Resolving slip vector azimuths and plate motion along the southern boundary of the South Bismarck Plate,Papua New Guinea

The interaction of the Australian, South Bismarck and Solomon Sea Plates in Papua New Guinea is the source of frequent earthquakes that occur as a result of subduction and arc continent collision. Previous investigators have drawn attention to a discontinuity in the horizontal azimuth of slip vectors along the southern boundary of the South Bismarck Plate, with those to the west of 148°E being systematically rotated 20ndash;30° clockwise compared to those located east of 148°E. This has led to the suggestion that relative motion may be occurring between the Huon Peninsula and New Britain or that more than two plates are acting south of the South Bismarck Plate. Global positioning system (GPS) measurements since 1991 indicate that there is no internal deformation occurring within the South Bismark Plate and that at least two distinct plates are in contact with the southern edge of the South Bismarck Plate. We show from a study of a recent earthquake dataset that the change in slip vector azimuth can be modelled by the interaction of the overriding South Bismarck Plate with the underthrusting Australian and Solomon Sea Plates, consistent with the GPS observations, while maintaining the South Bismarck Plate as a rigid entity. We found that a transition zone exists between 147°E and 148°E where the underlying plate changes from the Australian Plate to the Solomon Sea Plate. There are insufficient data at present to indicate whether or not a third plate, the Woodlark Plate, is also interacting directly with the South Bismarck Plate in this transition zone. Slip vector azimuths were used to estimate an Euler pole (6.74°S, 144.64°E), which describes the relative motion of the South Bismarck and Solomon Sea Plates along the New Britain Trench.     

Large‐scale structures on Gazelle Peninsula,New Britain: Implications for the evolution of the New Britain arc

Geological mapping of fault systems on the Gazelle Peninsula, eastern New Britain arc, combined with a reinterpretation of existing sea floor data indicate that faults previously thought to be a possible location of the boundary between the North and South Bismarck Plates, do not appear to be directly related to the plate boundary spreading centres and transform faults in the 3.5 Ma Manus Basin. Structure on the Gazelle Peninsula is dominated by the Mediva Fault (new name) and the Wide Bay Fault System, both north‐northwest trending, deep‐seated features. The Mediva Fault, an element of the Baining Mountain Horst and Graben Zone, is an extensional structure which has focused Middle Miocene intrusive activity, controlled Mio‐Pliocene sedimentation in the central Gazelle Peninsula, and displaced Quaternary volcanic deposits. The Wide Bay Fault System has been active since at least the Late Oligocene. One hundred kilometres of sinistral strike‐slip motion is likely on this fault since at least the late Middle Miocene, moving the Gazelle Peninsula in a north‐northwest direction with respect to the remainder of New Britain. The nature and timing of movements along these two major structures indicate that some other major tectonic process has operated (and presently continues) in this region of the New Britain arc to create these structures.     

A window on West Antarctic crustal boundaries: the junction between the Antarctic Peninsula, the Filchner Block, and Weddell Sea oceanic lithosphere

A new airborne magnetic survey of the southeastern Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent Weddell Sea embayment (WSE) region suggests a continuity of geological structure between the eastern Antarctic Peninsula and the attenuated continental crust of the Filchner Block. This has implications for the reconstructed position of the Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains block in Gondwana, which is currently uncertain. Palaeomagnetic data indicate that it has migrated from a Palaeozoic position between South Africa and Coats Land to its current position as a microplate embedded in central West Antarctica. The most obvious route for migration is between the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea embayment. Evidence that geological structures are continuous across the boundary places constraints on the timing and pathway of migration. Magnetic textures suggest the presence of shallow features extending from the Beaumont Glacier Zone (BGZ) in the west for at least 200 km into the Weddell Sea embayment. These data suggest that the Eastern Domain of the Antarctic Peninsula and the stretched continental crust of the Filchner Block share a common recent, probably post-Early Jurassic, history. However, examination of deep anomalies indicates differences in the magnetic characteristics of the two blocks. The boundary may mark either the edge of extended continental crust, or a discontinuity between two, once separated, blocks. This discontinuity, or pre-Late Jurassic Antarctic Peninsula terrane boundaries to the west, may have allowed the passage of the Ellsworth–Whitmore Mountains block to its present location.     

Magnetic and Gravity Investigations of Lisan Peninsula-Dead Sea(Jordan)

The Lisan Peninsula is located within the Dead Sea basin which represents the plate boundary between African and Arabian plates. This basin constitutes a good example of a pull-apart basin because of its large dimensions, its structural simplicity and its active subsidence . The gravity data reveal that the Dead Sea basin can be divided into segments, each of them about 30 km long in N-S direction , where the Lisan Peninsula represents the deepest one (9 km thick Pleistocene sediments ), overlying about 6 km thick Mesozoic sediments . In addition , 20 km of extension was predicted along the Dead Sea basin, which indicates that the Dead Sea basin should be about 3.3 Ma in age . Furthermore, the Precambrian basement under the Lisan area is characterized by high susceptibility contrast that is related to continuous tectonic activity in the region.     

黄海深部结构与中朝-扬子块体结合带在海区位置的地球物理研究

以黄海及其邻区为研究对象 ( 32～ 4 2°N ,1 2 0～ 1 30°E) ,以研究区的空间重力异常、布格重力异常和地震层析成像数据为基础 ,在研究区中分辨出方向各异的主要断裂带并给出它们的分布。对在朝鲜半岛存在的一条近SN向分布的断裂带进行了重点讨论。根据重力数据、莫霍深度分布特点和层析成像的结果 ,认为该断裂带的两侧应属于不同的构造地质单元 ;提出该断裂带与五莲—青岛断裂带和济州岛南缘断裂带一起组成了中朝与扬子块体在黄海海区的边界结合带的认识 ;并推测在三叠纪的晚期 ,沿郯庐断裂带和该断裂带曾分别发生过左旋和右旋走滑。受SN向挤压应力的作用 ,(下 )扬子块体被平移嵌入到中朝块体之中。因此 ,两个块体在海区的结合带为一个巨大的“Z”字型的入构造     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001247

The Sinai Peninsula has been recognized as a subplate of the African Plate located at the triple junction of the Gulf of Suez rift, the Dead Sea Transform fault, and the Red Sea rift. The upper and lower crustal structures of this tectonically active, rapidly developing region are yet poorly understood because of many limitations. For this reason, a set of P- and S-wave travel times recorded at 14 seismic stations belonging to the Egyptian National Seismographic Network (ENSN) from 111 local and regional events are analyzed to investigate the crustal structures and the locations of the seismogenic zones beneath central and southern Sinai. Because the velocity model used for routine earthquake location by ENSN is one-dimensional, the travel-time residuals will show lateral heterogeneity of the velocity structures and unmodeled vertical structures. Seismic activity is strong along the eastern and southern borders of the study area but low to moderate along the northern boundary and the Gulf of Suez to the west. The crustal V_p/V_s ratio is 1.74 from shallow (depth ≤ 10 km) earthquakes and 1.76 from deeper (depth > 10 km) crustal events. The majority of the regional and local travel-time residuals are positive relative to the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM), implying that the seismic stations are located above widely distributed, tectonically-induced low-velocity zones. These low-velocity zones are mostly related to the local crustal faults affecting the sedimentary section and the basement complex as well as the rifting processes prevailing in the northern Red Sea region and the ascending of hot mantle materials along crustal fractures. The delineation of these low-velocity zones and the locations of big crustal earthquakes enable the identification of areas prone to intense seismotectonic activities, which should be excluded from major future development projects and large constructions in central and southern Sinai.     

Subduction erosion and accretion in the Solomon Sea region

The Solomon Sea region is an area of intense tectonic activity characterized by structural complexity, a high level of seismicity and volcanism, and rapid evolution of plate boundaries. There is little accretion in the eastern New Britain Trench. Accretion gradually increases westward with thick accretion in the western New Britain Trench and in the Trobriand Subduction System. The thick accretion in the western part of the New Britain Trench may be a result of collision from the north of Finisterre-Huon block with New Guinea mainland. The present boundary of the collision is along the Ram-Markham fault. Deformation structures and present day seismicity suggest that the northern block is under compression.

Accretion has occurred in the sediment filled trenches in the Solomon Sea. The scale of the accretionary wedge depends on the amount of trench-fill sediment available. It is unlikely that there is no sediment supply to the eastern part of the New Britain Trench where no accretion is observed and subduction erosion may be occurring. There are two possible mechanisms for subduction erosion of sediment; either a rapid rate of subduction relative to the supply of sediment inhibiting sediment accumulation in the trench; or horizontal tensional force superimposed on both the forearc and backarc regions of the arc. Seafloor spreading in both the Manus and Woodlark basins is fan-like with nearby poles in the western margins of the basins. This may be a reflection of a horizontally compressional field in the western part and a tensional field in the eastern part of the Solomon Sea. Therefore it is possible to conclude that the consumption of sediment in the eastern New Britain Trench is related to the horizontal tensional field superimposed on both the forearc and backarc regions of the subduction system.

Imbricated thrust and overthrust faults in the western New Britain Trench and Trobriand Trough are not linear over long distance, but form wavy patterns in blocks with unit distance of approximately 10 km.     

Crustal Structure across the Northwestern Margin of South China Sea: Evidence for Magma‐poor Rifting from a Wide‐angle Seismic Profile

We present results from a 484 km wide-angle seismic profile acquired in the northwest part of the South China Sea (SCS) during OBS2006 cruise. The line that runs along a previously acquired multi-channel seismic line (SO49-18) crosses the continental slope of the northern margin, the Northwest Subbasin (NWSB) of the South China Sea, the Zhongsha Massif and partly the oceanic basin of the South China Sea. Seismic sections recorded on 13 ocean-bottom seismometers were used to identify refracted phases from the crustal layer and also reflected phases from the crust-mantle boundary (Moho). Inversion of the traveltimes using a simple start model reveals crustal images in the study area. The velocity model shows that crustal thickness below the continental slope is between 14 and 23 km. The continental part of the line is characterized by gentle landward mantle uplift and an abrupt oceanward one. The velocities in the lower crust do not exceed 6.9 km/s. With the new data we can exclude a high-velocity lower crustal body (velocities above 7.0 km/s) at the location of the line. We conclude that this part of the South China Sea margin developed by a magma-poor rifting. Both, the NWSB and the Southwest Sub-basin (SWSB) reveal velocities typical for oceanic crust with crustal thickness between 5 and 7 km. The Zhongsha Massif in between is extremely stretched with only 6–10 km continental crust left. Crustal velocity is below 6.5 km/s; possibly indicating the absence of the lower crust. Multi-channel seismic profile shows that the Yitongansha Uplift in the slope area and the Zhongsha Massif are only mildly deformed. We considered them as rigid continent blocks which acted as rift shoulders of the main rift subsequently resulting in the formation of the Northwest Sub-basin. The extension was mainly accommodated by a ductile lower crustal flows, which might have been extremely attenuated and flow into the oceanic basin during the spreading stage. We compared the crustal structures along the northern margin and found an east-west thicken trend of the crust below the continent slope. This might be contributed by the east-west sea-floor spreading along the continental margin.     

Source mechanisms and tectonic significance of historical earthquakes along the nankai trough,Japan

Two recent and three historical earthquakes which occurred along the Nankai trough, marking the northern plate boundary between the Philippine Sea and the Asian Plate, are studied mainly on the basis of the data of crustal deformations and tsunami waves. These earthquakes are the 1946 Nankaido, the 1944 Tonankai, the 1854 Ansei I, II and the 1707 Hoei earthquakes. They are all interpreted as low-angle thrust faults at the plate boundary, with the oceanic side underthrusting northwestward against southwestern Japan. The fault parameters of the historical earthquakes are assumed here to be common to those of the recent two earthquakes, except for the magnitude of dislocation.The entire fault region, which extends for 530 km from western Shikoku Island in the west to the Tokai district in the east, is divided into four fault planes, which are denoted the planes A, B, C and D, from west to east, respectively. Then, the five earthquakes may be attributed to the planes A, B, C and D, in the following manner: the Nankaido earthquake, A + B; the Tonankai earthquake, C; the Ansei II earthquake, A + B; the Ansei I earthquake, C + D; and the Hoei earthquake, A + B + C + D.The latest cycle of earthquake migration seems incomplete as proved by the recent inactivity in D. Consequently, the future major earthquake next to occur is expected there, off the Tokai district. Eight further ancient earthquakes from A.D. 684 to 1605 are also discussed. Taking the results of the foregoing studies into consideration, their sequence is well interpreted by the four migration cycles. Topographical data, tilt of coastal terraces and location of hinge lines, prove that the thrusting has continued all along the extension of the Nankai trough for at least 300,000 years.     

A Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic reconstruction of the Southwest Pacific region: Tectonics controlled by subduction and slab rollback processes

A Cenozoic tectonic reconstruction is presented for the Southwest Pacific region located east of Australia. The reconstruction is constrained by large geological and geophysical datasets and recalculated rotation parameters for Pacific–Australia and Lord Howe Rise–Pacific relative plate motion. The reconstruction is based on a conceptual tectonic model in which the large-scale structures of the region are manifestations of slab rollback and backarc extension processes. The current paradigm proclaims that the southwestern Pacific plate boundary was a west-dipping subduction boundary only since the Middle Eocene. The new reconstruction provides kinematic evidence that this configuration was already established in the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene. From ∼ 82 to ∼ 52 Ma, subduction was primarily accomplished by east and northeast-directed rollback of the Pacific slab, accommodating opening of the New Caledonia, South Loyalty, Coral Sea and Pocklington backarc basins and partly accommodating spreading in the Tasman Sea. The total amount of east-directed rollback of the Pacific slab that took place from ∼ 82 Ma to ∼ 52 Ma is estimated to be at least 1200 km. A large percentage of this rollback accommodated opening of the South Loyalty Basin, a north–south trending backarc basin. It is estimated from kinematic and geological constraints that the east–west width of the basin was at least ∼ 750 km. The South Loyalty and Pocklington backarc basins were subducted in the Eocene to earliest Miocene along the newly formed New Caledonia and Pocklington subduction zones. This culminated in southwestward and southward obduction of ophiolites in New Caledonia, Northland and New Guinea in the latest Eocene to earliest Miocene. It is suggested that the formation of these new subduction zones was triggered by a change in Pacific–Australia relative motion at ∼ 50 Ma. Two additional phases of eastward rollback of the Pacific slab followed, one during opening of the South Fiji Basin and Norfolk Basin in the Oligocene to Early Miocene (up to ∼ 650 km of rollback), and one during opening of the Lau Basin in the latest Miocene to Present (up to ∼ 400 km of rollback). Two new subduction zones formed in the Miocene, the south-dipping Trobriand subduction zone along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted and the north-dipping New Britain–San Cristobal–New Hebrides subduction zone, along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted in the west and the North Loyalty–South Fiji backarc Basin and remnants of the South Loyalty–Santa Cruz backarc Basin subducted in the east. Clockwise rollback of the New Hebrides section resulted in formation of the North Fiji Basin. The reconstruction provides explanations for the formation of new subduction zones and for the initiation and termination of opening of the marginal basins by either initiation of subduction of buoyant lithosphere, a change in plate kinematics or slab–mantle interaction.     

Seismic-reflection profiles of the central part of the Clarendon–Linden fault system of western New York in relation to regional seismicity

Geological and geophysical research in upstate New York, with few exceptions, has not definitively associated seismicity with specific Proterozoic basement or Paleozoic bedrock structures. The central part of the Clarendon–Linden fault system (CLFS) between Batavia and Dale, NY is one of those exceptions where seismicity has been studied and has been spatially associated with structure. The CLFS is either a complex system of long faults with associated shorter branches and parallel segments, or a region of many short faults aligned north–south from the Lake Ontario shore southward to Allegany County, NY. Interpretation of 38 km of Vibroseis and approximately 56 km of conventional seismic-reflection data along 13 lines suggests that the CLFS is a broad zone of small faults with small displacements in the lower Paleozoic bedrock section that is at least 77 km long and 7–17 km wide and spatially coincident with a north-trending geophysical (combined aeromagnetic and gravity) lineament within the basement. The relative offset across the faults of the system is more than 91 m near Attica, NY. The CLFS is the expression of tectonic crustal adjustments within the Paleozoic rock above the boundary of two basement megablocks of differing petrologic provinces and differing earthquake characteristics that forms the eastern side of the Elzevir–Frontenac boundary zone. Deep seismic-reflection profiles display concave-eastward listric faults that probably merge at depth near the mid-crustal boundary layer. An interpretive vertical section provides the setting for refined definitions of the CLFS, its extensions at depth and its relation to seismicity. Most modern seismicity in western New York and the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario occurs in apparent patterns of randomly dispersed activity. The sole exception is a line of seven epicenters of small earthquakes that trend east from Attica, NY into the Rochester basement megablock. Earthquakes may be triggered at the intersections of north- and east-trending brittle faults within the Niagara basement megablock. Current interpretations of the mechanisms for earthquake generation in western New York and the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario require conservative estimates of seismic hazards that assume that an earthquake the size of the 1929 Attica, NY, event (M_b=5.2) or larger could occur anywhere in the Eastern Great Lakes Basin (EGLB). The broad zone of small-displacement faults that marks the CLFS in the lower Paleozoic sedimentary section and the uppermost basement may not provide the structural environment for generation of earthquakes in western New York. If this interpretation is correct, most seismicity is generated within the Niagara basement megablock beneath or west of the CLFS. Consequently, we may have to look to the deeper tectonic regime of basement megablocks to understand the distribution of modern seismicity in the EGLB.     

Horizontal inhomogeneities in the upper mantle of the carpathians and caucasus

The travel-times of waves coming from distant earthquakes, recorded by seismological stations in the Carpathians and the Caucasus were used to construct a model of horizontal inhomogeneities in the upper layer of the mantle in these regions. In comparison with the adjoining platform, the East Carpathians are characterized by higher velocity, the South Carpathians and the Carpathian foredeep by lower velocity, while the West Carpathians have a velocity similar to that of the platform. The Vrinci earthquakes originate in the high-velocity block of the East Carpathians, at its boundary with the low-velocity block of the South Carpathians. The Caucasian territory can be divided into several different mantle blocks. The western part of the Great Caucasus has a higher velocity. A submeridional belt of low velocities, extending west of the line Piatigorsk—Tiflis, has been determined; the belt passes through the Stavropol part of the Great Caucasus, the Transcaucasian central massif and part of the Little Caucasus. More to the east there extends a parallel belt of greater velocities, which also intersects a series of different structures. In the East Caucasus, a low-velocity block has been established in the Caucasian foredeep and the Great Caucasus regions; the boundary between this block and a high-velocity block lying west of it passes through the Caspian Sea.The mantle earthquakes of 1935 occurring NE of Derbent seem to be connected with this boundary. The low-velocity region of the mantle also exists in the Caspian Sea, in the vicinity of the Apsheron Peninsula. A relationship between the determined velocity variations and other geophysical fields has been discussed; some known gravity anomalies in the Caucasus, interpreted as being connected with the earth's crust, are believed to be due to the vertical inhomogeneities of density in the upper mantle.     

Characteristics of the 1912 co-seismic rupture along the North Anatolian Fault Zone (Turkey): implications for the expected Marmara earthquake

Evidence of right‐lateral offsets associated with the 1912 earthquake (M_w 7.4) along the North Anatolian Fault (Gaziköy–Saros segment) allow us to survey (using DGPS) the co‐seismic and cumulative slip distribution. The damage distribution and surface breaks related with the earthquake show an elongated zone of maximum intensity (X MSK) parallel to the fault rupture on land but this may extend offshore to the north‐east and south‐west. Detailed mapping of the fault using topographic maps and aerial photographs indicates the existence of pull‐apart basins and pressure ridges. At several localities, the average 1912 offset along strike is 3.5–4 m and cumulative slip is 2–6 times that of individual movement. The fault rupture geometry and slip distribution suggest the existence of three subsegments with a combined total length of 110–120 km, a fault length and maximum slip similar to those of the 1999 Izmit earthquake. The amount of slip at the north‐easternmost section and in the coastal region of the Sea of Marmara reaches an average 4 m, thereby implying the offshore extension of the 1912 rupture. The results suggest that the 1912 event generated up to 150 km of surface faulting, which would imply a M_w 7.2–7.4 earthquake and which, added with rupture lengths of the 1999 earthquakes, help to constrain the remaining seismic gap in the Sea of Marmara.     

Temporal variation in the geometry of a strike–slip fault zone: Examples from the Dead Sea Transform

The location of the active fault strands along the Dead Sea Transform fault zone (DST) changed through time. In the western margins of Dead Sea basin, the early activity began a few kilometers west of the preset shores and moved toward the center of the basin in four stages. Similar centerward migration of faulting is apparent in the Hula Valley north of the Sea of Galilee as well as in the Negev and the Sinai Peninsula. In the Arava Valley, seismic surveys reveal a series of buried inactive basins whereas the current active strand is on their eastern margins. In the central Arava the centerward migration of activity was followed by outward migration with Pleistocene faulting along NNE-trending faults nearly 50 km west of the center. Largely the faulting along the DST, which began in the early–middle Miocene over a wide zone of up to 50 km, became localized by the end of the Miocene. The subsidence of fault-controlled basins, which were active in the early stage, stopped at the end of the Miocene. Later during the Plio-Pleistocene new faults were formed in the Negev west of the main transform. They indicate that another cycle has begun with the widening of the fault zone. It is suggested that the localization of faulting goes on as long as there is no change in the stress field. The stresses change because the geometry of the plates must change as they move, and consequently the localization stage ends. The fault zone is rearranged, becomes wide, and a new localization stage begins as slip accumulates. It is hypothesized that alternating periods of widening and narrowing correlate to changes of the plate boundaries, manifest in different Euler poles.     

Genesis of a new slab tear fault in the Indo-Australian plate,offshore northern Sumatra,Indian ocean

Following the December 2004 and March 2005 major shallow foci inter-plate earthquakes in the north Sumatra region, a slab-tear fault located within the subducting Indian plate ruptured across the West Sunda Trench (WST) within the marginal intra-plate region. Trend, length and movement pattern of this New Tear Fault (NTF) segment is almost identical to another such slab-tear fault mapped previously by Hamilton (1979), located around 160 km south of NTF. Seismic activity along the NTF remained quasi-stable till the end of the year 2011, when an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 occurred on 10.01.2012 just at the tip of NTF, only around ～100 km within the intra-plate domain west of WST. The NTF rupture propagated further towards SSW with the generation of two more large earthquakes on 11.04.2012. The foreshock (10.01.12; M7.2) — mainshock (11.04.12; M 8.6) — aftershock (11.04.12; M 8.2) sequence along with numerous smaller magnitude aftershocks unmistakably define the extension of NTF, a slab-tear fault that results tectonic segmentation of the convergent plate margin. Within the intra-plate domain most earthquakes display consistent left-lateral strike slip mechanism along NNE trending fault plane.     

Rapid magmatic processes accompany arc–continent collision: the Western Bismarck arc, Papua New Guinea

New U–Th–Ra, major and trace element, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data are presented for young lavas from the New Britain and Western Bismarck arcs in Papua New Guinea. New Britain is an oceanic arc, whereas the latter is the site of an arc–continent collision. Building on a recent study of the Manus Basin, contrasts between the two arcs are used to evaluate the processes and timescales of magma generation accompanying arc–continent collision and possible slab detachment. All three suites share many attributes characteristic of arc lavas that can be ascribed to the addition of a regionally uniform subduction component derived from the subducting altered oceanic crust and sediment followed by dynamic melting of the modified mantle. However, the Western Bismarck arc lavas diverge from the Pb isotope mixing array formed by the New Britain and the Manus Basin lavas toward elevated ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb. We interpret this to reflect a second and subsequent addition of sediment melt at crustal depth during collision. ²³⁸U and ²²⁶Ra excesses are preserved in all of the lavas and are greatest in the Western Bismarck arc. High-Mg andesites with high Sr/Y ratios in the westernmost arc are attributed to recent shallow mantle flux melting at the slab edge. Data for two historical rhyolites are also presented. Although these rhyolites formed in quite different tectonic settings and display different geochemical and isotopic compositions, both formed from mafic parents within millennia.     

Crustal structure from deep seismic soundings along the Koyna II (Kelsi-Loni) profile in the Deccan Trap area, India

The crustal depth section obtained from deep seismic soundings along the Koyna II (Kelsi-Loni) profile, which lies near latitude 18°N roughly in the east-west direction in that part of the Deccan Trap Maharashtra State, India, shows a number of reflection segments below the Deccan Traps down to the Moho discontinuity. A deep fault below the Deccan Traps 13 km east of Mahad divides the entire cross-section including the Moho boundary into two crustal blocks. The reflection segments show updip towards the west coast in the western block. The Moho discontinuity which is at a depth of 39 km near the deep fault starts rising towards the coast, reaching a depth of 31.5 km at the west coast. The eastern block is thrown up by 1.5 km with respect to the western block along the deep fault. A structural contour map of the Moho discontinuity for the Koyna reservoir area has been prepared from the present results and the crustal information obtained along the Koyna I profile (Kaila et al., 1979a), shows that the deep fault in the Koyna area is aligned in the NNW-SSE direction.Refraction seismic data analysis by the wave front method reveals that the thickness of the Deccan Trap increases towards the west coast. The Deccan Trap is 600–700 m thick in the eastern region between Nira (SP 130) and Loni (SP 200) and attains a thickness of 1500 m at 10 km east of the west coast. The longitudinal wave velocity in the Deccan Traps along the profile varies from 4.8 to 5.0 km/sec and in the crystalline basement from 6.0 to 6.15 km/sec. A tentative isopach contour map of the Deccan Traps and a tentative structural contour map of the Pre-Deccan Trap contact have been prepared for the Koyna reservoir area from the results along the Koyna II and Koyna I profiles. A flexure aligned in a NNW-SSE direction, in the Pre-Deccan Trap contact, which is an expression of the deep fault into the basement, has been clearly brought out. The flexure coincides in general with the orientation of the Deccan volcanic scarp in this area.     

Influence of interaction between small asperities on various types of slow earthquakes in a 3-D simulation for a subduction plate boundary

Recently, the occurrence of slow earthquakes such as low-frequency earthquakes and very low-frequency earthquakes have been recognized at depths of about 30 km in southwest Japan and Cascadia. These slow earthquakes occur sometimes in isolation and sometimes break into chain-reaction, producing tremor that migrates at a speed of about 5–15 km/day and suggesting a strong interaction among nearby small asperities. In this study, we formulate a 3-D subduction plate boundary model with two types of small asperities chained along the trench at the depth of 30 km. Our simulation succeeds in representing various types of slow earthquakes including low-frequency earthquakes and rapid slip velocity in the same asperity, and indicates that interaction between asperities may cause the very low-frequency earthquakes. Our simulation also shows chain reaction along trench with propagation speed that can be made consistent with observations by adjusting model parameters, which suggests that the interactions also explain the observed migration of slow earthquakes.     

The role of aeromagnetic data analysis (using 3D Euler deconvolution) in delineating active subsurface structures in the west central Arabian shield and the central Red Sea,Saudi Arabia

In this paper, we present a case study of structural mapping by applying the 3D Euler method to the high-resolution aeromagnetic data that was collected in the west central Arabian Shield region and the coastal region of the central Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. We show the 3D Euler deconvolution algorithm and apply it to magnetic potential field data from the west Central Arabian Shield and the Central Red Sea. The solution obtained with 3D Euler deconvolution gives better-focused depth estimates, which are closer to the real position of sources; the results presented here can be used to constrain depth to active crustal structures (volcanisms) for the study area. The results indicated that the area was affected by sets of fault systems, which primarily trended in the NNW–SSE, NW–SE, EW, and NE–SW directions. Moreover, estimated Euler solution map from aeromagnetic data delineated also the boundaries of shallow, small, and confined magnetic bodies on the offshore section of the study area. These nearly exposed basement intrusions are most likely related to the Red Sea Rift and may be associated with structures higher up in the sedimentary section. These volcanic bodies are extended to the continental part (onshore) of the west central Arabian Shield, particularly beneath both sides of the Ad Damm fault zone. This extension verifies that the fault was largely contemporaneous with a major period during the extension of the Red Sea Basin. Moreover, according to the distribution of circular magmatic-source bodies (circular-shaped ring dikes) that resulted from this study, we can state that the clustering of most earthquakes along this fault may most likely be attributed to the active mantle upwelling (volcanic earthquakes), which are ultimately related to volcanic processes. Furthermore, the oceanic crustal structures near and in the Red Sea offshore regions were also estimated and discussed according to the ophiolite occurrences and further opening of the Red Sea. Our results are largely comparable with studies of previous crustal sections, which were performed along the Red Sea Rift and the Arabian Shield. As a result, the areas above these anomalies are highly recommended for further geothermal study. This example illustrates that high-resolution aeromagnetic surveys can greatly help delineating the subsurface active structures in the west central Arabian Shield and the middle coastal region of the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia.     

天津地区地壳物性界面的计算及深部构造特征

利用天津地区重力及航磁资料,对不同深度上密度界面、磁化率等进行了反演计算。结果显示,本地区平均深度约6.5 km的密度界面与新生代底部的起伏基本一致。由此认为本区新生代以来地壳发育过程比较连续且稳定,西南部地区曾经有较明显的火成岩活动。结合该地区航磁异常的分层计算与对比,认为本地区的地壳结构受渤海湾裂谷盆地的对“倾牌组式构造”所控制,该地区西北部存在有北东向展布的深大断裂,其深部延展与本区大部分已确认的断裂深部延展方向基本一致且朝向东南。其活动性值得重视。