The variation of crustal thickness across the Swiss Alps based on gravity and explosion seismic data

Summary Recently determined gravity anomalies along the NW-SE oriented Swiss Geotraverse from Basel to Bellinzona are used in combination with seismic refraction data to deduce a crustal section across the Swiss Alps. Topographic, Bouguer, free air, isostatic and geological corrections were applied to the data. Geological features considered in the corrections are the Swiss Molasse basin filled with sediments and the Ivrea body of high-density material. The resultant Bouguer anomaly over the Gotthard massif is 130 mgal lower than the Bouguer anomaly at the northern end of the profile near Basel. The Alpine region is associated with negative isostatic anomalies down to –20 mgal. The crustal thickness is found to increase gradually from the northern end of the profile (thicknessH=30 km) towards the Helvetic nappes at the northern margin of the Alps (H=38 km) and more rapidly towards the Gotthard massif (H=50 km) and further south to Biasca down to a depth of 58 km. From Biasca southward the crustal thickness thins quite rapidly to reach a depth of 30 km at the southern end of the profile near Bellinzona. Thus the Alps have a distinct asymmetric crustal root whose maximum thickness is almost twice the average crustal thickness in Central Europe. With the Mohorovii-discontinuity deduced from seismic observations an average constant density contrast of –0.33 gcm^–3 is found between the lower crust and upper mantle underneath the Alps.Institut für Geophysik, ETH Zürich, Contribution No. 130.     

DIE SEISMISCHEN GESCHWINDIGKEITEN DER JUNGEREN MOLASSE IM OSTSCHWEIZERISCHEN UND DEUTSCHEN ALPENVORLAND*

According to a study of seismic velocities in the Alpine Foreland of Eastern Switzerland, the initial velocity is rather high in comparison with other Tertiary basins and shows an exceptionally high increase rate. When analysing the average and the interval velocities, especially of Tertiary strata, and when comparing them with velocities of strata of the same age and a very similar facies of the Northern Rheintalgraben, it has been found that the increase of velocity is closely related to the distance to the Subalpine Molasse. The conclusion is that the velocity of the Tertiary strata is strongly influenced by the folding pressure of the Subalpine Molasse or of the Alps. The same method has been applied to a relatively large number of wells in the area of the “German Molasse”. Not only the results in Eastern Switzerland have been confirmed, but also it has been proved that the diagenesis of the Tertiary strata and, hence, their velocities are influenced only partially by the specific depth of the basin. Velocities increase towards the Folded Molasse or the Alps. Consequently they depend on lateral folding pressure, which decreases from west to east with the increasing width of the basin. The tertiary strata of the basin have been affected by lateral folding pressurefrom south to north. However, structures with lateral compression have not been discovered yet in the German Alpine Foreland.     

The storage and release of magma on Mount Etna

The eruptive history of Etna during the past 450 years provides data on effusion rates, volumes of magma involved, and the nature of the eruptive conduits. These data are interpreted in terms of a two-part intravolcanic magma reservoir which feeds the flank eruptions through dike-like conduits. The structural framework of the volcano which controls the spatial distribution of eruptive sites is partly inherited from the basement and partly controlled by the central magma column and the surrounding caldera boundary faults. Hydraulic fracturing theory predicts that the central magma column will fail at depths below 1 km if the tensile strength of the conduit rocks is about 100 bars and that a peak fracturing capability will be reached between 1 and 2 km depth. This inference agrees well with the peak of flank eruptive activity at 1.4 km below the summit observed in the data on the loci of eruptions. The average flank-eruption feeding dike is defined and shown to be capable of the observed maximum effusion rates (20–100 m³ s⁻¹) from magmatic pressure differences of 30–150 bars     

Spectral study of the Bouguer anomaly map of a rift valley and adjacent areas in Central India

The spectral study of the Bouguer anomally map of Central India suggests an uplifted crust-mantle interface under the Mahandi graben. This study has delineated three subsurface levels of anomalous masses at the respective depths of 23 km, 8 km, and 2 km apparently representing the Moho, an intermediate discontinuity in the sialic part of the crust and the basement, respectively. Model study of the Bouguer anomaly along a profile suggests a typical continental graben type subsurface structure with a low density depression in the sialic part of the crust between 8 and 18 km supported by an elevated upper mantle of intermediate density (3.4 g/cm³) varying in depth from 25 km to 55 km. The depths of the inferred interfaces in case of Bundelkhand granite are 32 km, 11 km, and 1.5 km, which might represent the Moho, the base of intruded granite massif, and some shallow compositional variation. Similar studies in case of Vindhyan basin have brought out three discontinuities at the respective depths of 16 km, 6–4.5 km, and 2.4 km. The first horizon at the depth of 16 km probably represents the interface between the granitic and the basaltic part of the crust. The 6–4.5 km is the depth of the basement, with the 2.4 km interface separating Bijawar rocks from Vindhyans wherever they are present. A generalized inversion of a profile across a positive belt of Bouguer anomaly representing the subsurface Bijawar rocks support the above result.     

Petrography and uplift history of the Quaternary Takidani Granodiorite: could it have hosted a supercritical (HDR) geothermal reservoir?

The Quaternary Takidani Granodiorite (Japan Alps) is analogous to the type of deep-seated (3–5 km deep) intrusive-hosted fracture network system that might support (supercritical) hot dry/wet rock (HDR/HWR) energy extraction. The I-type Takidani Granodiorite comprises: porphyritic granodiorite, porphyritic granite, biotite-hornblende granodiorite, hornblende-biotite granodiorite, biotite-hornblende granite and biotite granite facies; the intrusion has a reverse chemical zonation, characterized by >70 wt% SiO₂ at its inferred margin and <67 wt% SiO₂ at the core. Fluid inclusion evidence indicates that fractured Takidani Granodiorite at one time hosted a liquid-dominated, convective hydrothermal system, with <380°C, low-salinity reservoir fluids at hydrostatic (mesothermal) pressure conditions. ‘Healed’ microfractures also trapped >600°C, hypersaline (35 wt% NaCl_eq) fluids of magmatic origin, with inferred minimum pressures of formation being 600–750 bar, which corresponds to fluid entrapment at 2.4–3.0 km depth. Al-in-hornblende geobarometry indicates that hornblende crystallization occurred at about 1.45 Ma (7.7–9.4 km depth) in the (marginal) eastern Takidani Granodiorite, but later (at 1.25 Ma) and shallower (6.5–7.0 km) near the core of the intrusion. The average rate of uplift across the Takidani Granodiorite from the time of hornblende crystallization has been 5.1–5.9 mm/yr (although uplift was about 7.5 mm/yr prior to 1.2 Ma), which is faster than average uplift rates in the Japan Alps (3 mm/yr during the last 2 million years). A temperature–depth–time window, when the Takidani Granodiorite had potential to host an HDR system, would have been when the internal temperature of the intrusive was cooling from 500°C to 400°C. Taking into account the initial (7.5 mm/yr) rate of uplift and effects of erosion, an optimal temperature–time–depth window is proposed: for 500°C at 1.54–1.57 Ma and 5.2±0.9 km (drilling) depth; and 400°C at 1.36–1.38 Ma and 3.3±0.8 km (drilling) depth, which is within the capabilities of modern drilling technologies, and similar to measured temperature–depth profiles in other active hydrothermal systems (e.g. at Kakkonda, Japan).     

Predictive ground motion scaling in Switzerland: Best estimates and uncertainties

Spectral ground motion (1 to 15 Hz) as a function of distance is modeled for events spanning 3.0 <M_w ≤ 7.0 in Switzerland. The parameters required to simulate ground motion with a stochastic approach are inverted from 2958 horizontal and vertical component waveforms of small to moderate size events (2.0 ≤ M_{L} ≤ 5.2) in the distance range 10 to 300 km recorded on hard rock sites. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we establish a significantly different amplification of about a factor of 1.9 between the Alpine Foreland and the Alps. To assess the trade-off between the free parameters of our stochastic model and their influence on the predictive ground motion relationship, we perform a grid search over the five-dimensional solution space. The uncertainties are separated into epistemic and aleatory parts; the main epistemic uncertainty is attributed to the lack of data forM > 5. To constrain the viable models at large magnitudes, results from worldwide scaling studies are evaluated in light of the Swiss data. The model that explains best the low observed stress drops at small magnitudes (Δσ ≅ 3 bar) yet matches observed intensities of historical earthquakes assumes a stress drop increasing with moment asM₀^0.25. For three sites in Switzerland we evaluate the sensitivity of the epistemic uncertainty by computing probabilistic hazard curves. Our model offers the most comprehensive and detailed study of spectral ground motion for Switzerland to date.     

The Role of Fault-Zone Architectural Elements on Pore Pressure Propagation and Induced Seismicity

We used hydrogeologic models to assess how fault-zone properties promote or inhibit the downward propagation of fluid overpressures from a basal reservoir injection well (150 m from fault zone, Q = 5000 m³/day) into the underlying crystalline basement rocks. We varied the permeability of the fault-zone architectural components and a crystalline basement weathered layer as part of a numerical sensitivity study. Realistic conduit-barrier style fault zones effectively transmit elevated pore pressures associated with 4 years of continuous injection to depths of approximately 2.5 km within the crystalline basement while compartmentalizing fluid flow within the injection reservoir. The presence of a laterally continuous, relatively low-permeability altered/weathered basement horizon (k_{altered layer} = 0.1 × k_basement) can limit the penetration depth of the pressure front to approximately 500 m. On the other hand, the presence of a discontinuous altered/weathered horizon that partially confines the injection reservoir without blocking the fault fluid conduit promotes downward propagation of pressures. Permeability enhancement via hydromechanical failure was found to increase the depth of early-time pressure front migration by a factor of 1.3 to 1.85. Dynamic permeability models may help explain seismicity at depths of greater than 10 km such as is observed within the Permian Basin, NM.     

渭河断裂深、中、浅和近地表显示

渭河断裂是渭河盆地一条重要的隐伏断裂,对渭河盆地的形成和发展乃至盆地内的地震活动都具有一定的控制作用。文中基于横跨渭河断裂的深地震反射、浅层地震反射、钻孔勘探和槽探等勘探方法取得的探测结果,从深部、中部、浅部以及近地表4个深度,给出了渭河断裂的呈现特点,即最深切割层位、不同深度的产状变化、错距大小、断裂的最新活动时代和活动期次等     

2-D Crustal Velocity Structure Along Hirapur-Mandla Profile in Central India: An Update

The 2-D crustal velocity model along the Hirapur-Mandla DSS profile across the Narmada-Son lineament in central India (Murty et al., 1998) has been updated based on the analysis of some short and discontinuous seismic wide-angle reflection phases. Three layers, with seismic velocities of 6.5–6.7, 6.35–6.40 and 6.8 km s^–1, and upper boundaries located approximately at 8, 17 and 22 km depth respectively, have been identified between the basement (velocity 5.9 km s^–1) and the uppermost mantle (velocity 7.8 km s^–1). The layer with 6.5–6.7 km s^–1 velocity is thin and is less than 2-km deep between the Narmada north (at Katangi) and south (at Jabalpur) faults. The upper crust shows a horst feature between these faults, which indicates that the Narmada zone acts as a ridge between two pockets of mafic intrusion in the upper crust. The Moho boundary, at 40–44 km depth and the intra-crustal layers exhibit an upwarp suggesting that the Narmada faults have deep origins, involving deep-seated tectonics. A smaller intrusive thickness between the Narmada faults, as compared to those beyond these faults, suggests that the intrusive activities on the two sides are independent. This further suggests that the two Narmada faults may have been active at different geological times. The seismic model is constrained by 2-D gravity modeling. The gravity highs on either side of the Narmada zone are due to the effect of the high velocity/high density mafic intrusion at upper crustal level.     

Seismotectonic and refraction seismic investigations in the border region between the Eastern Alps and the Pannonian Basin

Focal solutions of four strong earthquakes and P signals of twenty-four smaller shocks of the active Mur-Mürz Valley, the Semmering Pass and the Vienna Basin. An equivalent slip rate of 0.03 This feature agrees with the model of a subsiding Pannonian Basin. An equivalent slip rate of 0.03 cm/year is roughly estimated from earthquake data 1903–1978. This rate does not include the creep rate, but it gives an idea of the magnitude of speed of geological processes in this area.Refraction seismic data from the Alpine Longitudinal Profile 75 shows a low velocity zone in the upper crust of the seismic active East Alpine area but not in the aseismic part of the Pannonian Basin.The eastern margin of the Eastern Alps and the Carpathians limits the Pannonian Basin, which has a special and interesting geological history. Many authors (Szadezky-Kardoss, 1966;Stegena, Ceszy andHorvàth, 1975) presented models of the genesis of the Pannonian Basin. They apply the concept of the mantle diapirs to explain the following facts:subsiding of the Pannonian Plate in comparison to the Alps, high terrestrial heat flow within the Pannonian Plate, decrease of the Moho depth from 40 km below the Eastern border of the Alps to 27 km below the Pannonian Basin. They claim that the Alpine-Carpathian interarc and basin represent the final stage of an orogenetic system where subcrustal erosion leads to a thinning of the crust. Consequently the surface subsides and is covered by young sediments. They proved that this subsidence and sedimentation is more or less in isostatic equilibrium. The aim of this paper is to provide new arguments using focal solutions and refraction seismic investigations.     

The mechanism of formation of the Baikal basin

The Baikal is a deep long and narrow basin in East Siberia which follows a huge fault zone adjoining the Siberian Platform. The basin was formed by rapid subsidence of continental crust during the pas 3–4 Ma. It is bounded by normal faults which indicate extension of the crust during the subsidence. According to seismic reflection profiling data, the intensity of extension is not large (3–7%). It is much smaller than the thinning of the crystalline crust under the basin (up to 38%). The thinning and crustal subsidence can be explained by the transformation of gabbro in the lower crust into dense garnet granulites. The latter rocks (with V_p 7.7−7.8 km/sec) are still located under the remnant part of the crust. Rapid transformation took place due to an inflow of catalyzing fluid along the fault zone from the asthenospheric upwelling. This upwelling, which is at a depth of 80–90 km, caused a general uplift of a broad area in the south of East Siberia.     

Ophiolites and the oceanic crust: New evidence from the Tyrrhenian sea and the Western Alps

The succession recovered in ODP hole 107–651 in the young oceanic Vavilov basin (Tyrrhenian Sea) comprises, beneath a thick Pleistocene to Upper Pliocene sedimentary cover (chiefly volcanoclastics), four basement units: (1) MORB-type basaltic pillows and breccias; (2) a complex succession made of dolerites, albitites, basaltic breccias, metadolerite pebbles (including an intercalated sandy layer with periodotite clasts); (3) MORB-type basaltic pillows and breccias; (4) highly serpentinized peridotite. Between units 3 and 4, granitoid pebbles occur.This sequence is surprisingly similar to successions known in the Western Alps' Tethyan ophiolites. There, the sediments (Callovian-Oxfordian radiolarian cherts) lie stratigraphically upon breccias mostly derived from underlying serpentinite, and sometimes gabbroic basement. At some places, thin basaltic (tholeiitic) pillows and breccias occur between the radiolarian cherts and the breccias.From the comparison between a present day setting (the central Tyrrhenian Sea) and a formerly emplaced basement succession (the Western Alps), we stress the following (a) both the here-discussed ophiolites and oceanic basement are different from classical ophiolite sequences; (b) both occurrences imply unroofing of mantle rocks that therefore were directly outcropping on the seafloor; (c) such a comparison may indicate a very slow spreading rate for the Alpine Tethyan ocean.     

Mathematical simulation of geotemperature and heat flow patterns

Geotemperature and heat flow patterns in a large-scale Meso-Cenozoic basin such as the North China Basin are strongly affected by the relief of the basement, and controlled by the contrast of thermal conductivity between basement rock and sedimentary cover. Usually, heat flow observed at the surface of a basement uplift is greater than that of a basement depression. Calculation revealed, that the ratio of the former and the latter is determined by the uplifted height (H) of the bed-rock roof of the basement and the thickness (h) of the sedimentary cover. The relief of the basement also disturbs the geotemperature and, hence, the heat flow patterns at shallow depth. Consequently, the more or less “uniform” one dimensional heat flow from the deep interior of the Earth becomes two dimensional at shallow depth with great lateral and vertical variations. The extent of the disturbed zone is also controlled by the contrast of the thermal conductivity between basement rock and sedimentary cover as well as the uplifted heigh (H) of the bed-rock roof of the basement. Numerical computation demonstrated that the disturbed depth (Ze) is usually about 3–6 times of the uplifted height (H) of a basement uplift.     

Geophysical modeling of the northern Appalachian Brompton-Cameron, Central Maine, and Avalon terranes under the New Jersey Coastal Plain

A regional terrane map of the New Jersey Coastal Plain basement was constructed using seismic, drilling, gravity and magnetic data. The Brompton-Cameron and Central Maine terranes were coalesced as one volcanic island arc terrane before obducting onto Laurentian, Grenville age, continental crust in the Taconian orogeny [Rankin, D.W., 1994. Continental margin of the eastern United States: past and present. In: Speed, R.C., (Ed.), Phanerozoic Evolution of North American Continent-Ocean Transitions. DNAG Continent-Ocean Transect Volume. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 129–218]. Volcanic island-arc rocks of the Avalon terrane are in contact with Central Maine terrane rocks in southern Connecticut where the latter are overthrust onto the Brompton-Cameron terrane, which is thrust over Laurentian basement. Similarities of these allochthonous island arc terranes (Brompton-Cameron, Central Maine, Avalon) in lithology, fauna and age suggest that they are faulted segments of the margin of one major late Precambrian to early Paleozoic, high latitude peri-Gondwana island arc designated as “Avalonia”, which collided with Laurentia in the early to middle Paleozoic. The Brompton Cameron, Central Maine, and Avalon terranes are projected as the basement under the eastern New Jersey Coastal Plain based on drill core samples of metamorphic rocks of active margin/magmatic arc origin. A seismic reflection profile across the New York Bight traces the gentle dipping (approximately 20 degrees) Cameron's Line Taconian suture southeast beneath allochthonous Avalon and other terranes to a 4 sec TWTT depth (approximately 9 km) where the Avalonian rocks are over Laurentian crust. Gentle up-plunge (approximately 5 degrees) projections to the southwest bring the Laurentian Grenville age basement and the drift-stage early Paleozoic cover rocks to windows in Burlington Co. at approximately 1 km depth and Cape May Co. at approximately 2 km depths. The antiformal Shellburne Falls and Chester domes and Chain Lakes-Pelham dome-Bronson Hill structural trends, and the synformal Connecticut Valley-Gaspe structural trend can be traced southwest into the New Jersey Coastal Plain basement. A Mesozoic rift basin, the “Sandy Hook basin”, and associated eastern boundary fault is identified, based upon gravity modeling, in the vicinity of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The thickness of the rift-basin sedimentary rocks contained within the “Sandy Hook basin” is approximately 4.7 km, with the basin extending offshore to the east of the New Jersey coast. Gravity modeling indicates a deep rift basin and the magnetic data indicates a shallow magnetic basement caused by magnetic diabase sills and/or basalt flows contained within the rift-basin sedimentary rocks. The igneous sills and/or flows may be the eastward continuation of the Watchung and Palisades bodies.     

Geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps,New Zealand

The Southern Alps are the topographic expression of late Cenozoic (<8 Ma ago) uplift of the crust of the leading edge of the Pacific plate in South Island, New Zealand. New fission track data on the basement exposed in the Southern Alps quantify the age, amount, and rate of rock uplift, and in combination with geomorphic parameters permit the construction of a new model of the geomorphic evolution of the Southern Alps. The model emphasizes the development over time and space of rock uplift, mean surface elevation, exhumation of crustal section, and relief. The earliest indications of mean surface uplift are between 4 and 5 Ma ago at the Alpine Fault. Mean surface uplift, which lagged the start of rock uplift, propagated southeastward from the Alpine Fault at a rate of 30 km/Ma. By about 4 Ma ago, exhumation had exposed greywacke basement adjacent to and east of the entire 300 km long central section of the Alpine Fault. At 3 Ma ago, greenschist was exposed in the southern parts of the Southern Alps near Lake Wanaka, and since then has become exhumed along a narrow strip east of the Alpine Fault. The model infers that amphibolite grade schist has been exhumed adjacent to the Alpine Fault only in the last 0·3 Ma. The age of the start of rock uplift and the amount and rate of rock uplift, all of which vary spatially, are considered to be the dominant influences on the development of the landscape in the Southern Alps. The Southern Alps have been studied in terms of domains of different rock uplift rate. At present the rate of rock uplift varies from up to 8–10 mm/a adjacent to the Alpine Fault to 0·8–1·0 mm/a along the southeastern margin of the Southern Alps. This spectrum can be divided into two domains, one northwest of the Main Divide where the present rock uplift rates are very high (up to 8–10 mm/a) and exceed the long-term value of 0·8–1·0 mm/a, and another to the southeast of the Main Divide where the long-term rate is 0·8–1·0 mm/a. A domain of no uplift lies immediately to the east of the Southern Alps, and is separated from them by a 1·0–1·5 km step in the basement topography. We argue that this spatial sequence of uplift rate domains represents a temporal one. The existing models of the geomorphic development of the Southern Alps—the dynamic cuesta model of J. Adams and the numerical model of P. Koons—are compared with the new data and evolutionary model. Particular constraints unrealized by these two earlier models include the following: the earlier timing of the start of rock uplift of the Southern Alps (8 Ma ago); the spatial variation in the timing of the start of rock uplift (8 Ma ago to 3 Ma ago); the lower long-term rock uplift rate (0·8–1·0 mm/a) of the Southern Alps for most of the late Cenozoic; the lag between the start of rock uplift and the start of mean surface uplift; and the patterns of the amounts of late Cenozoic rock uplift and erosion across the Southern Alps.     

Relative seismic moment tensor determination for Vrancea intermediate depth earthquakes

The method of relative seismic moment tensor determination proposed byStrelitz (1980) is extended a) from an interactive time domain analysis to an automated frequency domain procedure, and b) from an analysis of subevents of complex deep-focus earthquakes to the study of individual source mechanism of small events recorded at few stations.The method was applied to the recovery of seismic moment tensor components of 95 intermediate depth earthquakes withM _L=2.6–4.9 from the Vrancea region, Romania. The main feature of the obtained fault plane solutions is the horizontality ofP axes and the nonhorizontal orienaation ofT axes (inverse faulting). Those events with high fracture energy per unit area of the fault can be grouped unambiguously into three depth intervals: 102–106 km, 124–135 km and 141–152 km. Moreover, their fault plane solutions are similar to ones of all strong and most moderate events from this region and the last two damaging earthquakes (November 10, 1940 withM _W=7.8 and March 4 1977 withM _W=7.5) occurred within the third and first depth interval, respectively. This suggests a possible correlation at these depths between fresh fracture of rocks and the occurrence of strong earthquakes.     

Attenuative Dispersion of <Emphasis Type="Italic">P</Emphasis> Waves and Crustal <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis> in Turkey and Germany

We have measured group delays of the spectral components of high-frequency P-waves along two portions of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in Turkey and in a region of southern Germany. Assuming that the observed dispersion is associated with attenuation in the crust and that it can be described by a continuous relaxation model, we obtained Q and the high-frequency relaxation times for those waves for each of the three regions. Individual P-wave Q values exhibit large scatter, but mean values in the NAFZ increase from about 25 to 60 over the distance range 5–90 km. Mean Q values are somewhat higher in the eastern portion of the NAFZ than in the western portion for measurements made at distances between 10 and 30 km. P-wave Q values in Germany range between about 50 and 300 over the hypocentral distance range 20–130 km. In that region we separated the effects of Q for basement rock (2–10 km depth) from that of the overlying sediment (0–2 km depth) using a least-squares method. Q varies between 100 and 500 in the upper 8–10 km of basement, with mean values for most of the distance range being about 250. Q in the overlying sediments ranges between 6 and 10. Because of large scatter in the Q determinations we investigated possible effects that variations of the source-time function of the earthquakes and truncation of the waveform may have on Q determinations. All of our studies indicate that measurement errors are relatively large and suggest that useful application of the method requires many observations, and that the method will be most useful in regions where the number of oscillations following the initial P pulse is minimized. Even though there is large scatter in our Q determinations, the mean values that we obtained in Turkey are consistent with those found in earlier studies. Our conclusions that Q is significantly higher in the basement rock of Germany than in the basement rock of Turkey and that Q is lower in western Turkey than in eastern Turkey are also consistent with results of Q studies using Lg coda.     

Depth distribution of stresses in the Hokkaido Wadati-Benioff zone as deduced by inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms

This study is based on the detailed geometry of the Hokkaido Wadati-Benioff zone and the paleosubduction zone as delineated by Hanus and Vanek (1984). The used data includes 217 CMT Harvard solutions for earthquakes, which belong to the Wadati-Benioff zone and 13 for the paleosubduction zone. The inverse technique by Gephart and Forsyth (1984) was incorporated for determining the best fit principal stress directions σ₁, σ₂, σ₃ and the ratio (R=σ₂−σ₁/σ₃−σ₁) for 20 km depth intervals in the Wadati-Benioff zone and for the paleosubduction zone considered as a single body. In almost all the considered depth layers, the maximum compressive stress σ₁ is normal to the strike of the slab and dips less than 25°, indicating the NW-SE convergence between the Pacific and Eurasian lithospheric plates. Exceptions are in the depth layer 81–120 km, the paleosubduction zone with steeply dipping along-strike σ₁, and the lower part of the subduction zone (161–220 km) where σ₁ is almost horizontal and of E trend. The minimum compressive stress σ₃ is mostly along-strike and of a different dip with the exception of the 21–60 km layer wher they are down-dipping. The results obtained for the depth ranges 0–20 km, 81–100 km, 121–160 km, and the paleosubduction zone indicate heterogeneous stress fields. These results show that the slab pull and the mantle resistance, acting on the slab edge, are not the main forces which control the contemporary plate tectonics in the Hokkaido region. Along-strike compression at depths 81–120 km and along-strike extension at 0–20 and 61–220 km are involved in the slab dynamics. These can be related to horizontal bending of the subducting Pacific plate.     

Triggered earthquakes as stress gauge: Implication for the uppercrust behavior in the Grenoble area,France

A sequence of moderate shallow earthquakes (3.5M _L5.3) was located within the Vercors massif (France) in the period 1961–1984. This subalpine massif has been a low seismic area for at least 5 centuries. During the period 1962–1963, 12 shallow earthquakes occurred in the neighborhood (10 km) of the Monteynard reservoir, 30 km south of the city of Grenoble. The latest fourM _L4.0 earthquakes occurred in 1979–1984 either at larger distance (35 km) or greater depth (10 km) from the reservoir. Two triggering mechanisms are suggested for this sequence: (i) the direct effect of elastic loading through either increased shear stress or strength reducing by increased pore pressure at depth; (ii) the pore pressure diffusion induced by poroelastic stress change due to the reservoir filling.The weekly water levels, local balanced geological cross sections, and focal mechanisms argue for two types of mechanical connection between the earthquake sequence and the filling cycles of the Monteynard reservoir. The seismic sequence started with the 1962–1963 shallow earthquakes that occurred during the first filling of the reservoir and are typical of the direct effect of elastic loading. The 1979 deeper earthquake is located at a 10 km depth below the reservoir. This event occurred 16 years after the initial reservoir impoundment, but one month after the previous 1963 maximum water level was exceeded. Moreover the yearly reservoir level increased gradually in the period 1962–1979 and has decreased since 1980. Accordingly we suggest that the gradual diffusion of water from reservoir to hypocentral depths decreases the strength of the rock matrices through increased pore pressure. The transition between the two types of seismic response is supported by the analysis ofM _L3.5 earthquakes which all occurred in the period 1964–1971, ranging between 10 and 30 km distance from the reservoir. The three other delayed earthquakes of the 1961–1984 seismic sequence (M _L4 during the 1979–1984 period) are all located 35 km away from the reservoir. Based on the seismic activity, the estimates for the hydraulic diffusivities range between 0.2–10 m²/s, except for the first event that occurred 30 km north of the reservoir, the filling just started. The lack ofin situ measurements of crustal hydrological properties in the area, shared by most of the Reservoir-Induced-Seismicity cases, prevents us from obtaining absolute evidence for the triggering processes. These observations and conceptual models attest that previous recurrence times for moderate natural shocks (4.5M _L5.5) estimated within this area using historical data, could be modified by 0.1–1 MPa stress changes. These small changes in deviatoric stress suggest that the upper crust is in this area nearly everywhere at a state of stress near failure. Although the paucity of both number and size of earthquakes in the French subalpine massif shows that aseismic displacements prevail, our study demonstrates that triggered earthquakes are important tools for assessing local seismic risk through mapping fault zones and identifying their possible seismic behavior.     

Possible geothermal resources in the Coast Plutonic Complex of southern British Columbia,Canada

In southern British Columbia the terrestrial heat flow is low (44 mW m^–2) to the west of the Coast Plutonic Complex (CPC), average in CPC (50–60 mW m^–2),and high to the east(80–90 mW m^–2). The average heat flow in CPC and the low heat generation (less than 1 W m^–3) indicate that a relatively large amount of heat flows upwards into the crust which is generally quite cool. Until two million years ago the Explorer plate underthrust this part of the American plate, carrying crustal material into the mantle. Melted crustal rocks have produced the inland Pemberton and Garibaldi volcanic belts in the CPC.Meager Mountain, a volcanic complex in the CPC 150 km north of Vancouver, is a possible geothermal energy resource. It is the product of intermittent activity over a period of 4 My, the most recent eruption being the Bridge River Ash 2440 y B.P. The original explosive eruption produced extensive fracturing in the granitic basement, and a basal explosion breccia from the surface of a cold brittle crust. This breccia may be a geothermal reservoir. Other volcanic complexes in the CPC have a similar potential for geothermal energy.Earth Physics Contribution No. 704.