The Ms = 6.2, June 15, 1995 Aigion earthquake (Greece): evidence for low angle normal faulting in the Corinth rift

We present the results of a multidisciplinary study of the M_s = 6.2, 1995, June 15, Aigion earthquake (Gulf of Corinth, Greece). In order to constrain the rupture geometry, we used all available data from seismology (local, regional and teleseismic records of the mainshock and of aftershocks), geodesy (GPS and SAR interferometry), and tectonics. Part of these data were obtained during a postseismic field study consisting of the surveying of 24 GPS points, the temporary installation of 20 digital seismometers, and a detailed field investigation for surface fault break. The Aigion fault was the only fault onland which showed detectable breaks (< 4 cm). We relocated the mainshock hypocenter at 10 km in depth, 38 ° 21.7 N, 22 ° 12.0 E, about 15 km NNE to the damaged city of Aigion. The modeling of teleseismic P and SH waves provides a seismic moment M_o = 3.4 10¹⁸ N.m, a well constrained focal mechanism (strike 277 °, dip 33 °, rake – 77°), at a centroidal depth of 7.2 km, consistent with the NEIC and the revised Harvard determinations. It thus involved almost pure normal faulting in agreement with the tectonics of the Gulf. The horizontal GPS displacements corrected for the opening of the gulf (1.5 cm/year) show a well-resolved 7 cm northward motion above the hypocenter, which eliminates the possibility of a steep, south-dipping fault plane. Fitting the S-wave polarization at SERG, 10 km from the epicenter, with a 33° northward dipping plane implies a hypocentral depth greater than 10 km. The north dipping fault plane provides a poor fit to the GPS data at the southern points when a homogeneous elastic half-space is considered: the best fit geodetic model is obtained for a fault shallower by 2 km, assuming the same dip. We show with a two-dimensional model that this depth difference is probably due to the distorting effect of the shallow, low-rigidity sediments of the gulf and of its edges. The best-fit fault model, with dimensions 9 km E–W and 15 km along dip, and a 0.87 m uniform slip, fits InSAR data covering the time of the earthquake. The fault is located about 10 km east-northeast to the Aigion fault, whose surface breaks thus appears as secondary features. The rupture lasted 4 to 5 s, propagating southward and upward on a fault probably outcropping offshore, near the southern edge of the gulf. In the shallowest 4 km, the slip – if any – has not exceeded about 30 cm. This geometry implies a large directivity effect in Aigion, in agreement with the accelerogram aig which shows a short duration (2 s) and a large amplitude (0.5 g) of the direct S acceleration. This unusual low-angle normal faulting may have been favoured by a low-friction, high pore pressure fault zone, or by a rotation of the stress directions due to the possible dip towards the south of the brittle-ductile transition zone. This fault cannot be responsible for the long term topography of the rift, which is controlled by larger normal faults with larger dip angles, implying either a seldom, or a more recently started activity of such low angle faults in the central part of the rift.     

The Aegean Sea (Greece) earthquake sequence of 25 March 1986: An application of the ν-value method for earthquake prediction

A technique based on the ν-value, which is defined by % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaWaaSGbaeaaca% GGOaGafqiXdqNbaebacaGGPaWaaWbaaSqabeaacaaIYaaaaaGcbaWa% a0aaaeaacqaHepaDdaahaaWcbeqaaiaaikdaaaaaaaaaaaa!3CEB!\[{{(\bar \tau )^2 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{(\bar \tau )^2 } {\overline {\tau ^2 } }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\overline {\tau ^2 } }}\], where τ is the time interval between two adjacent earthquakes and indicates the pattern of time sequences of earthquakes, has been applied to the 25 March 1986 Aegean Sea (Greece) earthquake (M _L = 5.2) in an attempt to discover temporal changes in seismicity. The analysis of several earthquake sequences revealed that low ν-values preceded the occurrence of relatively large earthquakes. The ν-value technique may be used for monitoring the seismicity changes.     

Absolute isotopic abundances of Ti in meteorites

The absolute isotope abundance of Ti has been determined in Ca-Al-rich inclusions from the Allende and Leoville meteorites and in samples of whole meteorites. The absolute Ti isotope abundances differ by a significant mass dependent isotope fractionation transformation from the previously reported abundances, which were normalized for fractionation using ${}^{46}\text{Ti}{}^{48}\text{Ti}$. Therefore, the absolute compositions define distinct nucleosynthetic components from those previously identified or reflect the existence of significant mass dependent isotope fractionation in nature. We provide a general formalism for determining the possible isotope compositions of the exotic Ti from the measured composition, for different values of isotope fractionation in nature and for different mixing ratios of the exotic and normal components. The absolute Ti and Ca isotopic compositions still support the correlation of ⁵⁰Ti and ⁴⁸Ca effects in the FUN inclusions and imply contributions from neutron-rich equilibrium or quasi-equilibrium nucleosynthesis. The present identification of endemic effects at ⁴⁶Ti, for the absolute composition, implies a shortfall of an explosive-oxygen component or reflects significant isotope fractionation. Additional nucleosynthetic components are required by ⁴⁷Ti and ⁴⁹Ti effects. Components are also defined in which ⁴⁸Ti is enhanced.Bulk samples of carbonaceous meteorites (C2 and C3 types) show distinct excesses at ⁵⁰Ti but no nonlinear effects at the other Ti isotopes. Other chondrites, including Orgueil (Cl), show no nonlinear effects. Relative to terrestrial Ti, a small isotope fractionation is found for only an enstatite chondrite. The Ti absolute compositions in Ca-Al-rich inclusions show significant isotope fractionation effects corresponding to an enhancement in the heavier isotopes relative to the lighter isotopes as compared to Ti in a TiO₂ standard and in chondrites. The absence of a correlation of Ti isotope fractionation effects with those for Ca and Mg is indicative of multiple processes of condensation, volatilization and recondensation; however, the mechanisms causing the isotope fractionation are not well understood.     

A search for nickel isotopic anomalies in iron meteorites and chondrites

We report Ni isotopic data, for ^58,60-62Ni, on (1) FeNi metal and sulfides in different groups of iron meteorites, (2) sulfides and a whole rock sample of the St. Séverin chondrite, and (3) chondrules from the Chainpur chondrite. We have developed improved, Multiple-Collector, Positive ion Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometric (MC-PTIMS) techniques, with Ni⁺ ionization efficiency at 1‰, and chemical separation techniques for Ni which reduce mass interferences to the 1 ppm level, so that no mass interference corrections need be applied, except for ⁶⁴Ni (from ⁶⁴Zn, at the 0.1‰ level), for which we do not report results. We normalize the data to ⁶²Ni/⁵⁸Ni to correct for mass dependent isotope fractionation. No evidence was found for resolved radiogenic or general Ni isotope anomalies at the resolution levels of 0.2 and 0.5 εu (εu = 0.01%) for ⁶⁰Ni/⁵⁸Ni and ⁶¹Ni/⁵⁸Ni, respectively. From the ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁸Ni ratios and ε(⁶⁰Ni/⁵⁸Ni) values, we calculate upper limits for the initial value of (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ of (a) <2.7 × 10⁻⁷ for Chainpur chondrules, (b) <10⁻⁸ for the St. Séverin sulfide, and (c) <4 × 10⁻⁹ for sulfides from iron meteorites. We measured some of the same meteorites measured by other workers, who reported isotopic anomalies in Ni, using Multiple-Collector, Inductively-Coupled Mass Spectrometry. Our results do not support the previous reports of Ni isotopic anomalies in sulfide samples from Mundrabilla by Cook et al. [Cook D. L., Clayton R. N., Wadhwa M., Janney P. E., and Davis A. M. (2008). Nickel isotopic anomalies in troilite from iron meteorites. Geophy. Res. Lett. 35, L01203] and in sulfides from Toluca and Odessa by Quitté et al. [Quitté G., Meier M., Latkoczy C., Halliday A. N., and Gunther D., (2006). Nickel isotopes in iron meteorites-nucleosynthetic anomalies in sulfides with no effects in metals and no trace of ⁶⁰Fe. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 242, 16-25]. Hence, we find no need for specialized physical-chemical planetary processes for the preservation of different Ni isotope compositions, between FeNi metal and sulfides in the same iron meteorites, as proposed by the above reports nor for complex astrophysical scenarios to provide the very peculiar Ni isotope anomalies reported by these workers for sulfides.     

The identification of early condensates from the solar nebula

Calcium-aluminum-rich chondrules which are highly deficient in alkalis were extracted from the carbonaceous chondrite Allende and yield a range of compositions with the lowest measured isotopic composition of $\text{(}{}^{87}\text{Sr}\text{/}{}^{86}\text{Sr}\text{)}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>ALL</mtext>}}\text{= 0.69877±0.00002}$ and identify this material as the earliest known condensate from the solar nebula. Other chondrules suggest the possible presence of even more primitive Sr in this meteorite. This result also shows that some chondritic material formed very near the earliest part of the condensation sequence. Using alkali-deficient planetary objects (Moon, basaltic achondrites, Angra dos Reis, Allende), the Sr data indicate a time interval for condensation of 10 m.y. (from ALL to BABI) if condensation occurred in a solar Rb/Sr environment. A variety of alkali-rich olivine chondrules and CaAl-rich aggregates from Allende fail to determine an isochron and indicate that the element distribution in this meteorite was disturbed later than 3.6ae, possibly recently, in a cometary nucleus. This disturbance requires that the determination of initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr be done on essentially Rb-free phases. Strontium data from equilibrated chondrites and from an iron meteorite establish an interval for metamorphism or differentiation in protoplanetary objects which followed the condensation process by ≈80 mm.y. The chronology for condensation and early planetary evolution obtained for Sr is in disagreement with the ¹²⁹I chronology but can be brought into agreement, if it is assumed that the high temperature iodine containing phases have not been affected by the metamorphic events determined by Sr.     

Isotopic and chemical investigations on Angra dos Reis

We report on extensive isotopic studies of Pb, Sr and Xe and on chemical abundance measurements of K, Rb, Sr, Ba, Nd, Sm, U and Th for total meteorite and mineral separates of the Angra dos Reis achondrite. U-Pb, Th-Pb and Pb-Pb ages are concordant at 4.54 AE for the total meteorite and for high-purity whitlockite in Angra dos Reis. This establishes Angra dos Reis as an early planetary differentiate which has not been disturbed for these systems since 4.54 AE ago. Measured⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in pyroxene and whitlockite for Angra dos Reis (ADOR) are distinctly below BABI by two parts in 10⁴ and only one part in 10⁴ above the lowest⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (ALL) measured in an Allende inclusion. The difference in ADOR-ALL corresponds to an interval of condensation in the solar nebula of ～3 m.y. If²⁶Al was the heat source for the magmatism on the parent planets of Angra dos Reis and the basaltic achondrites (BABI) then the relatively large difference in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, BABI - ALL, must be the result of planetary evolution rather than condensation over ～10 m.y. Xe isotopic measurements confirm the presence of large amounts of²⁴⁴Pu-produced fission Xe and show that²⁴⁴Pu was enriched in the whitlockite relative to the pyroxene by a factor of ～18. We present chemical element enrichment factors between the whitlockite and the fassaitic pyroxene in Angra dos Reis. The enrichment factors demonstrate close analogy between the rare earth elements and their actinide analogs. The enrichment factor for Pu is intermediate to the enrichment factors of Nd and Sm.     

Results from combining tectonic observations and SAR interferometry for the 1995 Grevena earthquake: A summary

Soon after the 1995 Grevena M_s = 6.6 event, we mapped the Palaeochori earthquake fault break. These tectonic observations are combined with the surface displacement field determined with the SAR interferometry to model the fault dislocation at depth.     

Seismic Hazard Assessment in the Area of Mystras-Sparta,South Peloponnesus,Greece, Based on Local Seismotectonic,Seismic, Geologic Information and on Different Models of Rupture Propagation

Strong seismic events once again confirm the view that great destructive earthquakes are produced by the reactivation of pre-existing faults although they have usually remained inactive for many, perhaps thousands of years. It is evident that such active seismogenic zones, with little or no seismicity, have presumably been ignored in the determination of the region's seismic hazard. At south Peloponnesus, Greece, is situated at Taygetos mountain. At its eastern front lies a large normal fault system, the southern segment being the Sparta fault. This area has been characterized by low seismicity for the last 25 centuries. However, during the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. several destructive earthquakes have been reported. That of 464 B.C., was the most destructive and devastated the city of Sparta. Detailed morphotectonic observations of this area, suggest that the earthquake of 464 B.C. could be related to the most recent reactivation of this fault. The ground accelerations that would be produced by a future activation of the Sparta fault, were calculated, by applying a method which takes into account information mainly from the seismotectonic parameters of the Sparta fault, the rupture pattern, the properties of the propagation medium and the local ground conditions. Moreover, these results were compared with those of other independent studies based mainly on the seismic data of the area. This method estimated greater expected values of ground acceleration than those computed by the conventional seismic hazard methods. The highest values correspond to the activation of the Sparta fault either in a unilateral rupture, which would start from the southernmost point of the fault, or in a circular one. Furthermore, an increase is observed of the order of 50% in the ground acceleration values in unconsolidated soft ground in relation to the corresponding values of hard ground. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ca isotopes in refractory inclusions

We report measurements of the absolute isotope abundance of Ca in Ca-Al-rich inclusions from the Allende and Leoville meteorites. Improved high precision measurements are reported also for ⁴⁶Ca. We find that nonlinear isotope effects in Ca are extremely rare in these inclusions. The absence of nonlinear effects in Ca, except for the effects in FUN inclusions, is in sharp contrast to the endemic effects in Ti. One fine-grained inclusion shows an excess of ⁴⁶Ca of (7 ± 1)%., which is consistent with addition of only ⁴⁶Ca or of an exotic (1) component with ⁴⁶Ca¹ ~ ⁴⁸Ca¹. FUN inclusion EK-1-4-1 shows a small ⁴⁶Ca excess of (3.3 ± 1.0)%.; this confirms that the exotic Ca components in EK-1-4-1 were even more deficient in ⁴⁶Ca relative to ⁴⁸Ca than is the case for normal Ca. The Ca in the Ca-Al-rich inclusions shows mass dependent isotope fractionation effects (as deduced from the absolute ${}^{40}\text{Ca}{}^{44}\text{Ca}$) which have a range from ?3.8 to +6.7%. per mass unit difference. This range is a factor of 20 wider than the range previously established for bulk meteorites and for terrestrial and lunar samples. Ca and Mg isotope fractionation effects in the Ca-Al-rich inclusions are common and attributed to kinetic isotope effects which imply the production of the inclusions by complex sequences of condensation, vaporization and recondensation. A correlation was found between Ca and Mg isotope fractionation effects and inclusion type. A possible correlation between isotope fractionation and rare earth element abundance patterns is discussed.