Kinematics of Subduction Processes during the Earthquake Cycle in Central Chile

Author(s):  
Leonardo Aguirre ◽  
Klaus Bataille ◽  
Camila Novoa ◽  
Carlos Peña ◽  
Felipe Vera

ABSTRACT Subduction processes at convergent margins produce complex temporal and spatial crustal displacements during different periods of the earthquake cycle. Satellite geodesy observations provide important clues to constrain kinematic models at subduction zones. Here, we analyze geodetic observations in central Chile, where two large earthquakes occurred: 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule and 2015 Mw 8.3 Illapel. We propose a model that considers the motion along both interfaces of the brittle subducting slab as the sources responsible for the movement of the crust in the different periods of the earthquake cycle. Using standard inversion techniques, we provide a consistent framework of the kinematic displacement during each period of the earthquake cycle. We show that during the interseismic period prior to the Maule and Illapel earthquakes, two patches of slip rate on the lower interface are determined. These patches are located just below the future hypocenters. Because the interseismic period corresponds to the loading process and the coseismic to the unloading process, it is interesting to note that the area where loading is stronger corresponds to the area where unloading is also strong. Furthermore, we show that the Maule earthquake causes a significant displacement on the lower interface, just below the epicenter of the future Illapel earthquake to the north, a few years later. We speculate that the interaction between motions along both interfaces is the key to understanding the evolution of stress and the occurrence of earthquakes at subduction zones. This framework improves the understanding of the observed loading and unloading processes and potential triggering between subduction earthquakes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 224 (3) ◽  
pp. 2028-2043
Author(s):  
Carla Valenzuela-Malebrán ◽  
Simone Cesca ◽  
Sergio Ruiz ◽  
Luigi Passarelli ◽  
Felipe Leyton ◽  
...  

SUMMARY Seismicity along subduction interfaces is usually dominated by large main-shock–aftershock sequences indicative of a continuum distribution of highly coupled large asperities. In the past decades, however, the increased resolution of seismic catalogues at some subduction zone seems to indicate instead a more complex rheological segmentation of the interface. Large and megathrust earthquake ruptures seem interspersed among regions of low seismic coupling and less stress buildup. In this weaker zone, the strain is primarily released via a combination of moderate-size swarm-like seismicity and aseismic slip. Along the Chilean subduction zone, the densification of the seismic network allowed for the identification of localized seismic clusters, some of them appearing in the form of swarms before megathrust earthquakes. The origin and driving processes of this seismic activity have not yet been identified. In this study, we follow a systematic approach to characterize the seismicity at two persistent clusters in Central Chile, one located offshore Navidad and one inland, at ∼40 km depth beneath Vichuquén, which occurred throughout ∼20 yr. We investigated these clusters, by deriving high-resolution hypocentral locations and moment tensors and performing a detailed analysis of spatio-temporal patterns, magnitude and interevent time distributions of the clustered earthquakes. Both clusters are characterized by weak to moderate seismicity (below Mw 6) and stand out as clear seismicity rate and Benioff strain anomalies. At the Navidad cluster, seismicity occurs in the form of swarms, with a characteristic duration of 2–7 d and location and thrust mechanisms compatible with activity on the slab interface. Conversely, we find at Vichuquén activity dominated by thrust earthquakes occurring as repeaters on the slab interface, with a slip rate of approximately ∼5.0 cm yr−1. We attribute these clusters to local features of the subducting plate: the Navidad swarms are likely driven by repeated high pore pressure transients along a pre-fractured patch of the slab, while the seismicity at the Vichuquén cluster is interpreted as the result of a subducting seamount. Both clusters have been active before and after the Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake and persisted afterwards with the seismicity decay following the Omori law. These interactions are especially evident for the Vichuquén cluster, where the seismicity rate increased considerably after the Maule earthquake and continues to be an area of clearly elevated seismicity rate compared to its surroundings.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Melnick ◽  
Valentina Maldonado ◽  
Martin Contreras ◽  
Julius Jara-Muñoz ◽  
Joaquín Cortés-Aranda ◽  
...  

<p>Most of the seismic hazard along subduction zones is posed by great tsunamigenic earthquakes associated with the interplate megathrust fault. However, crustal faults are ubiquitous along overriding continental plates, some of which have been triggered during recent megathrust earthquakes. In Chile, the 2010 Maule earthquake (M8.8) triggered a shallow M7 earthquake on the Pichilemu fault, which had not been mapped and was unknown. In fact, M~7 earthquakes have recently occurred along unknown faults in California and New Zealand, emphasizing the need for better and more detailed mapping initiatives. A first step towards a synoptic assessment of seismic hazards posed by continental faults at the national level is mapping at a homogeneous scale to allow for a systematic comparison of faults and fault systems. Here, we present the first map of active and potentially-active faults in Chile at 1:25,000 scale, which includes published studies and newly-identified faults. All the published faults have been re-mapped using LiDAR and TanDEM-X topography, where available. Using different scaling relations, we estimate the seismic potential of all crustal faults in Chile. For specific faults where we have conducted paleoseismic and tectonic geomorphic field studies (e.g., Liquiñe-Ofqui, El Yolki, Mesamavida, and Pichilemu faults) we provide new estimates of slip rate, recurrence interval, and deformation style. We propose a segmentation model of continental faults systems in Chile, which are associated with distinct morphotectonic units and have predominant kinematics and relatively uniform slip rates. Using stress transfer models, we explore the potential feedbacks between upper-plate deformation and the megathrust seismic cycle.</p>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Yuzariyadi ◽  
Kosuke Heki

<p>Enhanced interplate coupling has been found for segments adjacent along-strike to megathrust faults after the 2003 Tokachi-Oki and the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquakes, NE Japan, and was interpreted as acceleration of the subducting Pacific Plate slab. A similar enhanced coupling was also reported for the segments to the north of the rupture area of the 2010 Maule earthquake, central Chile. We utilize available GNSS data to find such enhanced coupling in worldwide subduction zones including NE Japan, central and northern Chile, Sumatra, and Mexico to investigate their common features. Our study revealed that the accelerations of landward movement of 2.1-9.0 mm per year appeared in adjacent segments following the 2014 Iquique (Chile), the 2007 Bengkulu (Sumatra), and the 2012 Oaxaca (Mexico) earthquakes. We also confirmed that the enhanced coupling is associated with the increase of seismicity for all these six cases. We found that the degree of enhancement depends on the length of the slab and the magnitude of the earthquake, which is consistent with the simple 2-dimensional model proposed earlier.</p>


Author(s):  
Hugh Cowan ◽  
Graeme Beattie ◽  
Katherine Hill ◽  
Noel Evans ◽  
Craig McGhie ◽  
...  

The largest earthquake of 2010 by magnitude (MW8.8), and the subject of this article, struck south-central Chile in the early hours of 27 February 2010. The earthquake was a “mega-thrust” event, involving the rupture of a section of the Nazca-South American plate boundary, where the Nazca plate dips at a shallow angle beneath the Pacific margin of South America. Understanding this event and its effects, including tsunami is of particular significance to urban centres that share close proximity to “subduction zones”. These include Seattle, Vancouver, Tokyo and Wellington, together with smaller New Zealand towns of the eastern North Island and upper South Island. The tectonic setting of south-central Chile has similarities to the East Coast of the North Island, and the modern built environment of Chile shares attributes with New Zealand. However, New Zealand has not experienced a large subduction earthquake in the North Island region in at least 200 years, so an understanding of the Chile event and its impact is important for bench-marking of local practices and building resilience. This report summarises the observations of the NZSEE/EQC teams, supplemented by media updates on the Chilean reconstruction experience one year after the earthquake.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofei Hu ◽  
Xianghe Ji ◽  
Xilin Cao ◽  
Jiuying Chen ◽  
Baotian Pan

The subsurface fault geometry is the base for understanding a process of crust deformation and mountain building. Based on kinematic models for fault-related folds, a geomorphic method is recently applied to estimate the subsurface fault geometry, while the validation on its reliability is lacking. In this study, we surveyed a suit of river terrace surfaces across an active fold at the north front of the Qilian Shan. According to the deformation geometry of the terraces, the fold deformation is interpreted by a listric fault fold model, and based on this kinematic model, the fault geometry underlying the fold is estimated. In comparison between the estimated fault geometry and a seismic reflection profile, we found that the decollement depth and the back thrust are highly consistent with each other. Although some small fault bends or internal shearing cannot be estimated solely by the terrace deformation, the overall fault geometry is successfully revealed by the terrace deformation. Using this fault geometry and the terrace dating results, the region deformation kinematics are re-evaluated, which suggest that the dip slip (in a rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 mm/a) along the decollement is mainly accommodated by two structures, one is the blind-back-thrust fault within the piggy basin in a dip-slip rate of 0.9 ± 0.3 mm/a and another is the thrust and fold at the west portion of the Yumu Shan range.


2012 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 298-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Potemkin ◽  
T. Ahti

Riccia marginata Lindb. was described by S. O. Lindberg (1877) from the outskirts of the town of Sortavala near the north shore of Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia. The species has been forgotten in most recent liverwort accounts of Europe, including Russia. Lectotypification of R. marginata is provided. R. marginata shares most characters with R. beyrichiana Hampe ex Lehm. It differs from “typical” plants of R. beyrichiana in having smaller spores, with ± distinctly finely areolate to roughly papillose proximal surfaces and a narrower and shorter thallus, as well as in scarcity or absence of marginal hairs. It may represent continental populations of the suboceanic-submediterranean R. beyrichiana, known in Russia from the Leningrad Region and Karelia only. The variability of spore surfaces in R. beyrichiana is discussed and illustrated by SEM images. A comparison with the spores of R. bifurca Hoffm. is provided. The question how distinct R. marginata is from R. beyrichiana needs to be clarified by molecular studies in the future, when adequate material is available. R. marginata is for the time being, provisionally, included in R. beyrichiana.


This chapter is a transcript of Haq’s address to the North South Roundtable of 1992, where he identifies five critical challenges for the global economy for the future. If addressed properly, these can change the course of human history. He stresses on the need for redefining security to include security for people, not just of land or territories; to redefine the existing models of development to include ‘sustainable human development’; to find a more pragmatic balance between market efficiency and social compassion; to forge a new partnership between the North and the South to address issues of inequality; and the need to think on new patterns of governance for the next decade.


Oceans ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-447
Author(s):  
Christian Dominguez ◽  
James M. Done ◽  
Cindy L. Bruyère

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) and Easterly Waves (EWs) are the most important phenomena in Tropical North America. Thus, examining their future changes is crucial for adaptation and mitigation strategies. The Community Earth System Model drove a three-member regional model multi-physics ensemble under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 emission scenario for creating four future scenarios (2020–2030, 2030–2040, 2050–2060, 2080–2090). These future climate runs were analyzed to determine changes in EW and TC features: rainfall, track density, contribution to seasonal rainfall, and tropical cyclogenesis. Our study reveals that a mean increase of at least 40% in the mean annual TC precipitation is projected over northern Mexico and southwestern USA. Slight positive changes in EW track density are projected southwards 10° N over the North Atlantic Ocean for the 2050–2060 and 2080–2090 periods. Over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, a mean increment in the EW activity is projected westwards across the future decades. Furthermore, a mean reduction by up to 60% of EW rainfall, mainly over the Caribbean region, Gulf of Mexico, and central-southern Mexico, is projected for the future decades. Tropical cyclogenesis over both basins slightly changes in future scenarios (not significant). We concluded that these variations could have significant impacts on regional precipitation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ayana Omilade Flewellen ◽  
Justin P. Dunnavant ◽  
Alicia Odewale ◽  
Alexandra Jones ◽  
Tsione Wolde-Michael ◽  
...  

This forum builds on the discussion stimulated during an online salon in which the authors participated on June 25, 2020, entitled “Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter,” and which was cosponsored by the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), the North American Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), and the Columbia Center for Archaeology. The online salon reflected on the social unrest that gripped the United States in the spring of 2020, gauged the history and conditions leading up to it, and considered its rippling throughout the disciplines of archaeology and heritage preservation. Within the forum, the authors go beyond reporting the generative conversation that took place in June by presenting a road map for an antiracist archaeology in which antiblackness is dismantled.


1964 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8

Early in 1963 much of the land occupied by the Roman building at Fishbourne was purchased by Mr. I. D. Margary, M.A., F.S.A., and was given to the Sussex Archaeological Trust. The Fishbourne Committee of the trust was set up to administer the future of the site. The third season's excavation, carried out at the desire of this committee, was again organized by the Chichester Civic Society.1 About fifty volunteers a day were employed from 24th July to 3rd September. Excavation concentrated upon three main areas; the orchard south of the east wing excavated in 1962, the west end of the north wing, and the west wing. In addition, trial trenches were dug at the north-east and north-west extremities of the building and in the area to the north of the north wing. The work of supervision was carried out by Miss F. Pierce, M.A., Mr. B. Morley, Mr. A. B. Norton, B.A., and Mr. J. P. Wild, B.A. Photography was organized by Mr. D. B. Baker and Mrs. F. A. Cunliffe took charge of the pottery and finds.


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