Formation and shortening deformation of a back-arc rift basin revealed by deep seismic profiling, central Japan

The northern Fossa Magna (NFM) basin is a Miocene rift system produced in the final stages of the opening of the Sea of Japan. It divides the major structure of Japan into two regions, with north-trending geological structures to the NE of the basin and EW trending structures to the west of the basin. The Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line (ISTL) bounds the western part of the northern Fossa Magna and forms an active fault system that displays one of the largest slip rates (4–9 mm/year) in the Japanese islands. Deep seismic reflection and refraction/wide-angle reflection profiling were undertaken in 2002 across the northern part of ISTL in order to delineate structures in the crust, and the deep geometry of the active fault systems. The seismic images are interpreted based on the pattern of reflectors, the surface geology and velocities derived from refraction analysis. The 68-km-long seismic section suggests that the Miocene NFM basin was formed by an east dipping normal fault with a shallow flat segment to 6 km depth and a deeper ramp penetrating to 15 km depth. This low-angle normal fault originated as a comparatively shallow brittle/ductile detachment in a high thermal regime present in the Miocene. The NFM basin was filled by a thick (>6 km) accumulation of sediments. Shortening since the late Neogene is accommodated along NS to NE–SE trending thrust faults that previously accommodated extension and produce fault-related folds on their hanging wall. Based on our balanced geologic cross-section, the total amount of Miocene extension is ca. 42 km and the total amount of late Neogene to Quaternary shortening is ca. 23 km.     

Low-frequency 3-D seismic survey of upper crustal magmatic intrusions in the northeastern Pannonian basin of Hungary

A specially designed 700-km² grid survey, deploying 1000 regularly distributed low-frequency seismic recording systems, successfully investigated one of the most complex geologic environments of the Pannonian basin. The wide-angle signals penetrated through over 1000 m of multi-phase igneous lithology and recognized, for the first time, the underlying enigmatic Permian to Early Triassic basement rocks. Tomographic inversion of the first arrival grid data resulted in determination of an accurate three-dimensional (3-D) velocity field, to a depth of 4 km. The anomalous changes of the spatial velocity data outline the regional extent of the Late Miocene magmatic intrusions, which are covered by over 2000 m of Mid-Miocene to Pleistocene clastics. Complex relationship was found between the surface potential data and the intrusive bodies. This multi-faceted geophysical data analysis established a functional technique for mapping a subsurface with intricate acoustic and structural complexity.     

2-D crustal Poisson's ratio from seismic travel time inversion in Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic region

Based on the inversion method of 2D velocity structure and interface, the crustal velocity structures of P-wave and S-wave along the profile L1 are determined simultaneously with deep seismic sounding data in Changbaishan Tianchi volcanic region, and then its Poisson's ratio is obtained. Calculated results show that this technique overcomes some defects of traditional forward calculation method, and it is also very effective to determine Poisson's ratio distribution of deep seismic sounding profile, especially useful for study on volcanic magma and crustal fault zone. Study result indicates that there is an abnormally high Poisson's ratio body that is about 30 km wide and 12 km high in the low velocity region under Tianchi crater. Its value of Poisson's ratio is 8% higher than that of surrounding medium and it should be the magma chamber formed from melted rock with high temperature. There is a high Poisson's ratio zone ranging from magma chamber to the top of crust, which may be the uprise passage of hot substance. The lower part with high Poisson's ratio, which stretches downward to Moho, is possibly the extrusion way of hot substance from the uppermost mantle. The conclusions above are consistent with the study results of both tomographic determination of 3D crustal structure and magnetotelluric survey in this region.