Rupture progression along discontinuous oblique fault sets: implications for the Karadere rupture segment of the 1999 Izmit earthquake, and future rupture in the Sea of Marmara

Large earthquakes in strike-slip regimes commonly rupture fault segments that are oblique to each other in both strike and dip. This was the case during the 1999 Izmit earthquake, which mainly ruptured E–W-striking right-lateral faults but also ruptured the N60°E-striking Karadere fault at the eastern end of the main rupture. It will also likely be so for any future large fault rupture in the adjacent Sea of Marmara. Our aim here is to characterize the effects of regional stress direction, stress triggering due to rupture, and mechanical slip interaction on the composite rupture process. We examine the failure tendency and slip mechanism on secondary faults that are oblique in strike and dip to a vertical strike-slip fault or “master” fault. For a regional stress field well-oriented for slip on a vertical right-lateral strike-slip fault, we determine that oblique normal faulting is most favored on dipping faults with two different strikes, both of which are oriented clockwise from the strike-slip fault. The orientation closer in strike to the master fault is predicted to slip with right-lateral oblique normal slip, the other one with left-lateral oblique normal slip. The most favored secondary fault orientations depend on the effective coefficient of friction on the faults and the ratio of the vertical stress to the maximum horizontal stress. If the regional stress instead causes left-lateral slip on the vertical master fault, the most favored secondary faults would be oriented counterclockwise from the master fault. For secondary faults striking ±30° oblique to the master fault, right-lateral slip on the master fault brings both these secondary fault orientations closer to the Coulomb condition for shear failure with oblique right-lateral slip. For a secondary fault striking 30° counterclockwise, the predicted stress change and the component of reverse slip both increase for shallower-angle dips of the secondary fault. For a secondary fault striking 30° clockwise, the predicted stress change decreases but the predicted component of normal slip increases for shallower-angle dips of the secondary fault. When both the vertical master fault and the dipping secondary fault are allowed to slip, mechanical interaction produces sharp gradients or discontinuities in slip across their intersection lines. This can effectively constrain rupture to limited portions of larger faults, depending on the locations of fault intersections. Across the fault intersection line, predicted rakes can vary by >40° and the sense of lateral slip can reverse. Application of these results provides a potential explanation for why only a limited portion of the Karadere fault ruptured during the Izmit earthquake. Our results also suggest that the geometries of fault intersection within the Sea of Marmara favor composite rupture of multiple oblique fault segments.     

Stress triggering of normal aftershocks due to strike slip earthquakes in compressive regime

A few cases of occurrence of normal aftershocks after strike slip earthquakes in compressive regime have been reported in the literature. Occurrence of such aftershocks is intriguing as they occurred despite the apparent stabilizing influence of compressive plate tectonic stresses on the normal faults. To investigate the occurrence processes of such earthquakes, we calculate change in static stress on optimally oriented normal and reverse faults in the dilational and compressional step over zones, respectively, due to slip on a vertical strike slip fault under compressive regime. We find that change in static stress is much more pronounced on normal faults as compared to that on reverse faults, for all values of fault friction. Change in static stress on reverse fault is marginally positive only when the fault friction is low, whereas for normal faults it is positive for all values of fault friction, and is maximum for high fault friction. We suggest that strike slip faulting in compressive regime creates a localized tensile environment in the dilational step over zone, which causes normal faulting in that region. The aftershocks on such normal faults are considered to have occurred as an almost instantaneous response of stress transfer due to strike slip motion.     

Stress triggering of normal aftershocks due to strike slip earthquakes in compressive regime

A few cases of occurrence of normal aftershocks after strike slip earthquakes in compressive regime have been reported in the literature. Occurrence of such aftershocks is intriguing as they occurred despite the apparent stabilizing influence of compressive plate tectonic stresses on the normal faults. To investigate the occurrence processes of such earthquakes, we calculate change in static stress on optimally oriented normal and reverse faults in the dilational and compressional step over zones, respectively, due to slip on a vertical strike slip fault under compressive regime. We find that change in static stress is much more pronounced on normal faults as compared to that on reverse faults, for all values of fault friction. Change in static stress on reverse fault is marginally positive only when the fault friction is low, whereas for normal faults it is positive for all values of fault friction, and is maximum for high fault friction. We suggest that strike slip faulting in compressive regime creates a localized tensile environment in the dilational step over zone, which causes normal faulting in that region. The aftershocks on such normal faults are considered to have occurred as an almost instantaneous response of stress transfer due to strike slip motion.     

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

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

Modal and vectorial analysis for determination of stress axes associated with fault slip data

Based on Anderson's faulting theory, for a given set of fault slip data including the sense of slip on faults and fault planes, this paper provides two possible methods to reconstruct the principal stress axes using vectorial and modal analysis procedure. The vectorial analysis consists of computing eigenvectors of the orientation matrices defined by axes P, B, and T (P, B, and T being geometrical axes parallel to axes ₁, ₂, ₃ associated with a single striated fault) which are determined geometrically knowing the slip vector S, the normal to fault plane N, and the dihedral angle 2. A parameter R, related to the maximum eigenvalue of the orientation matrix and the size of data sample, is shown to be a good test value for the homogeneity of the data. A process of refinement of this parameter enables bad data (representing faults generated under different tectonic events) to be ignored in the final computation of the principal stress axes; results are thus significantly improved and the vectorial analysis procedure enables the orientation of stress to be numerically determined. On defining probability density regions around each P, B, and T axes that incorporate the variation of fault geometry, the modal analysis is carried out in two density functions established by a convolution process to locate modes which represent optimal locations of the principal stress axes in spherical space. Splitting of heterogeneous data samples into homogeneous subsets is achieved by a dynamical cluster procedure which enables the principal stress axes associated with each subset to be determined separately.     

Oblique slip and the geometry of normal-fault linkage: mechanics and a case study from the Basin and Range in Oregon

Map patterns of normal fault linkages near Summer Lake, Oregon, show a systematic relationship between échelon step-sense, oblique-slip sense, and the position of linking faults. Where the step sense is the same as the sense of oblique slip (e.g. left step and left-oblique slip), the faults are linked in the lower part of their relay ramp. Where the step-sense and slip-sense are opposite (e.g. left-step and right-oblique slip), the faults are linked in the upper part of the ramp. A boundary-element code is used to calculate the stress field around échelon normal faults during oblique slip, and the model results reveal a relationship similar to the field observations. If step sense and oblique-slip sense are the same, there is a greater potential for deformation ahead of the tip of the front fault and in the lower part of the ramp. If step sense and oblique-slip sense are opposite, there is a greater potential for deformation ahead of the tip of the rear fault and in the upper part of the ramp. The field-model comparison confirms that oblique slip modifies the mechanical interaction among fault segments and thus influences fault growth and the geometry of fault linkage.     

Reactivated strike–slip faults: examples from north Cornwall, UK

Several strike–slip faults at Crackington Haven, UK show evidence of right-lateral movement with tip cracks and dilatational jogs, which have been reactivated by left-lateral strike–slip movement. Evidence for reactivation includes two slickenside striae on a single fault surface, two groups of tip cracks with different orientations and very low displacement gradients or negative (left-lateral) displacements at fault tips.

Evidence for the relative age of the two strike–slip movements is (1) the first formed tip cracks associated with right-lateral slip are deformed, whereas the tip cracks formed during left-lateral slip show no deformation; (2) some of the tip cracks associated with right-lateral movement show left-lateral reactivation; and (3) left-lateral displacement is commonly recorded at the tips of dominantly right-lateral faults.

The orientation of the tip cracks to the main fault is 30–70° clockwise for right-lateral slip, and 20–40° counter-clockwise for left-lateral slip. The structure formed by this process of strike–slip reactivation is termed a “tree structure” because it is similar to a tree with branches. The angular difference between these two groups of tip cracks could be interpreted as due to different stress distribution (e.g., transtensional/transpressional, near-field or far-field stress), different fracture modes or fractures utilizing pre-existing planes of weakness.

Most of the d–x profiles have similar patterns, which show low or negative displacement at the segment fault tips. Although the d–x profiles are complicated by fault segments and reactivation, they provide clear evidence for reactivation. Profiles that experienced two opposite slip movements show various shapes depending on the amount of displacement and the slip sequence. For a larger slip followed by a smaller slip with opposite sense, the profile would be expected to record very low or reverse displacement at fault tips due to late-stage tip propagation. Whereas for a smaller slip followed by larger slip with opposite sense, the d–x profile would be flatter with no reverse displacement at the tips. Reactivation also decreases the ratio of d_max/L since for an original right-lateral fault, left lateral reactivation will reduce the net displacement (d_max) along a fault and increase the fault length (L).

Finally we compare Crackington Haven faults with these in the Atacama system of northern Chile. The Salar Grande Fault (SGF) formed as a left-lateral fault with large displacement in its central region. Later right-lateral reactivation is preserved at the fault tips and at the smaller sub-parallel Cerro Chuculay Fault. These faults resemble those seen at Crackington Haven.     

Strike-slip duplexes

Strike-slip fault systems often contain zones of steep imbricate faults geometrically similar to imbricate fans and duplexes in dip-slip, thrust and normal, fault systems. They are evident in map view rather than in vertical sections. Examples of duplexes are cited from both active and ancient systems and from theoretical and physical models. Duplexes may form at bends on strike-slip faults by a process kinematically analogous to the sequential imbrication of ramps on dip-slip faults. However some may form, and many may initiate, as non-sequential ‘Riedel’ fractures at fault offsets or on straight fault segments. This process is more marked than in dip-slip systems where primary anisotropy such as bedding exerts more control on fault geometry.Strike-slip duplexes may be shunted along the fault system parallel to the regional slip vector. However, duplexes or individual horses will usually also move up or down perpendicular to the slip vector because of the unconstrained upper surface to the fault system. These factors mean that no section through a strike-slip system should be expected to area balance. The faults of strike-slip duplexes and imbricate fans may root in kinematically necessary low-dip faults or may converge downwards and appear in vertical sections as flower structures.     

Tectonic implications of the earthquake swarm of 1997 in the Michoacan Triangle, Mexico

An earthquake swarm occurred during February and March 1997 in the vicinity of the Tancitaro Volcano, in the southern part of the tectonically complex Michoacan Triangle. A study of these events provides an opportunity to map the active faults in the area and to learn if the orientation and the sense of motion on these faults are consistent with the mapped faults and the alignment of cinder cones in the region. The foci of 230 earthquakes, which could be located, are distributed between 10 and 18 km depth, and show an alignment in, roughly, a NE direction. The focal mechanisms and seismic moments of the 27 best-recorded events were determined by waveform modeling of P and S waves. These mechanisms show two distinct patterns. More than 50% of the solutions are left-lateral strike–slip mechanisms with a normal component. The preferred fault plane strikes NE. Another group of events, probably caused by triggered seismicity on the Chapala–Oaxaca fault zone, shows left-lateral strike–slip mechanisms with a large-thrust component on NW-trending faults. S wave splitting shows 1–2.5% crustal-anisotropy. The direction of the anisotropy coincides with the NE alignment of events, and the preferred nodal plane. This is also the alignment of cinder cones, suggesting that preexisting fractures and cracks are responsible for the seismicity and anisotropic behavior of the crust. The resulting stress orientation, NE compression, is the one expected for the fore-arc region. We conclude that although Michoacan Triangle lies in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, it does not form part of this stress province where the stress orientation is NS extension.     

Stress,strain and fault patterns

If faulting is treated as a stress-controlled phenomenon, the generation of a single fault set, or two sets in conjugate arrangement are inevitably predicted implying plane strain. Alternatively, considering faulting as a strain-controlled process, multiple-set patterns can be predicted. The analysis of multiple-set patterns requires identifying the type of fault pattern from four possibilities: Coulomb, isolated, orthorhombic and complex fault patterns.There are techniques that permit a unique solution of strain tensor for Coulomb and orthorhombic fault patterns. For isolated fault patterns, the principal paleostress directions could be used to approximate the principal strain directions. In this case, we need to assume a homogeneous stress field, independence between faults, and parallelism between shear stress and slip vector on the sliding plane.For complex fault patterns, it is not possible to uniquely determine the total strain tensor without knowledge of all the slip planes. Furthermore, inverting fault-slip data to determine the stress tensor is not correct because the assumptions of the inversion methods are not satisfied. Only a rough approximation is possible assuming that strain produced by major faults represents the total strain tensor.     

Using fault displacement and slip tendency to estimate stress states

We suggest that faults in high slip tendency orientations tend to develop larger displacements than other faults. Consequently, faults that accumulate larger displacements are more likely to be reliable indicators of the longer term stress field and should be weighted accordingly in paleostress estimation. Application of a stress inversion technique that uses slip tendency analyses and fault displacements to interpret populations of coherent normal faults within the Balcones Fault System of south-central Texas provides stress estimates that are consistent with established regional stress analyses. Although the method does not require measurement of slip directions, these data, where available, and sensitivity analyses of the angular mismatch between measured slip directions and those predicted by inverted stress states provide high confidence in the stress estimates generated using slip tendency analyses. Close inspection of the fault orientation and displacement data further indicates that subpopulations of faults with orientations different from the regional pattern have formed in response to stress perturbations generated by displacement gradients on an adjacent seismic scale fault.     

The February 11, 2004 Dead Sea earthquake ML = 5.2 in Jordan and its tectonic implication

A moderate-sized (M_w  5.3) earthquake occurred in the Dead Sea basin on February 11, 2004. A rigorous seismological analysis of the main shock and numerous aftershocks suggests that seismogenic structure was a secondary, antithetic fault within the Dead Sea fault system. The main shock is well located using all available regional seismic stations, and 43 aftershocks were precisely located relative to the main shock using a double difference algorithm. The first motion, focal mechanism for this earthquake demonstrates NNW–SSE and ENE–WSW striking nodal planes, and the aftershocks distribution is consistent with the latter — indicating a right-lateral sense of displacement. This orientation and sense of shear are consistent with similarly oriented geological faults around the Dead Sea basin — these structures are likely antithetic faults within the transform system. Although moderate in size, earthquakes that occur very close to the large Dead Sea fault system warrant consideration in the earthquake hazard assessment of the region: For example, owing to the proximity to the main fault, moderate earthquakes such as this may produce static changes in Coulomb stress along the main fault.     

Géométrie et cinématique post-oligocène des failles d'Aix et de la moyenne Durance (Provence,France)

The southern termination of the left-lateral ‘Moyenne Durance’ Fault (FMD) consists in several segments, some being connected to WSW-trending south-verging reverse faults. To the south, the Aix fault is reactivated in a post-Oligocene strike-slip movement showing that these two faults might belong to the same system. This system seems to transfer, in turn, slip to the east-trending, south-verging Trévaresse reverse fault, allowing southward propagation of the Alpine deformation front in western Provence. Fault kinematics analysis shows lateral stress field change between the two faults. Strike-slip stress state is characterized by an average N150°E trending σ1 near the FMD termination, whilst strike-slip and reverse faulting stress states show north-trending ${\sigma }_1$ to the south. To cite this article: P. Guignard et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

The role of the Kazakhstan orocline in the late Paleozoic amalgamation of Eurasia

After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, we mapped surface ground fractures in Tangdhar, Uri, Rajouri and Punch sectors and liquefaction features in Jammu area lying close to the eastern side of the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir, India. The NW trending ground fractures occurred largely in the hanging wall zone of the southeastern extension of the causative fault in Tangdhar and Uri sectors. The principal compressive stress deduced from the earthquake induced ground fractures is oriented at N10°, whereas the causative Balakot–Bagh fault strikes 330°. The fault-plane solution indicates primarily SW thrusting of the causative fault with a component of strike–slip motion. The ground fractures reflect pronounced strike–slip together with some tensile component. The Tangdhar area showing left-lateral strike–slip motion lies on the hanging wall, and the Uri region showing right-lateral strike–slip movement is located towards the southeastern extension of the causative fault zone. The shear fractures are related to static stress that was responsible for the failure of causative fault. The tensile fractures with offsets are attributed to combination of both static and dynamic stresses, and the fractures and openings without offsets owe their origin due to dynamic stress. In Punch–Rajouri and Jammu area, which lies on the footwall, the fractures and liquefactions were generated by dynamic stress. The occurrence of liquefaction features in the out board part of the Himalayan range front near Jammu is suggestive of stress transfer  230 km southeast of the epicenter. The Balakot–Bagh Fault (BBF), the Muzaffarabad anticline, the rupture zone of causative fault and the zone of aftershocks — all are aligned in a  25 km wide belt along the NW–SE trending regional Himalayan strike of Kashmir region and lying between the MBT and the Riasi Thrust (Murree Thrust), suggesting a seismogenic zone that may propagate towards the southeast to trigger an earthquake in the eastern part of the Kashmir region.     

Neotectonic deformation in the transition zone between the Dead Sea Transform and the East Anatolian Fault Zone, Southern Turkey: a palaeomagnetic study of the Karasu Rift Volcanism

In southern Turkey ongoing differential impingement of Arabia into the weak Anatolian collisional collage resulting from subduction of the Neotethyan Ocean has produced one of the most complex crustal interactions along the Alpine–Himalayan Orogen. Several major transforms with disputed motions, including the northward extension of the Dead Sea Fault Zone (DSFZ), meet in this region. To evaluate neotectonic motion on the Amanos and East Hatay fault zones considered to be northward extensions of the DSFZ, the palaeomagnetism of volcanic fields in the Karasu Rift between these faults has been studied. Remanence carriers are low-Ti magnetites and all except 5 of 51 basalt lavas have normal polarity. Morphological, polarity and K–Ar evidence show that rift formation occurred largely during the Brunhes chron with volcanism concentrated at 0.66–0.35 Ma and a subsidiary episode at 0.25–0.05. Forty-four units of normal polarity yield a mean of D/I=8.8°/54.7° with inclination identical to the present-day field and declination rotated clockwise by 8.8±4.0°. Within the 15-km-wide Hassa sector of the Karasu Rift, the volcanic activity is concentrated between the Amanos and East Hatay faults, both with left lateral motions, which have rotated blocks bounded by NW–SE cross faults in a clockwise sense as the Arabian Block has moved northwestwards. An average lava age of 0.5 Ma yields a minimum cumulative slip rate on the system bounding faults of 0.46 cm/year according with the rate deduced from the Africa–Arabia Euler vector and reduced rates of slip on the southern extension of the DSFZ during Plio-Quaternary times. Estimates deduced from offsets of dated lavas flows and morphological features on the Amanos Fault Zone [Tectonophysics 344 (2002) 207] are lower (0.09–0.18 cm/year) probably because they are limited to surface fault breaks and do not embrace the seismogenic crust.Results of this study suggest that most strike slip on the DSFZ is taken up by the Amanos–East Hatay–Afrin fault array in southern Turkey. Comparable estimates of Quaternary slip rate are identified on other faults meeting at an unstable FFF junction (DSFZ, East Anatolian Fault Zone, Karatas Fault Zone). A deceleration in slip rate across the DSFZ and its northward continuation during Plio-Quaternary times correlates with reorganization of the tectonic regime during the last 1–3 Ma including tectonic escape within Anatolia, establishment of the North and East Anatolian Fault Zones bounding the Anatolian collage in mid–late Pliocene times, a contemporaneous transition from transpression to transtension and concentration of all basaltic magmatism in this region within the last 1 Ma.     

Geomechanical modelling of fault reactivation in the Cooper Basin,Australia

The Australian Cooper Basin is a structurally complex intra-cratonic basin with large unconventional hydrocarbon potential. Fracture stimulation treatments are used extensively in this basin to improve the economic feasibility; however, such treatments may induce fault activity and risk the integrity of hydrocarbon accumulations. Fault reactivation may not only encourage tertiary fluid migration but also decrease porosity through cataclasis and potentially compartmentalise the reservoir. Relatively new depth-converted three-dimensional seismic surveys covering the Dullingari and Swan Lake 3D seismic surveys were structurally interpreted and geomechanically modelled to constrain the slip tendency, dilation tendency and fracture stability of faults under the present-day stress. A field-scale pore pressure study found a maximum pressure gradient of 11.31 kPa/m within the Dullingari 3D seismic survey, and 11.14 kPa/m within the Swan Lake 3D seismic survey. The present-day stress tensor was taken from previously published work, and combined with local pore pressure gradients and depth-converted field-scale fault geometries, to conclude that SE–NW-striking strike-slip faults are optimally oriented to reactivate and dilate. High-angle faults striking approximately E–W appear most likely to dilate, and act as fluid conduits irrespective of being modelled under a strike-slip or compressional stress regime. Near-vertical SE–NW and NE–SW-striking faults were modelled to be preferentially oriented to slip and reactivate under a strike-slip stress regime. Considering that SE–NW-striking strike-slip faults have only recently been interpreted in the literature, it is possible that many reservoir simulations and development plans have overlooked or underestimated the effect that fault reactivation may have on reservoir properties. Future work investigating the likelihood that fracture stimulation treatments may be interacting, and reactivating, pre-existing faults and fractures would benefit field development programs utilising high-pressure hydraulic fracture stimulation treatments.     

Seismotectonics of strike–slip earthquakes within the deep crust of southern Italy: Geometry, kinematics, stress field and crustal rheology of the Potenza 1990–1991 seismic sequences (Mmax 5.7)

We present a revision and a seismotectonic interpretation of deep crust strike–slip earthquake sequences that occurred in 1990–1991 in the Southern Apennines (Potenza area). The revision is motivated by: i) the striking similarity to a seismic sequence that occurred in 2002  140 km NNW, in an analogous tectonic context (Molise area), suggesting a common seismotectonic environment of regional importance; ii) the close proximity of such deep strike–slip seismicity with shallow extensional seismicity (Apennine area); and iii) the lack of knowledge about the mechanical properties of the crust that might justify the observed crustal seismicity. A comparison between the revised 1990–1991 earthquakes and the 2002 earthquakes, as well as the integration of seismological data with a rheological analysis offer new constraints on the regional seismotectonic context of crustal seismicity in the Southern Apennines. The seismological revision consists of a relocation of the aftershock sequences based on newly constrained velocity models. New focal mechanisms of the aftershocks are computed and the active state of stress is constrained via the use of a stress inversion technique. The relationships among the observed seismicity, the crustal structure of the Southern Apennines, and the rheological layering are analysed along a crustal section crossing southern Italy, by computing geotherms and two-mechanism (brittle frictional vs. ductile plastic strength) rheological profiles. The 1990–1991 seismicity is concentrated in a well-defined depth range (mostly between 15 and 23 km depths). This depth range corresponds to the upper pat of the middle crust underlying the Apulian sedimentary cover, in the footwall of the easternmost Apennine thrust system. The 3D distribution of the aftershocks, the fault kinematics, and the stress inversion indicate the activation of a right-lateral strike–slip fault striking N100°E under a stress field characterized by a sub-horizontal N142°-trending σ1 and a sub-horizontal N232°-trending σ3, very similar to the known stress field of the Gargano seismic zone in the Apulian foreland. The apparent anomalous depths of the earthquakes (> 15 km) and the confinement within a relatively narrow depth range are explained by the crustal rheology, which consists of a strong brittle layer at mid crustal depths sandwiched between two plastic horizons. This articulated rheological stratification is typical of the central part of the Southern Apennine crust, where the Apulian crust is overthrusted by Apennine units. Both the Potenza 1990–1991 and the Molise 2002 seismic sequences can be interpreted to be due to crustal E–W fault zones within the Apulian crust inherited from previous tectonic phases and overthrusted by Apennine units during the Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene. The present strike–slip tectonic regime reactivated these fault zones and caused them to move with an uneven mechanical behaviour; brittle seismogenic faulting is confined to the strong brittle part of the middle crust. This strong brittle layer might also act as a stress guide able to laterally transmit the deviatoric stresses responsible for the strike–slip regime in the Apulian crust and may explain the close proximity (nearly overlapping) of the strike–slip and normal faulting regimes in the Southern Apennines. From a methodological point of view, it seems that rather simple two-mechanism rheological profiles, though affected by uncertainties, are still a useful tool for estimating the rheological properties and likely seismogenic behaviour of the crust.     

基于断层擦痕侧伏角公式的构造应力张量反演

利用Aleksandrowski推导的断层擦痕侧伏角公式,提出了一种改进的构造应力张量反演法。根据不同应力比值下构造应力与断层擦痕侧伏角的关系,利用最小二乘法,详细推导了构造应力张量的反演方法,最后利用Matlab软件编制程序实现了该计算过程。在此基础上,现场调查了江西武山铜矿北矿带的断层滑动数据,利用上述改进方法反演了该地区的构造应力张量方向特征。将上述反演结果与由震源机制解获得的最新构造应力场结果进行对比分析,并结合研究区断层的展布特征及所在的地质构造背景,获得了该地区自晚侏罗世以来的构造应力场特征,表明该地区构造应力场具有一定的稳定性。改进后的构造应力张量求解过程及工程应用表明,将Aleksandrowski的图示法和Etchecopar等的反演法结合起来反演构造应力张量,是对已有方法的改进,具有更加简单、实现容易等特点,计算结果比较符合实际。     

Electromagnetic signals associated with stick–slip of quartz-free rocks

We recorded clear transients in the electric and magnetic fields upon sudden slip in stick–slip experiments on dry, cylindrically shaped, quartz-free rock specimens of basalt and peridotite with a 30° saw-cut (representing a fault) at confining pressures of up to 120 MPa. The amplitudes of the measured electric field signals were always higher at the electrode pair oriented parallel to the strike of the fault than at the pair oriented perpendicular. This anisotropy suggests a preferred electric polarization normal to the slip surface. The transients in the electric and magnetic fields were observed only when the fault slip occurred by stick–slip mode, not by a stable mode of the sliding, and the amplitudes of the electric field signals increased with increasing stress drop. It is suggested that the generation process of the electromagnetic signals is closely related to the characteristic behavior of the fault at the time of the initiation of slip during stick–slip events, probably with respect to the intensity of the signals. We propose that one or both of the following two processes characteristic of the fault at the time of the initiation of slip during stick–slip events are essential for the generation of detectable electromagnetic signals: rapid slip along the simulated fault and separation of the rock masses across the fault.     

渤海走滑断裂对古近系源－汇体系的控制作用

走滑断裂在渤海海域广泛分布,深刻影响着沉积盆地的形成与演化,同时也深刻影响着源－汇体系的形成和演化.在对渤海海域大量钻井资料和地震资料分析的基础上,认为走滑断裂对渤海古近系源－汇体系的控制作用主要表现在:走滑断裂压扭作用控制了局部物源体系的形成;走滑断裂的张扭作用控制了沟谷低地的形成;走滑断裂的水平运动控制源－汇体系的横向迁移.走滑断裂带源－汇体系发育模式十分复杂,渤海古近系常见的主要有S型走滑断裂带源－汇体系模式、叠覆型走滑断裂带源－汇体系模式、帚状走滑断裂带源－汇体系模式、共轭走滑带源－汇体系模式.开展走滑断裂带源－汇体系特征及其控砂模式的探讨,对含油气盆地的储层预测具有重要的意义.