Non-tectonic Processes Research Articles

Shallow structure and late quaternary slip rate of the Osaka Bay fault, western Japan

The Osaka Bay is situated at a seismically active region north of the Median Tectonic Line and east of Awaji Island in western Japan, known as part of the Kinki Triangle and the Niigata–Kobe Tectonic Zone. Dense distribution of active faults and high geodetic strain rates characterize the region, posing a major seismic hazard potential to the coastal and metropolitan areas of the Kansai region. To investigate the shallow structure and recent deformation history of active faults in the Osaka Bay, we acquired 15 high-resolution seismic profiles using a Mini-GI airgun and a Boomer as active sources, together with multi-beam bathymetry data across the Osaka Bay Fault. Our seismic sections image a ~ 0.1 to 3.7 km-wide asymmetric anticline forelimb above the Osaka Bay Fault at shallow depths, coupled with a ~ 2.6 km-wide syncline to the west, and a broad, ~ 11 km-wide syncline in the footwall to the east. The synclinal axial surface at shallow depths measured in this study ranges 75°–89°. We observe the vertical displacement of the Osaka Bay Fault increasing northwards along strike. The sediment thickness on the hanging wall, however, is variable, modified by non-tectonic processes such as by tidal currents, affecting the geometry of growth strata. The most recent deformation by the Osaka Bay Fault reaches to near the seafloor by active folding, with large vertical offsets of 8–14 m over the last ~ 11 ka, and 5–11 m over the last ~ 5 ka. By combining with previously reported borehole age data, the average uplift rate on the Osaka Bay Fault is estimated to be ~ 1.0 to 1.7 m/ka during the Latest Pleistocene to Holocene. The inferred slip of the Osaka Bay Fault during the Holocene is likely to account for > 5% of the regional geodetic strain accumulation within the Kinki Triangle. Further studies to evaluate the Holocene slip rates of regional faults are necessary to assess the seismic hazards and the internal strain budgets within the Kinki Triangle and the Niigata–Kobe Tectonic Zone.Graphical abstract

Controls on Timing of Hydrothermal Fluid Flow in South-Central Kansas, North-Central Oklahoma, and the Tri-State Mineral District

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the southern midcontinent of the United States have been affected by multiple events of deformation and fluid flow, resulting in petroleum migration, thermal alteration, Mississippi Valley-type mineralization, and a complex diagenetic history. This record is a hidden history of how cratonal settings respond to tectonic and non-tectonic drivers. The aim of this contribution is to better understand the controls on fluid migration in Paleozoic strata to evaluate whether hydrothermal activity is forced by tectonic or non-tectonic processes. This paper summarizes and vets the distribution of published dates related to thermal events in the southern midcontinent. In addition, we present new U-Pb dates obtained by laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on calcite cements that were formed from hydrothermal fluids. These are from three samples from the Berexco Wellington KGS 1-32 core in Sumner County, Kansas; an ore sample from the Tri-State Mineral District, Neck City, Missouri; and a core sample from the Blackbird 4-33 well in Osage County, Oklahoma. Previous studies of these calcite samples provided evidence for hydrothermal fluid flow, with one of the Wellington samples possibly recording vertical hydrothermal fluid flow out of the basement. The sample from the Tri-State Mineral District (Missouri) yields a mid-Cretaceous age of 115.6±3.1 Ma. This age falls into the timing of the Sevier Orogeny along the west coast and the development of its foreland basin in the midcontinent. Calcites from the Mississippian interval in the Wellington KGS 1-32 core yield dates of 305±10.5 Ma and 305.1±9.1 Ma. Calcite in Mississippian strata from the Blackbird 4-33 core yields a date of 308.6±2.5 Ma. These dates from Mississippian calcite cements indicate hydrothermal fluid flow in the Late Pennsylvanian that coincides with the timing of the Marathon-Ouachita Orogeny or the Ancestral Rocky Mountains Orogeny. A calcite sample from the Ordovician Arbuckle Group from the Berexco Wellington KGS 1-32 core yielded an age of 5.6±1.6 Ma, coinciding with a time after high elevation uplift of the Rocky Mountains was already far advanced. We propose that this hydrothermal fluid flow may have been associated with increased meteoric recharge and increased regional fluid pressure in a basement aquifer that activated local seismic events far into the continental interior. The distribution of ages of hydrothermal fluid flow confirms a syntectonic driver during the Ouachita Orogeny and Ancestral Rocky Mountains Orogeny deformation. Continuation of hydrothermal fluid flow well into the Permian and tailing off early in the Triassic indicates a post-tectonic driver, where uplifted areas continued to provide the recharge from gravity-driven fluid flow, until the mountains were mostly beveled by the early part of the Triassic. A dearth of Triassic and Jurassic hydrothermal events suggests Gulf of Mexico rifting and extension were less important. Rejuvenation of hydrothermal fluid flow in the Cretaceous and continuing into the Paleogene indicates that elevation and regional flexure from both the Sevier and Laramide events continued to drive hydrothermal fluid flow far from the main sites of mountainous uplift and deformation. Finally, hydrothermal fluid flow associated with more recent uplift of the Rocky Mountains may have been activated by recharge events that pressurized a regional basement aquifer and triggered seismic activity.

Deformation Pattern of the Northern Sector of the Malta Escarpment (Offshore SE Sicily, Italy): Fault Dimension, Slip Prediction, and Seismotectonic Implications

Marine seismic reflection data coupled with on-land structural measurements improve our knowledge about the active deformation pattern of the northern sector of the Malta Escarpment, a bathymetric and structural discontinuity in the near-offshore of Eastern Sicily. As favourably oriented to be reactivated within the Neogene Africa–Europe convergence, it is believed that the Malta Escarpment has a significant role in the recent seismotectonic framework of the Western Ionian Basin and the Hyblean foreland domain of SE Sicily, where some of the largest and most destructive Mediterranean earthquakes are located according to available historical catalogs. Offshore seismic data along with bathymetric grids illuminate the shallow subseafloor setting and allow more accurate mapping of the seafloor expression of previously identified faults in the area. The seismic interpretation and the near-fault sediment pattern analysis provide constraints on fault 3D geometries as well as on their through-time tectonic activity, suggesting also that part of the observed deformation may have been caused by nontectonic processes. Identified faults form currently an E-dipping, roughly N–S trending, and 60 km-long extensional belt deforming the seafloor with a significant displacement amount in the Ionian offshore between Catania and Siracusa. 3-dimensional parameters of faults were then used to derive expected magnitudes and their reactivation propensity. Empirical scaling relationships and forward methods point to a high seismic potential for the detected fault as well as predict the fault slip behavior according to the field-derived differential stress. This combined analysis along with faults displacement measurements pointed out how the longest and most continuous fault could be capable of generating M > 7 seismic events, putting forward strong seismotectonic implications for the adjacent and densely populated Hyblean Plateau. The expected magnitude and the estimated recurrence time interval are compatible with those inferred for large historical earthquakes in the area even if other offshore seismic sources cannot be ruled out.

Hydrologically-driven crustal stresses and seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone

The degree to which short-term non-tectonic processes, either natural and anthropogenic, influence the occurrence of earthquakes in active tectonic settings or ‘stable’ plate interiors, remains a subject of debate. Recent work in plate-boundary regions demonstrates the capacity for long-wavelength changes in continental water storage to produce observable surface deformation, induce crustal stresses and modulate seismicity rates. Here we show that a significant variation in the rate of microearthquakes in the intraplate New Madrid Seismic Zone at annual and multi-annual timescales coincides with hydrological loading in the upper Mississippi embayment. We demonstrate that this loading, which results in geodetically observed surface deformation, induces stresses within the lithosphere that, although of small amplitude, modulate the ongoing seismicity of the New Madrid region. Correspondence between surface deformation, hydrological loading and seismicity rates at both annual and multi-annual timescales indicates that seismicity variations are the direct result of elastic stresses induced by the water load.

High interseismic coupling in the Eastern Makran (Pakistan) subduction zone

Estimating the extent of interseismic coupling along subduction zone megathrusts is essential for quantitative assessments of seismic and tsunami hazards. Up to now, quantifying the seismogenic potential of the eastern Makran subduction zone at the northern edge of the Indian ocean has remained elusive due to a paucity of geodetic observations. Furthermore, non-tectonic processes obscure the signature of accumulating elastic strain. Historical earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 7 have been reported. In particular, the 1945 Mw 8.1 earthquake resulted in a significant tsunami that swept the shores of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. A quantitative estimate of elastic strain accumulation along the subduction plate boundary in eastern Makran is needed to confront previous indirect and contradictory conclusions about the seismic potential in the region. Here, we infer the distribution of interseismic coupling on the eastern Makran megathrust from time series of satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images acquired between 2003 and 2010, applying a consistent series of corrections to extract the low amplitude, long wavelength deformation signal associated with elastic strain on the megathrust. We find high interseismic coupling (i.e. the megathrust does not slip and elastic strain accumulates) in the central section of eastern Makran, where the 1945 earthquake occurred, while lower coupling coincides spatially with the subduction of the Sonne Fault Zone. The inferred accumulation of elastic strain since the 1945 earthquake is consistent with the future occurrence of magnitude 7+ earthquakes and we cannot exclude the possibility of a multi-segment rupture (Mw 8+). However, the likelihood for such scenarios might be modulated by partitioning of plate convergence between slip on the megathrust and internal deformation of the overlying, actively deforming, accretionary wedge.

Channel slope reversal near the Martian dichotomy boundary: Testing tectonic hypotheses

Faults along the Martian dichotomy boundary are evidence of tectonic activity, which by analogy with terrestrial tectonism may cause changes in or even reversal of fluvial longitudinal profiles. In the eastern hemisphere between 30° E and 150° E, this tectonic activity has been hypothesized to result from lower crustal flow or from lithospheric flexure, for which loading (e.g., by material deposition) of the northern lowlands is a possible cause (Watters, 2003a; Nimmo, 2005). The topographic (slope) changes resulting from these two different mechanisms are distinct and can provide a means for distinguishing between them, although other processes may complicate interpretations of reversed longitudinal profiles. Two fan-shaped networks of inverted channels are located near 150° E in the Aeolis Dorsa region just north of the dichotomy boundary. Their original flow directions, inferred from planform morphology, suggest flow to the northeast in contrast to their current longitudinal profiles sloping down to the southwest. This contrast indicates slope reversal. We investigate the lower crustal flow and flexure mechanisms for slope reversal by testing three different hypotheses: 1) lower crustal flow, 2) flexure caused by material erosion from the highlands and deposition in the lowlands, and 3) flexure caused by highland erosion and deposition in the lowlands plus deposition of the Medusae Fossae Formation in the lowlands. We test these three hypotheses by comparing the inferred magnitudes of the slope reversals with predicted slope changes from geophysical models for these processes. Taking the possibility of non-tectonic (i.e., collapse) processes into account, our results suggest that, among these three models, the slope reversal is most consistent with the predicted tectonic response to erosion and deposition of highland material in conjunction with deposition of the Medusae Fossae Formation. Contrary to previous findings, our results do not support the mechanism of lateral crustal flow, although they do not rule it out because lower crustal flow and erosion may both have been operating, but on different time scales. The result of this hypothesis-testing provides insight into the evolution of the dichotomy boundary and Martian crust in this location.

Origin(s) of Antarctica's Wilkes Subglacial Basin

AbstractThe Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB), the largest subglacial basin in East Antarctica, is a topographic depression of continental proportions that lies beneath the East Antarctic continental ice sheet. Discovered by the US Victoria Land Traverse 1959–60, the origin of the WSB and the influence of palaeoclimate on its overlying continental ice sheet have remained uncertain since the time of its discovery. Most explanations of origin favour lithospheric structural control as a function of tectonic activity. Lithospheric flexure due to thermally or isostatically induced uplift of the Transantarctic Mountains was suggested in the 1980s. Lithospheric extension and rifting was proposed in the 1990s. More recent investigations have revealed the presence of fold and thrust belts, casting doubt on flexural and extensional hypotheses as the primary mechanisms, suggesting instead a compressional scenario. While remaining inconclusive, these tectonic mechanisms in one form or another, or in combination, are now believed to have provided the structural control for the origin of the WSB. Not yet comprehensively examined, however, is the role of non-tectonic processes in the formation of the WSB, as they may have influenced the size, configuration, subglacial sedimentation and subglacial topography of the WSB. In this paper we review the tectonic hypotheses and examine post-tectonic climate change along with glacial and marine processes as potentially significant factors in the present condition and configuration of the WSB. In the process, we find that there are a number of features not included in previous investigations that may have been major factors in the modification of the subglacial basin.

Recent surface displacements in the Upper Rhine Graben — Preliminary results from geodetic networks

Datasets of the GNSS Upper Rhine Graben Network (GURN) and the national levelling networks in Germany, France and Switzerland are investigated with respect to current surface displacements in the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) area. GURN consists of about 80 permanent GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) stations. The terrestrial levelling network comprises 1st and 2nd order levelling lines that have been remeasured at intervals of roughly 25 years, starting in 1922. Compared to earlier studies national institutions and private companies made available raw data, allowing for consistent solutions for the URG region. We focussed on the southern and eastern parts of the investigation area. Our preliminary results show that the levelling and GNSS datasets are sensitive to resolve small surface displacement rates down to an order of magnitude of 0.2 mm/a and 0.4 mm/a, respectively. The observed horizontal velocity components for a test region south of Strasbourg, obtained from GNSS coordinate time series, vary around 0.5 mm/a. The results are in general agreement with interseismic strain built-up in a sinistral strike–slip regime. Since the accuracy of the GNSS derived vertical component is insufficient, data of precise levelling networks is used to determine vertical displacement rates. More than 75% of the vertical rates obtained from a kinematic adjustment of 1st order levelling lines in the eastern part of URG vary between − 0.2 mm/a and + 0.2 mm/a, indicating that this region behaves stable. Higher rates up to 0.5 mm/a in a limited region south of Freiburg are in general agreement with active faulting. We conclude that both networks deliver stable results that reflect real surface movements in the URG area. We note, however, that geodetically observed surface displacements generally result from a superposition of different effects, and that a separation in tectonic and non-tectonic processes needs additional information and expertise.

Geomorphic signatures of recent normal fault activity versus geological evidence of inactivity: Case studies from the central Apennines (Italy)

We have here analysed two normal faults of the central Apennines, one that affects the south-western slopes of the Montagna dei Fiori–Montagna di Campli relief, and the other that is located along the south-western border of the Leonessa intermontane depression. Through this analysis, we aim to better understand the reliability of geomorphic features, such as the fresh exposure of fault planes along bedrock scarps as certain evidence of active faulting in the Apennines, and to define the Quaternary kinematic history of these tectonic structures. The experience gathered from these two case studies suggests that the so-called ‘geomorphic signature’ of recent fault activity must be supported by wider geomorphologic and geologic investigations, such as the identification of displaced deposits and landforms not older than the Late Pleistocene, and/or an accurate definition of the slope instabilities. Our observations indicate that the fault planes studied are exposed exclusively because of the occurrence of non-tectonic processes, i.e. differential erosion and gravitational phenomena that have affected the portions of the slopes that are located in the hanging wall sectors. The geological evidence we have collected indicates that the Montagna dei Fiori–Montagna di Campli fault was probably not active during the whole of the Quaternary, while the tectonic activity of the Leonessa fault ceased (or strongly reduced) at least during the Late Pleistocene, and probably since the Middle Pleistocene. The present lack of activity of these tectonic structures suggests that the fault activation for high magnitude earthquakes that produce surface faulting is improbable (i.e. M > 5.5–6.0, with reference to the Apennines, according to Michetti et al. [Michetti, A.M., Brunamonte, F., Serva, L., Vittori, E. (1996), Trench investigations of the 1915 Fucino earthquake fault scarps (Abruzzo, Central Italy): geological evidence of large historical events, J. Geoph. Res., 101, 5921–5936; Michetti, A.M., Ferreli, L., Esposito, E., Porfido, S., Blumetti, A.M., Vittori, E., Serva, L., Roberts, G.P. (2000), Ground effects during the September 9, 1998, Mw = 5.6, Lauria earthquake and the seismic potential of the aseismic Pollino region in Southern Italy. Seis. Res. Letts. 71, 31–46]). If, according to the current view, the shifting of the intra-Apennine extension towards the Adriatic sectors is still active, the Montagna dei Fiori–Montagna di Campli fault might be involved in active extensional deformation in the future.

Resolving vertical tectonics in the San Francisco Bay Area from permanent scatterer InSAR and GPS analysis

Research Article| March 01, 2006 Resolving vertical tectonics in the San Francisco Bay Area from permanent scatterer InSAR and GPS analysis Roland Bürgmann; Roland Bürgmann 1Department of Earth and Planetary Science and Berkeley Seismological Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar George Hilley; George Hilley 2Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Alessandro Ferretti; Alessandro Ferretti 3Tele-Rilevamento Europa, Via Vittoria Colonna 7, 20149 Milan, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Fabrizio Novali Fabrizio Novali 3Tele-Rilevamento Europa, Via Vittoria Colonna 7, 20149 Milan, Italy Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2006) 34 (3): 221–224. https://doi.org/10.1130/G22064.1 Article history received: 24 Jul 2005 rev-recd: 16 Nov 2005 accepted: 18 Nov 2005 first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Roland Bürgmann, George Hilley, Alessandro Ferretti, Fabrizio Novali; Resolving vertical tectonics in the San Francisco Bay Area from permanent scatterer InSAR and GPS analysis. Geology 2006;; 34 (3): 221–224. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G22064.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Using a combination of GPS-measured horizontal velocities of 200 sites and 115,487 range-change rates determined with the permanent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) method in the San Francisco Bay Area, we resolve vertical motions in the region at sub-mm/yr precision. The highest displacement rates are due to nontectonic processes, such as active landslides, subsidence and rebound over aquifers, and rapid settling of unconsolidated sediments along the bay margins. Residual displacement rates are determined by removing the contribution of the GPS-derived horizontal velocity field from the InSAR range-change rates. To isolate vertical tectonic rates, we use only those InSAR measurements made on material that was not Quaternary substrate, which is susceptible to nontectonic and seasonally varying ground motions. The InSAR residuals indicate significant uplift over the southern foothills of the active Mount Diablo anticlinorium, the Mission Hills stepover region of the Hayward and Calaveras faults, and the central and southern Santa Cruz Mountains located along a restraining bend of the San Andreas fault. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

TECTONIC GEOMORPHOLOGY OF ESCARPMENTS: THE CASES OF KOMPOTADES AND ΝΕΑ ANCHIALOS FAULTS

Most active processes on the surface imply that tectonics and geomorphology converge in a way that landscape change may be used as a tectonic signal, given that erosion and weathering have been taken into account. We selected two faults, the Kompotades and the Nea Anchialos faults in the Sperchios and South Thessaly rift zones respectively, and we performed a morphometric analysis. This analysis comprises geomorphic indices that have been used successfully in studies of active tectonics, as the mountain front sinuosity index (Smf), stream gradient index (SL) and valley floor width to valley height ratio (Vf). At both studied mountain fronts, the Vf index ranged between 0,4 to 1,2, implying high uplift rates, while the Smf «1 index revealed relatively high tectonic activity, which decreases towards the west. On the other hand, the SL index though more sensitive to non-tectonic processes, (i.e. the rock resistance, stream length) is less indicative of tectonic activity. Based on the distribution of the geomorphic indices a two-fault strand model is suggested forming the mountain front in the two examples with the range-ward fault strand to be more appropriate for Kompotades fault and the basinward fault strand for Nea Anchialos fault.

The formation of the south-eastern part of the Dniepr–Donets Basin: 2-D forward and reverse modelling taking into account post-rift redeposition of syn-rift salt

Forward and reverse modelling of structure and stratigraphy has been used to investigate the syn-rift (Late Devonian) and early post-rift (Carboniferous) evolution of the south-eastern part of the Dniepr–Donets Basin (DDB). Modelling was carried out with and without taking into consideration the withdrawal and surface extrusion of Devonian salt during the formation of salt diapirs. The great thickness of Carboniferous deposits can be explained by the superimposed actions of three processes: post-rift thermal subsidence, withdrawal of Devonian salt from the mother layer during phases of salt diapir activity, and regional subsidence of the East European Platform. The effects of other tectonic and/or non-tectonic processes are not required. Forward syn-rift modelling using the flexural cantilever model of sedimentary basin formation predicts the total syn-rift extension across the southeastern DDB to be approximately 65 km with a maximum β stretching factor of 2.4. Shallowing of the Moho during the syn-rift phase is estimated to be 15 km. The present-day Moho, after thermal subsidence and basin fill, is predicted to be 4–6 km shallower than surrounding regions. In the axial zone of the south-eastern DDB the thickness of the Devonian syn-rift sequence may have reached 7.5 km by the end of the rift stage. This is 3–3.5 km more than at present. The thicknesses reduction is due to the outflow of Devonian salt during post-rift periods of halokinetic activity in the early Visean, the middle Serpukhovian, and in the Early Permian. The withdrawal of salt from the mother layer produced additional accommodation space and up to 1.5–1.7 km of the total eventual thickness of the Carboniferous sedimentary succession can be explained as a result of this.

The role of extensional tectonics at different crustal levels on granite ascent and emplacement: an example from Tuscany (Italy)

The role of regional extension on the rise and emplacement of granites in the crust is still debated. Pluton ascent and emplacement widely occurred in Tuscany (Italy) since late Miocene during the post-orogenic collapse of the inner Apennines, and are presently occurring in the geothermal areas of Amiata and Larderello. Tuscany offers a preferred test site to study the role of regional extension on pluton ascent and emplacement at different crustal levels. Ductile extension enhanced the segregation and ascent of granitic melts in the lower crust, controlling pluton emplacement in correspondence with the brittle–ductile transition. In the brittle crust, magma ascent occurred through subvertical faults and fractures compatible with the regional extension direction; pluton emplacement mainly occurred by means of roof lifting. The case of Tuscany suggests that the extensional structures enhance melt segregation and ascent in the ductile crust, but are not efficient alone to provide a pathway for the ascent of granitic magmas in the brittle-extending crust. The estimated magmatic strain rates due to pluton emplacement in the geothermal areas are much larger than the regional tectonic strain rates. This suggests that regional tectonics did not control magma emplacement in the brittle crust and explains why nontectonic processes (roof lifting) accommodated the space required for pluton emplacement.

Endogenous retroviruses and schizophrenia

Estimating the extent of interseismic coupling along subduction zone megathrusts is essential for quantitative assessments of seismic and tsunami hazards. Up to now, quantifying the seismogenic potential of the eastern Makran subduction zone at the northern edge of the Indian ocean has remained elusive due to a paucity of geodetic observations. Furthermore, non-tectonic processes obscure the signature of accumulating elastic strain. Historical earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 7 have been reported. In particular, the 1945 Mw 8.1 earthquake resulted in a significant tsunami that swept the shores of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. A quantitative estimate of elastic strain accumulation along the subduction plate boundary in eastern Makran is needed to confront previous indirect and contradictory conclusions about the seismic potential in the region. Here, we infer the distribution of interseismic coupling on the eastern Makran megathrust from time series of satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images acquired between 2003 and 2010, applying a consistent series of corrections to extract the low amplitude, long wavelength deformation signal associated with elastic strain on the megathrust. We find high interseismic coupling (i.e. the megathrust does not slip and elastic strain accumulates) in the central section of eastern Makran, where the 1945 earthquake occurred, while lower coupling coincides spatially with the subduction of the Sonne Fault Zone. The inferred accumulation of elastic strain since the 1945 earthquake is consistent with the future occurrence of magnitude 7+ earthquakes and we cannot exclude the possibility of a multi-segment rupture (Mw 8+). However, the likelihood for such scenarios might be modulated by partitioning of plate convergence between slip on the megathrust and internal deformation of the overlying, actively deforming, accretionary wedge.

Persistence of topographic features as a result of non-tectonic processes

Local topographic features such as valleys and ridges are often remarkably persistent through time in spite of major regional changes in the environment. Although this can be accounted for in many cases by rejuvenated basement lineaments and synsedimentary tectonics, such controls are not always evident or even plausible. Other mechanisms by which these features are perpetuated must therefore be considered. In this paper, three case studies are presented to illustrate that non-tectonic processes play a significant role in preserving geomorphologic features. The Permian Nowra Sandstone in Australia is associated with a prominent shoal located some distance from the southwestern shore of the Sydney Basin. The shape and position of the shoal was remarkably stable throughout Nowra times in spite of a major regression-transgression episode, while a prominent southeasterly trending river valley that was cut into the Palaeozoic basement apparently remained active as a submarine channel. In the Ramon and Arad Groups of the central Negev region in Israel, the Kurnub sub-basin retained its characteristic morphology from the Triassic until at least the Late Jurassic. A semi-circular reef separating the sub-basin from open sea to the northwest seems to have diminished with time, only to be rejuvenated again later on. Palaeorivers in the Permian Beaufort Group of the South African Karoo Basin inherited their drainage patterns from older channels buried beneath considerable thicknesses of flood-basin and lacustrine mudstones. As a result, thickened channel sandstones are often vertically superimposed. The concept of topographic inheritance is a valuable aid in the search for hydrocarbons, placer deposits and epigenetic sedimentary ores, and as such warrants more attention than it has perhaps received to date.

Discordant 14C Ages from Buried Tidal-Marsh Soils in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, Southern Oregon Coast

AbstractPeaty, tidal-marsh soils interbedded with estuarine mud in late Holocene stratigraphic sequences near Coos Bay, Oregon, may have been submerged and buried during great (M > 8) subduction earthquakes, smaller localized earthquakes, or by nontectonic processes. Radiocarbon dating might help distinguish among these alternatives by showing that soils at different sites were submerged at different times along this part of the Cascadia subduction zone. But comparison of conventional 14C ages for different materials from the same buried soils shows that they contain materials that differ in age by many hundreds of years. Errors in calibrated soil ages represent about the same length of time as recurrence times for submergence events (150–500 yr)—this similarity precludes using conventional 14C ages to distinguish buried soils along the southern Oregon coast. Accelerator mass spectrometer 14C ages of carefully selected macrofossils from the tops of peaty soils should provide more precise estimates of the times of submergence events.

Documentation of earthquake-induced disturbance of lake sediments using subbottom acoustic profiling

Subbottom acoustic profiling in lakes on the Canadian Shield and in the Canadian Cordillera has revealed disruptions in deltaic and lacustrine sediments that can be attributed to large historical earthquakes. The Timiskaming earthquake of 1935 (Magnitude 6.25) and the Vancouver Island earthquake of 1946 (Magnitude 7.2) triggered extensive slumping and flow of postglacial sediments in lakes located within a few tens of kilometres of the epicentres of these events. There is some evidence in one of the surveyed lakes for in situ mobilization of sediment on relatively gentle slopes, with minimal horizontal displacement; this may be a product of liquefaction induced by coseismic shaking or displacements along faults beneath the basin. In another lake, widespread coseismic slumping resuspended large amounts of fine sediment, which then settled out onto the lake floor to produce a texturally anomalous layer. Features similar to those produced by the 1935 and 1946 earthquakes can also result from a variety of nontectonic processes, for example, the collapse of sediment over buried ice blocks, depositional oversteepening of deltas, groundwater sapping, and variations in pore-water pressures due to lake-level fluctuations. Records of sediment disruption in lakes therefore must be interpreted with caution. In general, many lakes in a region should be surveyed and a variety of different features identified before sediment disruptions are attributed to an earthquake.

Lithofacies Analysis of Colluvial Sediments--An Aid in Interpreting the Recent History of Quaternary Normal Faults in the Basin and Range Province, Western United States

Inferring the frequency and magnitude of past earthquakes from the stratigraphy in exposures of normal-faulted sediments is difficult because colluvial lithofacies assemblages adjacent to faults are complex. Similarities in facies assemblages adjacent to young fault scarps in arid to semiarid areas, such as the Basin and Range province, allow lithofacies to be grouped into two genetic architectural elements: debris and wash elements. Upper and lower facies associations can commonly be recognized within each element. A lithofacies code scheme, similar to those used in the analysis of fluvial and glacial lithofacies sequences, provides a concise way of illustrating lithofacies relations in fault exposures. The source lithology of colluvial lithofacies is shown in the code, and soil-horizon symbols can be included. The architecture of lithofacies assemblages near fault scarps in semiarid areas is explained by a model of colluvial sedimentation in response to a single surface faulting event. Analysis of lithofacies assemblages exposed in three trenches across normal faults in the eastern Basin and Range shows how the model can be used to interpret fault histories. Similar facies analysis methods may be useful in interpreting colluvial sequences formed by non-tectonic processes.

Contribution of deep seismic profiling to the knowledge of the lower crust in France and neighbouring areas

In France and neighbouring areas, the crust is essentially formed of segments of the Variscan orogen (380-300 Ma) and older formations. Cratonic basins began to form in the Permian, but extensive subsidence only occurred from the Lias in basins such as the Paris and Aquitaine basins, and also along the margin of the Alpine Tethys ocean. The Pyrénées and Alps range eventually formed during the Tertiary as a result of the collision between the European and African continental plates. Large grabens were also rifted in the Rhine and Rhone valleys. Deep seismic profiles show remarkable features, common to the crust of the whole area, although it underwent such a complicated geological history. The most striking feature is the occurrence of conspicuous flat reflections densely distributed in the lower part of the crust below a comparatively transparent upper crust. These reflections, hereafter called laminations, have been found to occur on most profiles within a large area covering Western Europe, although they vary in depth, thickness and energy. Dipping reflections have frequently been observed in the upper crust. Some of them extend across the lower crust and even penetrate into the upper mantle. They may be reasonably interpreted as Variscan compressional features by correlation with surface geology and comparison with similar features found in deep seismic profiles from other regions. The origin of the flat laminations which generally lie in the lower part of the crust is more controversial. This paper attempts to use the well-known geological history of the region to place some constraints on the hypotheses which may be advanced to explain the formation of these laminations. These features may be explained by the following tectonothermal events: 1. (1) Compression which prevailed during the Variscan orogeny may have formed the laminations as a result of delamination and shearing near the bottom of the crust, associated with melting, intrusion and metamorphism during the different stages of the crustal evolution. 2. (2) The thermal equilibration of the upper mantle which occurred in the Permian, at the end of the Variscan orogeny, may have caused metamorphism and magmatism in the overlying crust. 3. (3) A regional thermal event which might be associated with subordinate extension occurred during the rifting of the Alpine Tethys and the initiation of Mesozoic cratonic basins in Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic times. It may also have caused metamorphism and magmatism in the lower crust. While the first model implies conservation of the crust material, the other two suggest that the crust-mantle transition has been somewhat uplifted since the end of the Variscan orogeny. The latter hypothesis is one way to explain the undeniable occurrence of seismic events below the present Moho reflection. The above three models are not mutually exclusive, and all these phenomena may well have affected the crust to some extent. However, the data at hand are still insufficient to determine what parts tectonic and nontectonic processes have played in the creation of the laminations in the lower crust and the Moho. Further experiments are needed to check these hypotheses.