crosses several prominent fault systems, e.g.the Rinconada fault as well as the San Juan fault and the San Andreas fault respectively. By applying the so-called Fresnel Volume migration to the data we produced seismic images of the lower crust and the upper mantle down to depths of approximately 40 km. A 3D tomographic velocity model derived from local earthquake data analysis (Thurber et al., 2006, Lin et al., 2010) was used for slowness analyses and traveltime calculations. The imaging technique was implemented in 3D taking into account the true shot and receiver locations on the crooked profile line. The imaged subsurface volume itself was divided into three separate parts to correctly account for the significant kink in the profile line near the San Andreas fault. The most prominent features in the resulting images are areas of high reflectivity down to 30 km depth in particular in the central western part of the profile corresponding to the Salinian Block between the Rinconada fault and the San Andreas fault. Southwest of the San Andreas fault surface trace a broad zone of high reflectivity is located at depths between 20 km to 35 km. In this region non-volcanic tremor has been located below the seismogenic zone down to 30 km depth. Tremor locations correlate with zones of high reflectivity. This correlation may be an indicator for high pore pressures and fluid content in that region as it is assumed by several authors. The images of the eastern part of the profile show slightly west dipping sedimentary layers in the area of the San Joaquin Valley that are folded and faulted below the Kettleman Hills. Our imaging results will be compared to existing interpretations of the same data.

The stress shadow effect: a mechanical analysis of the evenly-spaced parallel strike-slip faults in the San Andreas fault system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuza, A. V.; Yin, A.; Lin, J. C.

2015-12-01

Parallel evenly-spaced strike-slip faults are prominent in the southern San Andreas fault system, as well as other settings along plate boundaries (e.g., the Alpine fault) and within continental interiors (e.g., the North Anatolian, central Asian, and northern Tibetan faults). In southern California, the parallel San Jacinto, Elsinore, Rose Canyon, and San Clemente faults to the west of the San Andreas are regularly spaced at ~40 km. In the Eastern California Shear Zone, east of the San Andreas, faults are spaced at ~15 km. These characteristic spacings provide unique mechanical constraints on how the faults interact. Despite the common occurrence of parallel strike-slip faults, the fundamental questions of how and why these fault systems form remain unanswered. We address this issue by using the stress shadow concept of Lachenbruch (1961)—developed to explain extensional joints by using the stress-free condition on the crack surface—to present a mechanical analysis of the formation of parallel strike-slip faults that relates fault spacing and brittle-crust thickness to fault strength, crustal strength, and the crustal stress state. We discuss three independent models: (1) a fracture mechanics model, (2) an empirical stress-rise function model embedded in a plastic medium, and (3) an elastic-plate model. The assumptions and predictions of these models are quantitatively tested using scaled analogue sandbox experiments that show that strike-slip fault spacing is linearly related to the brittle-crust thickness. We derive constraints on the mechanical properties of the southern San Andreas strike-slip faults and fault-bounded crust (e.g., local fault strength and crustal/regional stress) given the observed fault spacing and brittle-crust thickness, which is obtained by defining the base of the seismogenic zone with high-resolution earthquake data. Our models allow direct comparison of the parallel faults in the southern San Andreas system with other similar strike-slip fault systems, both on Earth and throughout the solar system (e.g., the Tiger Stripe Fractures on Enceladus).

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.

Role of N-S strike-slip faulting in structuring of north-eastern Tunisia; geodynamic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arfaoui, Aymen; Soumaya, Abdelkader; Ben Ayed, Noureddine; Delvaux, Damien; Ghanmi, Mohamed; Kadri, Ali; Zargouni, Fouad

2017-05-01

Three major compressional events characterized by folding, thrusting and strike-slip faulting occurred in the Eocene, Late Miocene and Quaternary along the NE Tunisian domain between Bou Kornine-Ressas-Msella and Cap Bon Peninsula. During the Plio-Quaternary, the Grombalia and Mornag grabens show a maximum of collapse in parallelism with the NNW-SSE SHmax direction and developed as 3rd order distensives zones within a global compressional regime. Using existing tectonic and geophysical data supplemented by new fault-kinematic observations, we show that Cenozoic deformation of the Mesozoic sedimentary sequences is dominated by first order N-S faults reactivation, this sinistral wrench system is responsible for the formation of strike-slip duplexes, thrusts, folds and grabens. Following our new structural interpretation, the major faults of N-S Axis, Bou Kornine-Ressas-Messella (MRB) and Hammamet-Korbous (HK) form an N-S first order compressive relay within a left lateral strike-slip duplex. The N-S master MRB fault is dominated by contractional imbricate fans, while the parallel HK fault is characterized by a trailing of extensional imbricate fans. The Eocene and Miocene compression phases in the study area caused sinistral strike-slip reactivation of pre-existing N-S faults, reverse reactivation of NE-SW trending faults and normal-oblique reactivation of NW-SE faults, creating a NE-SW to N-S trending system of east-verging folds and overlaps. Existing seismic tomography images suggest a key role for the lithospheric subvertical tear or STEP fault (Slab Transfer Edge Propagator) evidenced below this region on the development of the MRB and the HK relay zone. The presence of extensive syntectonic Pliocene on top of this crustal scale fault may be the result of a recent lithospheric vertical kinematic of this STEP fault, due to the rollback and lateral migration of the Calabrian slab eastward.

Geohydrologic framework of the Snake River plain regional aquifer system, Idaho and eastern Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Whitehead, R.L.

1992-01-01

Across most of the plain, Quaternary basalt aquifers overlie aquifers in the Tertiary Idavada Volcanics and Banbury Basalt of the Idaho Group. The older volcanic rocks are typically much less transmissive than the Quaternary basalt. Faults and frac- tures are permeable zones for water storage and conduits for water movement. In places near the margins of the plain, the Idavada Volcanics contains important geothermal aquifers.

GPS deformation rates in the Bajo Segura Basin (NE of the Eastern Betic Shear Zone, SE Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jesús Borque, María; Sánchez-Alzola, Alberto; Estévez, Antonio; García-Tortosa, Francisco J.; Martín-Rojas, Iván; Molina, Sergio; Alfaro, Pedro; Rodríguez-Caderot, Gracia; de Lacy, Clara; García-Armenteros, Juan Antonio; Avilés, Manuel; Herrera, Antonio; Rosa-Cintas, Sergio; Gil, Antonio J.

2014-05-01

The Bajo Segura Basin, located in the NE end of the Eastern Betic Shear Zone, is one of the areas with highest seismic activity of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bounded by the Crevillente Fault to the north and the Bajo Segura Fault to the south, and it is characterized by a Late Miocene to Quaternary folded cover. We estimate the present-day deformation of the study area from a GPS network with 11 sites. Observation campaigns were carried out four times (June 1999, September 2001, September 2002 and September 2013). We used the 6.2 version of GIPSY-OASIS software to process GPS data in Precise Point Positioning mode (PPP). In order to obtain the position time series in the whole period of these episodic campaigns, all the GPS observations from 1999 to 2013 campaigns were processed with an identical standard procedure. We compared our velocity field estimation with respect to GEODVEL tectonic model to obtain the residual velocity field of the Bajo Segura Basin. We estimated a ~N-S shortening with deformation rates varying between 0.2 and 0.6 mm/yr. These results are consistent with local geological deformation rates although slightly higher. They also fit well with regional geodetic data estimated for the Western Mediterranean.

Geologic map of the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone in the vicinity of Lake Pillsbury and adjacent areas of Mendocino, Lake, and Glenn Counties, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ohlin, Henry N.; McLaughlin, Robert J.; Moring, Barry C.; Sawyer, Thomas L.

2010-01-01

The Lake Pillsbury area lies in the eastern part of the northern California Coast Ranges, along the east side of the transform boundary between the Pacific and North American plates (fig. 1). The Bartlett Springs Fault Zone is a northwest-trending zone of faulting associated with this eastern part of the transform boundary. It is presently active, based on surface creep (Svarc and others, 2008), geomorphic expression, offset of Holocene units (Lienkaemper and Brown, 2009), and microseismicity (Bolt and Oakeshott, 1982; Dehlinger and Bolt, 1984; DePolo and Ohlin, 1984). Faults associated with the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone at Lake Pillsbury are steeply dipping and offset older low to steeply dipping faults separating folded and imbricated Mesozoic terranes of the Franciscan Complex and interleaved rocks of the Coast Range Ophiolite and Great Valley Sequence. Parts of this area were mapped in the late 1970s and 1980s by several investigators who were focused on structural relations in the Franciscan Complex (Lehman, 1978; Jordan, 1975; Layman, 1977; Etter, 1979). In the 1980s the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mapped a large part of the area as part of a mineral resource appraisal of two U.S. Forest Service Roadless areas. For evaluating mineral resource potential, the USGS mapping was published at a scale of 1:62,500 as a generalized geologic summary map without a topographic base (Ohlin and others, 1983; Ohlin and Spear, 1984). The previously unpublished mapping with topographic base is presented here at a scale of 1:30,000, compiled with other mapping in the vicinity of Lake Pillsbury. The mapping provides a geologic framework for ongoing investigations to evaluate potential earthquake hazards and structure of the Bartlett Springs Fault Zone. This geologic map includes part of Mendocino National Forest (the Elk Creek Roadless Area) in Mendocino, Glenn, and Lake Counties and is traversed by several U.S. Forest Service Routes, including M1 and M6 (fig. 2). The study area is characterized by northwest-trending ridges separated by steep-sided valleys. Elevations in this part of the Coast Ranges vary from 1,500 ft (457 m) to 6,600 ft (2,012 m), commonly with gradients of 1,000 ft per mile (90 m per km). The steep slopes are covered by brush, grass, oak, and conifer forests. Access to most of the area is by county roads and Forest Service Route M6 from Potter Valley to Lake Pillsbury and by county road and Forest Service Route M6 and M1 from Upper Lake and State Highway 20. From the north, State Highway 261 provides access from Covelo. Forest Service Route M1 trends roughly north from its intersection with Route M6 south of Hull Mountain and through the Elk Creek and Black Butte Roadless areas to State Highway 261. Side roads used for logging and jeep trails provide additional access in parts of the area.

Late Pleistocene, Holocene, and decadal constancy of slip-rate of the Doruneh strike-slip fault, Iran.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, R. T.; Fattahi, M.; Mousavi, Z.; Pathier, E.; Sloan, R. A.; Talebian, M.; Thomas, A. L.; Walpersdorf, A.

2014-12-01

The Doruneh left-lateral strike-slip fault of NE Iran has a prominent expression in the landscape, showing that the fault is active in the late Quaternary. Existing estimates of its slip-rate vary, however, which has led to suggestions that it may exhibit temporal changes in activity. Using high-resolution optical satellite imagery we make reconstructions of displacement across four alluvial fans that cross the Doruneh fault, and determine the ages of these fans using luminescence dating, combined with U-series dating of pedogenic carbonates in one case. The four fans, which vary in age from 10-100 kyr, yield estimates of slip rate of ~2-3 mm/yr. We compare the average slip-rate measurements to the rate of accumulation of strain across the Doruneh fault using GPS and InSAR measurements, and find that the slip-rate is likely to have remained constant - within the uncertainty of our measurements - over the last ~100 ka. The slip-rate that we measure is consistent with the E-W left-lateral Doruneh fault accommodating N-S right-lateral faulting by 'bookshelf' faulting, with clockwise rotation about a vertical axis, in a similar manner to the Eastern California Shear Zone.

Geodetic slip rate estimates for the Alhama de Murcia and Carboneras faults in the SE Betics, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khazaradze, Giorgi; Echeverria, Anna; Masana, Eulàlia

2016-04-01

The Alhama de Murcia and the Carboneras faults are the most prominent geologic structures within the Eastern Betic Shear Zone (EBSZ), located in SE Spain. Using continuous and campaign GPS observations conducted during the last decade, we were able to confirm the continuing tectonic activity of these faults by quantifying their geodetic slip-rates and comparing the estimated values with the geological (including paleoseismological) observations. We find that the bulk of the observed deformation is concentrated around the Alhama de Murcia (AMF) and the Palomares (PF) faults. The geodetic horizontal slip rate (reverse-sinistral) of 1.5±0.3 mm/yr calculated for the AMF and PF fault system is in good agreement with geological observations at the AMF, as well as, the focal mechanism of the 2011 Lorca earthquake, suggesting a main role of the AMF. We also find that the geodetic slip rate of the Carboneras fault zone (CFZ) is almost purely sinistral strike-slip with a rate of 1.3±0.2 mm/yr along N48° direction, very similar to 1.1 mm/yr geologic slip-rate, estimated from recent onshore and offshore paleoseismic and geomorphologic studies. The fact the geodetic and the geologic slip-rates are similar at the AMF and CF faults, suggests that both faults have been tectonically active since Quaternary, slipping at approximately at constant rate of 1.1 to 1.8 mm/yr. Since the existing GPS data cannot discern whether the CFZ is slipping seismically or aseismically, we have intended to relate the on-going seismic activity to the slip-rates estimated using GPS. For this reason we compared seismic and geodetic strain rates, where the latter are larger than seismic strain rates, suggesting the presence of aseismic processes in the area. Nevertheless, due to the large earthquake recurrence intervals, we may be underestimating the seismic strain rates. The direction of the P and T average stress axes are in good agreement with geodetic principal strain rate axes. To summarize, in eastern Betics, Alhama de Murcia and Carboneras left-lateral faults are the most active faults and they play an important role in the regional plate convergence kinematics. The work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation projects: SHAKE (CGL2011-30005-C02-01), CHARMA (CGL2013-40828-R) and EVENT (CGL2006-12861-C02-01).

Mantle to Surface Dynamics Across Subduction-Collision Transitions in Space and Time: Results from the CD-CAT Project in Anatolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitney, D. L.; Abgarmi, B.; Beck, S. L.; Brocard, G. Y.; Cosca, M. A.; Darin, M. H.; Delph, J. R.; Hui, H.; Kahraman, M.; Kaymakci, N.; Kuscu, G.; Meijers, M. J.; Mulch, A.; Özacar, A.; Portner, D. E.; Reid, M. R.; Rey, P. F.; Rojay, B.; Schlieffarth, W. K.; Sandvol, E. A.; Schoenbohm, L. M.; Tank, B.; Teoman, U.; Teyssier, C. P.; Thomson, S. N.; Turkelli, N.; Umhoefer, P. J.; Uslular, G.; Willenbring, J. K.

2017-12-01

From west to east, the southern plate boundary of Anatolia varies from subduction to continental collision; plate dynamics are influenced by the interaction of back-arc extension in the west (Aegean) and convergence in the east (Arabia-Eurasia). Prior to 40 Ma, the entire margin was a subduction zone. The NSF project "Continental Dynamics-Central Anatolian Tectonics (CD-CAT)" has contributed to understanding how the mantle, crust, and surface evolve in subduction-to-collision transitions in time and space. Differences are seen in changes in deformation style as collision proceeded; e.g. from distributed across a broad zone to highly localized on a series of oblique-slip faults, and from transpression to transtension (W of the Central Anatolian fault zone, CAFZ) or strike-slip (E of the CAFZ); age, composition, and sources of magmatism, including a magmatic lull from 40-20 Ma, followed by expansion of magmatism SE-ward in central Anatolia; properties and architecture of the lithosphere and sub-lithospheric mantle (e.g. significant and locally abrupt crustal thickness variations, including thick crust under the Tauride Mts; thin to absent lithospheric mantle; and a torn and disaggregating slab that varies from shallow to steep below central Anatolia); and a topographic gradient from a high eastern plateau (> 2 km) to a central plateau (1-1.5 km) bounded to the N and S by mountain ranges that rose > 2 km from the sea between 11-5 Ma, producing a rain shadow in the Anatolian interior. Thermochronologic and structural studies of exhumed mid-crust and associated basins and fault zones as well as geophysical data for Anatolia today show the extent to which inherited features (suture zones, faults) have affected the tectonic evolution of Anatolia, particularly in the vicinity of the CAFZ/East Anatolian Fault, and mantle properties. Results also show that the Miocene was a dynamic time in the thermal and mechanical evolution of the region, as early Miocene rollback/foundering of the subducted slab drove major volcanism, faulting, and landscape changes (uplift). Slab dynamics below Anatolia accelerated the late Miocene-Pliocene transition from distributed to highly localized deformation, including inception of the North and East Anatolia strike-slip faults that today accommodate tectonic escape of Anatolia.

Problems of the active tectonics of the Eastern Black Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javakhishvili, Z.; Godoladze, T.; Dreger, D. S.; Mikava, D.; Tvaliashvili, A.

2016-12-01

The Black Sea Basin is the part of the Arabian Eurasian Collision zone and important unit for understanding the tectonic process of the region. This complex basin comprises two deep basins, separated by the mid-Black Sea Ridge. The basement of the Black Sea includes areas with oceanic and continental crust. It was formed as a "back-arc" basin over the subduction zone during the closing of the Tethys Ocean. In the past decades the Black Sea has been the subject of intense geological and geophysical studies. Several papers were published about the geological history, tectonics, basement relief and crustal and upper mantle structure of the basin. New tectonic schemes were suggested (e. g. Nikishin et al 2014, Shillington et al. 2008, Starostenko et al. 2004 etc.). Nevertheless, seismicity of the Black Sea is poorly studied due to the lack of seismic network in the coastal area. It is considered, that the eastern basin currently lies in a compressional setting associated with the uplift of the Caucasus and structural development of the Caucasus was closely related to the evolution of the Eastern Black Sea Basin. Analyses of recent sequence of earthquakes in 2012 can provide useful information to understand complex tectonic structure of the Eastern Black Sea region. Right after the earthquake of 2012/12/23, National Seismic monitoring center of Georgia deployed additional 4 stations in the coastal area of the country, close to the epicenter area, to monitor aftershock sequence. Seismic activity in the epicentral area is continuing until now. We have relocated approximately 1200 aftershocks to delineate fault scarf using data from Georgian, Turkish and Russian datacenters. Waveforms of the major events and the aftershocks were inverted for the fault plane solutions of the events. For the inversion were used green's functions, computed using new 1D velocity model of the region. Strike-slip mechanism of the major events of the earthquake sequence indicates extensional features in the Eastern Black Sea Region as well.

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.

Present-day crustal deformation and strain transfer in northeastern Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yuhang; Liu, Mian; Wang, Qingliang; Cui, Duxin

2018-04-01

The three-dimensional present-day crustal deformation and strain partitioning in northeastern Tibetan Plateau are analyzed using available GPS and precise leveling data. We used the multi-scale wavelet method to analyze strain rates, and the elastic block model to estimate slip rates on the major faults and internal strain within each block. Our results show that shear strain is strongly localized along major strike-slip faults, as expected in the tectonic extrusion model. However, extrusion ends and transfers to crustal contraction near the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The strain transfer is abrupt along the Haiyuan Fault and diffusive along the East Kunlun Fault. Crustal contraction is spatially correlated with active uplifting. The present-day strain is concentrated along major fault zones; however, within many terranes bounded by these faults, intra-block strain is detectable. Terranes having high intra-block strain rates also show strong seismicity. On average the Ordos and Sichuan blocks show no intra-block strain, but localized strain on the southwestern corner of the Ordos block indicates tectonic encroachment.

Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2010 eastern margin of the Australia plate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Benz, Harley M.; Herman, Matthew; Tarr, Arthur C.; Hayes, Gavin P.; Furlong, Kevin P.; Villaseñor, Antonio; Dart, Richard L.; Rhea, Susan

2011-01-01

The eastern margin of the Australia plate is one of the most seismically active areas of the world due to high rates of convergence between the Australia and Pacific plates. In the region of New Zealand, the 3,000 km long Australia-Pacific plate boundary extends from south of Macquarie Island to the southern Kermadec Island chain. It includes an oceanic transform (the Macquarie Ridge), two oppositely verging subduction zones (Puysegur and Hikurangi), and a transpressive continental transform, the Alpine Fault through South Island, New Zealand. Since 1900, there have been 15 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded near New Zealand. Nine of these, and the four largest, occurred along or near the Macquarie Ridge, including the 1989 M8.2 event on the ridge itself, and the 2004 M8.1 event 200 km to the west of the plate boundary, reflecting intraplate deformation. The largest recorded earthquake in New Zealand itself was the 1931 M7.8 Hawke's Bay earthquake, which killed 256 people. The last M7.5+ earthquake along the Alpine Fault was 170 years ago; studies of the faults' strain accumulation suggest that similar events are likely to occur again.

Geodetic exploration of strain along the El Pilar Fault in northeastern Venezuela

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reinoza, C.; Jouanne, F.; Audemard, F. A.; Schmitz, M.; Beck, C.

2015-03-01

We use Global Navigation Satellite Systems observations in northeastern Venezuela to constrain the El Pilar Fault (EPF) kinematics and to explore the effects of the variable elastic properties of the surrounding medium and of the fault geometry on inferred slip rates and locking depth. The velocity field exhibits an asymmetric velocity gradient on either side of the EPF. We use five different approaches to explore possible models to explain this asymmetry. First, we infer a 1.6 km locking depth using a classic elastic half-space dislocation model. Second, we infer a 1.5 km locking depth and a 0.33 asymmetry coefficient using a heterogeneous asymmetric model, including contrasting material properties on either side of a vertical fault, suggesting that the igneous-metamorphic terranes on the northern side are ~2 times more rigid than the sedimentary southern side. Third, we use a three-dimensional elastostatic model to evaluate the presence of a compliant zone, suggesting a 30% reduction of rigidity in the upper 3 km at the depth of a 1 to 5 km wide fault zone. Fourth, we evaluate the distribution of fault slip, revealing a widespread partial creep pattern in the eastern upper segment, while the upper western segment exhibits a partially locked area, which coincides with the rupture surface of the 1797 and 1929 earthquakes. To supplement these models, we upgrade the previously published displacement simulation method using nonvertical dislocations with data acquired between 2003 and 2013. The localized aseismic displacement pattern associated with creeping or partially creeping fault segments could explain the low level of historic seismicity.

Characterizing the structural maturity of fault zones using high-resolution earthquake locations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrin, C.; Waldhauser, F.; Scholz, C. H.

2017-12-01

We use high-resolution earthquake locations to characterize the three-dimensional structure of active faults in California and how it evolves with fault structural maturity. We investigate the distribution of aftershocks of several recent large earthquakes that occurred on immature faults (i.e., slow moving and small cumulative displacement), such as the 1992 (Mw7.3) Landers and 1999 (Mw7.1) Hector Mine events, and earthquakes that occurred on mature faults, such as the 1984 (Mw6.2) Morgan Hill and 2004 (Mw6.0) Parkfield events. Unlike previous studies which typically estimated the width of fault zones from the distribution of earthquakes perpendicular to the surface fault trace, we resolve fault zone widths with respect to the 3D fault surface estimated from principal component analysis of local seismicity. We find that the zone of brittle deformation around the fault core is narrower along mature faults compared to immature faults. We observe a rapid fall off of the number of events at a distance range of 70 - 100 m from the main fault surface of mature faults (140-200 m fault zone width), and 200-300 m from the fault surface of immature faults (400-600 m fault zone width). These observations are in good agreement with fault zone widths estimated from guided waves trapped in low velocity damage zones. The total width of the active zone of deformation surrounding the main fault plane reach 1.2 km and 2-4 km for mature and immature faults, respectively. The wider zone of deformation presumably reflects the increased heterogeneity in the stress field along complex and discontinuous faults strands that make up immature faults. In contrast, narrower deformation zones tend to align with well-defined fault planes of mature faults where most of the deformation is concentrated. Our results are in line with previous studies suggesting that surface fault traces become smoother, and thus fault zones simpler, as cumulative fault slip increases.

Kinematics of rotating panels of E-W faults in the San Andreas system: what can we tell from geodesy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Platt, J. P.; Becker, T. W.

2013-09-01

Sets of E- to NE-trending sinistral and/or reverse faults occur within the San Andreas system, and are associated with palaeomagnetic evidence for clockwise vertical-axis rotations. These structures cut across the trend of active dextral faults, posing questions as to how displacement is transferred across them. Geodetic data show that they lie within an overall dextral shear field, but the data are commonly interpreted to indicate little or no slip, nor any significant rate of rotation. We model these structures as rotating by bookshelf slip in a dextral shear field, and show that a combination of sinistral slip and rotation can produce the observed velocity field. This allows prediction of rates of slip, rotation, fault-parallel extension and fault-normal shortening within the panel. We use this method to calculate the kinematics of the central segment of the Garlock Fault, which cuts across the eastern California shear zone at a high angle. We obtain a sinistral slip rate of 6.1 ± 1.1 mm yr-1, comparable to geological evidence, but higher than most previous geodetic estimates, and a rotation rate of 4.0 ± 0.7° Myr-1 clockwise. The western Transverse Ranges transect a similar shear zone in coastal and offshore California, but at an angle of only 40°. As a result, the faults, which were sinistral when they were at a higher angle to the shear zone, have been reactivated in a dextral sense at a low rate, and the rate of rotation of the panel has decreased from its long-term rate of ˜5° to 1.6° ± 0.2° Myr-1 clockwise. These results help to resolve some of the apparent discrepancies between geological and geodetic slip-rate estimates, and provide an enhanced understanding of the mechanics of intracontinental transform systems.

Evidence for a Major Late Precambrian Tectonic Event (RIFTING?) in the Eastern Midcontinent Region, United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, G. R.; Bland, A. E.; Greenberg, J. K.

1982-04-01

Recently acquired gravity and aeromagnetic data delineate a large linear gravity anomaly which extends through eastern Kentucky and Tennessee and coincides with a zone of complex, high-amplitude magnetic anomalies. Basement lithologies in the area can be interpreted as a bimodal volcanic suite which is locally peralkaline in nature. These volcanics appear to be metamorphosed where they lie east of the Grenville front, suggesting they predate the Grenville metamorphic event. The available gravity, aeromagnetic, seismic refraction, and petrologic data, along with regional correlations, suggest that the best tectonic interpretation of these data is that a Keweenawan rift zone extended through the area. This rift can be roughly outlined by the gravity high, which is locally offset, suggesting the presence of transform faults. The boundaries of this rift have been locally reactivated and, in fact, a recent earthquake was located along its western boundary in northern Kentucky.

Establishment of borehole observation system and high resolution seismic studies in the western part of the main Marmara Fault in the frame of MARSite Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozel, A.; Yalcinkaya, E.; Guralp, C. M.; Tunc, S.; Meral Ozel, N.

2013-12-01

The main objective of this study is to install a multi-parameter borehole system and surface array as close to the main Marmara Fault (MMF) in the western Marmara Sea as possible, and measure continuously the evolution of the state of the fault zone surrounding the MMF and to detect any anomaly or change which may occur before earthquakes by making use of the data from the arrays already running in the eastern part of the Marmara Sea. The multi-parameter borehole system will be composed of very wide dynamic range and stable borehole (VBB) broad band seismic sensor, and incorporate 3-D strain meter, tilt meter, and temperature and local hydrostatic pressure measuring devices. The borehole seismic station will use the latest update technologies and design ideas to record 'Earth tides' signals to the smallest magnitude -3 events. Bringing face to face the seismograms of microearthquakes recorded by borehole and surface instruments portrays quite different contents. The shorter recording duration and nearly flat frequency spectrum up to the Nyquist frequencies of borehole records are faced with longer recording duration and rapid decay of spectral amplitudes at higher frequencies of a surface seismogram. The main causative of the observed differences are near surface geology effects that mask most of the source related information the seismograms include, and that give rise to scattering, generating longer duration seismograms. In view of these circumstances, studies on microearthquakes employing surface seismograms may bring on misleading results. Particularly, the works on earthquake physics and nucleation process of earthquakes requires elaborate analysis of tiny events. It is obvious from the studies on the nucleation process of the 1999 earthquake that tens of minutes before the major rupture initiate noteworthy microearthquake activity happened. The starting point of the 1999 rupture was a site of swarm activity noticed a few decades prior the main shock. Nowadays, analogous case is probable in western Marmara Sea region, prone to a major event in near future where the seismic activity is prevailing along the impending rupture zone. Deploying a borehole system eastern end of the Ganos fault zone may yield invaluable data to closely inspect and monitor the last stages of the preparation stage of major rupture. Keywords: Borehole seismometer; Ganos fault; microearthquakes; western Marmara

Mesozoic intracontinental underthrust in the SE margin of the North China Block: Insights from the Xu-Huai thrust-and-fold belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shu, Liangshu; Yin, Hongwei; Faure, Michel; Chen, Yan

2017-06-01

The Xu-Huai thrust-and-fold belt, located in the southeastern margin of the North China Block, consists mainly of thrust and folded pre-Mesozoic strata. Its geodynamic evolution and tectonic setting are topics of long debate. This paper provides new evidence from geological mapping, structural analysis, and making balance cross-sections, with restoration of cross-sections. Results suggest that this belt was subjected to two-phase deformation, including an early-phase regional-scale NW-ward thrust and fold, and a late-phase extension followed by the emplacement of dioritic, monzodioritic porphyrites dated at 131-135 Ma and locally strike-slip shearing. According to the mapping, field observations and drill-hole data, three structural units were distinguished, namely, (1) the pre-Neoproterozoic crystalline basement in the eastern segment, (2) the nappe unit or the thrust-and-fold zone in the central segment, which is composed of Neoproterozoic to Ordovician carbonate rocks and Carboniferous-Permian coal-bearing rocks, about 2600 m thick, and (3) the western frontal zone. A major decollement fault has also been identified in the base of the nappe unit, on which dozen-meter to km-scale thrust-and-fold bodies were commonly developed. All pre-Mesozoic depositional sequences were involved into a widespread thrust and fold event. Six uncompetent-rock layers with biostratigraphic ages (Nanjing University, 1996) have been recognized, and each uncompetent-rock layer occurred mainly in the top of the footwall, playing an important role in the development of the Xu-Huai thrust-and-fold belt. Geometry of the major decollement fault suggests that the nappe unit of this belt was rooted in its eastern side, near the Tan-Lu Fault Zone. Two geological cross-sections were chosen for structural balancing and restoration. From the balanced cross-sections, ramp-flat and imbricated faults as well as fault-related folds were identified. A shortening of 20.6-29.6 km was obtained from restoration of balanced sections, corresponding to a shortening rate of 43.6-46.4%. This shortening deformation was likely related to the SE-ward intracontinental underthrust of the North China Block beneath the South China Block during the Mesozoic.

Primary surface rupture associated with the Mw 7.1 16 October 1999 Hector Mine earthquake, San Bernardino County, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Treiman, J.A.; Kendrick, K.J.; Bryant, W.A.; Rockwell, T.K.; McGill, S.F.

2002-01-01

The Mw 7.1 Hector Mine earthquake occurred within the Mojave Desert portion of the eastern California shear zone and was accompanied by 48 km of dextral surface rupture. Complex northward rupture began on two branches of the Lavic Lake fault in the northern Bullion Mountains and also propagated southward onto the Bullion fault. Lesser amounts of rupture occurred across two right steps to the south. Surface rupture was mapped using postearthquake, 1:10,000-scale aerial photography. Field mapping provided additional detail and more than 400 fault-rupture observations; of these, approximately 300 measurements were used to characterize the slip distribution. En echelon surface rupture predominated in areas of thick alluvium, whereas in the bedrock areas, rupture was more continuous and focused within a narrower zone. Measured dextral offsets were relatively symmetrical about the epicentral region, with a maximum displacement of 5.25 ?? 0.85 m. Vertical slip was a secondary component and was variable, with minor west-side-down displacements predominat.ing in the Bullion Mountains. Field and aerial photographic evidence indicates that most of the faults that ruptured in 1999 had had prior late-Quaternary displacement, although only limited sections of the rupture show evidence for prior Holocene displacement.

Characterization of the Marcellus Shale based on computer-assisted correlation of wireline logs in Virginia and West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enomoto, Catherine B.; Olea, Ricardo A.; Coleman, James L.

2014-01-01

The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian basin extends from central Ohio on the west to eastern New York on the east, and from north-central New York on the north to northern Tennessee on the south. Its thickness ranges from 0 feet (ft) where it pinches out to the west to as much as 700 ft in its eastern extent. Within the Broadtop synclinorium, the thickness of the Marcellus Shale ranges from 250 to 565 ft. Although stratigraphic complexities have been documented, a significant range in thickness most likely is because of tectonic thickening from folds and thrust faults. Outcrop studies in the Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateaus provinces illustrate the challenges of interpreting the relation of third-order faults, folds, and “disturbed” zones to the regional tectonic framework. Recent field work within the Valley and Ridge province determined that significant faulting and intraformational deformation are present within the Marcellus Shale at the outcrop scale. In an attempt to determine if this scale of deformation is detectable with conventional wireline logs, petrophysical properties (primarily mineralogy and porosity) were measured by interpretation of gamma-ray and bulk-density logs. The results of performing a statistical correlation of wireline logs from nine wells indicated that there are discontinuities within the Millboro Shale (undifferentiated Marcellus Shale and Mahantango Formation) where there are significant thickness differences between wells. Also, some intervals likely contain mineralogy that makes these zones more prone to layer-shortening cleavage duplexes. The Correlator program proved to be a useful tool in a region of contractional deformation.

Deformation ages within the Klong Marui continental wrench fault, southern Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanjanapayont, P.; Grasemann, B.; Edwards, M. A.

2009-04-01

The Klong Marui Fault is a ductile to brittle dextral strike-slip shear zone characterized by strong NNE-SSW geomorphic ridges trending up to 150 km. from Thai Gulf to Andaman Sea. At it southern part in the Phung Nga region, the ductile core forms a 40km long ridge. The geology within this wrench zone consisted of steep strongly deformed layers of migmatitic gneisses, mylonitic granites/pegmatites and phyllonitic metapelites. Brittle cataclasitc zones were localized in the eastern and western margin of this ductile core zone. The first deformation stage was dextral ductile strike-slip movement at mid to upper crustal levels and formed the main mylonitic foliation (c), secondary synthetic foliations (c'), and lineation in the migmatitic gneisses, mylonitic granites and metapelites. Locally sillimanite-clasts in high-temperature recrystallization quartz fabric fabric suggest deformation at amphibolite facies condition. More typically, quartz dynamically recrystallize by subgrain rotation and grain boundary migration under greenschist facies conditions. Microstructure of myrmekite and "V"-pull-apart clearly indicates dextral sense of shear. Pegmatites cross-cut the main mylonitic foliation but were sheared at the rims indicating syn-kinematic emplacement. Dynamically recrystallizing quartz mainly by basal gliding, bulging and low-temperature subgrain rotation record the latest stage of ductile dextral strike-slip deformation during decreasing temperature conditions. The NNE-SSW trending dextral strike-slip deformation accommodated the E-W transpression as a result of the differential movement of the northward drifting Indian craton and Asia. The brittle/ductile deformation produced cataclasites and minor faults which overprint the higher temperature fabric causing exhumation and juxtaposition of fault rocks developed under different metamorphic conditions in a positive flower structure.

Strain Localisation at Rift Segment Boundaries: An Example from the Bocana Transfer Zone in Central Baja California, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seiler, C.; Gleadow, A. J.; Kohn, B. P.

2012-12-01

Rifts are commonly segmented into several hundred kilometre long zones of opposing upper-plate transport direction with boundaries defined by accommodation and transfer zones. A number of such rift segments have been recognized in the northern Gulf of California, a youthful oceanic basin that is currently undergoing the rift-drift transition. However, detailed field studies have so far failed to identify suitable structures that could accommodate the obvious deformation gradients between different rift segments, and the nature of strain transfer at segment boundaries remains enigmatic. The situation is even less clear in central and southern Baja California, where a number of rift segments have been hypothesized but it is unknown whether the intervening segment boundaries facilitate true reversals in the upper-plate transport direction, or whether they simply accommodate differences in the timing, style or magnitude of deformation. The Bocana transfer zone (BTZ) in central Baja California is a linear, WNW-ESE striking structural discontinuity separating two rift segments with different magnitudes and styles of extensional deformation. North of the BTZ, the Libertad fault is part of the Main Gulf Escarpment, which represents the breakaway fault that separates the Gulf of California rift to the east from the relatively stable western portion of the Baja peninsula. The N-striking Libertad escarpment developed during the Late Miocene (~10-8Ma) and exhibits a topographic relief of ca. 1,000m along a strike-length of ca. 50km. Finite displacement decreases from ~1000m in the central fault segment to ~500m further south, where the fault bends SE and merges with the BTZ. In the hanging wall of the Libertad fault, a series of W-tilted horsts are bound along their eastern margins by two moderate-displacement E-dipping normal faults. South of the BTZ, extension was much less than further north, which explains the comparatively subdued relief and generally shallower tilt of pre-rift strata in this area. The BTZ itself is characterized by two en echelon WNW-ESE striking dextral-oblique transfer faults with a significant down-to-the-NNE extensional component. Strain is transferred from the Libertad breakaway fault onto the transfer faults over a distance of >20km through a network of interacting normal, oblique and strike-slip faults. The shape, location and orientation of the main faults were strongly influenced by pre-existing rheological heterogeneities. Major normal faults are parallel to either the Mesozoic metamorphic foliation or Cretaceous intrusive contacts, and developed where the foliation was at a high angle to the extension direction. In contrast, the oblique-slip faults of the BTZ formed parallel to the metamorphic foliation where formlines are at a small angle to the regional extension direction. Compared to other, less well-understood accommodation zones in the Gulf of California rift, the BTZ shows a distinct lack of volcanic activity, which may help explain the different exposure and structural expression of the various segment boundaries.

Emergence and petrology of the Mendocino Ridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisk, Martin R.; Duncan, Robert A.; Fox, Christopher G.; Witter, Jeffrey B.

1993-11-01

The Mendocino Fracture Zone, a 3,000-km-long transform fault, extends from the San Andreas Fault at Cape Mendocino, California due west into the central Pacific basin. The shallow crest of this fracture zone, known as the Mendocino Ridge, rises to within 1,100 m of the sea surface at 270 km west of the California Coast. Rounded basalt pebbles and cobbles, indicative of a beach environment, are the dominant lithology at two locations on the crest of Mendocino Ridge and a40Ar/39 Ar incremental heating age of 11.0 ± 1.0 million years was determined for one of the these cobbles. This basalt must have been erupted on the Gorda Ridge because the crust immediately to the south of the fracture zone is older than 27 Ma. This age also implies that the crest of Mendocino Ridge was at sea level and would have blocked Pacific Ocean eastern boundary currents and affected the climate of the North American continent at some time since the late Miocene. Basalts from the Mendocino Fracture Zone (MFZ) are FeTi basalts similar to those commonly found at intersections of mid-ocean ridges and fracture zones. These basalts are chemically distinct from the nearby Gorda Ridge but they could have been derived from the same mantle source as the Gorda Ridge basalts. The location of the 11 Ma basalt suggests that Mendocino Ridge was transferred from the Gorda Plate to the Pacific Plate and the southern end of Gorda Ridge was truncated by a northward jump in the transform fault of MFZ.

Geometry and kinematics of the eastern Lake Mead fault system in the Virgin Mountains, Nevada and Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beard, Sue; Campagna, David J.; Anderson, R. Ernest

2010-01-01

The Lake Mead fault system is a northeast-striking, 130-km-long zone of left-slip in the southeast Great Basin, active from before 16 Ma to Quaternary time. The northeast end of the Lake Mead fault system in the Virgin Mountains of southeast Nevada and northwest Arizona forms a partitioned strain field comprising kinematically linked northeast-striking left-lateral faults, north-striking normal faults, and northwest-striking right-lateral faults. Major faults bound large structural blocks whose internal strain reflects their position within a left step-over of the left-lateral faults. Two north-striking large-displacement normal faults, the Lakeside Mine segment of the South Virgin–White Hills detachment fault and the Piedmont fault, intersect the left step-over from the southwest and northeast, respectively. The left step-over in the Lake Mead fault system therefore corresponds to a right-step in the regional normal fault system.Within the left step-over, displacement transfer between the left-lateral faults and linked normal faults occurs near their junctions, where the left-lateral faults become oblique and normal fault displacement decreases away from the junction. Southward from the center of the step-over in the Virgin Mountains, down-to-the-west normal faults splay northward from left-lateral faults, whereas north and east of the center, down-to-the-east normal faults splay southward from left-lateral faults. Minimum slip is thus in the central part of the left step-over, between east-directed slip to the north and west-directed slip to the south. Attenuation faults parallel or subparallel to bedding cut Lower Paleozoic rocks and are inferred to be early structures that accommodated footwall uplift during the initial stages of extension.Fault-slip data indicate oblique extensional strain within the left step-over in the South Virgin Mountains, manifested as east-west extension; shortening is partitioned between vertical for extension-dominated structural blocks and south-directed for strike-slip faults. Strike-slip faults are oblique to the extension direction due to structural inheritance from NE-striking fabrics in Proterozoic crystalline basement rocks.We hypothesize that (1) during early phases of deformation oblique extension was partitioned to form east-west–extended domains bounded by left-lateral faults of the Lake Mead fault system, from ca. 16 to 14 Ma. (2) Beginning ca. 13 Ma, increased south-directed shortening impinged on the Virgin Mountains and forced uplift, faulting, and overturning along the north and west side of the Virgin Mountains. (3) By ca. 10 Ma, initiation of the younger Hen Spring to Hamblin Bay fault segment of the Lake Mead fault system accommodated westward tectonic escape, and the focus of south-directed shortening transferred to the western Lake Mead region. The shift from early partitioned oblique extension to south-directed shortening may have resulted from initiation of right-lateral shear of the eastern Walker Lane to the west coupled with left-lateral shear along the eastern margin of the Great Basin.

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.

Mechanical deformation model of the western United States instantaneous strain-rate field

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, F.F.; Vergnolle, M.

2006-01-01

We present a relationship between the long-term fault slip rates and instantaneous velocities as measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) or other geodetic measurements over a short time span. The main elements are the secularly increasing forces imposed by the bounding Pacific and Juan de Fuca (JdF) plates on the North American plate, viscoelastic relaxation following selected large earthquakes occurring on faults that are locked during their respective interseismic periods, and steady slip along creeping portions of faults in the context of a thin-plate system. In detail, the physical model allows separate treatments of faults with known geometry and slip history, faults with incomplete characterization (i.e. fault geometry but not necessarily slip history is available), creeping faults, and dislocation sources distributed between the faults. We model the western United States strain-rate field, derived from 746 GPS velocity vectors, in order to test the importance of the relaxation from historic events and characterize the tectonic forces imposed by the bounding Pacific and JdF plates. Relaxation following major earthquakes (M ??? 8.0) strongly shapes the present strain-rate field over most of the plate boundary zone. Equally important are lateral shear transmitted across the Pacific-North America plate boundary along ???1000 km of the continental shelf, downdip forces distributed along the Cascadia subduction interface, and distributed slip in the lower lithosphere. Post-earthquake relaxation and tectonic forcing, combined with distributed deep slip, constructively interfere near the western margin of the plate boundary zone, producing locally large strain accumulation along the San Andreas fault (SAF) system. However, they destructively interfere further into the plate interior, resulting in smaller and more variable strain accumulation patterns in the eastern part of the plate boundary zone. Much of the right-lateral strain accumulation along the SAF system is systematically underpredicted by models which account only for relaxation from known large earthquakes. This strongly suggests that in addition to viscoelastic-cycle effects, steady deep slip in the lower lithosphere is needed to explain the observed strain-rate field. ?? 2006 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2006 RAS.

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.

Wedge geometry, frictional properties and interseismic coupling of the Java megathrust

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koulali, Achraf; McClusky, Simon; Cummins, Phil; Tregoning, Paul

2018-06-01

The mechanical interaction between rocks at fault zones is a key element for understanding how earthquakes nucleate and propagate. Therefore, estimating frictional properties along fault planes allows us to infer the degree of elastic strain accumulation throughout the seismic cycle. The Java subduction zone is an active plate boundary where high seismic activity has long been documented. However, very little is known about the seismogenic processes of the megathrust, especially its shallowest portion where onshore geodetic networks are insensitive to recover the pattern of elastic strain. Here, we use the geometry of the offshore accretionary prism to infer frictional properties along the Java subduction zone, using Coulomb critical taper theory. We show that large portions of the inner wedge in the eastern part of the Java subduction megathrust are in a critical state, where the wedge is on the verge of failure everywhere. We identify four clusters with an internal coefficient of friction μint of ∼ 0.8 and hydrostatic pore pressure within the wedge. The average effective coefficient of friction ranges between 0.3 and 0.4, reflecting a strong décollement. Our results also show that the aftershock sequence of the 1994 Mw 7.9 earthquake halted adjacent to a critical segment of the wedge, suggesting that critical taper wedge areas in the eastern Java subduction interface may behave as a permanent barrier to large earthquake rupture. In contrast, in western Java topographic slope and slab dip profiles suggest that the wedge is mechanically stable, i.e deformation is restricted to sliding along the décollement, and likely to coincide with a seismogenic portion of the megathrust. We discuss the seismic hazard implications and highlight the importance of considering the segmentation of the Java subduction zone when assessing the seismic hazard of this region.

Crustal Structure of the Middle East from Regional Seismic Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gritto, Roland; Sibol, Matthew; Caron, Pierre; Ghalib, Hafidh; Chen, Youlin

2010-05-01

We present results of crustal studies obtained with seismic data from the Northern Iraq Seismic Network (NISN). NISN has operated ten broadband stations in north-eastern Iraq since late 2005. This network was supplemented by the five-element broadband Iraq Seismic Array (KSIRS) in 2007. More recently, the former Iraq Seismic Network (ISN), destroyed during the war with Iran, was reestablished with the deployment of six broadband stations throughout Iraq. The aim of the present study is to derive models of the local and regional crustal structure of the Middle East, including Eastern Turkey, Iraq and Iran. To achieve this goal, we derive crustal velocity models using receiver function, surface wave and body wave analyses. These refined velocity models will eventually be used to obtain accurate hypocenter locations and event focal mechanisms. Our analysis of preliminary hypocenter locations produced a clearer picture of the seismicity associated with the tectonics of the region. The largest seismicity rate is confined to the active northern section of the Zagros thrust zone, while it decreases towards the southern end, before the intensity increases in the Bandar Abbas region again. Additionally, the rift zones in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are clearly demarked by high seismicity rates. Surface wave velocity analysis resulted in a clear demarcation of the tectonic features in the region. The Arabian shield, Zagros thrust zone and the Red Sea are apparent through distinct velocity distributions separating them from each other. Furthermore, the shear wave velocity of the crust in North Iraq appears to be 10% higher than that of the Iranian plateau. The velocity anomaly of the Zagros mountains appears to be present into the upper mantle beyond the resolving limit of our model. Analysis of waveform data for obstructed pathways indicates clear propagation paths from the west or south-west across the Arabian shield as well as from the north and east into NISN. Phases including Pn, Pg, Sn, Lg, as well as LR are clearly observed on these seismograms. In contrast, blockage or attenuation of Pg and Sg-wave energy is observed for propagation paths across the Zagros-Makran zone from the south, while Pn and Sn phases are not affected. These findings are in support of earlier tectonic models that suggested the existence of multiple parallel listric faults splitting off the main Zagros fault zone in westerly direction. These faults appear to attenuate the crustal phases while the refracted phases, propagating across the mantle lid, remain unaffected. Azimuthal phase count and velocity analyses of body waves support the findings of blockage by the Zagros-Makran zone as well as higher shear wave velocities for the crust in Northern Iraq. In combination with receiver function and refraction studies, our first structural model of the crust beneath north-eastern Iraq indicates crustal depth of 40-45 km for the foothills, which increases to 45-50 km below the core of the Zagros-Bitlis zone.

M≥7 Earthquake rupture forecast and time-dependent probability for the Sea of Marmara region, Turkey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murru, Maura; Akinci, Aybige; Falcone, Guiseppe; Pucci, Stefano; Console, Rodolfo; Parsons, Thomas E.

2016-01-01

We forecast time-independent and time-dependent earthquake ruptures in the Marmara region of Turkey for the next 30 years using a new fault-segmentation model. We also augment time-dependent Brownian Passage Time (BPT) probability with static Coulomb stress changes (ΔCFF) from interacting faults. We calculate Mw > 6.5 probability from 26 individual fault sources in the Marmara region. We also consider a multisegment rupture model that allows higher-magnitude ruptures over some segments of the Northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NNAF) beneath the Marmara Sea. A total of 10 different Mw=7.0 to Mw=8.0 multisegment ruptures are combined with the other regional faults at rates that balance the overall moment accumulation. We use Gaussian random distributions to treat parameter uncertainties (e.g., aperiodicity, maximum expected magnitude, slip rate, and consequently mean recurrence time) of the statistical distributions associated with each fault source. We then estimate uncertainties of the 30-year probability values for the next characteristic event obtained from three different models (Poisson, BPT, and BPT+ΔCFF) using a Monte Carlo procedure. The Gerede fault segment located at the eastern end of the Marmara region shows the highest 30-yr probability, with a Poisson value of 29%, and a time-dependent interaction probability of 48%. We find an aggregated 30-yr Poisson probability of M >7.3 earthquakes at Istanbul of 35%, which increases to 47% if time dependence and stress transfer are considered. We calculate a 2-fold probability gain (ratio time-dependent to time-independent) on the southern strands of the North Anatolian Fault Zone.

The Colorado front range: anatomy of a Laramide uplift

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kellogg, Karl; Bryant, Bruce; Reed, John C.

2004-01-01

Along a transect across the Front Range from Denver to the Blue River valley near Dillon, the trip explores the geologic framework and Laramide (Late Cretaceous to early Eocene) uplift history of this basement-cored mountain range. Specific items for discussion at various stops are (1) the sedimentary and structural record along the upturned eastern margin of the range, which contains several discontinuous, east-directed reverse faults; (2) the western structural margin of the range, which contains a minimum of 9 km of thrust overhang and is significantly different in structural style from the eastern margin; (3) mid- to late-Tertiary modifications to the western margin of the range from extensional faulting along the northern Rio Grande rift trend; (4) the thermal and uplift history of the range as revealed by apatite fission track analysis; (5) the Proterozoic basement of the range, including the significance of northeast-trending shear zones; and (6) the geologic setting of the Colorado mineral belt, formed during Laramide and mid-Tertiary igneous activity.

Gravity and Aeromagnetic Gradients within the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Black Mountain Tectonic Zone, Big Delta Quadrangle, east-central Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Saltus, R.W.; Day, W.C.

2006-01-01

The Yukon-Tanana Upland is a complex composite assemblage of variably metamorphosed crystalline rocks with strong North American affinities. At the broadest scale, the Upland has a relatively neutral magnetic character. More detailed examination, however, reveals a fundamental northeast-southwest-trending magnetic gradient, representing a 20-nT step (as measured at a flight height of 300 m) with higher values to the northwest, that extends from the Denali fault to the Tintina fault and bisects the Upland. This newly recognized geophysical gradient is parallel to, but about 100 km east of, the Shaw Creek fault. The Shaw Creek fault is mapped as a major left-lateral, strike-slip fault, but does not coincide with a geophysical boundary. A gravity gradient coincides loosely with the southwestern half of the magnetic gradient. This gravity gradient is the eastern boundary of a 30-mGal residual gravity high that occupies much of the western and central portions of the Big Delta quadrangle. The adjacent lower gravity values to the east correlate, at least in part, with mapped post-metamorphic granitic rocks. Ground-based gravity and physical property measurements were made in the southeastern- most section of the Big Delta quadrangle in 2004 to investigate these geophysical features. Preliminary geophysical models suggest that the magnetic boundary is deeper and more fundamental than the gravity boundary. The two geophysical boundaries coincide in and around the Tibbs Creek region, an area of interest to mineral exploration. A newly mapped tectonic zone (the Black Mountain tectonic zone of O'Neill and others, 2005) correlates with the coincident geophysical boundaries.

State-of-stress in magmatic rift zones: Predicting the role of surface and subsurface topography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliva, S. J. C.; Ebinger, C.; Rivalta, E.; Williams, C. A.

2017-12-01

Continental rift zones are segmented along their length by large fault systems that form in response to extensional stresses. Volcanoes and crustal magma chambers cause fundamental changes to the density structure, load the plates, and alter the state-of-stress within the crust, which then dictates fracture orientation. In this study, we develop geodynamic models scaled to a < 7 My rift sector in the Eastern rift, East Africa where geophysical imaging provides tight constraints on subsurface structure, petrologic and thermodynamic studies constrain material densities, and seismicity and structural analyses constrain active and time-averaged kinematics. This area is an ideal test area because a 60º stress rotation is observed in time-averaged fault and magma intrusion, and in local seismicity, and because this was the site of a large volume dike intrusion and seismic sequence in 2007. We use physics-based 2D and 3D models (analytical and finite elements) constrained by data from active rift zones to quantify the effects of loading on state-of-stress. By modeling varying geometric arrangements, and density contrasts of topographic and subsurface loads, and with reasonable regional extensional forces, the resulting state-of-stress reveals the favored orientation for new intrusions. Although our models are generalized, they allow us to evaluate whether a magmatic system (surface and subsurface) can explain the observed stress rotation, and enable new intrusions, new faults, or fault reactivation with orientations oblique to the main border faults. Our results will improve our understanding of the different factors at play in these extensional regimes, as well as contribute to a better assessment of the hazards in the area.

Complex fold and thrust belt structural styles: Examples from the Greater Juha area of the Papuan Fold and Thrust Belt, Papua New Guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahoney, Luke; Hill, Kevin; McLaren, Sandra; Hanani, Amanda

2017-07-01

The remote and inhospitable Papuan Fold Belt in Papua New Guinea is one of the youngest yet least well-documented fold and thrust belts on Earth. Within the frontal Greater Juha area we have carried out >100 km of geological traverses and associated analyses that have added significantly to the contemporary geological and geophysical dataset. Our structural analysis provides evidence of major inversion, detachment and triangle zone faults within the uplifted Eastern Muller Ranges. We have used the dataset to develop a quasi-3D model for the Greater Juha area, with associated cross-sections revealing that the exposed Cenozoic Darai Limestone is well-constrained with very low shortening of 12.6-21.4% yet structures are elevated up to 7 km above regional. We suggest the inversion of pre-existing rift architecture is the primary influence on the evolution of the area and that structures link to the surface via triangle zones and detachment faults within the incompetent Mesozoic passive-margin sedimentary sequence underlying competent Darai Limestone. Arc-normal oriented structures, dominantly oblique dextral, up-to-the-southeast, are pervasive across a range of scales and are here interpreted to relate at depth to weakened pre-existing basement cross-structures. It is proposed that Palaeozoic basement fabric controlled the structural framework of the basin during Early Mesozoic rifting forming regional-scale accommodation zones and related local-scale transfer structures that are now expressed as regional-scale arc-normal lineaments and local-scale arc-normal structures, respectively. Transfer structures, including complexly breached relay ramps, utilise northeast-southwest striking weaknesses associated with the basement fabric, as a mechanism for accommodating displacement along major northwest-southeast striking normal faults. These structures have subsequently been inverted to form arc-normal oriented zones of tear faulting that accommodate laterally variable displacement along inversion faults and connected thrust structures.

Investigation of the geologic setting and geomorphic processes that control the formation and preservation of precarious rock zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haddad, D.; Arrowsmith, R.

2008-12-01

Zones of precariously balanced rocks have been used as negative indicators of previous strong ground motion in seismically active regions of Southern California and Nevada (e.g. Brune 1996). Understanding the geologic context and the geomorphic framework that control the formation and preservation of precarious rocks is essential to testing their fidelity for extreme ground motion analyses. In this study we assess the geologic settings and the geomorphic processes nested within them using precarious rock zones (Granite Dells, Texas Canyon, and Granite Pediment) in low-seismicity regions of Arizona and Southern California. The Granite Dells locality is a ~20 km2 Proterozoic granite field that is ~5 km from the Prescott Valley graben faults (<0.2 mm/yr of Quaternary slip). The Texas Canyon locality is a ~132 km2 Mesozoic granite field that is ~23 km from the Little Rincon Mountains fault (<0.2 mm/yr of Quaternary slip). The Granite Pediment locality is a ~12 km2 Mesozoic granite pediment located ~96 km from the eastern section of the Garlock fault (<5 mm/yr of Quaternary slip). Characterization of the geologic context of each site included assembling a digital geologic database for Arizona, Southern California, and southern Nevada. The geologic database was queried for granitic bodies and Quaternary deposits. Active faults were categorized by their Quaternary slip rates, and a 20 km zone of no precarious rocks was created around each active fault based on the field surveys of Brune (1996). Aerial photographs were used to map the spatial distribution and geometry of joint sets within each site. Ground surveys using hand-held GPS units and digital photography were conducted to document the characteristics (lithology, size, fragility, weathering characteristics) and spatial density of precariously balanced rocks. Morphometric analyses of digital elevation data may indicate if there is a slope or relief range which the precarious rocks are optimally produced and/or preserved.

Mid Carboniferous lamprophyres, Cobequid Fault Zone, eastern Canada, linked to sodic granites, voluminous gabbro, and albitization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pe-Piper, Georgia; Piper, David J. W.; Papoutsa, Angeliki

2018-01-01

Major intra-continental shear zones developed during the later stages of continental collision in a back-arc setting are sites of prolonged magmatism. Mantle metasomatism results from both melting of subducted sediments and oceanic crust. In the Cobequid Fault Zone of the northern Appalachians, back-arc A-type granites and gabbros dated ca. 360 Ma are locally intruded by lamprophyric dykes dated ca. 335 Ma. All the lamprophyres are kersantites with biotite and albite, lesser ilmenite, titanite and fluorapatite, and minor magmatic calcite, allanite, pyrite, magnetite, quartz and K-feldspar in some samples. The lamprophyres show enrichment in Rb, Ba, K, Th and REE and classify as calc-alkaline lamprophyre on the basis of biotite and whole rock chemistry. Pb isotopes lie on a mixing line between normal mantle-derived gabbro and OIB magma. Nd isotopes range from 1.3-3.5 εNdt, a little lower than in local gabbro. Most lamprophyres have δ18O = 3.8-4.4‰. Country rock is cut by pyrite-(Mg)-chlorite veins with euhedral allanite crystals that resemble the lamprophyres mineralogically, with the Mg-chlorite representing chloritized glass. Early Carboniferous unenriched mafic dykes and minor volcanic rocks are widespread along the major active strike-slip fault zones. The lamprophyres are geographically restricted to within 10 km of a small granitoid pluton with some sodic amphibole and widespread albitization. This was displaced by early Carboniferous strike-slip faulting from its original position close to the large Wentworth Pluton, the site of mantle-derived sodic amphibole granite, a major late gabbro pluton, and a volcanic carapace several kilometres thick, previously demonstrated to be the site of mantle upwelling and metasomatism. The age of the lamprophyres implies that enriched source material in upper lithospheric mantle or lower crust was displaced 50 km by crustal scale strike-slip faulting after enrichment by the mantle upwelling before lamprophyre emplacement. This indicates a multi-stage process to emplace lamprophyric magma.

Geometry and segmentation of the North Anatolian Fault beneath the Marmara Sea, Turkey, deduced from long-term ocean bottom seismographic observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Yojiro; Takahashi, Narumi; Pinar, Ali; Kalafat, Dogan; Citak, Seckin; Comoglu, Mustafa; Polat, Remzi; Kaneda, Yoshiyuki

2017-04-01

Both the geometry and the depth of the seismogenic zone of the North Anatolian Fault under the Marmara Sea (the Main Marmara Fault; MMF) are poorly understood, in part because of the fault's undersea location. We have started a series of long-term ocean bottom seismographs (OBSs) observation since 2014, as a part of the SATREPS collaborative project between Japan and Turkey namely "Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Mitigation in the Marmara Region and Disaster Education in Turkey". We recorded 10 months of microseismic data with a dense array of OBSs from Sep. 2014 to Jul. 2015 and then applied double-difference relocation and 3-D tomographic modeling to obtain precise hypocenters on the MMF beneath the central and western Marmara Sea. The hypocenters show distinct lateral changes along the MMF: (1) Both the upper and lower crust beneath the Western High are seismically active and the maximum focal depth reaches 26 km, (2) seismic events are confined to the upper crust beneath the region extending from the eastern part of the Central Basin to the Kumburgaz Basin, and (3) the magnitude and direction of dip of the main fault changes under the Central Basin, where there is also an abrupt change in the depth of the lower limit of the seismogenic zone. We attribute this change to a segment boundary of the MMF. Our data show that the upper limit of the seismogenic zone corresponds to sedimentary basement. We also identified several inactive seismicity regions within the upper crust along the MMF; their spatial extent beneath the Kumburgaz Basin is greater than beneath the Western High. From the comparison with seafloor extensometer data, we consider that these inactive seismicity regions might indicate zones of strong coupling that are accumulating stress for release during future large earthquakes. In this presentation, we will also show the preliminary result of our second phase observation from Jul. 2015 to Jun. 2016.

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.

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.

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.

Estimation of vertical slip rate in an active fault-propagation fold from the analysis of a progressive unconformity at the NE segment of the Carrascoy Fault (SE Iberia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Banda, Raquel; Insua-Arevalo, Juan Miguel; Garcia-Mayordomo, Julian

2017-04-01

Many studies have dealt with the calculation of fault-propagation fold growth rates considering a variety of kinematics models, from limb rotation to hinge migration models. In most cases, the different geometrical and numeric growth models are based on horizontal pre-growth strata architecture and a constant known slip rate. Here, we present the estimation of the vertical slip rate of the NE Segment of the Carrascoy Fault (SE Iberian Peninsula) from the geometrical modeling of a progressive unconformity developed on alluvial fan sediments with a high depositional slope. The NE Segment of the Carrascoy Fault is a left-lateral strike slip fault with reverse component belonging to the Eastern Betic Shear Zone, a major structure that accommodates most of the convergence between Iberian and Nubian tectonics plates in Southern Spain. The proximity of this major fault to the city of Murcia encourages the importance of carrying out paleosismological studies in order to determinate the Quaternary slip rate of the fault, a key geological parameter for seismic hazard calculations. This segment is formed by a narrow fault zone that articulates abruptly the northern edge of the Carrascoy Range with the Guadalentin Depression through high slope, short alluvial fans Upper-Middle Pleistocene in age. An outcrop in a quarry at the foot of this front reveals a progressive unconformity developed on these alluvial fan deposits, showing the important reverse component of the fault. The architecture of this unconformity is marked by well-developed calcretes on the top some of the alluvial deposits. We have determined the age of several of these calcretes by the Uranium-series disequilibrium dating method. The results obtained are consistent with recent published studies on the SW segment of the Carrascoy Fault that together with offset canals observed at a few locations suggest a net slip rate close to 1 m/ka.

Ground Deformation near active faults in the Kinki district, southwest Japan, detected by InSAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hashimoto, M.; Ozawa, T.

2016-12-01

The Kinki district, southwest Japan, consists of ranges and plains between which active faults reside. The Osaka plain is in the middle of this district and is surrounded by the Rokko, Arima-Takatsuki, Ikoma, Kongo and Median Tectonic Line fault zones in the clockwise order. These faults are considered to be capable to generate earthquakes of larger magnitude than 7. The 1995 Kobe earthquake is the most recent activity of the Rokko fault (NE-SW trending dextral fault). Therefore the monitoring of ground deformation with high spatial resolution is essential to evaluate seismic hazards in this area. We collected and analyzed available SAR images such as ERS-1/2, Envisat, JERS-1, TerraSAR-X, ALOS/PALSAR and ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 to reveal ground deformation during these 20 years. We made DInSAR and PSInSAR analyses of these images using ASTER-GDEM ver.2. We detected three spots of subsidence along the Arima-Takatsuki fault (ENE-WSW trending dextral fault, east neighbor of the Rokko fault) after the Kobe earthquake, which continued up to 2010. Two of them started right after the Kobe earthquake, while the easternmost one was observed after 2000. However, we did not find them in the interferograms of ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 acquired during 2014 - 2016. Marginal uplift was recognized along the eastern part of the Rokko fault. PS-InSAR results of ALOS/PALSAR also revealed slight uplift north of the Rokko Mountain that uplift by 20 cm coseismically. These observations suggest that the Rokko Mountain might have uplifted during the postseismic period. We found subsidence on the eastern frank of the Kongo Mountain, where the Kongo fault (N-S trending reverse fault) exits. In the southern neighbor of the Median Tectonic Line (ENE-WSW trending dextral fault), uplift of > 5 mm/yr was found by Envisat and ALOS/PALSAR images. This area is shifted westward by 4 mm/yr as well. Since this area is located east of a seismically active area in the northwestern Wakayama prefecture, this deformation may generate E-W compressive stress, which is dominant in focal mechanism of most earthquakes, in the epicentral area.

Crustal structure of the alaska range orogen and denali fault along the richardson highway

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, M.A.; Pellerin, L.; Nokleberg, W.J.; Ratchkovski, N.A.; Glen, J.M.G.

2007-01-01

A suite of geophysical data obtained along the Richardson Highway crosses the eastern Alaska Range and Denali fault and reveals the crustal structure of the orogen. Strong seismic reflections from within the orogen north of the Denali fault dip as steeply as 25?? north and extend downward to depths between 20 and 25 km. These reflections reveal what is probably a shear zone that transects most of the crust and is part of a crustal-scale duplex structure that probably formed during the Late Cretaceous. These structures, however, appear to be relict because over the past 20 years, they have produced little or no seismicity despite the nearby Mw = 7.9 Denali fault earthquake that struck in 2002. The Denali fault is nonreflective, but we interpret modeled magnetotelluric (MT), gravity, and magnetic data to propose that the fault dips steeply to vertically. Modeling of MT data shows that aftershocks of the 2002 Denali fault earthquake occurred above a rock body that has low electrical resistivity (>10 ohm-m), which might signify the presence of fluids in the middle and lower crust. Copyright ?? 2007 The Geological Society of America.

Tectonic deformation of the Andes and the configuration of the subducted slab in central Peru: Results from a micro-seismic experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suarez, G.; Gagnepain, J. J.; Cisternas, A.; Hatzfeld, D.; Molnar, P.; Ocola, L.; Roecker, S. W.; Viode, J. P.

1983-01-01

The vast majority of the microearthquakes recorded occurred to the east: on the Huaytapallana fault in the Eastern Cordillera or in the western margin of the sub-Andes. The sub-Andes appear to be the physiographic province subjected to the most intense seismic deformation. Focal depths for the crustal events here are as deep as 50 km, and the fault plane solutions, show thrust faulting on steep planes oriented roughly north-south. The Huaytapallana fault in the Cordillera Oriental also shows relatively high seismicity along a northeast-southwest trend that agrees with the fault scarp and the east dipping nodal plane of two large earthquakes that occurred on this fault in 1969. The recorded microearthquakes of intermediate depth show a flat seismic zone about 25 km thick at a depth of about 100 km. This agrees with the suggestion that beneath Peru the slab first dips at an angle of 30 deg to a depth of 100 km and then flattens following a quasi-horizontal trajectory. Fault plane solutions of intermediate depth microearthquakes have horizontal T axes oriented east-west.

Temporal variations in extension rate on the Lone Mountain fault and strain distribution in the eastern California shear zone-Walker Lane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoeft, J. S.; Frankel, K. L.

2010-12-01

The eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) and Walker Lane represent an evolving segment of the Pacific-North America plate boundary. Understanding temporal variations in strain accumulation and release along plate boundary structures is critical to assessing how deformation is accommodated throughout the lithosphere. Late Pleistocene displacement along the Lone Mountain fault suggests the Silver Peak-Lone Mountain (SPLM) extensional complex is an important structure in accommodating and transferring strain within the ECSZ and Walker Lane. Using geologic and geomorphic mapping, differential global positioning system surveys, and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) geochronology, we determined rates of extension across the Lone Mountain fault in western Nevada. The Lone Mountain fault displaces the northwestern Lone Mountain and Weepah Hills piedmonts and is the northeastern component of the SPLM extensional complex, a series of down-to-the-northwest normal faults. We mapped seven distinct alluvial fan deposits and dated three of the surfaces using 10Be TCN geochronology, yielding ages of 16.5 ± 1.2 ka, 92 ± 9 ka, and 137 ± 25 ka for the Q3b, Q2c, and Q2b deposits, respectively. The ages were combined with scarp profile measurements across the displaced fans to obtain minimum rates of extension; the Q2b and Q2c surfaces yield an extension rate between 0.1 ± 0.1 and 0.2 ± 01 mm/yr and the Q3b surface yields a rate of 0.2 ± 0.1 to 0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr, depending on the dip of the fault. Active extension on the Lone Mountain fault suggests that it helps partition strain off of the major strike-slip faults in the northern ECSZ and transfers deformation to the east around the Mina Deflection and northward into the Walker Lane. Combining our results with estimates from other faults accommodating dextral shear in the northern ECSZ reveals an apparent discrepancy between short- and long-term rates of strain accumulation and release. If strain rates have remained constant since the late Pleistocene, this could reflect transient strain accumulation, similar to the Mojave segment of the ECSZ. However, our data also suggest a potential increase in strain rates between ~92 ka and ~17 ka, and possibly to present day, which may also help explain the mismatch between long- and short-term rates of deformation in the region.

Clustering of GPS velocities in the Mojave Block, southeastern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savage, James C.; Simpson, Robert W.

2013-01-01

We find subdivisions within the Mojave Block using cluster analysis to identify groupings in the velocities observed at GPS stations there. The clusters are represented on a fault map by symbols located at the positions of the GPS stations, each symbol representing the cluster to which the velocity of that GPS station belongs. Fault systems that separate the clusters are readily identified on such a map. The most significant representation as judged by the gap test involves 4 clusters within the Mojave Block. The fault systems bounding the clusters from east to west are 1) the faults defining the eastern boundary of the Northeast Mojave Domain extended southward to connect to the Hector Mine rupture, 2) the Calico-Paradise fault system, 3) the Landers-Blackwater fault system, and 4) the Helendale-Lockhart fault system. This division of the Mojave Block is very similar to that proposed by Meade and Hager. However, no cluster boundary coincides with the Garlock Fault, the northern boundary of the Mojave Block. Rather, the clusters appear to continue without interruption from the Mojave Block north into the southern Walker Lane Belt, similar to the continuity across the Garlock Fault of the shear zone along the Blackwater-Little Lake fault system observed by Peltzer et al. Mapped traces of individual faults in the Mojave Block terminate within the block and do not continue across the Garlock Fault [Dokka and Travis, ].

Morphology and Relative Age Modeling of Explosive craters in the Tatun Volcano Group, Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Chen-Kan; Song, Sheng-Rong

2017-04-01

The Tatun Volcano Group (TVG) is located in the north of Taipei city for only 15 km away, and has been argued whether it is active or not for a long time. The Chihsingshan volcano is covered by many gas fumaroles and hot springs and is viewed as a relatively younger volcano of the TVG. Furthermore, using high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) can easily identify two apparent fault zones (or rifting valleys) with many craters, which pass through the eastern and the western edifice of Chihsingshan volcano, respectively. Shapes of those craters are nearly circular or elliptic, probably stand for the young eruptive events. This study utilizes 1 m x 1 m LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) DEM to investigate the small craters along the fault zones. The boundaries encompassing the crater were depicted by their steep slope, especially the intact ones. Eight and six craters have been determined from western and eastern side, and two and three of them are more intact, respectively. Numerous fractures exist in the linear extent are similar to the fault zones, but the morphology was destroyed by the downstream river system. The results of fractal dimensions analysis, a statistic method that tells the broken level of the shapes, may correlate with the age of those craters. Previous studies have proven this modeling method can fit the lava flow sequences of the TVG. Hence we try to find a suitable age modeling for the explosive craters in the same way, and then we can compare different ones for relative age and focus on the youngest one. In addition, field sampling at the craters such as Duck Pond and Dream Lake may be ideal archives of volcanic deposits from young volcanic events. With the combinations of LiDAR-DEM, fractal dimensions analysis and field sampling results, we could figure out the formation sequence of the craters.

Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene tectonic development of SE Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morley, C. K.

2012-10-01

The Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene history of the continental core of SE Asia (Sundaland) marks the time prior to collision of India with Asia when SE Asia, from the Tethys in the west to the Palaeo-Pacific in the east, lay in the upper plate of subduction zones. In Myanmar and Sumatra, subduction was interrupted in the Aptian-Albian by a phase of arc accretion (Woyla and Mawgyi arcs) and in Java, eastern Borneo and Western Sulawesi by collision of continental fragments rifted from northern Australia. Subsequent resumption of subduction in the Myanmar-Thailand sector explains: 1) early creation of oceanic crust in the Andaman Sea in a supra-subduction zone setting ~ 95 Ma, 2) the belt of granite plutons of Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene age (starting ~ 88 Ma) in western Thailand and central Myanmar, and 3) amphibolite grade metamorphism between 70 and 80 Ma seen in gneissic outcrops in western and central Thailand, and 4) accretionary prism development in the Western Belt of Myanmar, until glancing collision with the NE corner of Greater India promoted ophiolite obduction, deformation and exhumation of marine sediments in the early Palaeogene. The Ranong strike-slip fault and other less well documented faults, were episodically active during the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene time. N to NW directed subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific ocean below Southern China, Vietnam and Borneo created a major magmatic arc, associated with rift basins, metamorphic core complexes and strike-slip deformation which continued into the Late Cretaceous. The origin and timing of termination of subduction has recently been explained by collision of a large Luconia continental fragment either during the Late Cretaceous or Palaeogene. Evidence for such a collision is absent from the South China Sea well and seismic reflection record and here collision is discounted. Instead relocation of the subducting margin further west, possibly in response of back-arc extension (which created the Proto-South China Sea) is preferred. Lying between the two subduction related arcs, the Khorat Basin is of predominantly Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous age but stratigraphic and apatite fission track data also indicates deposition of 1-2 km of Late Cretaceous sediments. The synformal basin geometry probably arose due to the dynamic topography created by converging Tethyan and Palaeo-Pacific subduction zones. The Aptian-Albian slowing of basin subsidence and onset of evaporite deposition coincides with collision of the Mawgyi and Woyla island arcs. Extensive Palaeogene deformation and exhumation (3 + km in places) affected all margins of the Khorat Plateau. Deformation includes folds of the Phu Phan uplift, and strike-slip faults, thrusts and folds on the southern and eastern margins. South of the Khorat Plateau outcrop, and seismic reflection data from the Ton Le Sap Basin (Cambodia), and the Gulf of Thailand, indicate syn-depositional fault-controlled subsidence was important during Cretaceous deposition. The hot, thickened crust developed during the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene events follows the weak (Indosinian), crustal-scale Inthanon and Sukhothai zones, which persistently guided the location of later structures including Cenozoic extensional, and post-rift basins, and influenced the widespread occurrence of low-angle normal faults, metamorphic core complexes, and eastern Gulf of Thailand super-deep post-rift basins.

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.

Identifying block structure in the Pacific Northwest, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Savage, James C.; Wells, Ray E.

2015-01-01

We have identified block structure in the Pacific Northwest (west of 116°W between 38°N and 49°N) by clustering GPS stations so that the same Euler vector approximates the velocity of each station in a cluster. Given the total number k of clusters desired, the clustering procedure finds the best assignment of stations to clusters. Clustering is calculated for k= 2 to 14. In geographic space, cluster boundaries that remain relatively stable as k is increased are tentatively identified as block boundaries. That identification is reinforced if the cluster boundary coincides with a geologic feature. Boundaries identified in northern California and Nevada are the Central Nevada Seismic Belt, the west side of the Northern Walker Lane Belt, and the Bartlett Springs Fault. Three blocks cover all of Oregon and Washington. The principal block boundary there extends west-northwest along the Brothers Fault Zone, then north and northwest along the eastern boundary of Siletzia, the accreted oceanic basement of the forearc. East of this boundary is the Intermountain block, its eastern boundary undefined. A cluster boundary at Cape Blanco subdivides the forearc along the faulted southern margin of Siletzia. South of Cape Blanco the Klamath Mountains-Basin and Range block extends east to the Central Nevada Seismic Belt and south to the Sierra Nevada-Great Valley block. The Siletzia block north of Cape Blanco coincides almost exactly with the accreted Siletz terrane. The cluster boundary in the eastern Olympic Peninsula may mark permanent shortening of Siletzia against the Intermountain block.

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.

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.

GPR Imaging of Fault Related Folds in a Gold-Bearing Metasedimentary Sequence, Carolina Terrane, Southern Appalachian Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diemer, J. A.; Bobyarchick, A. R.

2015-12-01

The Carolina terrane comprises Ediacaran to earliest Paleozoic mixed magmatic and sedimentary assemblages in the central and eastern Piedmont of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The terrane was primarily deformed during the Late Ordovician Cherokee orogeny, that reached greenschist facies metamorphism. The Albemarle arc, a younger component of the Carolina terrane, contains volcanogenic metasedimentary rocks with intercalated mainly rhyolitic volcanic rocks. Regional inclined to overturned folds with axial planar cleavage verge southeast. At mesoscopic scales (exposures of a few square meters), folds sympathetic with regional folds are attenuated or truncated by ductile shear zones or contractional faults. Shear and fault zones are most abundant near highly silicified strataform zones in metagraywacke of the Tillery Formation; these zones are also auriferous. GPR profiles were collected across strike of two silicified, gold-bearing zones and enclosing metagraywacke to characterize the scale and extent of folding in the vicinity of ore horizons. Several GSSI SIR-3000 / 100 MHz monostatic GPR profiles were collected in profiles up to 260 meters long. In pre-migration lines processed for time zero and background removal, several clusters of shallow, rolling sigmoidal reflectors appeared separated by sets of parallel, northwest-dipping reflective discontinuities. These features are inferred to be reverse faults carrying contractional folds. After migration with an average velocity of 0.105 m/ns, vertical heights of the inferred folds became attenuated but not removed, and contractional fault reflections remained prominent. After migration, a highly convex-up cluster of reflections initially assumed to be a fold culmination resolved to an elliptical patch of high amplitudes. The patch is likely an undisclosed shaft or covered trench left by earlier gold prospecting. In this survey, useful detail appeared to a depth of 7.5 meters, and only a few gently inclined, laterally extensive reflectors are present inside the noise blanket. Also, convex-up planar reflectors greater than about 8 meters deep and tens of meters long suggest fold culminations much longer in wavelength than the shallow imaged folds. For these metasedimentary rocks GPR provides a valuable tool for imaging sub-surface structure.

Preliminary Geologic Map of the Sanchez Reservoir Quadrangle and Eastern Part of the Garcia Quadrangle, Costilla County, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thompson, Ren A.; Machette, Michael N.; Drenth, Benjamin J.

2007-01-01

This geologic map is based entirely on new mapping by Thompson and Machette, whereas the geophysical data and interpretations were supplied by Drenth. The map area includes most of San Pedro Mesa, a basalt covered mesa that is uplifted as a horst between the Southern Sangre de Cristo fault zone (on the west) and the San Luis fault zone on the east. The map also includes most of the Sanchez graben, a deep structural basin that lies between the San Luis fault zone (on the west) and the Central Sangre de Cristo fault zone on the east. The oldest rocks in the map area are Proterozoic granites and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, which are only exposed in a small hill on the west-central part of the mesa. The low hills that rise above San Pedro mesa are comprised of middle(?) Miocene volcanic rocks that are undated, but possibly correlative with mapped rocks to the east of Sanchez Reservoir. The bulk of the map area is comprised of the Servilleta Basalt, a regional series of flood basalts of Pliocene age. The west, north, and northeast margins of the mesa are covered by extensive landslide deposits that rest on poorly exposed sediment of the Santa Fe Group. Rare exposures of the sediment are comprised of siltstones, sandstones, and minor fluvial conglomerates. Most of the low ground surrounding the mesa is covered by surficial deposits of Quaternary age. The piedmont alluvium is subdivided into three Pleistocene units, and three Holocene units. The oldest Pleistocene gravel (unit Qao) forms an extensive coalesced alluvial fan and piedmont surface that is known as the Costilla Plains. This surface extends west from San Pedro Mesa to the Rio Grande. The primary geologic hazards in the map are are from earthquakes and landslides. There are three major fault zones in the area (as discussed above), and they all show evidence for late Pleistocene to possible Holocene movement. Two generations of landslides are mapped (younger and older), and both may have seismogenic origins.

The Evolution of Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis of Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, S.; Wu, T.; Li, M.; Zhang, Y.; Hua, Y.; Zhang, B.

2017-12-01

Indian plate has been colliding with Eurasian plate since 50Ma years ago, resulting in the Tethys extinction, crust shortening and Tibetan plateau uplift. But it is still a debate how the Tibetan Plateau material escaped. This study tries to invert the distributions of dispersion phase velocity and anisotropy in Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) based on the seismic data. We focused on the seven sub-blocks around EHS region. Sub-block "EHS" represents EHS corner with high velocity anomalies, significantly compressed in the axle and strike directions. Sub-blocks "LSD", "QTB" and "SP-GZB" are located at its northern areas with compressions also, and connected with low-velocity anomalies in both crustal and upper mantle rocks. Sub-block "ICB" is located at its southern area with low velocity anomaly, and connected with Tengchong volcano. Sub-blocks "SYDB" and "YZB" are located at its eastern areas with high velocity anomalies in both crustal and upper mantle rocks. Our results demonstrated that significant azimuthal anisotropy of crust (t£30s) and upper mantle (30s£t£60s). Crustal anisotropy indicates the orogenic belt matched well with the direction of fast propagation, and upper mantle anisotropy represents the lattic-preferred orientation (LPO) of mantle minerals (e.g. olivine and basalt), indicating the features of subducting Indian plate. Besides, Red River fault is a dextral strike fault, controlling the crustal and mantle migration. There is a narrow zone to be the channel flow of Tibetan crustal materials escaping toward Yunnan area. The evolution of EHS seems constrained by gravity isostatic mechanism. Keywords: Tibetan Plateau; Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis; Red River fault; crustal flow; surface wave; anisotropy

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.

Tectonic Deformation Pattern along the Longmen Shan Fault Zone in Eastern Tibet: Insights from Focal Mechanisms of the Wenchuan and Lushan Earthquake Sequences, Southwestern China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, G.; Vallage, A.; Klinger, Y.; Long, F.; Wang, S.

2017-12-01

760 ML≥3.5 aftershocks of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2013 Lushan mainshock and its 87 ML≥3.5 aftershocks were selected to obtain focal mechanism solutions from CAP waveform inversion method (Zhu and Helmberger, 1996), along with strain rosette (Amelung and King, 1997) and Areal strain (As) (Vallage et al., 2014), we aimed to analyze the tectonic deformation pattern along the Longmen Shan (LMS) fault zone, southwestern China. The As values show that 93% compressional earthquakes for the Lushan sequence are of pure thrust for the southern segment of the LMS fault zone, while only 50% compressional and nearly 40% of strike-slip and oblique-thrust events for the Wenchuan sequence reflect the strike-slip component increase on the central-northern segment of the LMS fault zone, meaning many different faults responsible for the Wenchuan aftershock activity. The strain rosettes with purely NW-trending compressional white lobe for the entire 87 aftershocks and 4 different classes of magnitudes are very similar to that of the Lushan mainshock. We infer that the geological structures for the southern segment are of thrust faulting under NW compressional deformation. The strain rosettes exhibit self-similarity in terms of orientation and shape for all classes, reflecting that the deformation pattern of the southern segment is independent with earthquake size, and suggesting that each class is representative of the overall deformation for the southern segment. We obtained EW-oriented pure compressional strain rosette of the entire 760 aftershocks and NW-oriented white lobe with small NE-oriented black lobe of the Wenchuan mainshock, and this difference may reflect different tectonic deformation pattern during the co-seismic and post-seismic stages. The deformation segmentation along the Wenchuan coseismic surface rupture is also evidenced from the different orientation of strain rosettes, i.e., NW for the southern area, NE for the central and NNW for the northern parts. The above inferences indicate a very complicated tectonic deformation pattern related to the complex geological structure. The segment of the northern aftershock area without ruptures behaves an oblique compressional deformation.

Structure and tectonics of the Main Himalayan Thrust and associated faults from recent earthquake and seismic imaging studies using the NAMASTE array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karplus, M. S.; Pant, M.; Velasco, A. A.; Nabelek, J.; Kuna, V. M.; Sapkota, S. N.; Ghosh, A.; Mendoza, M.; Adhikari, L. B.; Klemperer, S. L.

2017-12-01

The India-Eurasia collision zone presents a significant earthquake hazard, as demonstrated by the recent, devastating April 25, 2015 M=7.8 Gorkha earthquake and the following May 12, 2015 M=7.3 earthquake. Important questions remain, including distinguishing possible geometries of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), the role of other regional faults, the crustal composition and role of fluids in faulting, and the details of the rupture process, including structural causes and locations of rupture segmentation both along-strike and down-dip. These recent earthquakes and their aftershocks provide a unique opportunity to learn more about this collision zone. In June 2015, funded by NSF, we deployed the Nepal Array Measuring Aftershock Seismicity Trailing Earthquake (NAMASTE) array of 46 seismic stations distributed across eastern and central Nepal, spanning the region with most of the aftershocks. This array remained in place for 11 months from June 2015 to May 2016. We combine new results from this aftershock network in Nepal with previous geophysical and geological studies across the Himalaya to derive a new understanding of the tectonics of the Himalaya and southern Tibet in Nepal and surrounding countries. We focus on structure and composition of the Main Himalayan Thrust and compare this continent-continent subduction megathrust with megathrusts in other subduction zones.

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.

Mean and modal ϵ in the deaggregation of probabilistic ground motion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harmsen, Stephen C.

2001-01-01

Mean and modal ϵ exhibit a wide variation geographically for any specified PE. Modal ϵ for the 2% in 50 yr PE exceeds 2 near the most active western California faults, is less than –1 near some less active faults of the western United States (principally in the Basin and Range), and may be less than 0 in areal fault zones of the central and eastern United States (CEUS). This geographic variation is useful for comparing probabilistic ground motions with ground motions from scenario earthquakes on dominating faults, often used in seismic-resistant provisions of building codes. An interactive seismic-hazard deaggregation menu item has been added to the USGS probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis Web site, http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/eq/, allowing visitors to compute mean and modal distance, magnitude, and ϵ corresponding to ground motions having mean return times from 250 to 5000 yr for any site in the United States.

Analysis of Geodynamical Conditions of Region of Burning Coal Dumps Location

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batugin, Andrian; Musina, Valeria; Golovko, Irina

2017-12-01

Spontaneous combustion of coal dumps and their impact on the environment of mining regions remain important environmental problem, in spite of the measures that are being taken. The paper presents the hypothesis, which states that the location of coal dumps at the boundaries of geodynamically active crust blocks promotes the appearance of conditions for their combustion. At present geodynamically active crust faults that affect the operating conditions of engineering facilities are observed not only in the areas of tectonic activity, but also on platforms. According to the concept of geodynamical zoning, geodynamically dangerous zones for engineering structures can be not only large, well-developed crust faults, but also just formed fractures that appear as boundaries of geodynamically impacting and hierarchically ordered crust blocks. The purpose of the study is to estimate the linkage of burning dumps to boundaries of geodynamically active crust blocks (geodynamically dangerous zones) for subsequent development of recommendations for reducing environmental hazard. The analysis of 27 coal dumps location was made for one of the Eastern Donbass regions (Russia). Nine of sixteen burning dumps are located in geodynamically dangerous zones, which, taking into account relatively small area occupied by all geodynamically dangerous zones, results that there is a concentration (pcs/km2) of burning dumps, which is 14 times higher than the baseline value. While the probability of accidental obtaining of such a result is extremely low, this can be considered as the evidence of the linkage of burning dumps to geodynamically dangerous zones. Taking into account the stressed state of the rock massif in this region, all geodynamically dangerous zones can be divided into compression and tension zones. The statistic is limited, but nevertheless in tension zones the concentration of burning dumps is 2 times higher than in compression zones. Available results of thermal monitoring of burning dumps in this region also show that linearly extended firing sources oriented along geodynamically dangerous zones are observed. The obtained results show that geodynamical conditions of mining region, in which coal dumps are located, is important factor that impacts the creation of conditions for their spontaneous combustion and subsequent impact on the environment. Then this factor should be controlled by choosing the place for dumps location. It is proposed to carry out these works for the entire mining region of the Eastern Donbass, where there are more than 200 coal dumps.

Latest Miocene transtensional rifting of northeast Isla Tiburón, eastern margin of the Gulf of California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, Scott E. K.; Oskin, Michael E.; Iriondo, Alexander

2017-11-01

Details about the timing and kinematics of rifting are crucial to understand the conditions that led to strain localization, continental rupture, and formation of the Gulf of California ocean basin. We integrate detailed geologic and structural mapping, basin analysis, and geochronology to characterize transtensional rifting on northeastern Isla Tiburón, a proximal onshore exposure of the rifted North America margin, adjacent to the axis of the Gulf of California. Slip on the Kunkaak normal fault tilted its hanging wall down-to-the-east 70° and formed the non-marine Tecomate basin, deposited across a 20° angular unconformity. From 7.1-6.4 Ma, the hanging wall tilted at 35 ± 5°/Myr, while non-marine sandstone and conglomerate accumulated at 1.4 ± 0.2 mm/yr. At least 1.8 ± 0.1 km of sediments and pyroclastic deposits accumulated in the Tecomate basin concurrent with clockwise vertical-axis block rotation and 2.8 km of total dip-slip motion on the Kunkaak fault. Linear extrapolation of tilting and sedimentation rates suggests that faulting and basin deposition initiated 7.6-7.4 Ma, but an older history involving initially slower rates is permissible. The Kunkaak fault and Tecomate basin are truncated by NW-striking, dextral-oblique structures, including the Yawassag fault, which accrued > 8 km of post-6.4 Ma dextral displacement. The Coastal Sonora fault zone on mainland Sonora, which accrued several tens of kilometers of late Miocene dextral offset, continues to the northwest, across northeastern Isla Tiburón and offshore into the Gulf of California. The establishment of rapid, latest Miocene transtension in the Coastal Sonora fault zone was synchronous with the 8-7 Ma onset of transform faulting and basin formation along the nascent Pacific-North America plate boundary throughout northwestern Mexico and southern California. Plate boundary strain localized into this Gulf of California shear zone, a narrow transtensional belt that subsequently hosted the marine incursion and continental rupture in the Gulf of California.

Identifying active structures in the Kayak Island and Pamplona Zones: Implications for offshore tectonics of the Yakutat Microplate, Gulf of Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Worthington, Lindsay L.; Gulick, Sean P. S.; Pavlis, Terry L.

Within the northern Gulf of Alaska, the Yakutat (YAK) microplate obliquely collides with and subducts beneath the North American (NA) continent at near-Pacific plate velocities. We investigate the extent that thin-skinned deformation on offshore structures located within the western portion of the unsubducted YAK block accommodates YAK-NA convergence. We compare faulting and folding observed on high-resolution and basin-scale multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data with earthquake locations and surface ruptures observed on high-resolution bathymetric data. Holocene sediments overlying the Kayak Island fault zone (KIZ), previously interpreted as a region of active contraction, are relatively flat-lying, suggesting that active convergence within the KIZ is waning. Seismic reflection profiles east of KIZ show up to ˜200 m of undisturbed sediments overlying older folds in the Bering Trough, indicating that this area has been tectonically inactive since at least the last ˜1.3 Ma. Farther east, MCS profiles image active deformation in surface sediments along the eastern edge of the Pamplona zone (PZ) fold-and-thrust belt, that are collocated with a concentration of earthquake events that continues southwest to Khitrov Ridge and onshore through Icy Bay. These observations suggest that during the late Quaternary offshore shallow deformation style changed from distributed across the western Yakutat block to localized at the eastern edge of the PZ with extrusion of sediments southwest through the Khitrov Ridge area to the Aleutian Trench. This shallow deformation is interpreted as deformation of an accretionary complex above a shallow decollement.

Tectonic and Structural Controls of Geothermal Activity in the Great Basin Region, Western USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faulds, J. E.; Hinz, N.; Kreemer, C. W.

2012-12-01

We are conducting a thorough inventory of structural settings of geothermal systems (>400 total) in the extensional to transtensional Great Basin region of the western USA. Most of the geothermal systems in this region are not related to upper crustal magmatism and thus regional tectonic and local structural controls are the most critical factors controlling the locations of the geothermal activity. A system of NW-striking dextral faults known as the Walker Lane accommodates ~20% of the North American-Pacific plate motion in the western Great Basin and is intimately linked to N- to NNE-striking normal fault systems throughout the region. Overall, geothermal systems are concentrated in areas with the highest strain rates within or proximal to the eastern and western margins of the Great Basin, with the high temperature systems clustering in transtensional areas of highest strain rate in the northwestern Great Basin. Enhanced extension in the northwestern Great Basin probably results from the northwestward termination of the Walker Lane and the concomitant transfer of dextral shear into west-northwest directed extension, thus producing a broad transtensional region. The capacity of geothermal power plants also correlates with strain rates, with the largest (hundreds of megawatts) along the Walker Lane or San Andreas fault system, where strain rates range from 10-100 nanostrain/yr to 1,000 nanostrain/yr, respectively. Lesser systems (tens of megawatts) reside in the Basin and Range (outside the Walker Lane), where local strain rates are typically < 10 nanostrain/yr. Of the 250+ geothermal fields catalogued, step-overs or relay ramps in normal fault zones serve as the most favorable setting, hosting ~32% of the systems. Such areas have multiple, overlapping fault strands, increased fracture density, and thus enhanced permeability. Other common settings include a) intersections between normal faults and strike-slip or oblique-slip faults (27%), where multiple minor faults connect major structures and fluids can flow readily through highly fractured, dilational quadrants, and b) normal fault terminations or tip-lines (22%), where horse-tailing generates closely-spaced faults and increased permeability. Other settings include accommodation zones (i.e., belts of intermeshing, oppositely dipping normal faults; 8%), major range-front faults (5-6%), and pull-aparts in strike-slip faults (4%). In addition, Quaternary faults lie within or near most systems. The relative scarcity of geothermal systems along displacement-maxima of major normal faults may be due to reduced permeability in thick zones of clay gouge and periodic release of stress in major earthquakes. Step-overs, terminations, intersections, and accommodation zones correspond to long-term, critically stressed areas, where fluid pathways are more likely to remain open in networks of closely-spaced, breccia-dominated fractures. These findings may help guide future exploration efforts, especially for blind geothermal systems, which probably comprise the bulk of the geothermal resources in the Great Basin.

Kinematics of the Torcal Shear Zone: transpressional tectonics shaping orogenic curves in the northern Gibraltar Arc.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barcos, Leticia; Balanyá, Juan Carlos; Díaz-Azpiroz, Manuel; Expósito, Inmaculada; Jiménez-Bonilla, Alejandro

2014-05-01

Structural trend line patterns of orogenic arcs depict diverse geometries resulting from multiple factors such as indenter geometry, thickness of pre-deformational sequences and rheology of major decollement surfaces. Within them, salient-recess transitions often result in transpressive deformation bands. The Gibraltar Arc results from the Neogene collision of a composite metamorphic terrane (Alboran Domain, acting as a relative backstop) against two foreland margins (Southiberian and Maghrebian Domains). Within it, the Western Gibraltar Arc (WGA) is a protruded salient, 200 km in length cord, closely coinciding with the apex zone of the major arc. The WGA terminates at two transpressional zones. The main structure in the northern (Betic) end zone is a 70 km long and 4-5 km wide brittle deformation band, the so-called Torcal Shear Zone (TSZ). The TSZ forms a W-E topographic alignment along which the kinematic data show an overall dextral transpression. Within the TSZ strain is highly partitioned into mainly shortening, extensional and strike-slip structures. The strain partitioning is heterogeneous along the band and, accordingly, four distinct sectors can be identified. i) The Peñarrubia-Almargen Transverse Zone (PATZ), located at the W-end of the TSZ presents WNW-ESE folds and dextral faults, together with normal faults that accommodate extension parallel to the dominant structural trend. WNW ESE dextral faults might be related with synthetic splays at the lateral end of the TSZ. ii) The Sierra del Valle de Abdalajís (SVA) is characterized by WSW-ENE trending folds and dextral-reverse faults dipping to SSE, and NW-SE normal faults. The southern boundary of the SVA is a dextral fault zone. iii) The Torcal de Antequera Massif (TAM) presents two types of structural domains. Two outer domains located at both margins characterized by E-W trending, dextral strike-slip structures, and an inner domain, characterized by en echelon SE-vergent open folds and reverse shear zones as well as normal faults accommodating fold axis parallel extension. iiii) The Sierra de las Cabras-Camorolos sector, located at the E-end of the TSZ, is divided into two structural domains: a western domain, dominated by N120ºE dextral strike-slip faults, and an eastern domain structured by a WSW-ENE thrust system and normal faults with extension subparallel to the direction of the shortening structures. TSZ displacement at the lateral tip of this sector seems to be mainly accommodated by NNE trending thrusts in the northern TSZ block. The TSZ induces the near vertical extrusion of paleomargin rock units within the deformation band and the dextral deflection of the structural trend shaping the lateral end of the WGA salient. Our results suggest the TSZ started in the Upper Miocene and is still active. Moreover, the TSZ trends oblique to regional transport direction assessed both by field data and modelling. The estimated WNW-ESE far-field velocity vector in the TAM and the SVA points to the importance of the westward drift of the Internal Zones relative to the external wedge and fits well with the overall WGA kinematic frame. Nor the WGA salient neither the TSZ can be fully explained by the single Europe-Africa plate convergence.

Global Examination of Triggered Tectonic Tremor following the 2017 Mw8.1 Tehuantepec Earthquake in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, K.; Gonzalez-Huizar, H.; Tang, V.; Klaeser, R. D.; Mattia, M.; Van der Lee, S.

2017-12-01

Triggered tremor is one type of slow earthquake that activated by teleseismic surfaces waves of large magnitude earthquake. Observations of triggered tremor can help to evaluate the background ambient tremor rate and slow slip events in the surrounding region. The Mw 8.1 Tehuantepec earthquake in Mexico is an ideal tremor-triggering candidate for a global search for triggered tremor. Here, we examine triggered tremor globally following the M8.1 event and model the tremor-triggering potential. We examine 7,000 seismic traces and found a widely spread triggered tremor along the western coast of the North America occur during the surface waves of the Mw 8.1 event. Triggered tremor appeared in the San Jacinto Fault, San Andreas Fault around Parkfield, and Calaveras Fault in California, in Vancouver Island in Cascadia subduction zone, in Queen Charlotte Margin and Eastern Denali Fault in Canada, and in Alaska and Aleutian Arc. In addition, we observe a newly found triggered tremor source in Mt. Etna in Sicily Island, Italy. However, we do not find clear triggered tremor evidences in the tremor active regions in Japan, Taiwan, and in New Zealand. We model tremor-triggering potential at the triggering earthquake source and triggered tremor sources. Our modeling results suggest the source parameters of the M8.1 triggering events and the stress at the triggered fault zone are two critical factors to control tremor-triggering threshold.

Thick-skinned tectonics in a Late Cretaceous-Neogene intracontinental belt (High Atlas Mountains, Morocco): The flat-ramp fault control on basement shortening and cover folding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fekkak, A.; Ouanaimi, H.; Michard, A.; Soulaimani, A.; Ettachfini, E. M.; Berrada, I.; El Arabi, H.; Lagnaoui, A.; Saddiqi, O.

2018-04-01

Most of the structural studies of the intracontinental High Atlas belt of Morocco have dealt with the central part of the belt, whose basement does not crop out. Here we study the Alpine deformation of the North Subatlas Zone, which is the part of the Western High Atlas (WHA) Paleozoic Massif that involves both Paleozoic basement units and remnants of their Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover formations. Our aim is to better constrain the geometry and kinematics of the basement faults during the Alpine shortening. Based on detail mapping, satellite imagery and field observations, we describe an array of sub-equatorial, transverse and oblique faults between the WHA Axial Zone and the Haouz Neogene basin. They define a mosaic of basement blocks pushed upon one another and upon the Haouz basement along the North Atlas Fault (NAF). The Axial Zone makes up the hanging-wall of the Adassil-Medinet Fault (AMF) south of this mosaic. The faults generally presents flat-ramp-flat geometry linked to the activation of multiple décollement levels, either within the basement where its foliation is subhorizontal or within favourable cover formations (Jurassic evaporites, Lower Cretaceous silty red beds, Upper Cretaceous evaporitic marls, Neogene basal argillites). The occurrence of the North Atlas detachment (NAD) allowed folded pop-up units to develop in front of the propagating NAF. Shortening began as early as the Campanian-Maastrichtian along the AMF. The direction of the maximum horizontal stress rotated from NNE-SSW to NNW-SSE from the Maastrichtian-Paleocene to the Neogene. The amount of shortening reaches 20% in the Azegour transect. This compares with the shortening amount published for the central-eastern High Atlas, suggesting that similar structures characterize the Paleozoic basement all along the belt. The WHA thick-skinned tectonics evokes that of the frontal Sevier belt and of the external Western Alps, although with a much minor pre-inversion burial.

Style and rate of quaternary deformation of the Hosgri Fault Zone, offshore south-central coastal California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanson, Kathryn L.; Lettis, William R.; McLaren, Marcia; Savage, William U.; Hall, N. Timothy; Keller, Mararget A.

2004-01-01

The Hosgri Fault Zone is the southernmost component of a complex system of right-slip faults in south-central coastal California that includes the San Gregorio, Sur, and San Simeon Faults. 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 shallow high-resolution and deep penetration seismic reflection data; geologic and geomorphic data along the Hosgri and San Simeon Fault Zones and the intervening San Simeon/Hosgri pull-apart basin; the distribution and nature of near-coast seismicity; regional tectonic kinematics; and comparison of the Hosgri Fault Zone with worldwide strike-slip, oblique-slip, and reverse-slip fault zones. These data show that the modern Hosgri Fault Zone is a convergent right-slip (transpressional) fault having a late Quaternary slip rate of 1 to 3 mm/yr. Evidence supporting predominantly strike-slip deformation includes (1) a long, narrow, linear zone of faulting and associated deformation; (2) the presence of asymmetric flower structures; (3) kinematically consistent localized extensional and compressional deformation at releasing and restraining bends or steps, respectively, in the fault zone; (4) changes in the sense and magnitude of vertical separation both along trend of the fault zone and vertically within the fault zone; (5) strike-slip focal mechanisms along the fault trace; (6) a distribution of seismicity that delineates a high-angle fault extending through the seismogenic crust; (7) high ratios of lateral to vertical slip along the fault zone; and (8) the separation by the fault of two tectonic domains (offshore Santa Maria Basin, onshore Los Osos domain) that are undergoing contrasting styles of deformation and orientations of crustal shortening. The convergent component of slip is evidenced by the deformation of the early-late Pliocene unconformity. In characterizing the style of faulting along the Hosgri Fault Zone, we assessed alternative tectonic models by evaluating (1) the cumulative effects of multiple deformational episodes that can produce complex, difficult-to-interpret fault geometries, patterns, and senses of displacement; (2) the difficult imaging of high-angle fault planes and horizontal fault separations on seismic reflection data; and (3) the effects of strain partitioning that yield coeval strike-slip faults and associated fold and thrust belts.

Shear deformation in the northeastern margin of the Izu collision zone, central Japan, inferred from GPS observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doke, R.; Harada, M.; Miyaoka, K.; Satomura, M.

2016-12-01

The Izu collision zone, which is characterized by the collision between the Izu-Bonin arc (Izu Peninsula) and the Honshu arc (the main island of Japan), is located in the northernmost part of the Philippine Sea (PHS) plate. Particularly in the northeastern margin of the zone, numerous large earthquakes have occurred. To clarify the convergent tectonics of the zone related to the occurrence of these earthquakes, in this study, we performed Global Positioning System (GPS) observations and analysis around the Izu collision zone. Based on the results of mapping the steady state of the GPS velocity and strain rate fields, we verified that there has been wide shear deformation in the northeastern part of the Izu collision zone, which agrees with the maximum shear directions in the left-lateral slip of the active faults in the study area. Based on the relative motion between the western Izu Peninsula and the eastern subducting forearc, the shear zone can be considered as a transition zone affected by both collision and subduction. The Higashi-Izu Monogenic Volcano Group, which is located in the southern part of the shear deformation zone, may have formed as a result of the steady motion of the subducting PHS plate and the collision of the Izu Peninsula with the Honshu arc. The seismic activities in the Tanzawa Mountains, which is located in the northern part of the shear deformation zone, and the eastern part of the Izu Peninsula may be related to the shear deformation zone, because the temporal patterns of the seismic activity in both areas are correlated.

Co-seismic strike-slip surface rupture and displacement produced by the 2010 Mw 6.9 Yushu earthquake, China, and implications for Tibetan tectonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, A.; Rao, G.; Jia, D.; Wu, X.; Yan, B.; Ren, Z.

2010-12-01

The magnitude (Mw) 6.9 (Ms 7.1) Yushu earthquake occurred on 14 April 2010 in the Yushu area, central Tibetan Plateau, killing approximately 3000 people (including 270 missing) and causing widespread damage in the high mountain regions of the central Tibetan Plateau. The Yushu earthquake is comparable with the 1997 Mw 7.6 Manyi earthquake, the 2001 Mw 7.8 Kunlun earthquake, and the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, which all occurred in the northern and eastern Tibetan Plateau, in terms of their magnitude and seismotectonic environment, related to the eastward extrusion of the Tibetan Plateau in response to continental collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates. Although some prompt reports related to ground deformation and the focal mechanism were published in the Chinese literature soon after the Yushu earthquake, there are scarce data related to the nature of co-seismic strike-slip rupturing structures and displacement distributions because the co-seismic surface ruptures were produced mainly in remote, high mountain regions of the Tibetan Plateau (average elevation >4000 m) and roads to the epicentral area were damaged, which made it difficult to gain access to the area and to undertake fieldwork immediately after the earthquake. Field investigations reveal that the earthquake produced a 33-km-long surface rupture zone, with dominantly left-lateral strike-slip along the Yushu Fault of the pre-existing strike-slip Ganzi-Yushu Fault Zone. The co-seismic surface ruptures are characterized by discontinuous shear faults, right-stepping en echelon tensional cracks, and left-stepping mole track structures that indicate a left-lateral strike-slip shear sense for the seismic fault. Field measurements indicate co-seismic left-lateral strike-slip displacements of approximately 0.3-3.2 m (typically 1-2 m), accompanied by a minor vertical component of <0.6 m. The present results show that (i) the Yushu earthquake occurred upon the pre-existing active Ganzi-Yushu Fault Zone, which controlled the spatial distribution of co-seismic surface ruptures and displacements; (ii) the left-lateral strike-slip motion indicates that the Ganzi-Yushu Fault Zone partitions deformation into eastward extrusion and northeastward shortening of the central Tibetan Plateau to accommodate the continuing penetration of the Indian plate into the Eurasian plate. Our findings confirm that present-day strain energy related to continental deformation in the central Tibetan Plateau, generated by collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, is mainly released by strike-slip faulting along active strike-slip faults, and that the Ganzi-Yushu Fault Zone plays an important role in this crustal deformation, generating strong earthquakes that help to release the accumulated strain energy.

Late Cenozoic structure and stratigraphy of south-central Washington

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

Reidel, S.P.; Campbell, N.P.; Fecht, K.R.

1993-09-01

The structural framework of the Columbia Basin began developing before Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) volcanism. Prior to 17.5 Ma, the eastern part of the basin was a relatively stable area, with a basement of Paleozoic and older crystalline rock. The western part was an area of subsidence in which large volumes of sediment and volcanic rocks accumulated. Concurrent with eruption of the CRBG, anticlinal ridges of the Yakima Fold Belt (YFB) were growing under north-south compression. Topographic expression of these features was later masked by the large volume of CRBG basalt flowing west from fissures in the eastern Columbiamore » Basin. The folds continued to develop after cessation of volcanism, leading to as much as 1,000 m of structural relief in the past 10 million years. Post-CRBG evolution of the Columbia Basin is recorded principally in folding and faulting in the YFB and sediments deposited in the basins. The accompanying tectonism resulted in lateral migration of major depositional systems into subsiding structural lows. Although known late Cenozoic faults are on anticlinal ridges, earthquake focal mechanisms and contemporary strain measurements indicate most stress release is occurring in the synclinal areas under north-south compression. There is no obvious correlation between focal mechanisms for earthquakes whose foci are in the CRBG and the location of known faults. High in situ stress values help to explain the occurrence of microseismicity in the Columbia Basin but not the pattern. Microseismicity appears to occur in unaltered fresh basalt. Faulted basalt associated with the YFB is highly brecciated and commonly altered to clay. The high stress, abundance of ground water in confined aquifers of the CRBG, and altered basalt in fault zones suggest that the frontal faults on the anticlinal ridges probably have some aseismic deformation. 85 refs.« less

Significant role of structural fractures in Ren-Qiu buried-block oil field, eastern China

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

Fei, Q.; Xie-Pei, W.

1983-03-01

Ren-qui oil field is in a buried block of Sinian (upper Proterozoic) rocks located in the Ji-zhong depression of the western Bohai Bay basin in eastern China. The main reservoir consists of Sinian dolomite rocks. It is a fault block with a large growth fault on the west side which trends north-northeast with throws of up to 1 km (0.6 mi) or more. The source rocks for the oil are Paleogene age and overlie the Sinian dolomite rocks. The structural fractures are the main factor forming the reservoir of the buried-block oil field. Three structural lines, trending northeast, north-northeast, andmore » northwest, form the regional netted fracture system. The north-northeast growth fault controlled the structural development of the buried block. The block was raised and eroded before the Tertiary sediments were deposited. In the Eocene Epoch, the Ji-zhong depression subsided, but the deposition, faulting, and related uplift of the block happened synchronously as the block was gradually submerged. At the same time, several horizontal and vertical karst zones were formed by the karst water along the netted structural fractures. The Eocene oil source rocks lapped onto the block and so the buried block, with many developed karst fractures, was surrounded by a great thickness of source rocks. As the growth fault developed, the height of the block was increased from 400 m (1300 ft) before the Oligocene to 1300 m (4250 ft) after. As the petroleum was generated, it migrated immediately into the karst fractures of the buried block along the growth fault. The karst-fractured block reservoir has an 800-m (2600-ft) high oil-bearing closure and good connections developed between the karst fractures.« less

Preliminary results on the tectonic activity of the Ovacık Fault (Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone, Turkey): Implications of the morphometric analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yazıcı, Müge; Zabci, Cengiz; Sançar, Taylan; Sunal, Gürsel; Natalin, Boris A.

2016-04-01

The Anatolian 'plate' is being extruded westward relative to the Eurasia along two major tectonic structures, the North Anatolian and the East Anatolian shear zones, respectively making its northern and eastern boundaries. Although the main deformation is localized along these two structures, there is remarkable intra-plate deformation within Anatolia, especially which are characterized by NE-striking sinistral and NW-striking dextral strike-slip faults (Şengör et al. 1985). The Malatya-Ovacık Fault Zone (MOFZ) and its northeastern member, the Ovacık Fault (OF), is a one of the NE-striking sinistral strike slip faults in the central 'ova' neotectonic province of Anatolia, located close to its eastern boundary. Although this fault zone is claimed to be an inactive structure in some studies, the recent GPS measurements (Aktuǧ et al., 2013) and microseismic activity (AFAD, 2013) strongly suggest the opposite. In order to understand rates and patterns of vertical ground motions along the OF, we studied the certain morphometric analyses such as hypsometric curves and integrals, longitudinal channel profiles, and asymmetry of drainage basins. The Karasu (Euphrates) and Munzur rivers form the main drainage systems of the study area. We extracted all drainage network from SRTM-based Digital Elevation Model with 30 m ground pixel resolution and totally identified 40 sub-drainage basins, which are inhomogeneously distributed to the north and to the south of the OF. Most of these basins show strong asymmetry, which are mainly tilted to SW. The asymmetry relatively decreases from NE to SW in general. The only exception is at the margins of the Ovacık Basin (OB), where almost the highest asymmetry values were calculated. On the other hand, the characteristics of hypsometric curves and the calculated hypsometric integrals do not show the similar systematic spatial pattern. The hypsometric curves with convex-shaped geometry, naturally indicating relatively young morphology, are mostly seen at the NE part of the study region. We observe several knick points along the longitudinal channel profiles that mostly fits to the surface trace of the OF. The existence of multiple knick points along the same channel profiles on the southwestern sections of the fault are interpreted to be the result of multiple parallel/sub-parallel branches of the OF in this region. The integrated preliminary results of all applied methods indicate the evidence of a stronger deformation at the northeastern part of the OF, in addition to the OB section. The deformation significantly diffuses to the southwest of the OB, where the main fault bifurcates into several branches. In order to explain the distribution of the deformation style along the OF, we suggest three hypotheses: (a) the OF is confined within a very narrow zone in its most northeastern parts, and the total strain is distributed at its southwestern section (especially to the southwest of the OB), (b) The high asymmetric values, calculated at the northeastern OF, are mainly affected by another major tectonic structure, the North Anatolian Shear Zone, at this region or (c) the combined effect of these two settings. Our further studies, which will include the analyzing the lithological properties of drainage basins, detailed fault mapping, and understanding the cumulative horizontal slip by constructing and comparing the pseudo-palaeotopography at both sides of the fault, are going to provide more detailed information on the activity and the style of deformation along the OF. This study is supported by TÜBİTAK project no. 114Y227. References -AFAD, 2013, Son 48 saatte 48 deprem (48 earthquakes at the last 48 hours) http://www.afad.gov.tr/TR/HaberDetay.aspx?IcerikID=1511&ID=12, Volume 2013. -Aktuǧ, B., Dikmen, Ü., Doǧru, A., and Özener, H., 2013, Seismicity and strain accumulation around Karliova Triple Junction (Turkey): Journal of Geodynamics, v. 67, no. 0, p. 21-29. -Şengör, A. M. C., Görür, N., Şaroǧlu, F., 1985, Strike-slip faulting and related basin formation in zones of tectonic escape: Turkey as a case study in Biddle, K. T. & Christie-Blick, N., Strike-Slip Deformation, Basin Formation, and Sedimentation, Oklahoma: Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication No. 37. p. 227-264.

The 1999 Izmit, Turkey, earthquake: A 3D dynamic stress transfer model of intraearthquake triggering

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, R.A.; Dolan, J.F.; Hartleb, R.; Day, S.M.

2002-01-01

Before the August 1999 Izmit (Kocaeli), Turkey, earthquake, theoretical studies of earthquake ruptures and geological observations had provided estimates of how far an earthquake might jump to get to a neighboring fault. Both numerical simulations and geological observations suggested that 5 km might be the upper limit if there were no transfer faults. The Izmit earthquake appears to have followed these expectations. It did not jump across any step-over wider than 5 km and was instead stopped by a narrower step-over at its eastern end and possibly by a stress shadow caused by a historic large earthquake at its western end. Our 3D spontaneous rupture simulations of the 1999 Izmit earthquake provide two new insights: (1) the west- to east-striking fault segments of this part of the North Anatolian fault are oriented so as to be low-stress faults and (2) the easternmost segment involved in the August 1999 rupture may be dipping. An interesting feature of the Izmit earthquake is that a 5-km-long gap in surface rupture and an adjacent 25° restraining bend in the fault zone did not stop the earthquake. The latter observation is a warning that significant fault bends in strike-slip faults may not arrest future earthquakes.

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.

Metamorphic fluids and uplift-erosion history of a portion of the Kapuskasing structural zone, Ontario, as deduced from fluid inclusions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rudnick, R. L.; Ashwal, L. D.; Henry, D. J.

1983-01-01

Fluid inclusions can be used to determine the compositional evolution of fluids present in high grade metamorphic rocks (Touret, 1979) along with the general P-T path followed by the rocks during uplift and erosion (Hollister et al., 1979). In this context, samples of high grade gneisses from the Kapuskasing structural zone (KSZ, Fig. 1) of eastern Ontario were studied in an attempt to define the composition of syn- and post-metamorphic fluids and help constrain the uplift and erosion history of the KSZ. Recent work by Percival (1980), Percival and Card (1983) and Percival and Krogh (1983) shows that the KSZ represents lower crustal granulites that form the lower portion of an oblique cross section through the Archean crust, which was up faulted along a northeast striking thrust fault. The present fluid inclusion study places constraints upon the P-T path which the KSZ followed during uplift and erosion.

Influence of the Eastern California Shear Zone on deposition of the Mio-Pliocene Bouse Formation: Insights from the Cibola area, Arizona

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dorsey, Rebecca J.; O'Connell, Brennan; Homan, Mindy B.; Bennett, Scott E. K.

2017-01-01

The Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) is a wide zone of late Cenozoic strike-slip faults and related diffuse deformation that currently accommodates ~20–25% of relative Pacific–North America plate motion in the lower Colorado River region (Fig. 1A; Dokka and Travis, 1990; Miller et al., 2001; Guest et al., 2007; Mahan et al., 2009). The ECSZ is kinematically linked southward to dextral faults in the northern Gulf of California (Bennett et al., 2016a), and it may have initiated ca. 8 Ma when major strike-slip faults developed in the northern Gulf and Salton Trough region (Bennett et al., 2016b; Darin et al., 2016; Woodburne, 2017). Thus deformation related to the ECSZ occurred in the lower Colorado River region during deposition of the Bouse Formation, which is commonly bracketed between 6.0 and 4.8 Ma (House et al., 2008; Sarna-Wojcicki et al., 2011; Spencer et al., 2013) and may be as old as 6–7 Ma in the south (McDougall and Miranda Martínez, 2014, 2016). Post-4.5 Ma broad sagging is recognized along the lower Colorado River (Howard et al., 2015), but the possibility that faults of the ECSZ influenced local to regional subsidence patterns during deposition of the Bouse Formation has received little attention to date (e.g., Homan, 2014; O’Connell et al., 2016). The Bouse Formation is a widespread sequence of late Miocene to early Pliocene deposits exposed discontinuously along the lower Colorado River corridor (Fig. 1A). In the southern Blythe basin it consists of three regionally correlative members: (1) Basal Carbonate, consisting of supratidal and intertidal mud-flat marls, intertidal and shallow subtidal bioclastic grainstone and conglomerate, and subtidal marl; (2) Siliciclastic member, consisting of Colorado River-derived green claystone, red mudstone and siltstone, and cross-bedded river channel sandstone; and (3) Upper Bioclastic member fossiliferous sandy calcarenite, coarse pebbly grainstone, and calcareous-matrix conglomerate (Homan, 2014; Dorsey et al., 2016; O’Connell et al., 2016, 2017). The southern Bouse Formation has been interpreted as recording deposition in either a lake (Spencer and Patchett, 1997; Spencer et al., 2008, 2013; Bright et al., 2016) or shallow marine setting (Buising, 1990; McDougall, 2008; McDougall and Miranda Martínez, 2014; O’Connell et al., 2017).In this paper we summarize key results from five field seasons of detailed stratigraphic analysis south of Cibola, Ariz. ( . 1). The data reveal systematic stratal thinning and thickening, pinch-outs, and wedging patterns in the Bouse Formation that we conclude were produced by syn-depositional tilting in response to growth of normal faults near the eastern margin of the basin. Similar stratal patterns in other nearby areas suggest widespread structural controls on deposition of the Bouse Formation. A palinspastic reconstruction of the lower Colorado River region at 5 Ma, modified from Bennett et al. (2016), provides insight to regional fault geometries in the ECSZ that may have controlled syn-depositional tilting and subsidence in Bouse depocenters shortly prior to and during initiation of the Colorado River.

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

Barber, A.J.; Tjokrosapoetro, S.; Charlton, T.R.

In Timor, eastern Indonesia, where the northern margin of the Australian continent is colliding with the Banda Arc, Australian continental margin sediments are being incorporated into an imbricate wedge, which passes northward into a foreland fold and thrust belt. Field mapping in Timor has shown that scale clays, containing irregularly shaped or phacoidal blocks (up to several meters long) and composed of a wide range of lithologies derived from local stratigraphic units, occur in three environments: along wrench faults, as crosscutting shale diapirs, and associated with mud volcanoes. A model is proposed linking these phenomena. Shales become overpressured as amore » result of overthrusting; this overpressure is released along vertical wrench faults, which cut through the overthrust units; overpressured shales containing blocks of consolidated units rise along the fault zones as shale diapirs; and escaping water, oil, and gas construct mud volcanoes at the surface. 6 figures, 1 table.« less

Assessment and geomodelling of site effects along the eastern Enriquillo Plantain Garden Fault Zone in Haiti

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulysse, S. M. J.; Havenith, H. B.; Boisson, D.

2016-12-01

The last 2010 earthquake which hits Haiti killed more than 230,000 people, caused nearly 300,000 wounded and material damage of more than 8 billion dollars. This event whose epicenter was located in Léogâne, to the west of Port-au-Prince was triggered by a north dipping fault, the "Léogâne fault", near and to the north of the Enriquillo Plantain Garden Fault (EPGF), a very hazardous fault system crossing the southern part of the country. Several large international projects were carried out in Port-au-Prince and Léogâne. Our work which is done in the frame of a Belgian-Haitian collaboration project rather focused on an eastern region of Port-au-Prince, Fonds-Parisien and a site called Gros-Morne in the southeast of the city. The Fonds-Parisien area is crossed by the eastern part of EPGF. The north of the area is bordered by a sedimentary basin hosting the Azuei Lake and to the south it is bounded by the foothills of a mountain range, the "Massif de la Selle". The Gros-Morne zone is also situated nearby the EPGF and is limited to the north by the Cul-de-Sac plain, a sedimentary basin and to the south, by the foothills of the "Massif de la Selle". We performed local geophysical investigations to assess site effects 1) in areas relatively far from the epicenter, not intensively hit by the 2010 event, to see if they may fit for future construction projects, 2) on a hill in the southeastern part of Port-au-Prince that was affected by important destruction and secondary effects. Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW), Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) measurements as well as some Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) were applied. The results were integrated to outline areas that are affected by site amplification and then combined into a 3D geomodel. For Fonds-Parisien, HVSR recordings show sharp and double amplitude peaks for sites located in the northern sedimentary basin along the shores of Azuei Lake, and consequently denotes a high potential of site effects in this sector. This is well confirmed by the MASW and ERT results which depicts very low velocity and resistivity values for that basin. As for Gros-Morne, flat HVSR curves and unchanging with depth velocity values are observed only in the sites located in its northeastern side; these latter are therefore not likely of ground motion amplification.

3D seismic analysis of the gas hydrate system and the fluid migration paths in part of the Niger Delta Basin, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akinsanpe, Olumuyiwa T.; Adepelumi, Adekunle A.; Benjamin, Uzochukwu K.; Falebita, Dele E.

2017-12-01

Comprehensive qualitative and semi-quantitative seismic analysis was carried out on 3-dimensional seismic data acquired in the deepwater compressional and shale diapiric zone of the Niger Delta Basin using an advanced seismic imaging tool. The main aim of this work is to obtain an understanding of the forming mechanism of the gas hydrate system, and the fluid migration paths associated with this part of the basin. The results showed the presence of pockmarks on the seafloor and bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) in the field, indicating the active fluid flux and existence of gas hydrate system in the area. In the area of approximately 195 km2 occupying nearly 24% of the entire study field, three major zones with continuous or discontinuous BSRs of 3 to 7 km in length which are in the northeastern, southern and eastern part of the field respectively were delineated. The BSR is interpreted to be the transition between the free gas zone and the gas hydrate zone. The geologic structures including faults (strike-slip and normal faults), chimneys and diapirs were deduced to be the main conduits for gas migration. It is concluded that the biogenic gases generated in the basin were possibly transported via faults and chimneys by advection processes and subsequently accumulated under low temperature and high pressure conditions in the free gas zone below the BSR forming gas hydrate. A plausible explanation for the presence of the ubiquitous pockmarks of different diameters and sizes in the area is the transportation of the excessive gas to the seafloor through these mapped geologic structures.

Earthquake Swarm in Armutlu Peninsula, Eastern Marmara Region, Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yavuz, Evrim; Çaka, Deniz; Tunç, Berna; Serkan Irmak, T.; Woith, Heiko; Cesca, Simone; Lühr, Birger-Gottfried; Barış, Şerif

2015-04-01

The most active fault system of Turkey is North Anatolian Fault Zone and caused two large earthquakes in 1999. These two earthquakes affected the eastern Marmara region destructively. Unbroken part of the North Anatolian Fault Zone crosses north of Armutlu Peninsula on east-west direction. This branch has been also located quite close to Istanbul known as a megacity with its high population, economic and social aspects. A new cluster of microseismic activity occurred in the direct vicinity southeastern of the Yalova Termal area. Activity started on August 2, 2014 with a series of micro events, and then on August 3, 2014 a local magnitude is 4.1 event occurred, more than 1000 in the followed until August 31, 2014. Thus we call this tentatively a swarm-like activity. Therefore, investigation of the micro-earthquake activity of the Armutlu Peninsula has become important to understand the relationship between the occurrence of micro-earthquakes and the tectonic structure of the region. For these reasons, Armutlu Network (ARNET), installed end of 2005 and equipped with currently 27 active seismic stations operating by Kocaeli University Earth and Space Sciences Research Center (ESSRC) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), is a very dense network tool able to record even micro-earthquakes in this region. In the 30 days period of August 02 to 31, 2014 Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI) announced 120 local earthquakes ranging magnitudes between 0.7 and 4.1, but ARNET provided more than 1000 earthquakes for analyzes at the same time period. In this study, earthquakes of the swarm area and vicinity regions determined by ARNET were investigated. The focal mechanism of the August 03, 2014 22:22:42 (GMT) earthquake with local magnitude (Ml) 4.0 is obtained by the moment tensor solution. According to the solution, it discriminates a normal faulting with dextral component. The obtained focal mechanism solution is conformable with the features of local faults in the region. The spatial vicinity of the earthquake swarm and the Yalova geothermal area may suggest a physical link between the ongoing exploitation of the reservoir and the earthquake activity. Keywords: Earthquake swarm, Armutlu Peninsula, ARNET, geothermal activity

Investigation of Tectonic Boundaries in Taiwan Obtained with a Hierarchical Clustering of Dense GNSS Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takahashi, A.; Hashimoto, M.; Hu, J. C.; Fukahata, Y.

2017-12-01

Taiwan Island is composed of many geological structures. The main tectonic feature is the collision of the Luzon volcanic arc with the Eurasian continent, which propagates westward and generates complicated crustal deformation. One way to model crustal deformation is to divide Taiwan island into man rigid blocks that moves relatively each other along the boundaries (deformation zones) of the blocks. Since earthquakes tend to occur in the deformation zones, identification of such tectonic boundaries is important. So far, many tectonic boundaries have been proposed on the basis of geology, geomorphology, seismology and geodesy. However, which is the most significant boundary depends on disciplines and there is no way to objectively classify them. Here, we introduce an objective method to identify significant tectonic boundaries with a hierarchical representation proposed by Simpson et al. [2012].We apply a hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithm to dense GNSS horizontal velocity data in Taiwan. One of the significant merits of the hierarchical representation of the clustering results is that we can consistently explore crustal structures from larger to smaller scales. This is because a higher hierarchy corresponds to a larger crustal structure, and a lower hierarchy corresponds to a smaller crustal structure. Relative motion between clusters can be obtained from this analysis.The first major boundary is identified along the eastern margin of the Longitudinal Valley, which corresponds to the separation of the Philippine Sea plate and the Eurasian continental margin. The second major boundary appears along the Chaochou fault and the Chishan fault in southwestern Taiwan. The third major boundary appears along the eastern margin of the coastal plane. The identified major clusters can be divided into several smaller blocks without losing consistency with geological boundaries. For example, the Fengshun fault, concealed beneath thick sediment layers, is identified. Furthermore, obtained relative motion between clusters demands a reverse fault or a left lateral fault in the off shore of the coastal range.Our clustering based block modeling is consistent with tectonics of Taiwan, implying that observed crustal deformation in Taiwan can be attributed to motion or deformation of shallow structures.

Tectonic setting of Cretaceous basins on the NE Tibetan Plateau: Insights from the Jungong basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Craddock, W.H.; Kirby, E.; Dewen, Z.; Jianhui, L.

2012-01-01

Quantifying the Cenozoic growth of high topography in the Indo-Asian collision zone remains challenging, due in part to significant shortening that occurred within Eurasia before collision. A growing body of evidence suggests that regions far removed from the suture zone experienced deformation before and during the early phases of Himalayan orogenesis. In the present-day north-eastern Tibetan Plateau, widespread deposits of Cretaceous sediment attest to significant basin formation; however, the tectonic setting of these basins remains enigmatic. We present a study of a regionally extensive network of sedimentary basins that are spatially associated with a system of SE-vergent thrust faults and are now exposed in the high ranges of the north-eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau. We focus on a particularly well-exposed basin, located ~20km north of the Kunlun fault in the Anyemaqen Shan. The basin is filled by ~900m of alluvial sediments that become finer-grained away from the basin-bounding fault. Additionally, beds in the proximal footwall of the basin-bounding fault exhibit progressive, up-section shallowing and several intraformational unconformities which can be traced into correlative conformities in the distal part of the basin. The observations show sediment accumulated in the basin during fault motion. Regional constraints on the timing of sediment deposition are provided by both fossil assemblages from the Early Cretaceous, and by K-Ar dating of volcanic rocks that floor and cross-cut sedimentary fill. We argue that during the Cretaceous, the interior NE Tibetan Plateau experienced NW-SE contractional deformation similar to that documented throughout the Qinling-Dabie orogen to the east. The Songpan-Ganzi terrane apparently marked the southern limit of this deformation, such that it may have been a relatively rigid block in the Tibetan lithosphere, separating regions experiencing deformation north of the convergent Tethyan margin from regions deforming inboard of the east Asian margin. ?? 2011 The Authors. Basin Research ?? 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers and International Association of Sedimentologists.

Preliminary results about the Quaternary activiy of the Ovacik Fault, Eastern Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zabcı, Cengiz; Sançar, Taylan; Aktaǧ, Alican

2013-04-01

The Erzincan Basin and the surrounding region have a complex structure, which is formed by the interaction of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), the Northeast Anatolian Fault (NEAF), the Pülümür Fault (PF), and the Ovacık Fault (OF). The region has been shaked many times by devastating earthquakes throughout both the instrumental and the historical periods. The infamous 26 December 1939 Erzincan Earthquake (M~7.9) is the largest event, which was instrumentally recorded along the NAF. Moreover, the eastern continuation of the surface rupture of this earthquake, "the Yedisu Segment", is known as one of the two seismic gaps on this dextral shear zone. We started multi-disciplinary studies on the OF, which has relatively very limited data. Even though some researches think about this tectonic feature as a non-active fault, recent GPS measurements point strain accumulation along it. In addition to that 1992 Erzincan and 2003 Pülümür earthquakes loaded additional stress on the neighboring faults, including the OF. The OF elongate between the SE Erzincan Basin and Kemaliye (Erzincan) about 110 km with a general strike of N60E. The clear morphological expression of the fault is especially observed around Ovacık, Tunceli. The OF delimits the Jurassic aged Munzur limestone in the north and the Miocene volcanoclastics and Permo-Carboniferous schist in the south in this vicinity. We identified many offset features, such as wash plains, moraines, alluvial fans and inset terraces in our preliminary morphological maps. The measured displacements change from 20 to 350 m, which may play a critical role in the calculation of the geological slip-rate. Moreover, we used morphological indices, such as topographic profiling, hypsometric integral, basin asymmetry, and the mountain front sinuosity to quantify the activity of the OF. Our preliminary results clearly point out the necessity of future studies, which may help to understand the earthquake potential of this poorly known tectonic feature.

Comparisons of seismic and geodetic strain across the East African rift: Implications for magmatism during rifting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindsey, N.; Ebinger, C. J.; Pritchard, M. E.; Cote, D. M.

2010-12-01

Knowledge of how the continental lithosphere accommodates strain in an active rift setting is essential to both earthquake and volcanic hazard analyses. Far-field and impinging mantle plumes drive extension within the fault-bounded rift systems of East Africa. Our study aims to evaluate models of distributed strain and localized strain between multiple rigid plates using earthquake catalogs and existing constraints, including high resolution DEMs that reveal the spatial distribution of young faults across the broad uplifts of eastern and southern Africa. We determine cumulative seismic moment release within 0.5 degree bins across the Afro-Arabian rift system using the entire NEIC earthquake catalog (1973-present), and compare these results to geodetic estimates of strain and extensional velocity. The small bin size permits comparison of strain with geological factors, including geological terrain, border fault distribution, and the presence or absence of volcanism. Our results highlight the significance of magmatism in strain accommodation across the rift system, and suggest that some strain and magmatism occur within ‘rigid blocks’, such as the Tanzania craton. Throughout the Afro-Arabian rift system, seismic moment release lags geodetic moment release by a factor of 2, consistent with aseismic creep deformation. However, our comparisons indicate that aseismic deformation accounts for a much higher percent of geodetic moment release: approximately 90% in the Main Ethiopian and Eastern rifts, and >97% in the Afar rift zone where incipient seafloor spreading occurs. The time-averaged strain distributions match the estimates from intense seismo-volcanic rifting episodes in Afar, indicating the data base is representative of longer-term patterns in Afar. We see no systematic variation in interbasinal accommodation zones or rift segment offsets, arguing against the development of transform-like structures prior to plate rupture.

Late Neogene deformation of the Chocolate Mountains Anticlinorium: Implications for deposition of the Bouse Formation and early evolution of the Lower Colorado River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beard, Sue; Haxel, Gordon B.; Dorsey, Rebecca J.; McDougall, Kristin A.; Jacobsen, Carl E.

2016-01-01

Deformation related to late Neogene dextral shear can explain a shift from an estuarine to lacustrine depositional environment in the southern Bouse Formation north of Yuma, Arizona. We infer that late Neogene deformation in the Chocolate Mountain Anticlinorium (CMA) created a barrier that blocked an estuary inlet, and that pre-existing and possibly active structures subsequently controlled the local course of the lower Colorado River. Structural patterns summarized below suggest that the CMA absorbed transpressional strain caused by left-stepping segments of dextral faults of the San Andreas fault system and/or the eastern California shear zone and Gulf of California shear zone. For this hypothesis to be correct, about 200-250 m of post-6 Ma, pre- ~5.3 Ma uplift along the CMA crest would be required to cut off a marine inlet. The 220-km-long CMA, cored by the early Paleogene Orocopia Schist subduction complex, extends from the Orocopia Mountains (Calif.) southeastward through the Chocolate Mountains (parallel to the southern San Andreas fault). Where Highway 78 crosses the Chocolate Mountains (Fig. 1), the CMA turns eastward through the Black Mountain-Picacho area (Calif.) and Trigo Mountains (Ariz.) into southwest Arizona. It separates southernmost Bouse Formation outcrops of the Blythe basin from subsurface Bouse outcrops to the south in the Yuma area. South of Blythe basin the CMA is transected by the lower Colorado River along a circuitous path. Here we focus on the geology of an area between the central Chocolate Mountains and the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. Specific landmarks include the southeast Chocolate Mountains, Midway Mountains, Peter Kane Mountain, Black Mountain, Picacho Peak, and Gavilan Hills. For simplicity, we refer to this as the eastern Chocolate Mountains.

The Mobile Margin of (Far) North America: GPS Constraints on Active Deformation in Alaska and the Role of the Yakutat Block

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, J.; Freymueller, J. T.; Larsen, C. F.; Motyka, R. J.

2010-12-01

GPS data from southern Alaska and the northern Canadian Cordillera have helped redefine the region’s tectonic landscape. Instead of a comparatively simple interaction between the Pacific and North American plates, with relative motion accommodated on a single boundary fault, we find a margin made up of a number of small blocks and deformation zones with relative motion distributed across a variety of structures. Much of this complexity can be attributed to the Yakutat block, an allochthonous terrane that has been colliding with southern Alaska since the Miocene. We present a GPS-derived tectonic model for the Yakutat block collision and its effects on southern Alaska and eastern Canada. The Yakutat block moves NNW at a rate of 50 mm/a, resulting in ~ 45 mm/a of NW-directed convergence with southern Alaska. Along its eastern edge, the Yakutat block is deforming, represented in our model by two small northwesterly moving blocks outboard of the Fairweather fault. Part of the strain from the collision is transferred east of the Fairweather - Queen Charlotte fault system, causing the region inboard of the Fairweather fault to undergo a distinct clockwise rotation into the northern Canadian Cordillera. Further south, the region directly east of the Queen Charlotte fault displays a much slower clockwise rotation, suggesting that it is at least partially pulled along by the northern block motion. About 5% of the relative motion is transferred even further east, causing small northeasterly motions well into the northern Cordillera. The northwestern edge of the Yakutat block marks the main deformation front between that block and southern Alaska. Multiple narrow, northwesterly moving blocks bounded by N- to NW-dipping thrust faults are required to explain the GPS data between the Malaspina Glacier and the Bagley Ice Valley. These “blocks” may be more aptly termed crustal slivers or deformation zones due to their size and because their bounding faults may sole out into a main thrust instead of cutting through the lithosphere. In contrast with the region to the east, relative convergence is accommodated over a fairly short distance across the St. Elias Mountains. West of the deformation front, the en echelon blocks and faults continue until the vicinity of the Bering Glacier, where the GPS data reveal a rotation towards the north as the tectonic regime transitions from the collision and accretion of the Yakutat block to subduction along the Aleutian Megathrust. North of the Chugach and St. Elias Ranges, the Southern Alaska block rotates counterclockwise.

Active shortening of the Cascadia forearc and implications for seismic hazards of the Puget Lowland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, S.Y.; Blakely, R.J.; Stephenson, W.J.; Dadisman, S.V.; Fisher, M.A.

2004-01-01

Margin-parallel shortening of the Cascadia forearc is a consequence of oblique subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath North America. Strike-slip, thrust, and oblique crustal faults beneath the densely populated Puget Lowland accommodate much of this north-south compression, resulting in large crustal earthquakes. To better understand this forearc deformation and improve earthquake hazard, assessment, we here use seismic reflection surveys, coastal exposures of Pleistocene strata, potential-field data, and airborne laser swath mapping to document and interpret a significant structural boundary near the City of Tacoma. This boundary is a complex structural zone characterized by two distinct segments. The northwest trending, eastern segment, extending from Tacoma to Carr Inlet, is formed by the broad (??? 11.5 km), southwest dipping (??? 11??-2??) Rosedale monocline. This monocline raises Crescent Formation basement about 2.5 km, resulting in a moderate gravity gradient. We interpret the Rosedale monocline as a fault-bend fold, forming above a deep thrust fault. Within the Rosedale monocline, inferred Quaternary strata thin northward and form a growth triangle that is 4.1 to 6.6 km wide at its base, suggesting ??? 2-3 mm/yr of slip on the underlying thrust. The western section of the >40-km-long, north dipping Tacoma fault, extending from Hood Canal to Carr Inlet, forms the western segment of the Tacoma basin margin. Structural relief on this portion of the basin margin may be several kilometers, resulting in steep gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies. Quaternary structural relief along the Tacoma fault is as much as 350-400 m, indicating a minimum slip rate of about 0.2 mm/yr. The inferred eastern section of the Tacoma fault (east of Carr Inlet) crosses the southern part of the Seattle uplift, has variable geometry along strike, and diminished structural relief. The Tacoma fault is regarded as a north dipping backthrust to the Seattle fault, so that slip on a master thrust fault at depth could result in movement on the Seattle fault, the Tacoma fault, or both.

Active normal fault network of the Apulian Ridge (Eastern Mediterranean Sea) imaged by multibeam bathymetry and seismic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pellegrini, Claudio; Marchese, Fabio; Savini, Alessandra; Bistacchi, Andrea

2016-04-01

The Apulian ridge (North-eastern Ionian margin - Mediterranean Sea) is formed by thick cretaceous carbonatic sequences and discontinuous tertiary deposits crosscut by a NNW-SSE penetrative normal fault system and is part of the present foreland system of both the Apennine to the west and the Hellenic arc to the east. The geometry, age, architecture and kinematics of the fault network were investigated integrating data of heterogeneous sources, provided by previous studies: regional scale 2D seismics and three wells collected by oil companies from the '60s to the '80s, more recent seismics collected during research projects in the '90s, very high resolution seismic (VHRS - Sparker and Chirp-sonar data), multi-beam echosounder bathymetry and results from sedimentological and geo-chronological analysis of sediment samples collected on the seabed. Multibeam bathymetric data allowed in particular assessing the 3D continuity of structures imaged in 2D seismics, thanks to the occurrence of continuous fault scarps on the seabed (only partly reworked by currents and covered by landslides), revealing the vertical extent and finite displacement associated to fault scarps. A penetrative network of relatively small faults, always showing a high dip angle, composes the NNW-SSE normal fault system, resulting in frequent relay zones, which are particularly well imaged by seafloor geomorphology. In addition, numerous fault scarps appear to be roughly coeval with quaternary submarine mass-wasting deposits colonised by Cold-Water Corals (CWC). Coral colonies, yielding ages between 11 and 14 kA, develop immediately on top of late Pleistocene mass-wasting deposits. Mutual cross-cutting relationships have been recognized between fault scarps and landslides, indicating that, at least in places, these features may be coeval. We suppose that fault activity lasted at least as far as the Holocene-Pleistocene boundary and that the NNW-SSW normal fault network in the Apulian Plateau can be considered active (or at least active till the Holocene-Pleistocene boundary), and that the cumulative horizontal displacement is consistent with a relevant WSW-ENE stretching, that can be associated to the bending moment applied to the Apulian Plate by the combined effect of the Appennines and Hellenides subduction.

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.

Regional Slip Tendency Analysis of the Great Basin Region

DOE Data Explorer

Faulds, James E.

2013-09-30

Slip and dilation tendency on the Great Basin fault surfaces (from the USGS Quaternary Fault Database) were calculated using 3DStress (software produced by Southwest Research Institute). Slip and dilation tendency are both unitless ratios of the resolved stresses applied to the fault plane by the measured ambient stress field. - Values range from a maximum of 1 (a fault plane ideally oriented to slip or dilate under ambient stress conditions) to zero (a fault plane with no potential to slip or dilate). - Slip and dilation tendency values were calculated for each fault in the Great Basin. As dip is unknown for many faults in the USGS Quaternary Fault Database, we made these calculations using the dip for each fault that would yield the maximum slip or dilation tendency. As such, these results should be viewed as maximum slip and dilation tendency. - The resulting along‐fault and fault‐to‐fault variation in slip or dilation potential is a proxy for along fault and fault‐to‐fault variation in fluid flow conduit potential. Stress Magnitudes and directions were calculated across the entire Great Basin. Stress field variation within each focus area was approximated based on regional published data and the world stress database (Hickman et al., 2000; Hickman et al., 1998 Robertson‐Tait et al., 2004; Hickman and Davatzes, 2010; Davatzes and Hickman, 2006; Blake and Davatzes 2011; Blake and Davatzes, 2012; Moeck et al., 2010; Moos and Ronne, 2010 and Reinecker et al., 2005). The minimum horizontal stress direction (Shmin) was contoured, and spatial bins with common Shmin directions were calculated. Based on this technique, we subdivided the Great Basin into nine regions (Shmin <070, 070140). Slip and dilation tendency were calculated using 3DStress for the faults within each region using the mean Shmin for the region. Shmin variation throughout Great Basin are shown on Figure 3. For faults within the Great Basin proper, we applied a normal faulting stress regime, where the vertical stress (sv) is larger than the maximum horizontal stress (shmax), which is larger than the minimum horizontal stress (sv>shmax>shmin). Based on visual inspection of the limited stress magnitude data in the Great Basin, we used magnitudes such that shmin/shmax = .527 and shmin/sv= .46. These values are consistent with stress magnitude data at both Dixie Valley (Hickman et al., 2000) and Yucca Mountain (Stock et al., 1985). For faults within the Walker Lane/Eastern California Shear Zone, we applied a strike‐slip faulting stress, where shmax > sv > shmin. Upon visual inspection of limited stress magnitude data from the Walker Lane and Eastern California Shear zone, we chose values such that SHmin/SHmax = .46 and Shmin/Sv= .527 representative of the region. Results: The results of our slip and dilation tendency analysis are shown in Figures 4 (dilation tendency), 5 (slip tendency) and 6 (slip tendency + dilation tendency). Shmin varies from northwest to east‐west trending throughout much of the Great Basin. As such, north‐ to northeast‐striking faults have the highest tendency to slip and to dilate, depending on the local trend of shmin. These results provide a first order filter on faults and fault systems in the Great Basin, affording focusing of local‐scale exploration efforts for blind or hidden geothermal resources.

Structural Mapping Along the Central San Andreas Fault-zone Using Airborne Electromagnetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamudio, K. D.; Bedrosian, P.; Ball, L. B.

2017-12-01

Investigations of active fault zones typically focus on either surface expressions or the associated seismogenic zones. However, the largely aseismic upper kilometer can hold significant insight into fault-zone architecture, strain partitioning, and fault-zone permeability. Geophysical imaging of the first kilometer provides a link between surface fault mapping and seismically-defined fault zones and is particularly important in geologically complex regions with limited surface exposure. Additionally, near surface imaging can provide insight into the impact of faulting on the hydrogeology of the critical zone. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) methods offer a unique opportunity to collect a spatially-large, detailed dataset in a matter of days, and are used to constrain subsurface resistivity to depths of 500 meters or more. We present initial results from an AEM survey flown over a 60 kilometer long segment of the central San Andreas Fault (SAF). The survey is centered near Parkfield, California, the site of the SAFOD drillhole, which marks the transition between a creeping fault segment to the north and a locked zone to the south. Cross sections with a depth of investigation up to approximately 500 meters highlight the complex Tertiary and Mesozoic geology that is dismembered by the SAF system. Numerous fault-parallel structures are imaged across a more than 10 kilometer wide zone centered on the surface trace. Many of these features can be related to faults and folds within Plio-Miocene sedimentary rocks found on both sides of the fault. Northeast of the fault, rocks of the Mesozoic Franciscan and Great Valley complexes are extremely heterogeneous, with highly resistive volcanic rocks within a more conductive background. The upper 300 meters of a prominent fault-zone conductor, previously imaged to 1-3 kilometers depth by magnetotellurics, is restricted to a 20 kilometer long segment of the fault, but is up to 4 kilometers wide in places. Elevated fault-zone conductivity may be related to damage within the fault zone, Miocene marine shales, or some combination of the two.

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.

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.

Morphostructural characterization of the Charco basin and its surrounding areas in the Chihuahua segment of north Mexican Basin and Range Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troiani, Francesco; Menichetti, Marco

2014-05-01

The Chihuahua Basin and Range (CBR) is the eastern branch of the northern Mexican Basin and Range Province that, from a morphostructural point of view, presently is one amongst the lesser-known zones of the southern portion of the North America Basin and Range Province. The study area covers an approximately 800 km2-wide portion of the CBR and encompasses the fault-bounded Charco basin and its surrounding areas. The bedrock of the area pertains to the large siliceous-igneous province of the Sierra Madre Occidental and consists of volcanoclastic rocks including Oligocene dacite, rhyolite, rhyolitic tuffs, and polimitic conglomerates. The region is characterized by a series of NW-SE oriented valleys delimited by tilted monoclinal blocks bounded by high angle, SW-dipping, normal faults. Abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins are the main morphological elements of the area. The valleys correspond to structural grabens filled with Plio-Pleistocene continental sediments. These grabens are about 10 km wide, while the extensional fault system extend over a distance of more than 15 km. The mountain ranges are in most cases continuous over distances that range from 10 to 70 km including different branches of the extensional and transfer faults. The morphogenesis is mainly erosive in character: erosional landforms (such as rocky scarps, ridges, strath-terraces, erosional pediment, reverse slopes, landslide scar zones, litho-structural flat surfaces) dominate the landscape. In contrast, Quaternary depositional landforms are mainly concentrated within the flat valleys or basins. The Quaternary deposits consist of wide alluvial fans extending to the foot of the main ridges, fluvial and debris-slope deposits. The morphostructural characterization of the area integrated different methodologies, including: i) geomorphological and structural field analyses; ii) remote sensing and geo-morphometric investigations based on aerial photos and Digital Elevation Models (a 28x28 m DEM and high-resolution LIDAR dataset in key sites), and iii) geophysical investigations (high resolution reflection seismic profiling combined with refraction seismic tomography). The main outputs of this research are as follows: i) the Charco basin master-faults and their conjugate extensional system were geometrically characterized and their main associated landforms mapped and described; ii) the morphostratigraphic correlations amongst both deformed and tectonically unaffected Quaternary deposits revealed that the Charco basin master fault has been inactive over the Holocene; iii) the main extensional fault system is associated with conjugate faults, oriented approximately SSW-NNE, that segmented the Charco basin master faults and favored the deposition of the most recent piedmont fans along the eastern margin of the basin; iv) the local morphostructures had played a dominant influence on the Quaternary evolution of both drainage network and relief landforms.

Crustal structure in Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area, western Yunnan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chun-Yong; Huangfu, Gang

2004-02-01

Based upon the deep seismic sounding profiles carried out in the Tengchong Volcano-Geothermal Area (TVGA), western Yunnan Province of China, a 2-D crustal P velocity structure is obtained by use of finite-difference inversion and forward travel-time fitting method. The crustal model shows that a low-velocity anomaly zone exists in the upper crust, which is related to geothermal activity. Two faults, the Longling-Ruili Fault and Tengchong Fault, on the profile extend from surface to the lower crust and the Tengchong Fault likely penetrates the Moho. Moreover, based on teleseismic receiver functions on a temporary seismic network, S-wave velocity structures beneath the geothermal field show low S-wave velocity in the upper crust. From results of geophysical survey, the crust of TVGA is characterized by low P-wave and S-wave velocities, low resistivity, high heat-flow value and low Q. The upper mantle P-wave velocity is also low. This suggests presence of magma in the crust derived from the upper mantle. The low-velocity anomaly in upper crust may be related to the magma differentiation. The Tengchong volcanic area is located on the northeast edge of the Indian-Eurasian plate collision zone, away from the eastern boundary of the Indian plate by about 450 km. Based on the results of this paper and related studies, the Tengchong volcanoes can be classified as plate boundary volcanoes.

Proterozoic deformation of the East Saharan Craton in Southeast Libya, South Egypt and North Sudan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schandelmeier, H.; Richter, A.; Harms, U.

1987-09-01

The basement areas in Southeast Libya, South Egypt and North Sudan, west of the Nile, between Gebel Uweinat and the Bayuda Desert, are part of an approximately 1000-km-wide, complexly folded, polymetamorphic zone with a regional N-NNE-NE-ENE trend of foliation and fold axis. Since this belt extends southwestward into the area of Zalingei in the southern Darfur block (West Sudan), it is named the Northern Zalingei fold zone. Sr and Nd isotopic studies suggest that this zone is older than Pan-African and further indicate that, apart from Archean rocks in the Gebel Uweinat area, this belt is of Early-Middle Proterozoic age. An Early-Middle Proterozoic three-stage deformational and anatectic event established the present-day fold and fault geometry in the western parts of this zone in the Gebel Uweinat—Gebel Kamil area. The Pan-African tectono-thermal episode was most effective in the eastern part of the belt, near the boundary with the Nubian Shield volcano-sedimentary-ophiolite-granitoid assemblages. It caused migmatization, granite emplacement, mylonitization and large-scale wrench faulting which was related to Late Proterozoic accretionary and collisional events of the Arabian-Nubian Shield with the margin of the East Saharan Craton.

Seismic Microzonation of the City of Cali (Western Colombia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimate, C.; Romero, J.; Ojeda, A.; Garcia, J.; Alvarado, C.

2007-05-01

The city of Cali is located in the western margin of the Cauca Valley in the flat area between the Western and Central cordilleras of the Colombian Andes, at 70 km east of the Eastern Pacific Subduction Zone. Even though present seismic activity associated with nearest faults is low, historical records demonstrate that earthquakes have caused damage in the city going up to intensity VIII (EMS). Those earthquakes have had origin on diverse sources: the intermediate-depth Benioff zone, near and far continental crustal faults and the Pacific Subduction Zone. Taking into account the location of the city and the seismologic history of the region, neotectonic and seismological studies extending over a region of about 120000 km2 were required to compute seismic hazard. Construction of the geotechnical model of the city included detailed geological mapping, geophysical profiling, single station ambient vibration essays and the deployment of a 12-stations accelerographic network. Geotechnical properties of the soils were determined by mechanical perforations, CPTU (piezocone) and CPT (static penetration) essays, flat plate dilatometer (DMT) tests and down-hole essays which were complemented in the Lab by analysis of consolidation and static and cyclic three-axial essays. As a result, ten geotechnical zones were outlined and characterized. Finally, expected ground motions were calculated at 39 sites in the city using numerical modeling methods.

Fault zone hydrogeology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bense, V. F.; Gleeson, T.; Loveless, S. E.; Bour, O.; Scibek, J.

2013-12-01

Deformation along faults in the shallow crust (< 1 km) introduces permeability heterogeneity and anisotropy, which has an important impact on processes such as regional groundwater flow, hydrocarbon migration, and hydrothermal fluid circulation. Fault zones have the capacity to be hydraulic conduits connecting shallow and deep geological environments, but simultaneously the fault cores of many faults often form effective barriers to flow. The direct evaluation of the impact of faults to fluid flow patterns remains a challenge and requires a multidisciplinary research effort of structural geologists and hydrogeologists. However, we find that these disciplines often use different methods with little interaction between them. In this review, we document the current multi-disciplinary understanding of fault zone hydrogeology. We discuss surface- and subsurface observations from diverse rock types from unlithified and lithified clastic sediments through to carbonate, crystalline, and volcanic rocks. For each rock type, we evaluate geological deformation mechanisms, hydrogeologic observations and conceptual models of fault zone hydrogeology. Outcrop observations indicate that fault zones commonly have a permeability structure suggesting they should act as complex conduit-barrier systems in which along-fault flow is encouraged and across-fault flow is impeded. Hydrogeological observations of fault zones reported in the literature show a broad qualitative agreement with outcrop-based conceptual models of fault zone hydrogeology. Nevertheless, the specific impact of a particular fault permeability structure on fault zone hydrogeology can only be assessed when the hydrogeological context of the fault zone is considered and not from outcrop observations alone. To gain a more integrated, comprehensive understanding of fault zone hydrogeology, we foresee numerous synergistic opportunities and challenges for the discipline of structural geology and hydrogeology to co-evolve and address remaining challenges by co-locating study areas, sharing approaches and fusing data, developing conceptual models from hydrogeologic data, numerical modeling, and training interdisciplinary scientists.

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.

Can deep seated gravitational slope deformations be activated by regional tectonic strain: First insights from displacement measurements in caves from the Eastern Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baroň, Ivo; Plan, Lukas; Grasemann, Bernhard; Mitroviċ, Ivanka; Lenhardt, Wolfgang; Hausmann, Helmut; Stemberk, Josef

2016-04-01

Tectonic elastic strain and ground deformations are documented as the most remarkable environmental phenomena occurring prior to local earthquakes in tectonically active areas. The question arises if such strain would be able to trigger mass movements. We discuss a directly observed fault slip and a subsequent minor activation of a deep-seated gravitational slope deformation prior to the M = 3 Bad Fischau earthquake between end of November and early December 2013 in NE Austria. The data originate from two faults in the Emmerberg and Eisenstein Caves in the transition zone between the Eastern Alps and the Vienna Basin, monitored in the framework of the FWF "Speleotect" project. The fault slips have been observed at the micrometer-level by means of an opto-mechanical 3D crack gauge TM-71. The discussed event started with the fault activation in the Emmerberg Cave on 25 November 2013 recorded by measurements of about 2 μm shortening and 1 μm sinistral parallel slip, which was fully in agreement with the macroscopically documented past fault kinematics. One day later, the mass (micro) movement activated on the opposite side of the mountain ridge in the Eisenstein Cave and it continued on three consecutive days. Further, the fault in the Emmerberg Cave experienced also a subsequent gravitational relaxation on 2/3 December 2013, when the joint opened and the southern block subsided towards the valley, while the original sinistral displacement remained irreversible. The process was followed by the M = 3 earthquake in Bad Fischau on 11 December 2013. Our data suggest that tectonic strain could play a higher role on the activation of slow mass movements in the area than expected. Although we cannot fully exclude the co-activation of the mass movement in the Eisenstein Cave by water saturation, the presented data bring new insight into recent geodynamics of the Eastern Alps and the Vienna Basin. For better interpretations and conclusions however, we need a much longer period of observations.

Postseismic relaxation process and lithospheric rheology inferred from eight years of postseismic deformation after the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, B.; Burgmann, R.; Rui, X.; Wang, D.; Yu, J.; He, K.

2017-12-01

Current inferences of postseismic deformation mechanisms and lithospheric rheology in the eastern Tibetan Plateau strongly depend on spatial and temporal observations of postseismic transients following the 2008 Mw=7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. We processed regional continuously operating and survey-mode GPS data from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China and Sichuan Continuous Operation Reference System. These data cover a broad region and time intervals of up to eight years. The determined amplitude of postseismic displacements show clear contrast between the Sichuan Basin and eastern Tibet. In addition to significant amounts of deformation in the region between the Longmen Shan and Longriba fault, reliable deformation transients are also visible in the far field, such as regions to the west of the Longriba fault and along the left-lateral Xianshuihe fault. In contrast, no more than 10 mm of postseismic transients are observed in the Sichuan Basin. Guided by previous studies, we conducted multiple-mechanism models of afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation. We first explored a series of forward viscoelastic relaxation models using a heterogeneous rheological earth structure, and then inverted corresponding afterslip distributions on the shallowly dipping detachment to explain the remaining residuals. Our preliminary results indicate the viscoelastic relaxation in the lower crust and upper mantle dominantly contributed to the mid- and far-field observations, whereas afterslip below the coseismic asperities and on small patches near the surface can explain the near-field measurements. Time-dependent slip inversions illustrate that afterslip decays more rapidly on the shallow portions of the fault interface than on the shallowly dipping detachment. Relatively long-lived right-lateral afterslip is revealed in the north segment of the Beichuan fault, suggesting variations of frictional properties along strike of the fault zone. Our results also support previous inferences of higher mantle viscosities below the Sichuan Basin and lower viscosities of the lower crust and upper mantle below eastern Tibet. The transient and steady-state viscosities of Tibet's lower crust are constrained to be 1018 and 1019 Pa s. The upper mantle viscosity is poorly resolved due to small coseismic stress change.

Kinematics, mechanics, and potential earthquake hazards for faults in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ohlmacher, G.C.; Berendsen, P.

2005-01-01

Many stable continental regions have subregions with poorly defined earthquake hazards. Analysis of minor structures (folds and faults) in these subregions can improve our understanding of the tectonics and earthquake hazards. Detailed structural mapping in Pottawatomie County has revealed a suite consisting of two uplifted blocks aligned along a northeast trend and surrounded by faults. The first uplift is located southwest of the second. The northwest and southeast sides of these uplifts are bounded by northeast-trending right-lateral faults. To the east, both uplifts are bounded by north-trending reverse faults, and the first uplift is bounded by a north-trending high-angle fault to the west. The structural suite occurs above a basement fault that is part of a series of north-northeast-trending faults that delineate the Humboldt Fault Zone of eastern Kansas, an integral part of the Midcontinent Rift System. The favored kinematic model is a contractional stepover (push-up) between echelon strike-slip faults. Mechanical modeling using the boundary element method supports the interpretation of the uplifts as contractional stepovers and indicates that an approximately east-northeast maximum compressive stress trajectory is responsible for the formation of the structural suite. This stress trajectory suggests potential activity during the Laramide Orogeny, which agrees with the age of kimberlite emplacement in adjacent Riley County. The current stress field in Kansas has a N85??W maximum compressive stress trajectory that could potentially produce earthquakes along the basement faults. Several epicenters of seismic events (

Overview of the Kinematics of the Salton Trough and Northern Gulf of California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, J. M.

2016-12-01

In the Salton Trough and Northern Gulf of California, transtensional rifting is leading to full continental plate breakup, as a major continental block is being transferred to an oceanic plate. Since at least 6 Ma this region has taken up most of the plate boundary slip between the Pacific and North America plates at this latitude. We review the structural history of plate separation, as constrained by many recent studies of present and past fault configurations, seismicity, and basin development as seen from geology and geophysics. Modern activity in the USA is dominated by NW-striking strike-slip faults (San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore), and subsidiary NE-striking faults. There is an equally broad zone in Mexico (faults from the Mexicali Valley to the Colorado River Delta and bounding the Laguna Salada basin), including active low-angle detachment faults. In both areas, shifts in fault activity are indicated by buried faults and exhumed or buried earlier basin strata. Seismicity defines 3 basin segments in the N Gulf: Consag-Wagner, Upper Delfin, and Lower Delfin, but localization is incomplete. These basins occupy a broad zone of modern deformation, lacking single transform faults, although major strike-slip faults formed in the surrounding continental area. The off-boundary deformation on the western side of the plate boundary has changed with time, as seen by Holocene and Quaternary faults controlling modern basins in the Gulf Extensional Province of NE Baja California, and stranded Pliocene continental and marine basin strata in subaerial fault blocks. The eastern side of the plate boundary, in the shallow northeastern Gulf, contains major NW-striking faults that may have dominated the earlier (latest Miocene-early Pliocene) kinematics. The Sonoran coastal plain likely buries additional older faults and basin sequences; further studies here are needed to refine models of the earlier structural development of this sector. Despite > 250 km of plate separation, and production of new crustal area in these segments of the plate boundary, the deformation is not considered to be fully localized because some occurs outside the region of new crustal formation. Similar scenarios may need to be considered when evaluating continent-ocean transitions in other rift systems.

Eastern Denali Fault surface trace map, eastern Alaska and Yukon, Canada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bender, Adrian M.; Haeussler, Peter J.

2017-05-04

We map the 385-kilometer (km) long surface trace of the right-lateral, strike-slip Denali Fault between the Totschunda-Denali Fault intersection in Alaska, United States and the village of Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada. In Alaska, digital elevation models based on light detection and ranging and interferometric synthetic aperture radar data enabled our fault mapping at scales of 1:2,000 and 1:10,000, respectively. Lacking such resources in Yukon, we developed new structure-from-motion digital photogrammetry products from legacy aerial photos to map the fault surface trace at a scale of 1:10,000 east of the international border. The section of the fault that we map, referred to as the Eastern Denali Fault, did not rupture during the 2002 Denali Fault earthquake (moment magnitude 7.9). Seismologic, geodetic, and geomorphic evidence, along with a paleoseismic record of past ground-rupturing earthquakes, demonstrate Holocene and contemporary activity on the fault, however. This map of the Eastern Denali Fault surface trace complements other data sets by providing an openly accessible digital interpretation of the location, length, and continuity of the fault’s surface trace based on the accompanying digital topography dataset. Additionally, the digitized fault trace may provide geometric constraints useful for modeling earthquake scenarios and related seismic hazard.

Late Quaternary alluviation and offset along the eastern Big Pine fault, southern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeLong, S.B.; Minor, S.A.; Arnold, L.J.

2007-01-01

Determining late Quaternary offset rates on specific faults within active mountain belts is not only a key component of seismic hazard analysis, but sheds light on regional tectonic development over geologic timescales. Here we report an estimate of dip-slip rate on the eastern Big Pine oblique-reverse fault in the upper Cuyama Valley within the western Transverse Ranges of southern California, and its relation to local landscape development. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sandy beds within coarse-grained alluvial deposits indicates that deposition of alluvium shed from the Pine Mountain massif occurred near the southern margin of the Cuyama structural basin at the elevation of the Cuyama River between 25 and 14??ka. This alluvial deposit has been offset ??? 10??m vertically by the eastern Big Pine fault, providing a latest Quaternary dip-slip rate estimate of ??? 0.9??m/ky based on a 50?? fault dip. Incision of the adjacent Cuyama River has exposed a section of older Cuyama River sediments beneath the Pine Mountain alluvium that accumulated between 45 and 30??ka on the down-thrown footwall block of the eastern Big Pine fault. Corroborative evidence for Holocene reverse-slip on the eastern Big Pine fault is ??? 1??m of incised bedrock that is characteristically exposed beneath 2-3.5??ka fill terraces in tributaries south of the fault. The eastern Big Pine fault in the Cuyama Valley area has no confirmed record of historic rupture; however, based on our results, we suggest the likelihood of multiple reverse-slip rupture events since 14??ka. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mechanics of slip and fracture along small faults and simple strike-slip fault zones in granitic rock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martel, Stephen J.; Pollard, David D.

1989-07-01

We exploit quasi-static fracture mechanics models for slip along pre-existing faults to account for the fracture structure observed along small exhumed faults and small segmented fault zones in the Mount Abbot quadrangle of California and to estimate stress drop and shear fracture energy from geological field measurements. Along small strike-slip faults, cracks that splay from the faults are common only near fault ends. In contrast, many cracks splay from the boundary faults at the edges of a simple fault zone. Except near segment ends, the cracks preferentially splay into a zone. We infer that shear displacement discontinuities (slip patches) along a small fault propagated to near the fault ends and caused fracturing there. Based on elastic stress analyses, we suggest that slip on one boundary fault triggered slip on the adjacent boundary fault, and that the subsequent interaction of the slip patches preferentially led to the generation of fractures that splayed into the zones away from segment ends and out of the zones near segment ends. We estimate the average stress drops for slip events along the fault zones as ˜1 MPa and the shear fracture energy release rate during slip as 5 × 102 - 2 × 104 J/m2. This estimate is similar to those obtained from shear fracture of laboratory samples, but orders of magnitude less than those for large fault zones. These results suggest that the shear fracture energy release rate increases as the structural complexity of fault zones increases.

Age and isotopic systematics of Cretaceous borehole and surface samples from the greater Los Angeles Basin region: Implications for the types of crust that might underlie Los Angeles and their distribution along late Cenozoic fault systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Premo, Wayne R.; Morton, Douglas M.; Kistler, Ronald W.

2014-01-01

Nine U-Pb zircon ages were determined on plutonic rocks sampled from surface outcrops and rock chips of drill core from boreholes within the greater Los Angeles Basin region. In addition, lead-strontium-neodymium (Pb-Sr-Nd) whole-rock isotopic data were obtained for eight of these samples. These results help to characterize the crystalline basement rocks hidden in the subsurface and provide information that bears on the tectonic history of the myriad of fault systems that have dissected the Los Angeles region over the past 15 m.y. Seven of the nine samples have U-Pb ages ranging from 115 to 103 Ma and whole-rock Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics that indicate the crystalline basement underneath the greater Los Angeles Basin region is mostly part of the Peninsular Ranges batholith. Furthermore, these data are interpreted as evidence for (1) the juxtaposition of mid-Cretaceous, northern Peninsular Ranges batholith plutonic rocks against Late Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Transverse Ranges in the San Fernando Valley, probably along the Verdugo fault; (2) the juxtaposition of older northwestern Peninsular Ranges batholith rocks against younger northeastern Peninsular Ranges batholith rocks in the northern Puente Hills, implying transposition of northeastern Peninsular Ranges batholith rocks to the west along unrecognized faults beneath the Chino Basin; and (3) juxtaposition of northern Peninsular Ranges batholith plutonic rocks against Late Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Transverse Ranges along the San Jose fault in the northern San Jose Hills at Ganesha Park. These mainly left-lateral strike-slip faults of the eastern part of the greater Los Angeles Basin region could be the result of block rotation within the adjacent orthogonal, right-lateral, Elsinore-Whittier fault zone to the west and the subparallel San Jacinto fault zone to the east. The San Andreas fault system is the larger, subparallel, driving force further to the east.

Effects of Arabia-Eurasia Collision on Strike-slip Faults in Central Anatolia?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitney, D. L.; Lefebvre, C.; Thomson, S. N.; Idleman, L.; Cosca, M. A.; Kaymakci, N.; Teyssier, C. P.; Umhoefer, P. J.

2013-12-01

The North and East Anatolian faults accommodate much of the tectonic escape of Anatolia in response to Arabia-Eurasia collision and building of the Turkish-Iranian plateau, but these structures formed <10 m.y. ago, at least 25 m.y. after the onset of collision at ~35 Ma. Some of the major strike-slip fault zones located between the North and East Anatolian faults have had long and complex histories of displacement. These faults have deformed, and in some cases exhumed, metamorphic massifs located between fault strands. One example is the Nigde Massif, which was initially exhumed in the Late Cretaceous, then reburied and reheated, along with its overlying sedimentary basin, to a depth of ~10 km at 30 × 5 Ma. Final exhumation and cooling occurred by ~15-17 Ma (massif margin) to ~12 Ma (structurally deepest levels). This depth-temperature-time-deformation history is tracked by a combination of thermobarometric methods, structural and stratigraphic analysis, and geo/thermochronometry (U-Pb zircon, monazite; 40Ar/39Ar hornblende, muscovite, biotite, K-feldspar; zircon and apatite fission-track in metamorphic rocks and basin deposits; and apatite (U-Th)/He). Recent mapping shows the presence of at least two oblique-thrust slices; the structurally higher one accounts for the resetting of detrital apatite fission track and AHe ages in the basin rocks as well as metamorphic apatite near the margin of the massif. The structurally deeper one cuts through the metamorphic basement and explains why mineral lineations and metamorphic assemblages are different along the eastern margin relative to those in the core of the massif. Although the timing of displacement has not been dated directly, low-T thermochronology age and modeling results document a perturbation at ~30 Ma, consistent with the idea that the Ecemis Fault of the Central Anatolian Fault Zone, and probably other pre-existing strike-slip faults in central Anatolia, experienced Late Eocene-Oligocene displacement in response to Arabia-Eurasia collision to the south and SE.

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.

Continental Extensional Tectonics in the Basins and Ranges and Aegean Regions: A Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cemen, I.

2017-12-01

The Basins and Ranges of North America and the Aegean Region of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor have been long considered as the two best developed examples of continental extension. The two regions contain well-developed normal faults which were considered almost vertical in the 1950s and 1960s. By the mid 1980s, however, overwhelming field evidence emerged to conclude that the dip angle normal faults in the two regions may range from almost vertical to almost horizontal. This led to the discovery that high-grade metamorphic rocks could be brought to surface by the exhumation of mid-crustal rocks along major low-angle normal faults (detachment faults) which were previously either mapped as thrust faults or unconformity. Within the last three decades, our understanding of continental extensional tectonics in the Basins and Ranges and the Aegean Region have improved substantially based on fieldwork, geochemical analysis, analog and computer modeling, detailed radiometric age determinations and thermokinematic modelling. It is now widely accepted that a) Basin and Range extension is controlled by the movement along the San Andreas fault zone as the North American plate moved southeastward with respect to the northwestward movement of the Pacific plate; b) Aegean extension is controlled by subduction roll-back associated with the Hellenic subduction zone; and c) the two regions contain best examples of detachment faulting, extensional folding, and extensional basins. However, there are still many important questions of continental extensional tectonics in the two regions that remain poorly understood. These include determining a) precise amount and percentage of cumulative extension; b) role of strike-slip faulting in the extensional processes; c) exhumation history along detachment surfaces using multimethod geochronology; d) geometry and nature of extensional features in the middle and lower crust; e) the nature of upper mantle and asthenospheric flow; f) evolutions of sedimentary basins associated with dip-slip and strike-slip faults; g) seismic hazards; and i) economic significance of extensional basins.

Subduction and Plate Edge Tectonics in the Southern Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levander, A.; Schmitz, M.; Niu, F.; Bezada, M. J.; Miller, M. S.; Masy, J.; Ave Lallemant, H. G.; Pindell, J. L.; Bolivar Working Group

2013-05-01

The southern Caribbean plate boundary consists of a subduction zone at at either end of a complex strike-slip fault system: In the east at the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, the Atlantic part of the South American plate subducts beneath the Caribbean. In the north and west in the Colombia basin, the Caribbean subducts under South America. In a manner of speaking, the two plates subduct beneath each other. Finite-frequency teleseismic P-wave tomography confirms this, imaging the Atlantic and the Caribbean plates subducting steeply in opposite directions to transition zone depths under northern South America (Bezada et al, 2010). The two subduction zones are connected by the El Pilar-San Sebastian strike-slip fault system, a San Andreas scale system that has been cut off at the Bocono fault, the southeastern boundary fault of the Maracaibo block. A variety of seismic probes identify subduction features at either end of the system (Niu et al, 2007; Clark et al., 2008; Miller et al. 2009; Growdon et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2010; Masy et al, 2011). The El Pilar system forms at the southeastern corner of the Antilles subduction zone with the Atlantic plate tearing from South America. The deforming plate edges control mountain building and basin formation at the eastern end of the strike-slip system. Tearing the Atlantic plate from the rest of South America appears to cause further lithospheric instability continentward. In northwestern South America the Caribbean plate very likely also tears, as its southernmost element subducts at shallow angles under northernmost Colombia but then rapidly descends to the transition zone under Lake Maracaibo (Bezada et al., 2010). We believe that the flat slab controls the tectonics of the Neogene Merida Andes, Perija, and Santa Marta ranges. The nonsubducting part of the Caribbean plate also underthrusts northern Venezuela to about the width of the coastal mountains (Miller et al., 2009). We infer that the edge of the underthrust Caribbean plate supports the elevations of the coastal mountains and controls continuing deformation.

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.

Gravity and magnetic investigations of the Ghost Dance and Solitario Canyon faults, Yucca Mountain, Nevada

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

Ponce, D.A.; Langenheim, V.E.

1995-12-31

Ground magnetic and gravity data collected along traverses across the Ghost Dance and Solitario Canyon faults on the eastern and western flanks, respectively, of Yucca Mountain in southwest Nevada are interpreted. These data were collected as part of an effort to evaluate faulting in the vicinity of a potential nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Gravity and magnetic data and models along traverses across the Ghost Dance and Solitario Canyon faults show prominent anomalies associated with known faults and reveal a number of possible concealed faults beneath the eastern flank of Yucca Mountain. The central part of the eastern flankmore » of Yucca Mountain is characterized by several small amplitude anomalies that probably reflect small scale faulting.« less

Clustering of GPS velocities in the Mojave Block, southeastern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savage, J. C.; Simpson, R. W.

2013-04-01

find subdivisions within the Mojave Block using cluster analysis to identify groupings in the velocities observed at GPS stations there. The clusters are represented on a fault map by symbols located at the positions of the GPS stations, each symbol representing the cluster to which the velocity of that GPS station belongs. Fault systems that separate the clusters are readily identified on such a map. The most significant representation as judged by the gap test involves 4 clusters within the Mojave Block. The fault systems bounding the clusters from east to west are 1) the faults defining the eastern boundary of the Northeast Mojave Domain extended southward to connect to the Hector Mine rupture, 2) the Calico-Paradise fault system, 3) the Landers-Blackwater fault system, and 4) the Helendale-Lockhart fault system. This division of the Mojave Block is very similar to that proposed by Meade and Hager []. However, no cluster boundary coincides with the Garlock Fault, the northern boundary of the Mojave Block. Rather, the clusters appear to continue without interruption from the Mojave Block north into the southern Walker Lane Belt, similar to the continuity across the Garlock Fault of the shear zone along the Blackwater-Little Lake fault system observed by Peltzer et al. []. Mapped traces of individual faults in the Mojave Block terminate within the block and do not continue across the Garlock Fault [Dokka and Travis, ].

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.

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.