Geodynamics of the Chersky seismic belt

The geodynamics of the Chersky seismic belt is discussed, based on seismic and geologic evidence, as well as on heat-flow and deep-structure analyses. The belt stretches across Northeast Asia from the Laptev Sea to the Komandorskie Islands. It forms a boundary between the Eurasian, North American and Sea of Okhotsk plates. The concept of the relationship between the belts seismicity and the Moma rift system is not supported. The belt is currently undergoing compression generated by the sublatitudinal convergence of the North American and Eurasian plates.     

Plate kinematics: The Americas,East Africa,and the rest of the world

Euler vectors (relative angular velocity vectors) have been determined for twelve major plates by global inversion of carefully selected sea-floor spreading rates, transform fault trends, and earthquake slip vectors. The rate information comes from marine magnetic anomalies less than 5 m.y. old, so the motions are valid for post-Miocene times. Plate motions in a mean hotspot frame of reference have also been determined, and statistical confidence limits for all the Euler vectors estimated. Among the consequences of the global motion model is the conclusion that fast-spreading ridges (separation rates greater than 3 cm/yr) have plate motion nearly perpendicular to the strike of the ridge and magnetic anomalies. Four more slowly separating ridges have an average obliquity of spreading of almost 20°.For several plate boundaries, results that differ from previous studies are in agreement with geological evidence. The North and South American plates converge slowly about a pole east of the Antilles and near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The results for Africa versus Somalia imply slow east-west extension on the East African Rift Valleys. The pole for motion of Eurasia relative to North America is located near Sakhalin, in accordance with evidence from Siberia and Sakhalin.     

Physics-Based 3-D Simulation for Earthquake Generation Cycles at Plate Interfaces in Subduction Zones

The generation of interplate earthquakes can be regarded as a process of tectonic stress accumulation and release, driven by relative plate motion. We completed a physics-based simulation system for earthquake generation cycles at plate interfaces in the Japan region, where the Pacific plate is descending beneath the North American and Philippine Sea plates, and the Philippine Sea plate is descending beneath the North American and Eurasian plates. The system is composed of a quasi-static tectonic loading model and a dynamic rupture propagation model, developed on a realistic 3-D plate interface model. The driving force of the system is relative plate motion. In the quasi-static tectonic loading model, mechanical interaction at plate interfaces is rationally represented by the increase of tangential displacement discontinuity (fault slip) across them on the basis of dislocation theory for an elastic surface layer overlying Maxwell-type viscoelastic half-space. In the dynamic rupture propagation model, stress changes due to fault slip motion on non-planar plate interfaces are evaluated with the boundary integral equation method. The progress of seismic (dynamic) or aseismic (quasi-static) fault slip on plate interfaces is governed by a slip- and time-dependent fault constitutive law. As an example, we numerically simulated earthquake generation cycles at the source region of the 1968 Tokachi-oki earthquake on the North American-Pacific plate interface. From the numerical simulation, we can see that postseismic stress relaxation in the asthenosphere accelerates stress accumulation in the source region. When the stress state of the source region is close to a critical level, dynamic rupture is rapidly accelerated and develops over the whole source region. When the stress state is much lower than the critical level, the rupture is not accelerated. This means that the stress state realized by interseismic tectonic loading essentially controls the subsequent dynamic rupture process.     

Measurements of upper mantle shear wave anisotropy from a permanent network in southern Mexico

Upper mantle shear wave anisotropy under stations in southern Mexico was measured using records of SKS phases. Fast polarization directions where the Cocos plate subducts subhorizontally are oriented in the direction of the relative motion between the Cocos and North American plates, and are trench-perpendicular. This pattern is interpreted as subslab entrained flow, and is similar to that observed at the Cascadia subduction zone. Earlier studies have pointed out that both regions have in common the young age of the subducting lithosphere. Changes in the orientation of the fast axes are observed where the subducting plates change dip and/or are torn, and are thus indicative of 3-D flow around the slab edges. They are consistent with slab rollback, as previously shown by other authors. Some stations located away from the plate boundaries have their fast directions controlled by the absolute motion of the North American plate. The fast axis for station ZAIG, located in the Mesa Central, is oriented WNW-ESE and is different from all the other measurements in this study.     

Statistical tests of additional plate boundaries from plate motion inversions

We have investigated the application of the F-ratio test, a standard statistical technique, to the results of relative plate motion inversions. The method tests whether the improvement in fit of the model to the data resulting from the addition of another plate to the model is greater than that expected purely by chance. This approach appears to be useful in determining whether additional plate boundaries are justified. We confirm previous results favoring separate North American and South American plates with a boundary located between 30°N and the equator. Using Chase's global relative motion data, we show that in addition to separate West African and Somalian plates, separate West Indian and Australian plates, with a best-fitting boundary between 70°E and 90°E, can be resolved. These results are generally consistent with the observation that the Indian plate's internal deformation extends somewhat westward of the Ninetyeast Ridge. The relative motion pole is similar to Minster and Jordan's and predicts the NW-SE compression observed in earthquake mechanisms near the Ninetyeast Ridge.     

Contemporary crustal movements (CCMs) in Kamchatka

The works on geodetic monitoring of the contemporary crustal motions (CCMs) in the region of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Komandor Islands for the 40-year history of instrumental observations are reviewed. The examples of CCM recording by the classical geodetic methods and, since 1996, by the Global Positioning System (GPS) are presented. The deployment of the regional network for GNSS observations by the Kamchatka Branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences (KAMNET) made it possible to study the geodynamical processes at the junction of three major plates (Eurasian, North American, and Pacific) and smaller plates (Okhotsk and Bering). The interpretation of the examples of recorded CCMs is presented. The prospects of further development in the field of studying the geodynamics of the Koryak-Kamchatka region are outlined.     

板块运动与地震各向异性及应力场的相关性统计分析

利用收集到的各种来源共计7 959组的地震各向异性观测数据和21 750组应力场数据,结合板块绝对运动模型计算给出的各板块的运动规律,分别统计分析了板块运动与地震各向异性及应力场的相关性,并对板块运动对地震各向异性及应力场特征产生的影响进行了分析． 统计结果表明,阿拉伯、 加勒比、 胡安德富卡、 北美、 纳兹卡、 太平洋和南美板块上地震各向异性与板块运动均具有较好的相关性,而非洲、 南极洲、 澳大利亚、 欧亚、 印度和菲律宾板块上二者的相关性则相对较差. 讨论分析发现,板块运动拖动软流圈流动、 橄榄岩晶格优选方位、 化石各向异性和地幔流动或岩石圈流动等因素均在一定程度上控制并影响着地震各向异性与板块运动的一致性． 而板块基底拖曳力、 洋脊推力、 浮力作用和碰撞及俯冲作用等多种因素共同制约了板块运动与应力场的相关性,使得非洲、 可可斯、 欧亚、 胡安德富卡、 北美、 纳兹卡、 菲律宾和南美板块上二者的相关性较好,其它板块上其相关性则较差． 对于俯冲带地区,由于俯冲机制的复杂性和软流圈、 岩石圈地幔流动方向的不确定性,其板块运动与地震各向异性及应力场的相关性图像表现复杂,需要结合具体的俯冲带构造进行近一步研究．      

Relative Motion Between the Rivera and North American Plates Determined from the Slip Directions of Earthquakes

So far, the direction and rate of relative motion between the Rivera and the North American plates (RIV-NAM) has been determined by the combination of two Euler poles: Rivera (RIV), with respect to Pacific (PAC), and PAC with respect to North America. Here, we estimate the relative motion of this plate pair (RIV-NAM) assuming that the horizontal projection of the direction of slip of the earthquakes occurring on the RIV-NAM boundaries reflect their relative plate motion. A catalog of earthquakes for which focal mechanisms are reported since 1976 is used in the analysis. Earthquakes were considered in the three segments of the RIV-NAM plate boundary: the subduction zone of the Rivera plate beneath the Jalisco block, the Tres Marias Escarpment and the events associated with the Tamayo Fracture Zone. The best fitting Euler pole is determined using a grid search of 64 potential poles. The slip direction predicted for each grid point is compared to the slip direction of the focal mechanisms of the earthquakes on the plate boundary. The best fitting Euler pole, determined in a root mean square sense (RMS), is located at 21.8°N, 107.6°W. A rate of rotation of 5.3°/year is estimated assuming the seismic earthquake cycle of the 1932 and 1995 great earthquakes represents a lower bound of the rate of plate motion in the subduction zone. The best fitting Euler pole shows that the subduction of the Rivera plate takes place in a direction perpendicular to the trench with a relative velocity of 4.3 cm/year, offshore Manzanillo. The rate of relative motion RIV-NAM decreases from SE to NW. North of approximately 21°N, the subduction of the Rivera plate becomes oblique to the trench and the relative velocity between the two plates decreases to an average of 1.9 cm/year. This slow rate of convergence may explain the rapid decrease of seismicity in the trench and the apparent absence of large earthquakes in this region. In the Tres Marias Escarpment, our best-fitting pole suggests that subduction stops, giving way to high-angle reverse faulting perpendicular to the Tres Marias Escarpment, in agreement with the reverse faulting earthquakes occurring here. To the north of 22.5°N, the slip predicted by the best-fitting pole suggests right-lateral faulting in a direction parallel to the Tamayo Fracture Zone, at a very low velocity (0.5–1.0 cm/year). The best fitting Euler pole determined here lies very close to the RIV-NAM plate boundary in the vicinity of the Tamayo Fracture Zone. This location of our best fitting Euler pole explains the low relative plate velocity, the relatively low level of seismic activity and the presence of a broad zone of deformation that accommodates the RIV-NAM motion.     

Geothermal regime and geodynamics of the North Pacific Ocean

The distribution of heat flow in the North Pacific Ocean has been examined, and a map of geothermal and geomagnetic fields for the Bering Sea as it is known today has been made. Reliable data are lacking regarding the time of origin for features of oceanic and continental genesis in the Bering Sea, which is an obstacle to the study of geodynamic processes in the North Pacific. Heat flow data were used to yield numerical estimates for the age of seafloor features in the Bering Sea: the Kamchatka Basin (21 Ma), Shirshov Ridge (95 Ma for the northern part and 33 Ma for the southern), the Aleutian Basin (70 Ma), Vitus Rise (44 Ma), Bowers Ridge (30 Ma), and Bowers Basin (40 Ma). These age estimates are corroborated by combined geological, geophysical, and plate kinematic data. A thermochemical model of global mantle convection has been developed in order to perform a numerical simulation of the thermal process involved in the generation of extended regional features in the North Pacific (the Emperor Fracture Zone, Chinook Trough, etc.). The modeling suggests a plume-tectonic origin for these features, yielding the optimal model for the tectonic evolution of the North Pacific. An integrated geological and geothermal analysis leads to the conclusion that the northern and southern parts of the Shirshov Ridge are different, not only in geologic age, but also in tectonic structure. The northern part is of imbricated-thrust terrane origin, while the southern part is of ensimatic island-arc origin, similar to that of Bowers Ridge. The seafloor of the Aleutian Basin is an outlier of the Upper Cretaceous Kula plate where, in the Vitus Rise area, backarc spreading processes originated during Eocene time. The terminating phase of activity in the Bering Sea began about 21 Ma by spreading in the older seafloor of the Kamchatka Basin. We developed plate-tectonic reconstructions of evolution for the North Pacific for the times 21, 33, 40, and 70 Ma in the hotspot system based on age estimates for the seafloor features derived from heat flow data and modeling of the thermal generation of regional faults, as well as on an analysis of geomagnetic, tectonic, and geological data.     

Does the Southern Korean Peninsula belong to the Amurian plate? GPS observations

The Amurian plate (AM) in Northeast Asia plays a particularly important role in the estimation of surrounding crustal movements and interpretation of seismic activities, especially in southwest Japan. However, the existence of the Amurian plate and the location of the southern boundary remain controversial. Due to insufficient data, the southern boundary is not well known and often assumed to cross the Southern Korean Peninsula. Therefore, this area is critical to further accurately define the Amurian plate geometry. The existing permanent Korean GPS network (KGN) with more than 45 GPS sites plays a key role to discriminate the southern boundary of the Amurian plate near South Korea. Data for the period from March 2000 to August 2003 are analyzed together with data from IGS and some Chinese GPS stations. Estimated velocities show that South Korea is almost rigid and the southern boundary of the Amurian plate may not cross South Korea. Using the F-ratio statistical test, we determine whether South Korea belongs to the Amurian or South China plates. The test has shown that the Southern Korean Peninsula neither resides on the Amurian plate as hypothesized, nor is part of the South China block.     

Circum-arctic plate accretion — Isolating part of a pacific plate to form the nucleus of the Arctic Basin

A mosaic of large lithospheric plates rims the Arctic Ocean Basin, and foldbelts between these plates contain numerous allochthonous microplates. A new model for continental drift and microplate accretion proposes that prior to the late Mesozoic the Kula plate extended from the Pacific into the Arctic. By a process of circumpolar drift and microplate accretion, fragments of the Pacific basin, including parts of the Kula plate, were cut off and isolated in the Arctic Ocean, the Yukon-Koyukuk basin in Alaska, and the Bering Sea.     

中国东北地区航磁特征及居里面分析

中国东北地区位于西伯利亚和华北地块之间,中、新生代本区受西太平洋板块俯冲的影响,由于多期构造作用,导致地质构造形态极为复杂.本文通过分析航磁异常场,认识研究区的构造特征,并利用航磁异常数据的功率谱法反演居里等温面.航磁异常场和居里面分布特征均揭示研究区地质构造发展具有继承性;通过居里面起伏变化特征,并结合满-绥地学断面、及与大地热流分布的关系,讨论研究区地壳的热结构状态特点,结果显示居里面起伏趋势与软流圈起伏具明显的相关性;结合地震活动和地震层析成像研究,探讨了太平洋板块俯冲受阻引起岩浆和火山活动,进而导致居里面上隆的影响机制.     

东亚地震活动的时空分布及其与区域应力场的关系

来自板块之间相对运动的构造力可以传递到大陆地壳,从而形成了大陆内部的地震应力场.在某一地区,包括小地震在内的地震活动性的分布可以反映该地区的应力场的变化.根据这一观点,本文根据大量的震源机制解的结果以及最近500年的地震活动资料,详细地研究了东亚地区内几个地区的区域应力场的特征.其结果表明,来自太平洋板块相对欧亚板块的俯冲所形成的构造力,控制了从华北地区到南北地震带北段的应力场.本文根据小震的地震活动变化的特征,讨论了日本一部分地区由地震活动性的变化所反映的区域应力场的变化.中国西部以及印度-澳大利亚和欧亚大陆板块边界地区,最近大约100年地震活动性的同步变化表明,来自印度-澳大利亚板块和欧亚板块碰撞所产生的构造力,传递到了中国西部.印度-澳大利亚板块和欧亚大陆板块边界,以及中国西部的地震活动,现在依然处在地震活动高潮期.      

Tectonic Plate Parameters Estimated in the International Terrestrial Reference Frame ITRF2008 Based on SLR Stations

This paper concerns an analysis of the accuracy of estimated parameters Ω (Φ, Λ, ω) which define the tectonic plate motions. The study is based on the velocities of station positions published by ITRF2008 for Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) technique. The Eurasian, African, North American and Australian plates were used in the analysis. Influence of the number and location of stations on the plate surface on estimation accuracy of the tectonic plate motion parameters was discussed. The results were compared with the APKIM 2005 IGN model. In general, a remarkable concurrence agreement between our solutions and the APKIM 2005 model was found.     

Recent Geodetic Results in the Azores Triple Junction Region

—GPS (Global Positioning System) observations started to be carried out in the Azores region under the scope of the TANGO (TransAtlantic Network for Geodesy and Oceanography) project in 1988. The measurements carried out between 1993 and 2000 (five campaigns) on nine GPS sites (one per island) were reprocessed using two state–of–the-art software packages. Different methodologies were applied to compute each campaign solution and the derived velocity field. The velocity fields, including the motions of two permanent stations, recently installed in the Azores, were computed within the most recent geodetic reference frame, ITRF2000 (International Terrestrial Reference Frame, solution 2000). They are compared with the motions of the stable rigid tectonic plates using as reference DEOS2k, a global tectonic model developed using geodetic data. The relative motions between the Western and Central groups of islands yield to evaluate the opening rate of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (boundary between the North American plate and the Eurasian and African plates). Concerning the boundary between the Eurasian and African plates, the motion of the TANGO sites in the Central and Eastern groups clearly identifies the transition pattern between those two plates. Two of the sites are considered to be located in the stable part of these plates, whereas the remaining five are within the deformation region of the Eurasia-Africa boundary. The conclusions are analyzed in view of the different deformation models, derived from geodynamic or geophysical data that have been proposed for the region.     

Tectonic and Kinematic Regime along the Northern Caribbean Plate Boundary: New Insights from Broad-band Modeling of the May 25, 1992, Ms = 6.9 Cabo Cruz, Cuba, Earthquake

—On May 25th, 1992, an M _s = 6.9 earthquake occurred off the southwestern tip of Cuba, along the boundary between the Caribbean and North American plates. This earthquake was the largest to strike southern Cuba since 1917 and the largest ever recorded in that region by global seismic networks. It is therefore a key element for our understanding of the tectonic and kinematic regime along the northern Caribbean plate boundary. In order to test the previously proposed source parameters of the Cabo Cruz earthquake and to better constrain its focal mechanism, we derived a new set of source parameters from unfiltered broad-band teleseismic records. We used a hybrid ray tracing method that allows us to take into account propagation effects of seismic waves in a realistic crustal model around the source. Our solution is consistent with the long-period focal mechanism solution of Virieux et al. (1992). Our solution also models the higher frequency crustal and water layer phases. The primarily strike-slip focal mechanism has a small thrust component. Its shows an east-west trending nodal plane dipping 55° to the north that we interpret as the rupture plane since it corresponds to the geometry of the major active fault in that area. The displacement on this plane is a left-lateral strike-slip combined with a small amount of southward thrust. The result is in good agreement with the active tectonic structures observed along the Oriente fault south of Cuba. The small thrust component demonstrates that, contrary to prior belief, the transpressive regime extends along this whole segment of the Caribbean/North American plate boundary. Together with historical seismicity, it suggests that most of the stress accumulated by the Caribbean/North American plate motion is released seismically along the southern Cuban margin during relatively few but large earthquakes.     

Compression of the North Hemisphere derived from space geodesy

Introduction With the development of global tectonics and overall detections for global tectonics with multi-geophysical methods, ones can roundly study on the geological tectonics of sampling and magnetic stripe image, so as to summarize and interpret the geometrical and kinematical charac-teristics for the distribution of the ocean and the land, and spreading state of the global tectonics in a global scale. From a comprehensive view, the South and North hemispheres are clearly unsym-metrical…     

全球五大板块的运动和形变──用卫星激光测距数据导出的站速度分析

根据德国卫星激光测距（ＳＬＲ）数据分析中心ＧＦＺ对１９８０年１月－１９９１年７月获取的ＳＬＲ观测数据处理后得到的４１个ＳＬＲ站的站速度，解算了北美、欧亚、太平洋、南美和澳大利亚板块之间的相对运动欧拉矢量，得到了第１个ＳＬＲ实测的板块运动模型ＳＰＭＭ１．与地学板块模型ＲＭ２和ＮＵＶＥＬ－１的比较指出，ＳＰＭＭ１大体上与地学模型一致，与ＮＵＶＥＬ－１更为接近；ＳＰＭＭ１的欧亚与北美板块相对运动欧拉极与ＮＵＶＥＬ－１的相应极很接近，但旋转速率明显偏小．还分析了各板块上ＳＬＲ站的局部形变特征．欧亚板块东部和西部存在１０－２０ｍｍ／ａ的相对运动；板块边界附近ＳＬＲ站的残差站速度基本上反映了该边界的构造形变特征．     

吴忠—灵武地区地震活动性与强震危险性分析

通过吴忠—灵武地区现有的地震活动性资料,并结合该区域过去的几次中强震震例和已有的研究结果,本文梳理与总结了中强震前该区域地震活动乃至中国大陆大震活动的时空特征,而且基于最小完整性震级分析了1970—2019年该区域中小地震的地震活动性特点。综合认为,吴忠—灵武地区中强震的广义前震和中小地震的活动性具有较为鲜明的特征,中强震发生前1—2年内该区域及邻区形成M_L2.0以上地震集中区或其西北方向的阿左旗腰坝区域大都出现M_L3.0以上信号震,而且一年前其主震的广义前震的确比较发育,存在一定程度的地震增强;地震序列统计分析表明,该区域的多重共轭构造可能是其主要原因,其多震型、双震型和震群型占有相对较高的比例。另外,从大形势角度来看,过去大部分5级以上中强震发生的主导因素很可能由华北地块主导的强震活跃幕引起,该区域的强震危险性不仅仅和局部特殊构造特征、区域前震活动变化有关,更重要的是,华北—东北亚地块大震活动对其也起到了较大的影响作用,相比而言,青藏高原、龙门山断裂带及祁连山构造带等区域的大震活动对吴忠—灵武地区中强地震触发影响不显著,而且吴忠—灵武地区的中强地震活动和华北—东北亚地块的大震活动可能存在一定的构造响应。      

Spatiotemporal distribution of seismic activity in East Asia and its relation to regional stress field

Tectonic forces from the relative movements between plates are transmitted into the continental crust, and then they create the earthquake generating stress field there. The space-time distribution of the seismic activity including the small earthquakes in a region reflects the variation of the stress field in the region. According to this idea, the characteristics of the stress fields in the various regions of East Asia have been analyzed in detail in this paper based on a lot of solutions of focal mechanisms and data of seismic activity during the last 500 years. The results indicate that the tectonic forces from the subduction of the Pacific Ocean plate underneath the Eurasian plate control the stress field in the region from North China to the northern part of the North-South Seismic Belt. The variation of the regional stress field shown by the variation of seismic activity in some regions of Japan has also been discussed based on characteristics of variation of the seimicity of small earthquakes. Synchronous variations of seismicity in the past 100 years or so in West China and in the boundary region between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates implicate that there is the transmission of tectonic forces into West China through the collision between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates. The active seismic activity in the boundary region between the Indo-Australian and the Eurasian plates and in West China is continuing consistently. The Chinese version of this paper appeared in the Chinese edition ofActa Seismologica Sinica,13, 287–294, 1991.