scholarly journals Resistivity distribution from mid-crustal conductor to near-surface across the 1200 km long Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault System, southern Chile

2016 ◽  
Vol 207 (3) ◽  
pp. 1387-1400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Held ◽  
Eva Schill ◽  
Maximiliano Pavez ◽  
Daniel Díaz ◽  
Gerard Muñoz ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Johannes Albert ◽  
Maximilian Schärf ◽  
Frieder Enzmann ◽  
Martin Waltl ◽  
Frank Sirocko

AbstractThis paper presents radon flux profiles from four regions in Schleswig–Holstein (Northern Germany). Three of these regions are located over deep-rooted tectonic faults or salt diapirs and one is in an area without any tectonic or halokinetic activity, but with steep topography. Contrary to recently published studies on spatial patterns of soil radon gas concentration we measured flux of radon from soil into the atmosphere. All radon devices of each profile were deployed simultaneously to avoid inconsistencies due to strong diurnal variations of radon exhalation. To compare data from different seasons, values had to be normalized. Observed radon flux patterns are apparently related to the mineralogical composition of the Quaternary strata (particularly to the abundance of reddish granite and porphyry), and its grain size (with a flux maximum in well-sorted sand/silt). Minimum radon flux occurs above non-permeable, clay-rich soil layers. Small amounts of water content in the pore space increase radon flux, whereas excessive water content lessens it. Peak flux values, however, are observed over a deep-rooted fault system on the eastern side of Lake Plön, i.e., at the boundary of the Eastholstein Platform and the Eastholstein Trough. Furthermore, high radon flux values are observed in two regions associated with salt diapirism and near-surface halokinetic faults. These regions show frequent local radon flux maxima, which indicate that the uppermost strata above salt diapirs are very inhomogeneous. Deep-rooted increased permeability (effective radon flux depth) or just the boundaries between permeable and impermeable strata appear to concentrate radon flux. In summary, our radon flux profiles are in accordance with the published evidence of low radon concentrations in the “normal” soils of Schleswig–Holstein. However, very high values of radon flux are likely to occur at distinct locations near salt diapirism at depth, boundaries between permeable and impermeable strata, and finally at the tectonically active flanks of the North German Basin.


1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-100
Author(s):  
Larry Gedney ◽  
Eduard Berg

Abstract A series of moderately severe earthquakes occurred in the vicinity of Fairbanks, Alaska, on the morning of June 21, 1967. During the following months, many thousands of aftershocks were recorded in order to outline the aftershock zone and to resolve the focal mechanism and its relation to the regional tectonic system. No fault is visible at the surface in this area. Foci were found to occupy a relatively small volume in the shape of an ablate cylinder tilted about 30° from the vertical. The center of the zone lay about 12 kilometers southeast of Fairbanks. Focal depths ranged from near-surface to 25 kilometers, although most were in the range 9-16 km. In the course of the investigation, it was found that the Jeffreys and Bullen velocity of 5.56 km/sec for the P wave in the upper crustal layer is very near the true value for this arec, and that the use of 1.69 for the Vp/Vs ratio gives good results in most cases. The proposed faulting mechanism involves nearly equal components of right-lateral strike slip, and normal faulting with northeast side downthrown on a system of sub-parallel faults striking N40°W. The fault surface appears to be curved—dipping from near vertical close to the surface to less steep northeast dips at greater depths. The relationship of this fault system with the grosser aspects of regional tectonism is not clear.


Author(s):  
Kevin Chao ◽  
Zhigang Peng ◽  
William B. Frank ◽  
Germán A. Prieto ◽  
Kazushige Obara

ABSTRACT We report new observations of triggered tectonic tremor in three regions in South America along the plate boundary between the Nazca and South America plates: southern Chile, Ecuador, and central Colombia. In these regions, tremor was observed during the passage of large‐amplitude surface waves of recent large earthquakes, which occurred in South America and around the world. In southern Chile, triggered tremor was observed around an ambient tremor active zone in the Chile triple junction region. In Ecuador and central Colombia, only one seismic station in each region recorded triggered tremor. With a single‐station approach, we are able to estimate potential tremor sources in these regions. Triggered tremor in Ecuador is likely associated with an inland fault near the volcanic region. In central Colombia, triggered tremor may be associated with the Romeral fault system rather than the subduction zone interface. In addition, we summarize global observations of tremor‐triggering stress and background ambient tremor activity in 24 tremor‐active regions. Based on the global summary of triggered and ambient tremor activity, the relative lack of triggered tremor in central and northern Chile and Peru is consistent with the lack of background tremor activity in these regions, suggesting tectonic tremor occurs only in isolated regions along major faults.


Author(s):  
Jesús A. Pinto ◽  
Danilo L. González ◽  
Ángel P. González ◽  
Ricardo A. Zapata ◽  
Pablo E. Mella

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-493
Author(s):  
Andy St-Onge

An extensive polygonal fault system (PFS) has been recognized in fine-grained Late Cretaceous sediments of the Western Interior Seaway of North America. Polygonal fault systems are pervasive organizations of nontectonic faults with fault traces that coalesce to form distinctive polygonal fault patterns. Interpretation of a three-dimensional seismic dataset from southeast Saskatchewan provides insight into fault initiation, timing, and geometry for the Great Plains PFS (GPPFS). Faulting initiates in the Niobrara Formation, with the largest fault throws occurring over Early Cretaceous Viking Formation sandstone accumulations, suggesting that drape compaction over the channel sand initiated some of the faulting. Above this, faulting increases in vertical offset, and the predominant fault strike angles change in the Lea Park, Belly River, and Bearpaw formations (all homotaxial to the Pierre Shale) throughout Campanian time. By late Bearpaw time, the initially almost random fault strike orientations change to well-defined northwest–southeast- and west–east-striking grabens. These grabens have up to 20 m of throw and can be 125 m wide and 900 m long at ∼400 m current depth. Predominant graben faults are the continuation of some of the deeper PFS faults. Moreover, the grabens are present over a Campanian clinoform bed and may be interpreted to indicate Bearpaw time extension tectonics that is local or regional in scale. The PFS helps to explain near-surface faulting observed in Late Cretaceous sediments in the Western Interior Seaway and could be used as a model to help explain Late Cretaceous geology, subsurface groundwater flow, and shallow natural gas reservoir continuity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1625-1646
Author(s):  
Matthias Mueller ◽  
Petri Peltonen ◽  
Pasi Eilu ◽  
Richard Goldfarb ◽  
Eero Hanski

Abstract The Mustajärvi gold occurrence lies in the southern part of the Paleoproterozoic Central Lapland Greenstone Belt, in proximity to the first-order transcrustal Venejoki thrust fault system. The gold occurrence is structurally controlled by the second-order Mustajärvi shear zone, which is located at the contact between siliciclastic metasedimentary and mafic to ultramafic metavolcanic rocks. The main mineralization comprises a set of parallel veins and sulfidized rocks that are slightly oblique to the shear zone and are hosted by third-order structures likely representing Riedel R-type shears. The gold-mineralized rock at Mustajärvi is associated with pyrite that is present in 0.15- to 1-m-wide quartz-pyrite-tourmaline veins and in zones of massive pyrite in the host rocks with thicknesses ranging from 1.15 to 2 m. In unweathered rock, hypogene gold is hosted by Au- and Au-Bi-telluride micro-inclusions in pyrite, whereas strong weathering at near surface levels has caused a remobilization of gold, resulting in free gold deposited mainly in the cracks of oxidized pyrite. The geochemistry of both mineralization styles is typical of orogenic gold systems with strong enrichments comprising Au, B, Bi, CO2, Te, and Se; and less consistent anomalous amounts of Ag, As, Sb, and W. Unusual for orogenic gold deposits is the strong enrichment of Ni and Co, which leads to the classification of Mustajärvi as orogenic gold occurrence with atypical metal association.


2019 ◽  
Vol 220 (1) ◽  
pp. 541-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Lee ◽  
Martyn Unsworth ◽  
Knútur Árnason ◽  
Darcy Cordell

SUMMARY Krafla is an active volcanic field and a high-temperature geothermal system in northeast Iceland. As part of a program to produce more energy from higher temperature wells, the IDDP-1 well was drilled in 2009 to reach supercritical fluid conditions below the Krafla geothermal field. However, drilling ended prematurely when the well unexpectedly encountered rhyolite magma at a depth of 2.1 km. In this paper we re-examine the magnetotelluric (MT) data that were used to model the electrical resistivity structure at Krafla. We present a new 3-D resistivity model that differs from previous inversions due to (1) using the full impedance tensor data and (2) a finely discretized mesh with horizontal cell dimensions of 100 m by 100 m. We obtained similar resistivity models from using two different prior models: a uniform half-space, and a previously published 1-D resistivity model. Our model contains a near-surface resistive layer of unaltered basalt and a low resistivity layer of hydrothermal alteration (C1). A resistive region (R1) at 1 to 2 km depth corresponds to chlorite-epidote alteration minerals that are stable at temperatures of about 220 to 500 °C. A low resistivity feature (C2) coincides with the Hveragil fault system, a zone of increased permeability allowing interaction of aquifer fluids with magmatic fluids and gases. Our model contains a large, low resistivity zone (C3) below the northern half of the Krafla volcanic field that domes upward to a depth of about 1.6 km b.s.l. C3 is partially coincident with reported low S-wave velocity zones which could be due to partial melt or aqueous fluids. The low resistivity could also be attributed to dehydration and decomposition of chlorite and epidote that occurs above 500 °C. As opposed to previously published resistivity models, our resistivity model shows that IDDP-1 encountered rhyolite magma near the upper edge of C3, where it intersects C2. In order to assess the sensitivity of the MT data to melt at the bottom of IDDP-1, we added hypothetical magma bodies with resistivities of 0.1 to 30 Ωm to our resistivity model and compared the synthetic MT data to the original inversion response. We used two methods to compare the MT data fit: (1) the change in r.m.s. misfit and (2) an asymptotic p-value obtained from the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) statistical test on the two sets of data residuals. We determined that the MT data can only detect sills that are unrealistically large (2.25 km3) with very low resistivities (0.1 or 0.3 Ωm). Smaller magma bodies (0.125 and 1 km3) were not detected; thus the MT data are not sensitive to small rhyolite magma bodies near the bottom of IDDP-1. Our tests gave similar results when evaluating the changes in r.m.s. misfit and the K–S test p-values, but the K–S test is a more objective method than appraising a relative change in r.m.s. misfit. Our resistivity model and resolution tests are consistent with the idea of rhyolite melt forming by re-melting of hydrothermally altered basalt on the edges of a deeper magma body.


1977 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-807
Author(s):  
L. G. Peake ◽  
J. H. Healy

abstract A method for determining lower crustal structure by comparing residuals of distant events, thereby reducing the effect of near-surface structure on seismic waves, has been tested through a straightforward numerical analysis of teleseismic residuals in central California. The results show a general crustal thinning to the west, with a sharp gradient along the San Andreas fault and a uniform crustal thickness between the San Andreas fault and the Calaveras and Hayward faults.


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