Lithospheric structure of the Tornquist Zone resolved by nonlinear P and S teleseismic tomography along the TOR array

The main aim of the TOR project is to study the lithospheric–asthenospheric boundary structure under the Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone, across northern Germany, Denmark and southern Sweden. Relative arrival-time residuals of teleseismic P and S phases from 51 earthquakes, recorded by 150 seismic stations along the TOR array, were used to delineate the transition zone in the studied area. The effects of crustal structures were investigated by correcting the teleseismic residuals for travel-time variations in the crust based on a 3D crustal model derived from other data. The inversion was carried out for S phases. The results were then compared with the corresponding P-wave models. As expected, the derived models show that the relatively old and cold Baltic Shield has higher velocity at depth than the younger lithosphere farther South. The models show two sharp and distinct increases in depth to velocities which are low compared to our reference model, as we move from South to North. The location and sharpness of these boundaries suggests that the features resolved are, at least partially, compositional in origin, presumably related to mantle depletion. A sharp and steep subcrustal boundary is found roughly coincident with the southern edge of Sweden. This is below where the edge of the Baltic Shield is usually placed, based on surface geological evidence (the Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone). Another less significant transition is recognised more or less beneath the Elbe-lineament. Relatively high d(V_p / V_s) ratios under the central part of the profile (Denmark) indicate relatively low S-velocity in an area where a gravity high supports the hypothesis of extensive mafic intrusions.     

The rupture process during the 1999 Düzce, Turkey, earthquake from joint inversion of teleseismic and strong-motion data

Teleseismic and strong-motion data are inverted to determine the rupture process during the November 1999 Düzce earthquake in NW Turkey. The fault geometry, rise time and rupture velocity are determined from the aftershock distribution and preliminary inversions of the teleseismic data. Joint inversion of the teleseismic and strong-motion data is then carried out for the slip distribution. We obtain the strike 264°, dip 64°, rake −172°, seismic moment 5.0×10¹⁹ N m (M_w 7.1), and average stress drop 7 MPa. This earthquake was characterized by bilateral fault rupture and asymmetric slip distribution. Two asperities (areas of large slip) are identified, the eastern one being 1.5 times larger than the western one. The derived slip distribution is consistent with the aftershock distribution, surface rupture and damage. The point of rupture initiation in this Düzce earthquake coincided with the eastern tip of the aftershock distribution of the August 1999 Izmit earthquake.     

The April 2007 earthquake swarm near Lake Trichonis and implications for active tectonics in western Greece

We investigate the properties of the April 2007 earthquake swarm (Mw 5.2) which occurred at the vicinity of Lake Trichonis (western Greece). First we relocated the earthquakes, using P- and S-wave arrivals to the stations of the Hellenic Unified Seismic Network (HUSN), and then we applied moment tensor inversion to regional broad-band waveforms to obtain the focal mechanisms of the strongest events of the 2007 swarm. The relocated epicentres, cluster along the eastern banks of the lake, and follow a distinct NNW–ESE trend. The previous strong sequence close to Lake Trichonis occurred in June–December 1975. We applied teleseismic body waveform inversion, to obtain the focal mechanism solution of the strongest earthquake of this sequence, i.e. the 31 December 1975 (Mw 6.0) event. Our results indicate that: a) the 31 December 1975 Mw 6.0 event was produced by a NW–SE normal fault, dipping to the NE, with considerable sinistral strike-slip component; we relocated its epicentre: i) using phase data reported to ISC and its coordinates are 38.486°N, 21.661°E; ii) using the available macroseismic data, and the coordinates of the macroseismic epicentre are 38.49°N, 21.63°E, close to the strongly affected village of Kato Makrinou; b) the earthquakes of the 2007 swarm indicate a NNW–SSE strike for the activated main structure, parallel to the eastern banks of Lake Trichonis, dipping to the NE and characterized by mainly normal faulting, occasionally combined with sinistral strike-slip component. The 2007 earthquake swarm did not rupture the well documented E–W striking Trichonis normal fault that bounds the southern flank of the lake, but on the contrary it is due to rupture of a NW–SE normal fault that strikes at a  45° angle to the Trichonis fault. The left-lateral component of faulting is mapped for the first time to the north of the Gulf of Patras which was previously regarded as the boundary for strike-slip motions in western Greece. This result signifies the importance of further investigations to unravel in detail the tectonics of this region.     

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity image under the Carpathian arc

An inversion of P-wave travel time residuals from selected earthquakes in the distance range 30°–98° to two seismic station networks was used to model P-wave velocity anomalies down to 250 km depth. In the first inversion experiment a region between 43.5°–47.5°N and 21°–29°E was modelled, using 35 seismic stations, while in the second one a region between 44°–47°N and 25°–29°E was modelled, using 19 seismic stations. The 4-layer block model of the first inversion offers 19% reduction in residual variance, while the 5-layer block model of the second one offers 26% reduction, the rest being explained by noise and smaller scale heterogeneities. The obtained velocity anomalies correlate remarkably well with the gravity anomalies and with the tectonic model for the Vrancea region of Fuchs et al. (1979).     

Fault-plane solution and tectonic implications of the Pattan, Pakistan earthquake of December 28, 1974

A large destructive earthquake occurred on December 28, 1974 on the western bank of the Indus River near the village of Pattan. The earthquake reportedly killed 5,300 persons, injured 17,000 and left 60,000 people homeless. A seismicity map of the region is presented for the period January, 1963, to March, 1974 on a Mercator projection. Two main linear trends are recognized on the epicenter map. The northwest trend, beginning at 32.3°N, 76.6°E terminates at the southwest alignment of epicenters beginning at 36.0°N, 73.5°E and ending at 33.0°N, 71.0°E. The Pattan earthquake occurred near the junction of the two linear trends. A fault-plane solution for this earthquake has been determined from an analysis of teleseismic P-wave first-motion and S-wave polarization data. The strike and dip of the two nodal planes are N65°E, 68°SE and N50°E, 23°NW, respectively. The solution is compatible with and indicates underthrusting of the Indian plate in this region in the NNW direction along a thrust zone striking northeast.     

An inverse method to determine the optimal stress from imperfect fault data

An inverse method is developed to determine the optimal stress inversion from imperfect fault data. It is specifically designed to process fault data at variable division—either with observed slip directions or with observed fault/slip senses or with both. The method has the flexibility of processing data with a few fault/slip senses incorrectly determined—a case we occasionally meet in the field. A vast number of artificial 10-datum examples are processed to illustrate the reliability of the method and to examine the effects of the data set at variable division on stress estimation. The results show that the precision of solution decreases with the increase in either of two factors, the percentage of the data limited to slip sense and the range of measurement error, both resulting in a broader dispersion of estimated stress vectors relative to the assigned stress vector in the sigma space. Thus, in order to keep the dispersion within a range of 5° requires the percentage of data for which only slip sense is known to be less than about 20%. This in turn allows for a measurement error range in the data of 10° in real space, much larger than real measurement errors. We believe that the proposed method would be of practical value for stress inversion of fault/slip data.     

Structure and dynamics of the Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex

Summary We review recently obtained results about the velocity structure of the Somma-Vesuvius (Southern Italy) volcanic complex and present an interpretation of structural features, both at local and regional scale, and of the local seismicity. The local structure of Somma-Vesuvius is reviewed, referring to three depth ranges; i.e. shallow (0–5 km), intermediate (5–15 km) and deep (from 15 km to the upper mantle). The shallow velocity structure is inferred by the joint inversion of shot and local earthquake arrival time data. The main feature pointed out by this inversion is a high-velocity anomaly at the crater axis extending down to a depth of about 5 km. This anomaly can be explained with the presence of residual magma crystallised in the shallow conduits, which accumulated during the last eruptive cycles. The local seismicity is strongly clustered around this anomaly, due to the focusing effect of the rigidity contrast. The space-time seismicity pattern at Somma-Vesuvius is the result of the superposition of background seismicity, mainly due to gravitational instability of the volcanic edifice and to small external stress perturbations, with intense episodic earthquake swarms possibly due to magmatic or hydrothermal activity into the shallow system. The velocity structure in the 10–15 km depth range is characterized by the presence of a low-velocity layer, which has been independently confirmed by multi-channel seismic reflection data and P-Sv conversions from teleseismic waveforms. The study of the deep structure was performed by regional tomography with teleseisms; it confirmed the presence of a low-velocity anomaly underneath the volcano, which appears to have roots at greater depths. The regional structure between the Thyrrenian and the Adriatic sea has been inferred by tomographic inversion of teleseismic arrival times. The main result from this study which is very important for geodynamic interpretations is the first evidence for a continuous subducting slab under the Apennines, in an area where previous models hypothesized a slab window. Received March 3, 2000 revised version accepted July 4, 2001     

A new tomographic image of the Pyrenean lithosphere from teleseismic data

A new tomographic model of the Pyrenean lithosphere is determined down to 200 km depth from teleseismic P and PKP travel times, with a lateral resolution of 0.25°. Compared to previous models, two important improvements are 1) a larger number of stations with a more even distribution, in particular to the west of the range, and 2) the introduction, before inversion, of crustal corrections inferred from previous refraction and reflection experiments. This last point is crucial because a strong Moho jump (up to 20 km) is present at the North Pyrenean Fault, the former boundary between Eurasian and Iberian plates. The comparison of the models obtained with and without crustal corrections reveals the strong contamination of the models by the crust down to 100 km depth. In the uncorrected model, a large strip with negative P-velocity anomalies, previously interpreted as subduction of lower crust, is observed. It disappears in the corrected model. Moreover, the introduction of crustal corrections allows us to reveal short wavelength heterogeneities which were hidden by the crustal signal.An attempt is made to relate the heterogeneities revealed by the tomographic model with the tectonic history of the Pyrenees, in particular with the Alpine orogeny. The Alpine phase includes an extensive episode with generation of the thin continental crust and possibly the opening of an oceanic sea floor, and then a compressive stage. In our model, no signature of an oceanic subducted slab could be detected all along the range, a result which rules out the opening of a large oceanic floor before the compressive stage. A subduction of continental crust is possible but, due to the transformation of lower crust into eclogite at depth, it can not be detected by seismological methods, whereas it was observed from electrical and gravity data. To the East of the range, large heterogeneities with low velocities are ascribable to the Neogene extension related to the rotation of the Corso–Sardo block and the opening of the Gulf of Lion. A prominent high velocity anomaly extending down to 200 km in eastern-central Pyrenees could possibly be interpreted as a detached piece of the Tethys slab. In north of Iberia outside the range, deep (down to 200 km) low velocity structures oriented N130°E are probably related to Hercynian orogeny.     

Occurrences of major earthquakes by groups in North China

The earthquakes with magnitude M 6 which occurred in North China (30°–42°N, 105°–124°E) from 780 B.C. to 1978 A.D. have been analysed. Most of them appear in groups, each of which is confined to a definite region and period of time, called respectively the active region and active period. From 780 B.C. to 1000 A.D., groupings of earthquakes were not apparent, due to scanty data. Since 1000 A.D., 16 groups of earthquakes can be recognized. Statistics show that about 73% of the earthquakes occurred in groups. This implies that grouping of earthquakes of M 6 is a characteristic feature of seismic activity in North China. On this basis, a concept of a unified seismogenic process of major earthquakes has been proposed with the support of the geodetic data. Finally, the significance of this concept with regards to earthquake prediction has been discussed.     

Stress field in the Northern Rhine area, Central Europe, from earthquake fault plane solutions

Fault plane solutions (FPS) from 110 earthquakes in the northern Rhine area with local magnitudes, ranging from 1.0 to 6.1, and occurring between 1976 and 2002 are determined. FPS are retrieved from P-wave first motions using a grid search approach allowing a detailed exploration of the parameter space. The influence of the 1D velocity model on take-off angles and resulting FPS is examined. All events were relocated with a recently developed minimum 1D model of the velocity structure [J. Geophys. Res. (2003)]. Rose diagrams of the orientation of P, T and B axes show a clear preference of trends of P and T axes at N292°E and N27°E, respectively. The majority of B axes trend in northerly directions. Plunges of P and T axes are mostly around 45° while most B axes are subhorizontal. The main direction of the maximum horizontal stress directly inferred from the fault plane solutions is N118°E.To calculate the orientations of the principal stress axes and the shape of the stress tensor, the inversion method of Gephard and Forsyth [J. Geophys. Res. 89 (1984) 9305] was applied to the whole data set and to several subsets of data. The subsets were formed by grouping events from various geological and tectonic areas and by grouping events into different depth ranges. The subset areas include the Lower Rhine Embayment, the Rhenish Massif, the middle Rhine area, the Neuwied Basin and the area known as the Stavelot–Venn Massif. Inversion of the entire data set shows some ambiguity between a strike-slip and extensional stress regime, with a vertical axis for the medium principal stress and a trend of N305°E and N35°E for the σ₁ and σ₃ axis, respectively, as the best fitting tensor. Earthquakes from the Lower Rhine Embayment and, to some degree, from the middle Rhine area indicate an extensional stress regime. In the Lower Rhine Embayment, plunge and trend of the σ₁ axis are 76° and N162°E and for the σ₃ axis 7° and N42°E. The best fitting solution for the area of the Stavelot–Venn Massif is a strike-slip regime with subhorizontal σ₁ and σ₃ axes with a trend of N316°E and N225°E, respectively. Stress orientations found here agree overall with the results from earlier studies based on smaller data sets. The directions of the maximum and minimum horizontal stresses inverted from focal mechanisms agree well with the stress field predicted by the European Stress Map. This confirms earlier interpretations that the stress field of the Rhine Graben system is controlled by plate driving forces acting on the plate boundaries. However, amplitudes of the stresses change on a local scale and with depth. Estimates of the absolute magnitude of principal stresses favor a normal faulting regime in the shallow crust (above 12-km depth) and a strike-slip regime in the lower crust.     

Seismotectonics of the Nepal Himalaya from a local seismic network

The National Seismological Network of Nepal consists of 17 short period seismic stations operated since 1994. It provides an exceptional view of the microseismic activity over nearly one third of the Himalayan arc, including the only segment, between longitudes 78°E and 85°E, that has not produced any M>8 earthquakes over the last century. It shows a belt of seismicity that follows approximately the front of the Higher Himalaya with most of the seismic moment being released at depths between 10 and 20 km. This belt of seismicity is interpreted to reflect interseismic stress accumulation in the upper crust associated with creep in the lower crust beneath the Higher Himalaya. The seismic activity is more intense around 82°E in Far-Western Nepal and around 87°E in Eastern Nepal. Western Nepal, between 82.5 and 85°E, is characterized by a particularly low level of seismic activity. We propose that these lateral variations are related to segmentation of the Main Himalayan Thrust Fault. The major junctions between the different segments would thus lie at about 87°E and 82°E with possibly an intermediate one at about 85°E. These junctions seem to coincide with some of the active normal faults in Southern Tibet. Lateral variation of seismic activity is also found to correlate with lateral variations of geological structures suggesting that segmentation is a long-lived feature. We infer four 250–400 km long segments that could produce earthquakes comparable to the M=8.4 Bihar–Nepal earthquake that struck eastern Nepal in 1934. Assuming the model of the characteristic earthquake, the recurrence interval between two such earthquakes on a given segment is between 130 and 260 years.     

Comparison of crustal velocity profiles determined by seismic refraction and teleseismic methods

Recently, two diverse seismic techniques were applied independently to the study of the crustal structure of the Cumberland Plateau, eastern Tennessee. One involved a reinterpretation of a refraction experiment performed in 1965 by the U.S. Geological Survey, consisting of two 400 km long, reversed refraction lines. The other entailed the inversion of broadband teleseismic P waveforms recorded at a single three-component broadband station, RSCP, located at the intersection of the two refraction profiles. A comparison of the two sets of velocity profiles revealed many similarities and some significant differences. Both sets of velocity models consist of three major crustal layers: (1) an upper crust (V_p = 6.1–6.4 km/s) down to about 17 km, (2) a mid-crust (V_p = 6.7–6.9 km/s) between 17 and 40 km depth, (3) a lower crust (V_p = 7.2–7.4 km/s) from 40 to 51 km depth. The refraction models have linear transition zones up to 11 km thick at the base of each layer, whereas the teleseismic models have more irregular transition zones at the base of the mid- and lower crust. The differences in the results of these studies are attributed to the differing frequency bandwidths of the data sets; the predominant sensitivity of the teleseismic data to shear velocities, compared to compressional velocities for the refraction data; and the different analysis procedures involved in each method. Nevertheless, the similarities indicate that the teleseismic waveform method with broadband data is capable of retreiving comparable crustal information as the Cumberland Plateau refraction survey. In addition, it provides the kind of complementary information required to constrain the composition of the continental lower crust and uppermost mantle.     

A model for the deep structure of the East African rift system from simultaneous inversion of teleseismic data

Simultaneous inversion of teleseismic data results in a model for the western branch of the East African Rift system between 1°S and 10°N characterized by a 35 km crust and thin high-velocity lid, overlying a channel possessing both low S and low P velocities (4.47 and 7.69 km/sec, respectively). A strong reflector at 140 km depth marks the boundary to high-velocity material (4.67 and 8.44 km/sec, respectively).The eastern branch has a crustal thickness of 40 km and is characterized by low S velocities, 4.43 km/sec in the lid to a depth of 78 km, 4.09–4.21 km/sec in a channel which extends to 161 km depth. The S velocities remain relatively low at greater depths, but cannot be precisely determined because of the limited resolution.We have interpreted these and other geophysical data as due to a diapiric intrusion of material with a high pyroxene content and possibly with some low-density eclogite, coming from the mesosphere. A mushroom of this rock has stalled below the western branch at about 55 km below the surface and is cooling. The diapirism in the eastern branch has broken through to the surface. The mantle of the African shield to the west of the Rift shows seismic velocities which indicate that it is depleted in basaltic components.     

Stress fields and fault reactivation angles of the 2000 western Tottori aftershocks and the 2001 northern Hyogo swarm in southwest Japan

We estimated the stress fields of the aftershocks of the 2000 western Tottori earthquake (M_w 6.6) and the northern Hyogo swarm (max M_w 5.2) by a stress tensor inversion of moment tensor solutions reported from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (Japan). The maximum principal stress direction of the western Tottori sequence was estimated as N107°E with a strike–slip regime. In the northern Hyogo swarm, the orientations of the principal stress directions could not be well constrained by the observed data, but after examining the detailed characteristics of the solution, we obtained a most probable solution of N113°E for the σ₁ direction. These solutions are consistent with the maximum horizontal directions roughly estimated from the strike directions of large earthquakes occurring geographically between these two seismic activities. We measured the angle between each fault–slip direction and maximum principal stress direction to investigate the frictional properties of earthquakes. The distribution of the angles was forward modeled to estimate the coefficient of friction and the stress ratio, assuming uniformly distributed fault orientations. For the western Tottori sequence, a homogeneous stress field with a coefficient of friction less than 0.4 was estimated. A high stress level was also suggested because very little change occurred in the stress field during the mainshock. For the northern Hyogo sequence, the coefficient of friction was estimated to be between 0.5 and 1.0.     

Moho depth variation beneath southwestern Japan revealed from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion

The Philippine Sea plate is subducting under the Eurasian plate beneath the Chugoku-Shikoku region, southwestern Japan. We have constructed depth contours for the continental and oceanic Mohos derived from the velocity structure based on receiver function inversion. Receiver functions were calculated using teleseismic waveforms recorded by the high-density seismograph network in southwestern Japan. In order to determine crustal velocity structure, we first improved the linearized time-domain receiver function inversion method. The continental Moho is relatively shallow ( 30 km) at the coastline of the Sea of Japan and at the Seto Inland Sea, and becomes deeper–greater than 40 km–around 35°N and 133.8°E. Near the Seto Inland Sea, a low-velocity layer of thickness 10 km lies under the continental Moho. This low-velocity layer corresponds to the subducting oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea plate. The oceanic Moho continues to descend from south to northwest and exhibits complicated ridge and valley features. The oceanic Moho runs around 25 km beneath the Pacific coast and 45 km beneath the Seto Inland Sea, and it extends to at least to 34.5°N. The depth variation of the Moho discontinuities is in good qualitative agreement with the concept of isostasy. From the configurations of both the continental and oceanic Mohos, we demonstrate that the continental lower crust and the subducting oceanic crust overlap beneath the southern and central part of Shikoku and that a mantle wedge may exist beneath the western and eastern part of Shikoku. The southern edge of the overlapping region coincides with the downdip limit of the slip area of a megathrust earthquake.     

Intraplate earthquakes and their link with mantle dynamics: Insights from P-wave teleseismic tomography along the northern part of the North–South Tectonic Zone in China

The North–South Tectonic Zone (NSTZ) running across the Chinese continent is an important earthquake-prone zone. Around one third of the strong earthquakes (> 7.0) of China in the past occurred in this region. Receiver function study has imaged vertical convection in the mantle beneath the northern part of the NSTZ (NNSTZ), which might be related to stress accumulation and release as well as related earthquakes. Here we perform a P-wave teleseismic tomographic analysis of this region. Our results reveal prominent low-velocity and high-velocity perturbations in the upper mantle beneath this region, which we correlate with mantle upwelling, possibly resulting from lower crustal and (or) lithospheric delamination. Our results also reveal significant contrast in the velocity perturbation of the lithosphere along the two sides of this tectonic zone, suggesting possible material exchange between the eastern and western domains and lithosphere-scale control on the generation of earthquakes.     

Reservoir Triggered Seismicity (RTS) and well water level response in the Koyna–Warna region, India

Water level fluctuations in twenty-one observation wells have been monitored for the last 10 years around the seismically active Koyna–Warna region, western India where earthquakes continue to occur even after four decades of the initiation of the seismic activity in the region. Fourteen of the observation wells act as volume strain meters as their water levels show earth tidal signals. Our analysis suggests three types of response of the well water levels to seismo-tectonic effects, i) one to local earthquakes, ii) to regional and teleseismic events, and iii) to local fluctuations in rock strain on regional scale. We observed five cases of co-seismic step-like well water level changes, of the order of few centimeters in amplitude, related to earthquakes in the magnitude range 4.3 ≤ M ≤ 5.2. All these earthquakes occurred within the network of wells drilled for the study and within 25 km distance of the recording wells. In three cases, drop in well levels preceded co-seismic step-like increases, which may be of premonitory nature. The second type of response is observed to be due to the passing of seismic waves from regional and teleseismic earthquakes like the M 7.7 Bhuj event on January 26, 2001 and the M 9.3 December 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake. The third type is a well level anomaly of centimeter amplitude coherently occurring in several wells. The anomalies are similar in shape and last for several hours to days.From our studies we conclude that the wells in the network appear to respond to regional strain variations and transient changes due to distant earthquakes. The two factors which are important to co-seismic steps due to local earthquakes are the magnitude and epicentral distance. From the limited number of events we found that all local earthquakes exceeding M ≥ 4.3 have produced co-seismic changes. No such changes were observed for earthquakes below this magnitude threshold.     

The 2003 earthquake swarm in Anjalankoski, south-eastern Finland

During May 2003 a swarm of 16 earthquakes (M_L = 0.6–2.1) occurred at Anjalankoski, south-eastern Finland. The activity lasted for three weeks, but additional two events were observed at the same location in October 2004. A comparison of the waveforms indicated that the source mechanisms and the hypocentres of the events were nearly identical.A relative earthquake location method was applied to better define the geometry of the cluster and to identify the fault plane associated with the earthquakes. The relocated earthquakes aligned along an ENE–WSW trending zone, with a lateral extent of about 1.0 km by 0.8 km. The relative location and the waveform-modelling of depth sensitive surface wave (Rg) and S-to-P converted body wave (sP) phases indicated that the events were unusually shallow, most likely occurring within the first 2 km of the surface. The revised historical earthquake data confirm that shallow swarm-type seismicity is characteristic to the area.The focal mechanism obtained as a composite solution of the five strongest events corresponds to dip-slip motion along a nearly vertical fault plane (strike = 250°, dip = 80°, rake = 90°). The dip and strike of this nodal plane as well as the relocated hypocentres coincide with an internal intrusion boundary of the Vyborg rapakivi batholith.The events occur under a compressive local stress field, which is explained by large gravitational potential energy differences and ridge-push forces. Pore-pressure changes caused by intrusion of ground water and/or radon gas into the fracture zones are suggested to govern the swarm-type earthquake activity.     

Travels of the Cache Creek Terrane: a paleomagnetic, geobarometric and Ar/Ar study of the Jurassic Fourth of July Batholith, Canadian Cordillera

The Middle Jurassic Fourth of July Batholith and cross-cutting mafic dikes have been studied geochronologically, geobarometrically and paleomagnetically to estimate subsequent tectonic motion of the Cache Creek Terrane (CCT) in the northern Canadian Cordillera. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar hornblende ages from a granodiorite phase are similar to U–Pb zircon ages and indicate rapid cooling of the batholith upon intrusion, suggesting that the magnetization age is coincident with the 173-Ma crystallization age. Argon ages of biotite from the granodiorite and two mafic dikes have similar ages of 165 Ma, which dates cooling through 280 °C.Aluminum-in-hornblende geobarometry indicates differential uplift of the batholith across a north–south fault zone along Atlin Lake with >6 km more uplift on its eastern side. Also, the eastern side has been tilted downward to the south–southwest by 9°.Combined paleomagnetic data from 20 granitoid and 11 mafic dike sites yield an in situ paleopole at 55°W, 63°N (d_p=5°, d_m=5°) and a tilt-corrected paleopole at 81°W, 55°N (d_p=5°, d_m=6°). Compared to the 173-Ma reference pole for the North American craton, the tilt-corrected pole suggests a significant southward translation of 16.1±3.7° and a significant clockwise rotation of 107±7°. The translation estimate is similar to the Jurassic Teslin Crossing pluton in the Stikine Terrane, however, the rotation estimate is very different. This could indicate that the Cache Creek Terrane was at a similar latitude of the Stikine Terrane, but the two were not yet amalgamated.     

Three-dimensional earthquake locations and upper crustal structure of the Sannio-Matese region (southern Italy)

The Sannio-Matese region is one of the most seismically active regions of Italy and has been struck by large historical earthquakes. At present, the area is characterized by low magnitude background seismicity and small seismic sequences following M4 main events. In this paper, we show Vp and Vp/Vs models and 3D locations for a complete set of earthquakes occurring in the period 1991–2001. We observe a significant crustal heterogeneity, with large scale east-verging high Vp fault-related-folds, stacked by the Pliocene compression. The relocated earthquakes cluster along a 70° east-dipping, NW-striking plane located at the border of the high Vp thrust units. Normal fault earthquakes related to the young and active extension occur within these high Vp zones, interpreted as high strength material. We expect large future earthquakes to occur within these high Vp zones actually characterized by low magnitude seismicity at their borders.