Tectonic Context and Possible Triggering of the 2019–2020 Puerto Rico Earthquake Sequence

An historically unprecedented seismic moment was released by crustal events of the 2019–2020 earthquake sequence near southwest Puerto Rico. The sequence involved at least two, and perhaps three interacting fault systems. The largest Mw 6.4 event was likely triggered by left lateral strike-slip events along the eastern extension of the North Boquerón Bay-Punta Montalva fault zone. The mainshock occurred in a normal fault zone that extends into a region where previous studies documented extensional deformation, beyond the Ponce fault and the Bajo Tasmanian fault. Coulomb stress changes by the mainshock may have triggered further normal-faulting aftershocks, left lateral strike-slip events in the region where these two fault zones interacted, and possibly right lateral strike-slip aftershocks along a third structure extending southward, the Guayanilla fault zone. Extension directions of the seismic sequence are consistently north-northwest–south-southeast-oriented, in agreement with the Global Navigation Satellite Systems-inferred motion direction of eastern Hispaniola relative to western Puerto Rico, and with crustal stress estimates for the overriding plate boundary zone.

Synthesis of Recent Paleoseismic Research on Quaternary Faulting in the Eastern Tennessee Seismic Zone, Eastern North America: Implications for Seismic Hazard and Intraplate Seismicity

ABSTRACT Causes of intraplate seismicity remain a great unsolved problem, in contrast with plate-boundary seismicity. Modern seismicity records frequent seismic activity in plate-boundary seismic zones, but in fault zones where seismic activity is not frequent, plate boundary or intraplate, resolution of prehistoric earthquake activity is critical for estimating earthquake recurrence interval and maximum expected magnitude. Thus, documenting prehistoric earthquakes is crucial for assessing earthquake hazard posed to infrastructure, including nuclear reactors and large dams. The ∼400 km long eastern Tennessee seismic zone (ETSZ), United States, is the third most active seismic zone east of the Rocky Mountains in North America, although the largest recorded ETSZ earthquake is only Mw 4.8. Ironically, it is the least studied major eastern U.S. seismic zone. Recent ETSZ field surveys revealed an 80 km long, 060°-trending corridor containing northeast-striking Quaternary thrust, strike slip, and normal faults with displacements ≥1 m. It partially overlaps a parallel trend of seismicity that extends 30 km farther southwest, suggesting this active faulting zone may extend ∼110 km within part of the ETSZ. Near Dandridge, Tennessee, a thrust fault in French Broad River alluvium records two earthquakes in the last 40,000 yr. About 50 km southwest near Alcoa, Tennessee, a thrust fault cuts Little River alluvium and records two earthquakes between 15,000 and 10,000 yr ago. About 30 km farther southwest at Vonore, Tennessee, a thrust fault displaces bedrock ≥2 m over colluvium, and alluvium is normal faulted >2 m. This corridor, just west of the Blue Ridge escarpment, overlies a steep gradient in midcrustal S-wave velocities, consistent with a basement fault at hypocentral depths. The corridor faults may be connected to a basement fault or localized coseismic faults above a blind basement fault. Our current data suggest at least two Mw≥6.5 surface rupturing events in the last 40,000 yr.

Evolution of the geological structure and mechanical properties due to the collision of multiple basement topographic highs in a forearc accretionary wedge: insights from numerical simulations

We propose a conceptual geological model for the collision of multiple basement topographic highs (BTHs; e.g., seamounts, ridges, and horsts) with a forearc accretionary wedge. Even though there are many BTHs on an oceanic plate, there are few examples of modeling the collision of multiple BTHs. We conducted numerical simulations using the discrete element method to examine the effects of three BTH collisions with forearcs. The typical geological structure associated with a BTH collision was reproduced during the collision of the first BTH, and multiple BTH collisions create a cycle of formation of BTH collisional structures. Each BTH forces the basal décollement to move up to the roof décollement, and the roof décollement becomes inactive after the passage of the BTH, and then the décollement moves down to the base. As the active décollement position changes, the sequences of underthrust sediments and uplifted imbricate thrusts are sandwiched between the décollements and incorporated into the wedge. At a low horizontal compressive stress, a “shadow zone” is formed behind (i.e., seaward of) the BTH. When the next BTH collides, the horizontal compressive stress increases and tectonic compaction progresses, which reduce the porosity in the underthrust sediments. Heterogeneous evolution of the geological and porosity structure can generate a distinctive pore pressure pattern. The underthrust sediments retain fluid in the “shadow” of the BTH. Under the strong horizontal compressive stresses associated with the next BTH collision, pore pressure increases along with a rapid reduction of porosity in the underthrust sediments. The distinctive structural features observed in our model are comparable to the large faults in the Kumano transect of the Nankai Trough, Japan, where a splay fault branches from the plate boundary and there are old and active décollements. A low-velocity and high-pore-pressure zone is located at the bottom of the accretionary wedge and in front (i.e., landward) of the subducting ridge in the Kumano transect. This suggests that strong horizontal compressive stresses associated with the current BTH collision has increased the pore pressure within the underthrust sediments associated with previous BTHs.

Emergence of Low-Frequency Aftershocks of the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence

ABSTRACT Low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) generally have relatively stronger spectral components in the lower frequency range compared with what is expected for regular earthquakes based on their magnitude. LFEs generally occur in volcanic systems or deep (>∼15 km) in plate boundary fault zones; however, LFEs have also been observed in nonvolcanic, upper crustal settings. Because there are few studies that explore the spatiotemporal behaviors of LFEs in the shallow crust, it remains unclear whether the shallow-crustal LFEs reflect local attenuation in their immediate vicinity or differences in their source mechanism. Therefore, it is important to identify shallow-crustal LFEs and to characterize their spatiotemporal activity, which may also improve our understanding of LFEs. In this study, we focus on detecting shallow-crustal LFEs and explore the possible generation mechanisms. We analyze 29,646 aftershocks in the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence, by measuring the frequency index (FI) to identify candidate low-frequency aftershocks (LFAs), while accounting for the magnitude dependency of the FI. Using small earthquakes (ML 1–3) recorded in the borehole stations to minimize the attenuation effects in near-surface layers, we identify 68 clear LFAs in total. Based on their distribution and comparisons with other seismic parameters measured by Trugman (2020), the LFAs possess distinct features from regular events in the same depths range, including low corner frequencies and low stress drops. Events in the close vicinity of LFAs exhibit lower average FI values than regular aftershocks, particularly if the hypocentral distance between an LFA and its neighbors is less than 1 km. Our results suggest that LFAs are related to local heterogeneity or a highly fractured fault zone correlated with an abundance of cross faults induced by the aftershock sequence at shallow depths. Zones of high pore-fluid pressure in intensely fractured fault zones could cause the bandlimited nature of LFAs and LFEs in general.

AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF VORTEX GENERATOR ON THE FLAT-PLATE BOUNDARY LAYER

This paper is dealing with an experimental study to show the influence of the geometric characteristics of the vortex generators VG son the thickness of the boundary layer (∂) and drag coefficients (CD) of the flat plate. Vortex generators work effectively on medium and high angles of attack, since they are "hidden" under the boundary layer and practically ineffective at low angles. The height of VGs relative to the thickness of the boundary layer enables us to study the efficacy of VGs in delaying boundary layer separation. The distance between two VGs also has an effect on the boundary layer if we take into account the interference between two pairs of VGs. The effect of the changing in (h- the height of vortex generator, d- the average distance between tow vortex generators) on the thickness of the flat plate boundary layer and the drag coefficients has been studied for triangular vortex generator. The measurements of the vortex generator have been changed to determine the optimum boundary layer thickness and the change in drag coefficients. An experiment was done at an average free stream velocity, (U∞,) of 28 m/s. The experiment was conducted in the wind tunnel UTAD-2 University (NAU) Kiev, Ukraine.

Transtensional Rupture within a Diffuse Plate Boundary Zone during the 2020 Mw 6.4 Puerto Rico Earthquake

On 7 January 2020, an Mw 6.4 earthquake occurred in the northeastern Caribbean, a few kilometers offshore of the island of Puerto Rico. It was the mainshock of a complex seismic sequence, characterized by a large number of energetic earthquakes illuminating an east–west elongated area along the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Deformation fields constrained by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Navigation Satellite System data indicate that the coseismic movements affected only the western part of the island. To assess the mainshock’s source fault parameters, we combined the geodetically derived coseismic deformation with teleseismic waveforms using Bayesian inference. The results indicate a roughly east–west oriented fault, dipping northward and accommodating ∼1.4 m of transtensional motion. Besides, the determined location and orientation parameters suggest an offshore continuation of the recently mapped North Boquerón Bay–Punta Montalva fault in southwest Puerto Rico. This highlights the existence of unmapped faults with moderate-to-large earthquake potential within the Puerto Rico region.

Geochronology of the Wrangell Arc: Spatial-temporal evolution of slab-edge magmatism along a flat-slab, subduction-transform transition, Alaska-Yukon

The Wrangell Arc in Alaska (USA) and adjacent volcanic fields in the Yukon provide a long-term record of interrelations between flat-slab subduction of the Yakutat microplate, strike-slip translation along the Denali–Totschunda–Duke River fault system, and magmatism focused within and proximal to a Cretaceous suture zone. Detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb (n = 2640) and volcanic lithic (DARL) 40Ar/39Ar dates (n = 2771) from 30 modern river sediment samples document the spatial-temporal evolution of Wrangell Arc magmatism, which includes construction of some of the largest Quaternary volcanoes on Earth. Mismatches in DZ and DARL date distributions highlight the impact of variables such as mineral fertility and downstream mixing/dilution on resulting provenance signatures. Geochronologic data document the initiation of Wrangell Arc magmatism at ca. 30–17 Ma along both sides of the Totschunda fault on the north flank of the Wrangell–St. Elias Mountains in Alaska, followed by southeastward progression of magmatism at ca. 17–10 Ma along the Duke River fault in the Yukon. This spatial-temporal evolution is attributable to dextral translation along intra-arc, strike-slip faults and a change in the geometry of the subducting slab (slab curling/steepening). Magmatism then progressed generally westward outboard of the Totschunda and Duke River faults at ca. 13–6 Ma along the southern flank of the Wrangell–St. Elias Mountains in Alaska and then northwestward from ca. 6 Ma to present in the western Wrangell Mountains. The 13 Ma to present spatial-temporal evolution is consistent with dextral translation along intra-arc, strike-slip faults and previously documented changes in plate boundary conditions, which include an increase in plate convergence rate and angle at ca. 6 Ma. Voluminous magmatism is attributed to shallow subduction-related flux melting and slab edge melting that is driven by asthenospheric upwelling along the lateral edge of the Yakutat flat slab. Magmatism was persistently focused within or adjacent to a remnant suture zone, which indicates that upper plate crustal heterogeneities influenced arc magmatism. Rivers sampled also yield subordinate Paleozoic–Mesozoic DZ and DARL age populations that reflect earlier episodes of magmatism within underlying accreted terranes and match magmatic flare-ups documented along the Cordilleran margin.