蛇纹石脱水与大洋俯冲带中源地震(70~300km)的关系

蛇纹石脱水致裂作用是诱发大洋俯冲带中源地震(70~300km)的一种重要成因机制,它与中等深度双地震带的形成有很密切的关系。双地震带在冷俯冲带中是一种常见现象,它由上下相距20~40km的两个平行地震层组成。上地震层位于俯冲洋壳中,可能是洋壳蓝片岩脱水形成榴辉岩的系列脱水反应诱发了地震;下地震层位于大洋俯冲地幔中,可能是部分交代的地幔橄榄岩脱水控制着中源地震的分布。蛇纹岩在高温高压条件下的变形实验证实蛇纹石在脱水过程中引起岩石弱化和脆性破裂,这已经得到了对蛇纹石脱水过程中岩石物理性质和变形后样品的显微构造等理论研究上的支持。在蛇纹石脱水过程中,产生的流体与固体残留物分离,形成了大量的I型(张性)微裂隙,最终导致岩石破裂和形成断层。根据叶蛇纹石脱水反应相图,理论上在大洋俯冲带中蛇纹石脱水位置会出现双层结构,但只有平行于俯冲板块顶层等温线的一支才可能脱水诱发地震,并对应于双地震带的下地震层。下地震层所处的位置具有低的vp/vs值,暗示岩石圈大洋地幔顶层发生了部分交代。但它的交代机制尚不清楚,可能是海水通过洋底转换断层和/或沿着在外海沟隆起中形成的断层渗入大洋地幔顶层,并发生了洋壳和大洋地幔交代。双地震带在120~200km深度合一以后,冷俯冲带中所发生的中源地震可能与蛇纹石脱水有关,在热俯冲带中更可能与“湿”榴辉岩脱水有关。     

Tomographic imaging of hydrated crust and mantle in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido,Japan: Evidence for dehydration embrittlement as a cause of intraslab earthquakes

We estimate detailed three-dimensional seismic velocity structures in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan, using a large number of arrival-time data from 6902 local earthquakes. A remarkable low-velocity layer with a thickness of ~ 10 km is imaged at the uppermost part of the slab and is interpreted as hydrated oceanic crust. The layer gradually disappears at depths of 70–80 km, suggesting the breakdown of hydrous minerals there. We find prominent low-velocity anomalies along the lower plane of the double seismic zone and above the aftershock area of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake (M7.8). Since seismic velocities of unmetamorphosed peridotite are much higher than the observations, hydrous minerals are expected to exist in the lower plane as well as the hypocentral area of the 1993 earthquake. On the other hand, regions between the upper and lower planes, where seismic activity is not so high compared to the both planes, show relatively high velocities comparable to those of unmetamorphosed peridotite. Our observations suggest that intermediate-depth earthquakes occur mainly in regions with hydrous minerals, which support dehydration embrittlement hypothesis as a cause of earthquake in the subducting slab.     

Tomographic imaging of hydrated crust and mantle in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan: Evidence for dehydration embrittlement as a cause of intraslab earthquakes

We estimate detailed three-dimensional seismic velocity structures in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan, using a large number of arrival-time data from 6902 local earthquakes. A remarkable low-velocity layer with a thickness of ~ 10 km is imaged at the uppermost part of the slab and is interpreted as hydrated oceanic crust. The layer gradually disappears at depths of 70–80 km, suggesting the breakdown of hydrous minerals there. We find prominent low-velocity anomalies along the lower plane of the double seismic zone and above the aftershock area of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake (M7.8). Since seismic velocities of unmetamorphosed peridotite are much higher than the observations, hydrous minerals are expected to exist in the lower plane as well as the hypocentral area of the 1993 earthquake. On the other hand, regions between the upper and lower planes, where seismic activity is not so high compared to the both planes, show relatively high velocities comparable to those of unmetamorphosed peridotite. Our observations suggest that intermediate-depth earthquakes occur mainly in regions with hydrous minerals, which support dehydration embrittlement hypothesis as a cause of earthquake in the subducting slab.     

深源地震机理的回顾:现状与问题

深源地震(deep earthquakes)对于研究地球内部结构及板块的运动、动力学机制等起着重要的作用。从和达清夫首次发现深源地震至今80多年的时间里深源地震得到了广泛关注,获得大批高质量的成果。但是,其成因机制至今仍然是未解之谜。目前,大家广泛接受以脱水脆裂为中源地震的成因机制,反裂隙断层为深源地震的成因机制。剪切失稳等机制也能对中源与深源地震的成因做出较好的解释,但仍需进一步的实验研究。中国东北珲春等地区位于环太平洋地震带上,也是中国唯一存在的深源地震带。对地表地质构造、矿物岩石物理学、深部探测和高温高压实验及数值模拟分析的综合研究是解决深源地震机制问题的有效途径。加强中国东北深源地震机理与西太平洋板块俯冲的研究,对进一步认识我国东部大地构造格局演化有着重要的深部背景意义。     

When and why the continental crust is subducted: Examples of Hindu Kush and Burma

The Indian subcontinent has been colliding against Asia along the Himalayas. Hindu Kush and Burma in this collision zone have intermediate-depth seismicities beneath them, with most of the continental crust subducted into a few hundred km depth. The subduction, not collision, in these regions is an enigma long time. We show that the continental lithosphere subducted beneath Hindu Kush and Burma traveled over the Reunion and Kerguelen hotspots from 100 Ma to 126 Ma and is likely to have been metasomatized by upwelling plumes beneath those hotspots. The devolatilization of the metasomatized lithosphere impinging on the collision boundary would have provided a high pore fluid pressure ratio at the thrust zones and made the subduction of the continental lithosphere in these regions possible. The subducted lithosphere could give intermediate-depth seismicities by devolatilization embrittlement. Such subduction of hotspot-affected lithosphere without accompanying any oceanic plate would be one candidate for producing ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks by deep subduction of the continental crust.     

Plate subduction,and generation of earthquakes and magmas in Japan as inferred from seismic observations: An overview

A dense nationwide seismic network recently constructed in Japan has been yielding large volumes of high-quality data that have made it possible to investigate the seismic structure in the Japanese subduction zone with unprecedented resolution. In this article, recent studies on the subduction of the Philippine Sea and Pacific plates beneath the Japanese Islands and the mechanism of earthquake and magma generation associated with plate subduction are reviewed. Seismic tomographic studies have shown that the Philippine Sea plate subducting beneath southwest Japan is continuous throughout the entire region, from Kanto to Kyushu, without disruption or splitting even beneath the Izu Peninsula as suggested in the past. The contact of the Philippine Sea plate with the Pacific plate subducting below has been found to cause anomalously deep interplate and intraslab earthquake activity in Kanto. Detailed waveform inversion studies have revealed that the asperity model is applicable to interplate earthquakes. Analyses of dense seismic and GPS network data have confirmed the existence of episodic slow slip accompanied in many instances by low-frequency tremors/earthquakes on the plate interface, which are inferred to play an important role in stress loading at asperities. High-resolution studies of the spatial variation of intraslab seismicity and the seismic velocity structure of the slab crust strongly support the dehydration embrittlement hypothesis for the generation of intraslab earthquakes. Seismic tomography studies have shown that water released by dehydration of the slab and secondary convection in the mantle wedge, mechanically induced by slab subduction, are responsible for magma generation in the Japanese islands. Water of slab origin is also inferred to be responsible for large anelastic local deformation of the arc crust leading to inland crustal earthquakes that return the arc crust to a state of spatially uniform deformation.     

利用不规则网格地震层析成像研究2008年日本岩手地震及岛弧火山活动(英文)

为了深入了解日本东北俯冲带的地震构造及火山活动,利用布设在日本列岛上密集地震台网所记录到的高质量浅震及深震到时数据,反演求得了该区域地壳及上地幔的三维P波和S波速度结构。为了最大程度地利用地震数据提取模型空间中更为精细的速度结构信息,采用不规则网格模型采进行地震层析成像反演。所得的高分辨率成像结果清晰地显示,2008年岩手地震(M 7.2)位于高低速异常的转换区,而且震源区的地壳介质非均匀性极强。在震源区的下地壳及上地幔顶部存在着明显的低速异常,可能代表了岛弧岩浆和流体在该深度处的储集。研究结果表明,2008年岩手地震的产生受到了来自上地幔楔的岩浆和流体的影响,且这些岩浆和流体与俯冲太平洋板块的脱水作用有着密切的联系。     

Body-waveforms and source parameters of some moderate-sized earthquakes near North Island, New Zealand

P-wave first motion and synthetic seismogram analysis of P- and SH-waveforms recorded at teleseismic distances on the WWSSN are used to estimate source parameters of seven of the largest earthquakes (6.1 ≤ m_b ≤ 6.3) that occurred in the vicinity of North Island, New Zealand since 1965. The source parameters of three other (m_b ≥ 6.1) events determined outside of this study are included and considered in the final analysis. Four of the earthquakes occurred at shallow depths (< 20 km), of which three were located within and to the north of North Island. Two of the shallow events show strike-slip and normal focal mechanisms with T-axes oriented in a manner consistent with their location in an area of known back-arc extension. One of the shallow events occurred in northern South Island and shows a reverse-type mechanism indicating horizontal contraction of the crust in an easterly azimuth. Six events occurred at intermediate depths (h = 39 to 195 km) of which five exhibit thrust mechanisms with T-axes consistently oriented near vertical. In the light of previously published plate tectonic models, the near vertical orientation of T-axes of the intermediate-depth events may be used to infer that the southern Kermadec plate boundary immediately north of North Island is not strongly coupled, and hence, not likely capable of producing great earthquakes. A similar inference cannot be made for the section of the Hikurangi Margin adjacent to North Island since the intermediate-depth events considered in this study lie to the north of this segment of the plate boundary.     

Decelerating precursory seismicity in Vrancea

Preshock seismic excitation followed by seismic quiescence has been observed in the seismogenic region of strong shallow mainshocks. The strain released by such preshocks is decelerating with the time to the mainshock and is fitted by a power-law with a power value larger than unit. This model is tested in the present work for the intermediate-depth earthquakes of the Vrancea region, generated in an isolated seismogenic zone proper for such testing. A backward application of this “decelerating preshock strain” model for the case of 4.3.1977 (M = 7.5) earthquake, for which reliable data are available, shows a good fit of the power-law pattern to the seismic activity preceding the main shock. The occurrence rate of recent intermediate-depth shocks in Vrancea indicates that this region is currently in a state of decelerating seismic deformation, which may lead to the generation of a strong intermediate-depth mainshock there at about the beginning of the third decade of the present century. The respective uncertainties are unknown due to lack of previous relative studies.     

Deep slab subduction and dehydration and their geodynamic consequences: Evidence from seismology and mineral physics

We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.     

Inelastic displacement demand of RC buildings subjected to earthquakes generated by intermediate-depth Vrancea seismic source

Evaluating inelastic displacement demand of structures exposed to seismic hazard is required for the design of new buildings as well as for seismic risk assessment of existing structures. Most of the buildings are designed to withstand strong earthquakes by responding in the nonlinear range. Having special parts of the structure designed to develop a stable hysteretic behaviour allows the structure to deform in order to accommodate the displacement demand imposed by strong ground motions. This paper is centred on finding a correspondence between the maximum elastic and inelastic displacement responses of the single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems subjected to earthquakes generated by Vrancea seismic source. Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes are responsible for the seismic hazard throughout Romanian territory. They have distinctive features, such as large displacement demand and large predominant periods, which makes Romania a special seismic environment. Using a database of Romanian and Japanese strong ground motions generated by intermediate-depth earthquakes and performing nonlinear dynamic analysis on the SDOF oscillators following the Takeda model, this study estimates the inelastic to elastic displacement ratio of reinforced concrete systems. Soil conditions, epicentral distance and magnitude influence on inelastic response is analysed using constant ductility response spectra. The main findings of the study are: the local increase of the inelastic to elastic displacement ratio for type C soil (Eurocode 8 classification) for large magnitude earthquakes and the significant effect of soil conditions on the inelastic response of the SDOF systems. The inelastic amplification was evaluated using a functional form depending on system ductility, soil conditions and earthquake magnitude.

     

Deep slab subduction and dehydration and their geodynamic consequences: Evidence from seismology and mineral physics

We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.     

Double-sided subduction with contrasting polarities beneath the Pamir-Hindu Kush: Evidence from focal mechanism solutions and stress field inversion

The Pamir-Hindu Kush region at the western end of the Himalayan-Tibet orogen is one of the most active regions on the globe with strong seismicity and deformation and provides a window to evaluate continental collision linked to two intra-continental subduction zones with different polarities. The seismicity and seismic tomography data show a steep northward subducting slab beneath the Hindu Kush and southward subducting slab under the Pamir. Here, we collect seismic catalogue with 3988 earthquake events to compute seismicity images and waveform data from 926 earthquake events to invert focal mechanism solutions and stress field with a view to characterize the subducting slabs under the Pamir-Hindu Kush region. Our results define two distinct seismic zones: a steep one beneath the Hindu Kush and a broad one beneath the Pamir. Deep and intermediate-depth earthquakes are mainly distributed in the Hindu Kush region which is controlled by thrust faulting, whereas the Pamir is dominated by strike-slip stress regime with shallow and intermediate-depth earthquakes. The area where the maximum principal stress axis is vertical in the southern Pamir corresponds to the location of a high-conductivity low-velocity region that contributes to the seismogenic processes in this region. We interpret the two distinct seismic zones to represent a double-sided subduction system where the Hindu Kush zone represents the northward subduction of the Indian plate, and the Pamir zone shows southward subduction of the Eurasian plate. A transition fault is inferred in the region between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir which regulates the opposing directions of motion of the Indian and Eurasian plates.     

Seismic Activity in the Himalayan Orogenic Belt and Its Related Geohazards

Himalayan orogenic belt is the highest and largest continental collision and subduction zone on the Earth. The Himalayan orogenic belt has produced frequent large earthquakes and caused several geohazards due to landslides and housing collapse, having an impact on the safety of life and property along a length of over 2500 km. Here we took three earthquake clusters as examples, which occurred at Nepal Himalaya, eastern Himalayan syntaxis and western Himalayan syntaxis, respectively. Here we calculated the earthquake locations and fault plane solutions based on the waveform data recorded by seismic stations deployed in source areas by the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We found that at the Nepal Himalayan, the Main Himalayan Thrust is the major tectonic structure for large earthquakes to occur. At the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, most earthquakes are of the reverse or strike-slip faulting. The major tectonic feature is the combination of the NE-dipping thrust with the southeastern escape of the Tibetan plateau. At the western Himalayan syntaxis, intermediate-depth earthquakes are active. These observations reveal the geometry of the deep subduction of the continental plate with steep dipping angle.     

喜马拉雅造山带地震活动及其相关地质灾害

喜马拉雅造山带是地球上海拔最高、规模最大的陆陆板块俯冲碰撞带在这条长达2 500 km的板块边界上,近年来多次发生破坏性地震,造成大规模的滑坡、房屋倒塌等次生灾害,给人民生命和财产安全造成严重的威胁。分别选取尼泊尔喜马拉雅、喜马拉雅东构造结和喜马拉雅西构造结地区近期发生的3个地震震群作为研究实例,基于中国科学院青藏高原研究所在研究区架设的区域流动地震台站记录的波形资料,对地震的震源位置和震源机制解进行计算。结果表明,在尼泊尔喜马拉雅地区,主喜马拉雅逆冲断裂是大地震的主要发震构造;东构造结地区的地震以逆冲和走滑型为主,表明印度板块向北东方向的逆冲推覆和青藏高原向东南逃逸的侧向挤出是该地区的主要构造背景;西构造结地区中深源地震多发,揭示了高角度大陆深俯冲的几何形态。     

黏性沉积物中的古地震触变流动变形*

粒径小于0.005mm的饱和淤泥和黏土等对地震和外力扰动产生的敏感变化特性被称为触变性。地震触发的软沉积物流动变形构造包括液化流动变形与触变流动变形两大类,前者多指沙层和碳酸盐沉积物的液化流动变形,后者指饱和的泥质沉积物触变流动变形。在地层剖面中,饱和淤泥、淤泥质土、黏土、硅泥(胶体)、碳酸盐灰泥等黏性沉积物的触变流动变形构造广布,它们多与沙层等的液化变形构成复合变形构造,但中外地质学家对触变流动变形构造注意较少,往往把它们笼统解释为液化流动构造。近年来地震触发饱和淤泥的触变流动变形现象逐渐引起地质学家的关注。作者对国内多个地层剖面中地震触发的饱和淤泥流动变形记录进行了描述和成因解释,并按照触变流动变形的方向性归纳出4类模式,即①向上流动、②向下流动、③同时向上及向下流动和④近水平方向流动,希望引起从事软沉积物变形和古地震研究的地质学家的关注。     

Palaeolimnology of Lake Sapanca and identification of historic earthquake signals,Northern Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey)

Lake Sapanca is located on a strand of the Northern Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ, Turkey), where a series of strong earthquakes (Ms >6.0) have occurred over the past hundred years. Identifying prehistoric earthquakes in and around Lake Sapanca is key to a better understanding of plate movements along the NAFZ. This study contributes to the development of palaeolimnological tools to identify past earthquakes in Lake Sapanca. To this end several promising proxies were investigated, specifically lithology, magnetic susceptibility, grain size (thin-section and laser analysis), geochemistry, pollen concentration, diatom assemblages, ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. Sedimentological indicators provided evidence for reworked, turbidite-like or homogeneous facies (event layers) in several short cores (<45 cm). Other indicators of sediment input and the historical chronicles available for the area suggest that three of these event layers likely originated from the AD 1957, 1967 and 1999 earthquakes. Recent changes in sediment deposition and nutrient levels have also been identified, but are probably not related to earthquakes. This study demonstrates that a combination of indicators can be used to recognize earthquake-related event layers in cores that encompass a longer period of time.     

An insight into the Bucaramanga nest

We used the local seismicity for the period of 1993 to 2001, in the northeast of Colombia to show the existence of two slabs in the north and south of the Bucaramanga nest. The northern slab has a dip angle of about 25° and the southern slab has a 50° dip angle, while the dip in the Bucaramanga nest is about 29°. In order to explain the nature of the Bucaramanga nest, we proposed the scenario of collision between these two slabs. Using a 3D Finite Element Model (FEM) we show that collision can concentrate, modify and perturb the stress field. The active process of dehydration embrittlement at intermediate depths and the concentrated stress field in the collision zone may explain the high rate of seismic activity inside the Bucaramanga nest. The perturbed and modified stress field resulting from the simultaneous effect of collision between two subducted slabs and subduction of the lithosphere under its own weight can explain the variation in the focal mechanism of micro-earthquakes and the complexity in the source of the moderate size earthquakes in the Bucaramanga nest.     

Earthquake evidence for compressive stress in the southeast Australian crust

Earthquakes in SE Australia are usually caused by compressive stresses acting in the crust, and are associated with steeply dipping faults. Sometimes the faulting is predominantly strike‐slip, as for the Bowning earthquakes of 1977 and some of the Dalton/Gunning earthquakes; and sometimes it is high‐angle thrust faulting, as for the 1961 Robertson and 1973 Picton earthquakes. No surface expression of the faults associated with any recent earthquakes in SE Australia has been reported.

The directions of the pressure axes, from all the earthquakes for which focal mechanisms have been determined, do not form a consistent pattern. This suggests that the faulting associated with earthquakes in SE Australia is dominated by the geometry of pre‐existing crustal faults or zones of weakness.

In situ stress measurements have not been made near the epicentral areas of the larger recent earthquakes, because of the absence of competent, near‐surface rocks coupled to the crust. However, in the western part of the Lachlan Fold Belt the in situ stress results indicate that the maximum pressure axis is approximately E‐W. The evidence from the focal mechanisms does not preclude the persistence of this stress regime farther to the east, and a regional compressive stress in the crust with an azimuth of about 120° is consistent with most of the earthquake focal mechanisms and the in situ stress measurements throughout SE Australia.     

Early Jurassic Soft-Sediment Deformation Interpreted as Seismites in the Wuqia Pull-Apart Basin and the Strike-Slip Talas–Ferghana Fault, Xinjiang, China

The early Jurassic soft-sediment deformation occurring within lacustrine sandstone is distributed mainly in the Wuqia region of SW Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, western China. Triggered by earthquakes, such deformation was found to occur in three beds overlying the lower Jurassic Kangsu Formation. The main styles of deformation structures comprise load cast, ball-and-pillow, droplet, cusps, homogeneous layer, and liquefied unconformity. The deformation layers reflect a series of three strong earthquakes at the end of early Jurassic in the Wuqia region. The differences of deformation mechanisms undergone might represent the varying magnitudes of the earthquake events. During the early Jurassic, the Wuqia region was located in a pull-apart basin controlled by the significant Talas-Ferghana strike-slip fault in central Asia, which initiated the soft-sediment deformation induced by earthquakes. Our research suggests that the paleoseismic magnitudes could have ranged from Ms 6.5 to 7.