Rift Faults Research Articles

Seismogenesis of the lower crustal intraplate earthquakes occurring in Kachchh, Gujarat, India

Large intraplate continental earthquakes like the 1811–12 New Madrid (M w ⩾ 8.0) and the 2001 Bhuj (Mw7.7) were highly destructive because they occurred in strong crust, but the mechanisms underlying their seismogenesis are not understood. Here we show, using local earthquake velocity tomography, and joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave group velocity dispersion that the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the 2001 Bhuj earthquake region of western India is far more complex than hitherto known through previous studies. A new image of the crust and underlying mantle lithosphere indicates the presence of a 18-km thick high velocity (Vp: 7.15–8.11 km/s) differentiated crustal and mantle magmatic layer above a hot and thin lithosphere (only 70 km) in the epicentral region of 2001 Bhuj earthquake. This magmatic layer begins at the depth of 24 km and continues down to 42 km depth. Below this region, brittle-ductile transition reaches as deep as the Moho (∼34 km) due to the possible presence of olivine rich mafic magma. Our 1-D velocity structure envisages an initial phase of plume activity (Deccan plume at 65 m.y. ago) resulting in basaltic magma in the eclogitic layers at sub-lithospheric levels, wherein they were subjected to crystallization under ultra-high pressure conditions. Our study also delineates an updoming of Moho (∼4–7 km) as well as asthenosphere (∼6–10 km) below the Kachchh rift zone relative to surrounding areas, suggesting the presence of a confined body of partial melts below the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. Restructuring of this warm and thin lithosphere may have been caused due to rifting (at 184 and 88 m.y. ago) and tholeiitic and alkalic volcanism related to the Deccan Traps K/T boundary event (at 65 m.y. ago). Recent study of isotopic ratios proposed that the alkalic basalts found in Kachchh are generated from a CO 2 rich lherzolite partial melts in the asthenosphere that ascended along deep lithospheric rift faults into the lithosphere. It appears that such kind of crust–mantle structure, deepening of brittle-ductile transition and a high input of volatiles containing CO 2 emanating from mantle control the seismogenesis of lower crustal earthquakes in the Kachchh continental rift zone.

The structures, stratigraphy and evolution of the Gulf of Corinth rift, Greece

SUMMARY A multichannel seismic and bathymetry survey of the central and eastern Gulf of Corinth (GoC), Greece, reveals the offshore fault geometry, seismic stratigraphy and basin evolution of one of Earths most active continental rift systems. Active, right-stepping, en-echelon, north-dipping border faults trend ESE along the southern Gulf margin, significantly overlapping along strike. The basement offsets of three (Akrata-Derveni, Sithas and Xylocastro) are linked. The faults are biplanar to listric: typically intermediate angle (∼35° in the centre and 45–48° in the east) near the surface but decreasing in dip and/or intersecting a low- or shallow-angle (15–20° in the centre and 19–30° in the east) curvi-planar reflector in the basement. Major S-dipping border faults were active along the northern margin of the central Gulf early in the rift history, and remain active in the western Gulf and in the subsidiary Gulf of Lechaio, but unlike the southern border faults, are without major footwall uplift. Much of the eastern rift has a classic half-graben architecture whereas the central rift has a more symmetric w- or u-shape. The narrower and shallower western Gulf that transects the >40-km-thick crust of the Hellenides is associated with a wider distribution of overlapping high-angle normal faults that were formerly active on the Peloponnesus Peninsula. The easternmost sector includes the subsidiary Gulfs of Lechaio and Alkyonides, with major faults and basement structures trending NE, E–W and NW. The basement faults that control the rift architecture formed early in the rift history, with little evidence (other than the Vrachonisida fault along the northern margin) in the marine data for plan view evolution by subsequent fault linkage. Several have maximum offsets near one end. Crestal collapse graben formed where the hanging wall has pulled off the steeper onto the shallower downdip segment of the Derveni Fault. The dominant strikes of the Corinth rift faults gradually rotate from 090–120° in the basement and early rift to 090–100° in the latest rift, reflecting a ∼10° rotation of the opening direction to the 005° presently measured by GPS. The sediments include a (locally >1.5-km-) thick, early-rift section, and a late-rift section (also locally >1.5-km-thick) that we subdivide into three sequences and correlate with seven 100-ka glacio-eustatic cycles. The Gulf depocentre has deepened through time (currently >700 mbsl) as subsidence has outpaced sedimentation. We measure the minimum total horizontal extension across the central and eastern Gulf as varying along strike between 4 and 10 km, and estimate full values of 6–11 km. The rift evolution is strongly influenced by the inherited basement fabric. The regional NNW structural fabric of the Hellenic nappes changes orientation to ESE in the Parnassos terrane, facilitating the focused north-south extension observed offshore there. The basement-penetrating faults lose seismic reflectivity above the 4–14-km-deep seismogenic zone. Multiple generations and dips of normal faults, some cross-cutting, accommodate extension beneath the GoC, including low-angle (15–20°) interfaces in the basement nappes. The thermally cool forearc setting and cross-orogen structures unaccompanied by magmatism make this rift a poor analogue and unlikely precursor for metamorphic core complex formation.

Interannual changeability in the variations of the vertical component of the electric field in Lake Baikal

The long-term deep-water measurements of the vertical component of the electric field on a surface-lakebed base revealed unexpectedly high interannual changeability in the amplitudes of its variations in periods ranging from a few hours to several months. This changeability almost equally affects the field components caused by the induction in the water flows and, supposedly, by the closing current of the global electric circuit above the rift fault. We present the evidence for the correlation of this effect with the interannual variability in meteorological activity. However, the physical background of this correlation is trivial only for the electric component associated with the induction and still remains unclear for the field component caused by the closing current, which has much higher amplitude.

Relationship between structures, stress and seismicity in the Charlevoix seismic zone revealed by 3‐D geomechanical models: Implications for the seismotectonics of continental interiors

The Charlevoix seismic zone in the St. Lawrence valley of Québec is the most active in eastern Canada. The structurally complex region comprises a series of subparallel steeply dipping Iapetan rift faults, superimposed by a 350 Ma meteorite impact structure, resulting in a heavily faulted volume. The elongate seismic zone runs through the crater parallel to the rift. Most large events localize outside the crater and are consistent with slip along the rift faults, whereas background seismicity primarily occurs within the volume of rock bounded by the rift faults within and beneath the crater. The interaction between rift and crater faults is explored using the three‐dimensional stress analysis code FLAC3D. The rift faults are represented by frictional discontinuities, and the crater is represented by a bowl‐shaped elastic volume of reduced modulus. Differential stresses are slowly built up from boundary displacements similar to tectonic loading. Results indicate that weakening the rift faults produces a stress increase in the region of the crater bounded by the faults. This causes a decrease in stability of optimally oriented faults and may explain the localization of low‐level seismicity. Additionally, slip distribution along the rift faults shows that large events localize at the perimeter of the crater and produce focal mechanisms with P axes oblique to the applied stress field, consistent with historic large earthquakes. It is speculated that similar systematic rotation of focal mechanism P axes may be expected along other intraplate rift zones, raising a potential caveat for the use of focal mechanisms for stress estimation in continental interiors.

Stress re-orientation along zones of weak fabrics in rifts: An explanation for pure extension in ‘oblique’ rift segments?

The Cenozoic East African Rift System (EAR) displays strong interaction between rift faults and zones of weakness in Precambrian basement and Late Carboniferous–Permian Karroo rifts. Assuming E–W regional extension, NW–SE and NE–SW trending rift segments following older zones of weakness are expected to show oblique extensional or transtensional displacement. Yet, the earthquake focal mechanism-derived modern maximum horizontal stress (Shmax) pattern in the Western Branch of the EAR displays similar orientations to dominant foliation direction in Proterozoic orogenic belts. The oblique segments are undergoing almost pure extension. Localized stress deflections near zones of strength anisotropy are commonly described in studies of geomechanics, in-situ stresses and fracture patterns. The correspondence between foliation and Shmax direction in the Western Branch suggests re-orientation of stress at a larger scale than has previously been recognized. The stress guide effect appears best developed in the Ubendian Belt-Rukwa Rift where the Shmax direction from the regional N–S direction to a NW–SE trend and NW–SE trending foliations are consistently steeply dipping. However, this effect is considered only one of a number of possible causes of stress deflection in the East African Rift. Precambrian basement foliation is not oriented consistently enough to re-orient stress on a large-scale everywhere (particularly the Kenya Rift). The effects of stress rotation along oblique fabrics are: 1) faults normally predicted to exhibit oblique slip are actually near pure dip-slip, 2) faults along oblique trends can be optimally oriented with respect to the (local) stress field, and develop in a zone of reduced cohesive shear strength (with respect to isotropic rocks), 3) where foliations are inclined from vertical the maximum principal stress will be similarly inclined leading to initiation of extensional faults at angles considerably lower than 60°, and 4) faults will strike parallel to the foliation but cross-cut foliations in cross-section.

Extensional fault segmentation and linkages, Bonaparte Basin, outer North West Shelf, Australia

A detailed structural analysis of the Zone of Cooperation A-2 (ZOCA-2) three-dimensional (3-D) seismic survey on the outer northwestern edge of the Sahul Platform, northern Bonaparte Basin, outer North West Shelf, Australia, has identified three major populations of extensional faults. From oldest to youngest, these are (1) Jurassic north-south–trending extensional synrift faults, (2) Jurassic–Cretaceous east-west– to east-northeast–west-southwest–trending extensional faults, and (3) Neogene to present-day northeast-southwest–striking, right-stepping en-echelon faults. Seismic attribute analyses combined with fault-displacement analyses have illustrated the initial segmentation of all of the fault systems and characterized both the horizontal and vertical linkages formed by soft-linkage relay structures. The strongly segmented Neogene to present-day northeast-southwest–striking faults are interpreted to be a result of Neogene reactivation of underlying zones of weakness generated by preexisting east-northeast–trending Jurassic to Early Cretaceous faults. The Neogene to present-day northwest-southeast–directed extension was oblique to the underlying zones of weakness and thus formed characteristic strongly segmented en-echelon fault arrays. The Jurassic to Early Cretaceous extensional faults together with the overlying northeast-southwest–striking Neogene to present-day fault systems form a pseudoconjugate fault system separated by a Cretaceous sequence that acted as a decoupling horizon. Within this Cretaceous interval, which is characterized by polygonal fault systems, vertically segmented, isolated, and overlapping extensional fault arrays form a zone of soft linkage between the underlying Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rift faults and the overlying Neogene to present-day fault systems. This study shows that extension oblique to preexisting deeper fault systems produces en-echelon segmented extensional faults in the overlying sequences. Such en-echelon segmentation does not indicate major strike-slip deformation. The results of this research have implications for understanding the distribution, segmentation, linkages, and ages of extensional faults in many other rift basins as well as for the northern Bonaparte Basin. In addition, the complex 3-D linkage patterns shown in this study have significant implications for understanding trap geometries and fault-seal characteristics in other extensionally faulted basins.

Length and Timescales of Rift Faulting and Magma Intrusion: The Afar Rifting Cycle from 2005 to Present

Although fault and magmatic processes have achieved plate spreading at mid-ocean ridges throughout Earth's history, discrete rifting episodes have rarely been observed. This paper synthesizes ongoing seismic, structural, space-based geodetic, and petrologic studies from the subaerial Red Sea rift in Ethiopia where a major rifting episode commenced in September 2005. Our aims are to determine the length and timescales of magmatism and faulting, the partitioning of strain between faulting and magmatism, and their implications for the maintenance of along-axis segmentation. Most of the magma for the initial and subsequent 12 intrusions was sourced from the center of the Dabbahu-Manda Hararo rift segment. Strain is accommodated primarily by axial dike intrusions fed from mid-segment magma chamber(s). These findings show that episodic (approximate century interval), rapid opening of discrete rift segments is the primary mechanism of plate boundary deformation. The scale (∼65 km × 8 km) and intensity of crustal deformation (∼6 m), as well as the volume of intrusive and extrusive magmatism (>3 km3), provokes a re-evaluation of seismic and volcanic hazards in subaerial rift zones.

Faulting of the lithosphere during extension and related rift-flank uplift: a numerical study

In this contribution, we present a new model of passive rifting and related rift-flank uplift. The numerical model is based on a lattice spring network coupled with a viscous particle model so that we can simulate visco-elasto-plastic behaviour with dynamic fault development. In our model, we show that rift-flank uplift can be achieved best when extension in the crust is localized and the lower crust is strong so that major rift faults transect the whole crust. Uplift of rift flanks follows a smooth function whereas down-throw in the rift basin takes place in steps. The geometry of the developing faults has also an influence on the uplift; in this case, displacement along major rift faults produces higher flanks than distributed displacement on many faults. Our model also shows that the relative elastic thickness of the crust has only a minor influence on the uplift since fault depth and elastic thickness are not independent. In addition, we show with a second set of simulations and analytically that a strain misfit between the upper and lower boundaries of a stretched crust, which is created by the horizontal extension, leads to an active uplift driven by elastic forces. We compare the numerical simulations, the analytical solution and real surface data from the Albertine rift in the East African Rift System and show that our new model can reproduce realistic features. Our two-layer beam model with strain misfit can also explain why a thick crust in the simulations can have an even higher rift flank than a thin crust even though the thin crust topography has a higher curvature. We discuss the implications of our simulations for real rift systems and for the current theory of rift-flank uplift.

Localization of Large Earthquakes in the Charlevoix Seismic Zone, Quebec, Canada, during the Past 10,000 Years

Earthquake-induced liquefaction features have been found in Holocene and Late Wisconsin sediments exposed along three rivers in the Charlevoix seismic zone. On the basis of their stratigraphic position and radiocarbon age constraints, the liquefaction features are thought to have formed during three or more earthquake episodes centered in Charlevoix during the past 10,000 years, including at least two prehistoric episodes approximately 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. The spatial distribution of liquefaction features coupled with liquefaction potential analysis suggests that the Charlevoix earthquakes were of moment magnitude ( M ) ≥ 6.2. Liquefaction features have not been found in similar sediments exposed along eight rivers in the Quebec City–Trois Rivieres area, 70 to 150 km from Charlevoix in the St. Lawrence River Valley. The apparent absence of liquefaction features in the Quebec City–Trois Rivieres area suggests that few, if any, large earthquakes have occurred here during the same time period. The geologic record of earthquakes may be incomplete in both areas due to fluctuations in Holocene sea level. Nevertheless, the rate of large earthquakes has apparently been much higher in the Charlevoix seismic zone than in adjacent areas of the St. Lawrence for thousands of years. These findings suggest that seismicity is localized in Charlevoix and that the presence of Iapetan rift faults that underlie the St. Lawrence Valley of southeastern Canada may not, in itself, indicate earthquake potential. These results may have important implications for other Iapetan rift faults in the eastern United States, as well as seismic source zone characterization and hazard assessment throughout eastern North America.

Implications of some early Jewish sources for estimates of earthquake hazardin the Holy Land

For the past two millennia the Holy Land was under the yoke of successive invaders and oppressors, not a fertile ground for growth of historiographic traditions. Consequently, earthquake cataloguers had to rely largely on chronicles and texts written at distant administrative and cultural centers of the day, where earthquake destruction suffered by a culturally and economically depressed province may have been overshadowed by damage in more important parts of the empire. On this assumption, and aided by an implicit notion that the lands bounded by the Dead Sea Rift and Anatolian Fault systems are seismically contiguous, early cataloguers often extended the impact of earthquakes documented in nearby East Mediterranean countries to the Holy Land. Once published, such reports of supposed destructive intensities in Israel were used by Judaic scholars and archaeologists to date poorly defined, often metaphoric, literary seismic echoes, and to justify assigning seismic origin to equivocal signs of damage, asymmetry, or abandonment at archaeological sites of corresponding age. The spread of damage and intensity portraits are therefore enhanced and distorted, and so is their application in palaeoseismic analysis. Four test cases are presented, illustrating the use and misuse of local Judaic sources in identifying destructive intensities supposedly generated in the Holy Land by earthquakes of 92 B.C., 64 B.C. and 31 B.C., and in postulating a regional seismic catastrophe in 749 A.D..

Ez-response as a monitor of a Baikal rift fault electrical resistivity: 3D modelling studies

D numerical studies have shown that the vertical voltage above the Baikal deep-water fault is detectable and that respective transfer functions, Ez-responses, are sensitive to the electrical resistivity changes of the fault, i.e. these functions appear actually informative with respect to the resistivity «breath» of the fault. It means that if the fault resistivity changed, conventional electromagnetic instruments would be able to detect this fact by meas- urement of the vertical electric field, Ez, or the vertical electric voltage just above the fault as well as horizontal magnetic field on the shore. Other electromagnetic field components (Ex, Ey, Hz) do not seem to be sensitive to the resistivity changes in such a thin fault (as wide as 500 m). On the other hand, such changes are thought to be able to indicate a change of a stress state in the earthquake preparation zone. Besides, the vertical profile at the bottom of Lake Baikal is suitable for electromagnetic monitoring of the fault electrical resistivity changes. Altogether, the vertical voltage above the deep-water fault might be one of earthquake precursors.

THE 1994-1995 MANYARA AND KWAMTORO EARTHQUAKE SWARMS: VARIATION IN THE DEPTH EXTENT OF SEISMICITY IN NORTHERN TANZANIA

Seismicity within two earthquake swarms (mb 1.0 to 4.0) in northern Tanzania recorded by the 1994–1995 Tanzania Broadband Seismic Experiment has been investigated through event relocation, modelling of regional depth phases and examination of focal mechanisms. In the Manyara swarm, seismicity is distributed over a region ~20 km wide and extends to >30 km depth. Hypocenters correlate well with the Manyara Rift, and focal mechanisms of many events show normal faulting with nodal planes having the same north-northeast orientation as the Manyara Rift border fault. This result indicates that the events are consistent with slip along the border fault and related faults beneath the Manyara Rift, and shows that the faults extend into the lower crust. Seismicity in the KwaMtoro swarm is distributed over a region ~10 km wide but extends only to ~12 km depth. There are no mapped faults above the swarm, but a strong correlation between the north to south orientation of the swarm, the north to south orientation of nodal planes in focal mechanisms, and north to south striking extensional structures nearby, suggest that events in this swarm could be caused by slip on a system of rift faults. However, a magma-driven origin for either swarm cannot be ruled out either.

Intrinsic and Scattering Q near 1 Hz across the East African Plateau

Abstract Crustal attenuation across the East African plateau in Tanzania, an area of uplifted and rifted Precambrian crust, has been investigated using seismic data from regional earthquakes recorded by the 1994–1995 Tanzania broadband seismic experiment. We use 1 Hz Lg coda waves from the 17 events, together with the energy flux model of Frankel and Wennerberg (1987), to obtain estimates of intrinsic ( Q I ) and scattering ( Q S ) attenuation for East Africa. Q I values across the plateau are fairly uniform, ranging from a low of ∼300 to a high of ∼600. Q I values for the Tanzania craton, in the middle of the plateau, are similar to those for the mobile belts, which form the sides of the plateau. Q I of 300 to 600 is somewhat lower than the average crustal Q for Precambrian terrains elsewhere. Heat flow from the Tanzania craton and surrounding mobile belts is not elevated; therefore, we attribute the lower-than-average Q values not to elevated crustal temperatures, but instead to rift faults in the crust that are interconnected and filled with fluids. Q S ranges from ∼1000 in the mobile belts and along the eastern margin of the Tanzania craton to ∼2200 in the north central part of the plateau just south of Lake Victoria. We attribute the variability in Q S to scattering of Lg by surface topography, in particular, rift basins along the eastern side of the plateau.

A record of long-time rift activity and earthquake-induced ground effects in Pleistocene deposits of southern Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)

Faults with a well-defined strike direction that precisely coincides with the southern rift fault system occur in the study area in southern Tenerife. This fault system was generated contemporaneously with a chain of cinder cones ~948 ka. Open fractures in ignimbrites (~668 ka) and fossil beach deposits (~42 ka) of the El Medano area suggest that the rift-associated fault system was seismically active in the aftermath of the initial volcanic activity (~948 ka) and is probably still active. A second fault system striking perpendicular to the rift-related faults probably originates from a Holocene paleoearthquake of moderate intensity. Earthquake-induced ground effects in fossil beach deposits within the study area are consistent with seismically induced ground effects of several recent and well-documented earthquakes, as well as gravitational sliding triggered by an intense earthquake in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica in 1990. Both, the rift-associated and the earthquake-induced fault system, initially produced open fractures that were occupied by plants and subsequently stabilized by cementation, forming conspicuous sediment structures in fossil beach deposits of the El Medano site in southern Tenerife.

Stress channelling and partitioning of seismicity in the Charlevoix seismic zone, Québec, Canada

SUMMARY The Charlevoix seismic zone (CSZ) in the St Lawrence valley of Quebec is historically the most active in eastern Canada. The structurally complex region comprises rift faults formed during the opening of the Iapetus Ocean, superimposed by a 350 Ma meteorite impact structure, resulting in a circular highly fractured zone. Although seismicity is localized along two steeply dipping planar rift-parallel zones, previous work indicates that most of the large-scale rift faults bound the low magnitude background seismicity rather than generate earthquakes themselves. In order to gain insight into the mechanics of the partitioning of this seismicity, a 2-D model of the CSZ was built using the stress analysis code FLAC. The rift faults are represented by frictional discontinuities. The heavily fractured impact structure is represented by an elastic continuum of reduced modulus. Boundary displacements are used to generate a regional stress field with the major horizontal component in the direction of tectonic loading. Given a high strength, the rift faults have little effect on the stress patterns. Stress trajectories naturally flow around the crater of reduced elastic modulus, leaving the fractured area with lower stresses than the background level. However, when the rift faults have low strength, they are unable to support stress trajectories inclined to them, due to the resolved shear stress exceeding their strength. This prevents trajectories from flowing out of the rift, effectively channelling higher magnitude stresses into the region of the impact structure between the faults. Low-strength bounding faults can thus explain the localization of seismicity into linear bands, rather than distributed seismicity throughout the impact structure. It also explains how the rift faults act as boundaries to regions of low magnitude seismicity. These results indicate that the interplay between faults of varying strength and zones of differing elastic modulus can give rise to complicated stress patterns, and can explain many of the seismicity patterns observed in the CSZ. This has implications for other intraplate seismic zones, as it shows an example of how regional weak faults can modify stress conditions around local structures and drive seismicity. The results are particularly relevant for other regions located within rifted crust, such as the New Madrid seismic zone, which possibly display evidence of stress channelling.

Radon activity of faults ( western Baikal and southern Angara areas)

We report results of transect radon surveys on twenty six large and small faults of different geometries in the western Baikal and southern Angara (southern Siberian craton) areas. The studied faults show up in the radon field as broad zones of high radon activity concentration, with their widths 1.4 times the widths of faulting-related deformation zones. Other things being equal, radon emanation depends on the size and slip geometry of faults and on their activity in the Cenozoic. Relative radon activity is higher in rift faults than in cratonic ones, in normal relative to strike-slip faults, and in larger and more active faults, the latter factor being the basic geodynamic control of radon emanation.

Fault controls on the geometry and location of the Okataina Caldera, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Okataina Caldera is located within the Taupo Rift and formed due to collapse following eruptions at 325 and 61 ka. Gravity, seismic reflection, topographic and geological data indicate that active rift faults pass into the caldera and have influenced its location and geometry. The caldera has a minimum gravity anomaly of − 50 mGal, is elongate north–south with an inferred minimum depth to caldera floor of 3 ± 0.5 km at the rift axis, and occupies a 10 km hard-linked left step in the rift. The principal rift faults (55–75° dip) define the location and geometry of the northwest and southeast caldera margins and locally accommodate piecemeal collapse. Segments of the east and west margins of the caldera margin are near vertical (70–90° dip), trend north–south, and are inferred to be faults formed by the reactivation of a pervasive Mesozoic basement fabric (i.e. faults and/or lithological contacts). The fault sets which define the caldera geometry predate it, while the step in the rift across the Okataina Volcanic Centre (OVC) is at least as old as the caldera. Within the OVC displacement on rift faults induced by gravitational caldera collapse at 61 ka exceeds tectonic displacement since this time by at least a factor of two. Collapse along pre-existing rift faults and, in particular, Mesozoic basement fabric are important for caldera formation elsewhere in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.

Deccan plume, lithosphere rifting, and volcanism in Kutch, India

Kutch (northwest India) experienced lithospheric thinning due to rifting and tholeiitic and alkalic volcanism related to the Deccan Traps K/T boundary event. Alkalic lavas, containing mantle xenoliths, form plug-like bodies that are aligned along broadly east–west rift faults. The mantle xenoliths are dominantly spinel wehrlite with fewer spinel lherzolite. Wehrlites are inferred to have formed by reaction between transient carbonatite melts and lherzolite forming the lithosphere. The alkalic lavas are primitive (Mg# = 64–72) relative to the tholeiites (Mg# = 38–54), and are enriched in incompatible trace elements. Isotope and trace element compositions of the tholeiites are similar to what are believed to be the crustally contaminated Deccan tholeiites from elsewhere in India. In terms of Hf, Nd, Sr, and Pb isotope ratios, all except two alkalic basalts plot in a tight cluster that largely overlap the Indian Ridge basalts and only slightly overlap the field of Reunion lavas. This suggests that the alkalic magmas came largely from the asthenosphere mixed with Reunion-like source that welled up beneath the rifted lithosphere. The two alkalic outliers have an affinity toward Group I kimberlites and may have come from an old enriched (metasomatized) asthenosphere. We present a new model for the metasomatism and rifting of the Kutch lithosphere, and magma generation from a CO 2-rich lherzolite mantle. In this model the earliest melts are carbonatite, which locally metasomatized the lithosphere. Further partial melting of CO 2-rich lherzolite at about 2–2.5 GPa from a mixed source of asthenosphere and Reunion-like plume material produced the alkalic melts. Such melts ascended along deep lithospheric rift faults, while devolatilizing and exploding their way up through the lithosphere. Tholeiites may have been generated from the main plume head further south of Kutch.

Analysis of geometry of volcanoes and faults in Terceira Island (Azores): Evidence for reactivation tectonics at the EUR/AFR plate boundary in the Azores triple junction

The late Pliocene to Quaternary (5 Ma) volcanism in the central and eastern Azores Archipelago is related to the Eurasia/Africa divergence, but a clear deformation pattern has not yet been established at this location. This work focuses on the contribution of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) scenes and Digital Elevation Models (DEM), complemented with geophysical, geodetic and morpho-structural data, to establish the geometric relationships between volcanic edifices and tectonic structures in the central and eastern Azores Archipelago. Bathymetric data were also used to extend field observations to the significant submarine area of the Azores plateau. Strikes of extension fractures, directly observed or inferred from elongated volcanic vents or linear volcanic clusters in Terceira Island, indicate that volcanism is mainly controlled by regional extension as given by NUVEL-1A plate motion model. Additionally, other directions were also detected for extension fractures around the Santa Barbara volcano (defining a radial pattern) and in the central part of the island (exhibiting an S-shape pattern). Although most of the volcanic vents are controlled by extension fractures, some seem to be controlled by faulting, such as the case of the ones rooted in releasing bends along strike-slip or oblique-slip faults in the central part of the island. Concerning the Azores plateau, most of the structures have directions that do not directly fit with present-day direction of relative motion (∼ N70°) between Eurasia and Africa. Directions ranging from N110° to N125°, found mainly along the Terceira rift, are interpreted as ancient transform directions, reactivating as transtensional fault zones due to the present-day plate motion. N–S directions are also visible in the plateau, being interpreted as former middle-oceanic rift faults reactivated as left-lateral fault zones. These results contrast with the volcanic expression in other hotspot dominated oceanic islands such as the Canaries or the Hawaii islands chain, probably due to the tectonic complexity promoted by the Azores Triple Junction instability through time.

Helium isotopic signature of modern and fossil fluids associated with the Corinth rift fault zone (Greece): Implication for fault connectivity in the lower crust

Helium isotopic ratios of modern groundwaters and of fossil fluids trapped in secondary calcites from fault planes have been measured along the southern Corinth rift in order to investigate the nature of fluids circulating in these fault zones and to set constraints on tectonic processes responsible for this extension. The observed isotopic ratios of modern fluids range from the air composition to moderately radiogenic compositions (0.15–0.4 Ra, with Ra being the atmospheric 3He/ 4He ratio), whereas fossil fluids display more radiogenic compositions (0.04 to 0.15 Ra), suggesting that they have been trapped deeper in the fault zone in the absence of significant atmospheric contamination. These compositions result from mixing of a deep radiogenic and hot fluid with cold and shallow air-saturated aquifer waters. The absence of a mantle-He signal in the Corinth rift fluids is remarkable and evidences the lack of active volcanic fluids in the basin. It further suggests that the fault system is not connected at depth with zones where mantle-He might have been trapped. At the scale of the Corinth rift, this observation suggests that faults are rooted in the upper crust. If extension results from displacement of the crust above a north-dipping shear zone, then this shear zone should be relayed at depth through the lower crust by impermeable ductile deformation. At a larger scale, it appears that basins in the western side of the Aegean host crustal helium whereas basins in the Anatolian side present systematically mantle He. This He isotope distribution is difficult to explain by symmetrical tectonic evolution of the Aegean domain, and could instead be related to the recent propagation of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF). Propagation of the NAF may have recently disturbed hydrothermal circulations established after Miocene extension, by progressively reactivating the western basins with a different style of tectonic deformation, re-localising most of the fault controlled flow-pathway in shallower basins and as a consequence displacing the fluids mixture toward a crustal origin.