New techniques for the analysis of earthquake sources from local array data with an application to the 1993 Scotts Mills, Oregon, aftershock sequence

We analysed aftershocks recorded by a temporary digital seismic network following the moderate M _w = 5.5 1993, Scotts Mills, Oregon, earthquake. A technique to retrieve source moment tensors from local waveforms was developed, tested, and applied to 41 small earthquakes ( M _w ranging from 1.6 to 3.2). The derived focal mechanisms, although well resolved, are highly variable and do not share a common nodal plane. In contrast, the majority of the events, relocated with a joint hypocentre determination algorithm, collapse to a well-focused plane. The incompatibility of the nodal planes of most events with the plane defined by their locations suggests that the aftershocks did not occur on the fault plane, but tightly around it, outlining the rupture area rather than defining it. Furthermore, the moment tensors reveal stable P -axes, whereas T  -axes plunges are highly dispersed. We detect a rotation of average T  -axis plunge with depth, indicating a change from shallower, predominantly dip-slip mechanisms to deeper strike-slip mechanisms. These characteristics are difficult to explain by remnant stress concentrations on the main-shock rupture plane or asperity- and barrier-type models. We suggest that the aftershocks occurred under the ambient regional stress, triggered by a sudden weakening of the region surrounding the main-shock slip, rather than from a shear stress increase due to the main shock.     

The detection of single-domain greigite (Fe3S4) using rotational remanent magnetization (RRM) and the effective gyro field (Bg): mineral magnetic and palaeomagnetic applications

The intensity of rotational remanent magnetization (RRM) acquired by single-domain greigite at a rotation frequency of 5 rps was combined with measurements of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) to calculate the effective biasing field ( Bg ) that produced the RRM. Samples of single-domain greigite had Bg values between -137 and -84 μT, and a MDF_RRM of c. 80 mT. By contrast, a suite of natural and synthetic ferrimagnetic iron oxide samples, including single-domain magnetite and y Fe₃O₄ tape particles, acquired Bg values between -3 and -14 μT, and MDF_RRM ranged between 43 and 68 mT (when RRM was acquired). Multidomain magnetite did not acquire a RRM. Bg values at 5 rps were calculated from previously published data for magnetite particles of different grain sizes, which revealed a minimum Bg value of -24 μT and a MDF_RRM of 57 mT for the finest fraction (0.2-0.8 μm in diameter). In a geological example, measurements of Bg and MDF_RRM were used to detect the presence of greigite in a 4 m long Late Weichselian sediment core. Variations in inclination, declination and the intensity of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) correlate with changes in magnetic mineralogy.