scholarly journals Back-propagating super-shear rupture in the 2016 M7.1 Romanche transform fault earthquake

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Hicks ◽  
Ryo Okuwaki ◽  
Andreas Steinberg ◽  
Catherine Rychert ◽  
Nicholas Harmon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Ground Shaking ◽  
Frictional Properties ◽  
Shear Rupture ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Favourable Environment

<p>Rupture propagation of an earthquake strongly influences potentially destructive ground shaking. Variable rupture behaviour is often caused by complex fault geometries, masking information on fundamental frictional properties. Geometrically smoother ocean transform fault (OTF) plate boundaries offer a favourable environment to study fault zone dynamics because strain is accommodated along a single, wide zone (up to 20 km width) offsetting homogeneous geology comprising altered mafic or ultramafic rocks. However, fault friction during OTF ruptures is unknown: no large (M<sub>w</sub>>7.0) ruptures had been captured and imaged in detail. In 2016, we recorded an M<sub>w</sub> 7.1 earthquake on the Romanche OTF in the equatorial Atlantic on nearby seafloor seismometers. We show that this rupture had two phases: (1) up and eastwards propagation towards the weaker ridge-transform intersection (RTI), then (2) unusually, back-propagation westwards at super-shear speed toward the fault’s centre. Deep slip into weak fault segments facilitated larger moment release on shallow locked zones, highlighting that even ruptures along a single distinct fault zone can be highly dynamic. The possibility of reversing ruptures is absent in rupture simulations and unaccounted for in hazard assessments.</p>

scholarly journals Lithospheric thinning due to hydration and melting at oceanic transform plate boundaries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhikai Wang ◽  
Satish Singh ◽  
Cecile Prigent ◽  
Emma Gregory ◽  
Milena Marjanovic
Keyword(s):  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Melting Zone ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Deep Penetration ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Velocity Anomaly

Abstract Transform plate boundaries, one of the key elements of plate tectonics, accommodate lateral motions and produce large earthquakes, but their nature at depth remains enigmatic. Using ultra-long offset seismic data, here we report the presence of a low-velocity anomaly extending down to ~60 km depth beneath the Romanche transform fault in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Our result indicates the presence of deep penetration of water leading to extensive serpentinization down to 16 km, followed by a shear mylonite zone down to 32 km over a low-temperature water induced-melting zone, elevating the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and hence thinning the lithosphere significantly beneath the transform fault. The presence of a thinned lithosphere and the melt underneath could lead to volcanism, migration and mixing of the water-induced melt with the high-temperature melt beneath the ridge axis, and small-scale convections beneath transform boundaries. Hence, a thinned lithosphere will have a major impact on the dynamics of ridge-transform system, and will influence the evolution of fracture zones and oceanic lithosphere.

scholarly journals Frictional properties of fault zone gouges from the J-FAST drilling project (Mw 9.0 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake)

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
pp. 2691-2699 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Remitti ◽  
S. A. F. Smith ◽  
S. Mittempergher ◽  
A. F. Gualtieri ◽  
G. Di Toro
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Frictional Properties ◽  
Drilling Project

scholarly journals The 2014 Kefalonia Doublet (MW6.1 and MW6.0), Central Ionian Islands, Greece: Seismotectonic Implications along the Kefalonia Transform Fault Zone

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vassilios Karakostas ◽  
Eleftheria Papadimitriou ◽  
Maria Mesimeri ◽  
Charikleia Gkarlaouni ◽  
Parthena Paradisopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Ionian Islands ◽  
Transform Fault Zone

Do active faults’ clay mineral compositions affect whether earthquake ruptures they host will displace the surface?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selina S. Fenske ◽  
Virginia G. Toy ◽  
Bernhard Schuck ◽  
Anja M. Schleicher ◽  
Klaus Reicherter
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Clay Mineral ◽  
Active Faults ◽  
Surface Displacement ◽  
Surface Rupture ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ground Shaking ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
Surface Displacements ◽  
Earthquake Ruptures

<p>The tectonophysical paradigm that earthquake ruptures should not start, or easily propagate into, the shallowest few kilometers of Earth’s crust makes it difficult to understand why damaging surface displacements have occurred during historic events. The paradigm is supported by decades of analyses demonstrating that near the surface, most major fault zones are composed of clay minerals – particularly extraordinarily weak smectites – which most laboratory physical measurements suggest should prevent surface rupture if present. Recent studies of New Zealand’s Alpine Fault Zone (AFZ) demonstrate smectites are absent from some near surface fault outcrops, which may explain why this fault was able to offset the surface locally in past events. The absence of smectites in places within the AFZ can be attributed to locally exceptionally high geothermal gradients related to circulation of meteoric (surface-derived) water into the fault zone, driven by significant topographic gradients. The record of surface rupture of the AFZ is heterogeneous, and no one has yet systematically examined the distribution of segments devoid of evidence for recent displacement. There are significant implications for seismic hazard, which comprises both surface displacements and ground shaking with intensity related to the area of fault plane that ruptures (which will be reduced if ruptures do not reach the surface).  We will present results of new rigorous XRD clay mineral analyses of AFZ principal slip zone gouges that indicate where smectites are present, and consider if these display systematic relationships to surface displacement records. We also plan to apply the same methodology to the Carboneras Fault Zone in Spain, and the infrequent Holocene-active faults in Western Germany.</p>

Synthesis On The Tectonics And Geochemistry Of The St. Paul Transform Fault, Equatorial Atlantic

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Sichel ◽  
M. Mala ◽  
S. Esperança ◽  
R. Hekinian ◽  
T. Juteau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transform Fault ◽  
Equatorial Atlantic

The geology and evolution of the Pinchi Fault Zone at Pinchi Lake, central British Columbia

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1324-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Paterson
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Subduction Zones ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Metamorphic Grade ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
The West ◽  
Early Mesozoic ◽  
Complex Fault

At Pinchi Lake, the Pinchi Fault Zone separates the early Mesozoic Takla Group to the east from the late Paleozoic Cache Creek Group to the west. Between these regions a complex fault system involves a series of elongate fault-bounded blocks of contrasting lithology and metamorphic grade. These blocks consist of: (a) highly deformed aragonite–dolomite limestone and blueschist, (b) pumpellyite–aragonite greenstone, (c) a harzburgite–gabbro–diabase–basalt ophiolite sequence, (d) serpentinized alpine ultramafite, and (e) Cretaceous (?) conglomerate. The blueschist probably formed at 8–12 kbar (8 × 105–12 × 105 kPa) and 225–325 °C during a penetrative early deformation which was closely followed by a later deformation associated with a Late Triassic uplift and cooling event. The ophiolite sequence is overlain by Late Triassic sediments which locally contain aragonite suggesting that at least part of the Takla Group may have also undergone high pressure – low temperature metamorphism.The evolution of the 450 km fault zone is discussed and a model is proposed which involves right lateral transform faulting on the Pinchi Fault and underthrusting along northerly dipping subduction zones during the Late Triassic. The blueschist formed at high pressures in such a subduction zone and leaked to the surface in zones of low pressure along an active transform fault.

Evolution of migrating transform faults in anisotropic oceanic crust: examples from Iceland

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (12) ◽  
pp. 1297-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Karson ◽  
Bryndís Brandsdóttir ◽  
Páll Einarsson ◽  
Kristján Sæmundsson ◽  
James A. Farrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Plate Boundaries ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Eurasian Plate ◽  
Transform Faults ◽  
The North ◽  
Rift Propagation ◽  
Oriented Parallel ◽  
Ocean Ridge

Major transform fault zones link extensional segments of the North American – Eurasian plate boundary as it transects the Iceland Hotspot. Changes in plate boundary geometry, involving ridge jumps, rift propagation, and related transform fault zone migration, have occurred as the boundary has moved relative to the hotspot. Reconfiguration of transform fault zones occurred at about 6 Ma in northern Iceland and began about 3 Ma in southern Iceland. These systems show a range of different types of transform fault zones, ranging from diffuse, oblique rift zones to narrower, well-defined, transform faults oriented parallel to current plate motions. Crustal deformation structures correlate with the inferred duration and magnitude of strike-slip displacements. Collectively, the different expressions of transform zones may represent different stages of development in an evolutionary sequence that may be relevant for understanding the tectonic history of plate boundaries in Iceland as well as the structure of transform fault zones on more typical parts of the mid-ocean ridge system.

scholarly journals On the Segmentation of the Cephalonia–Lefkada Transform Fault Zone (Greece) from an InSAR Multi-Mode Dataset of the Lefkada 2015 Sequence

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 1848
Author(s):  
Nikos Svigkas ◽  
Simone Atzori ◽  
Anastasia Kiratzi ◽  
Cristiano Tolomei ◽  
Andrea Antonioli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Surface Displacement ◽  
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Earthquake Relocation ◽  
The North ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Multi Mode ◽  
Additional Constraints ◽  
Transform Fault Zone

We use Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to study the Cephalonia–Lefkada Transform Fault Zone (CTF) in the Ionian Sea. The CTF separates continental subduction to the north from oceanic subduction to the south, along the Hellenic Subduction Zone. We exploit a rich multi-modal radar dataset of the most recent major earthquake in the region, the 17 November 2015 Mw 6.4 event, and present new surface displacement results that offer additional constraints on the fault segmentation of the area. Based on this dataset, and by exploiting available information of earthquake relocation, we propose a new rupture process for the 2015 sequence, complementary to those published already. Our modelling includes an additional southern fault segment, oblique to the segment related with the mainshock, which indicates that the CTF structure is more complex than previously believed.

Petrology of a transform fault zone and adjacent ridge segments

1971 ◽  
Vol 268 (1192) ◽  
pp. 423-441 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
Fracture Zone ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Spreading Ridge ◽  
Transform Fault ◽  
Transform Faults ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
Transform Fault Zone

The Verna Fracture Zone in the North Atlantic (9 to 11° N), which has been identified as a transform fault zone, contains exposures of serpentinized peridotites, while its adjacent ridge segments are floored mainly by typical abyssal ocean ridge basalts. This petrologic contrast correlates with the greater frequency of volcanic eruptions along the actively spreading ridge segments compared to the transform fault zone. Where rifting components occur across transform faults, exposures of the deeper zone of oceanic crust may result. The bathymetry of the Verna Fracture Zone suggests that some uplift parallel to the fracture zone as well as rifting led to exposures of deeper rocks. The basalts from the adjacent ridge axes contain ‘xenocrysts’ of plagioclase and olivine and more rarely of chromite. These appear to have a cognate origin, perhaps related to cooling and convection in near surface magma chambers. The basalts from the ridge axes, offset and on opposite sides of the transform fault, have similar features and compositions. The plagioclase peridotites have mineralogical features which indicate equilibration in the plagioclase pyrolite facies, suggesting maximum equilibration depths of around 30 km for a temperature of around 1200 °C. The chemical characteristics of the Vema F.Z. peridotites suggest that they may be undifferentiated mantle, emplaced as a subsolidus hot plastic intrusion or as a crystal mush. The abundance of peridotites and serpentinized peridotites is believed to reflect their abundance in seismic layer three of the oceanic crust.

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