Geometry and brittle deformation of the subducting Nazca Plate, Central Chile and Argentina

We use data from the Chile Argentina Geophysical Experiment (CHARGE) broad-band seismic deployment to refine past observations of the geometry and deformation within the subducting slab in the South American subduction zone between 30°S and 36°S. This region contains a zone of flat slab subduction where the subducting Nazca Plate flattens at a depth of ∼100 km and extends ∼300 km eastward before continuing its descent into the mantle. We use a grid-search multiple-event earthquake relocation technique to relocate 1098 events within the subducting slab and generate contours of the Wadati-Benioff zone. These contours reflect slab geometries from previous studies of intermediate-depth seismicity in this region with some small but important deviations. Our hypocentres indicate that the shallowest portion of the flat slab is associated with the inferred location of the subducting Juan Fernández Ridge at 31°S and that the slab deepens both to the south and the north of this region. We have also determined first motion focal mechanisms for ∼180 of the slab earthquakes. The subhorizontal T -axis solutions for these events are almost entirely consistent with a slab pull interpretation, especially when compared to our newly inferred slab geometry. Deviations of T -axes from the direction of slab dip may be explained with a gap within the subducting slab below 150 km in the vicinity of the transition from flat to normal subducting geometry around 33°S.     

地震动力学:震源分布与岩石圈流变特性(英文)

地震震源分布强烈依赖于构造环境的温度和压力条件。震源机制可使大陆地壳脆性-韧性转换带(下部稳定性过渡边界)的温压条件复杂化。该过渡边界伴随速度弱化作用(有震活动)向速度强化作用(无震活动)的转化。在岩石圈流变和壳幔动力学的基础上研究了与板块边界有关的地震活动,包括板缘地震和俯冲板片地震。俯冲带板缘地震的深度分布受约于脆性摩擦动力机制,而摩擦剪切机制不能满意地解释深震活动,包括俯冲板片地震。这是因为深震震源机制可能与高压、高温条件下的固一固相变有关,而用脆性破裂或摩擦作用来解释就不近合理。以理论与实验研究为依据,本文对与震源物理和震源分布有关的岩石圈流变特性进行了较为深入的论述。     

基性岩摩擦本构参数与下地壳地震成核的可能性

摩擦滑动的力学行为能够很好地由速率和状态依赖性摩擦本构关系来描述。文中对地壳岩石滑动稳定性的控制因素进行了综述:1)微小扰动对摩擦滑动的影响分析(线性分析)表明,摩擦滑动中不稳定产生的重要条件是速率依赖性参数a-b<0,在这种条件下,地震滑动可以在断层上成核;2)下地壳的水含量测定表明,可能存在“干”、“湿”两种情况,而已有岩石流变实验结果表明稳定大陆内部下地壳在干燥条件下为脆性变形行为;3)近年来发现一部分强震发生在基性的下地壳,使辉长岩高温高压摩擦实验受到重视。干燥条件下辉长岩的摩擦实验研究表明,在420~615℃的温度范围内,速度弱化可能是典型的滑动行为。综合考虑较冷大陆内部下地壳可能出现的“干燥”条件以及在此条件下不大可能发生塑性流动等相关因素,这一结果可能就是在一些地区下地壳发生地震的原因     

首都圈地震活动构造成因的小震精定位分析

应用双差地震定位法对首都圈及其邻区1980～2004年发生的地震进行重新定位，进行首都圈的地震构造成因分析表明：重定位的地震表现为与区域构造更为密切的“井”字形活动分布，地震震源分布证实了人工地震勘探所推断的深大断裂的存在；首都圈地区的地震多发生于地壳的中、上部，可能存在局域构造块体运动变形和深部构造动力作用的二种不同地震构造成因；地震活动图像表明中强震易发生在上下地壳相交的脆－韧性转换带中，并揭示了首都圈地区潜在的地震空区和陡倾角的隐伏断层.     

Power Laws Governing Historical Earthquakes in the Apennine Chain (Southern Italy)

Rank-ordering analysis is applied to the intertimes between seismic events recorded in the Apennine belt between 40–42° N and 14–16° E from the 15th century onwards. It shows a power law capable of governing the intertimes between 1529 and 368 months and another power law which approximates a random simulation, for the intertimes shorter than 368 months. Only the first power law allows the computation of the return period of major events. Earthquakes with the same energy that are aligned according to different power laws imply the presence of two different populations, indicating, in turn, that the physics of seismic phenomena in the region examined is not straightforward, that the stress is probably not unidirectional and that it acts on a non-isotropic medium. The most probable estimated intertime value for the next event is found to be equal to 60 ± 20 years.     

Deformation and stress regimes in the Hellenic subduction zone from focal Mechanisms

Fault plane solutions for earthquakes in the central Hellenic arc are analysed to determine the deformation and stress regimes in the Hellenic subduction zone in the vicinity of Crete. Fault mechanisms for earthquakes recorded by various networks or contained in global catalogues are collected. In addition, 34 fault plane solutions are determined for events recorded by our own local temporary network on central Crete in 2000–2001. The entire data set of 264 source mechanisms is examined for types of faulting and spatial clustering of mechanisms. Eight regions with significantly varying characteristic types of faulting are identified of which the upper (Aegean) plate includes four. Three regions contain interplate seismicity along the Hellenic arc from west to east and all events below are identified to occur within the subducting African lithosphere. We perform stress tensor inversion to each of the subsets in order to determine the stress field. Results indicate a uniform N-NNE direction of relative plate motion between the Ionian Sea and Rhodes resulting in orthogonal convergence in the western forearc and oblique (40–50^∘) subduction in the eastern forearc. There, the plate boundary migrates towards the SE resulting in left-lateral strike-slip faulting that extends to onshore Eastern Crete. N110^∘E trending normal faulting in the Aegean plate at this part is in accordance with this model. Along-arc extension is observed on Western Crete. Fault plane solutions for earthquakes within the dipping African lithosphere indicate that slab pull is the dominant force within the subduction process and responsible for the roll-back of the Hellenic subduction zone.