Subduction Margin Research Articles

Petrogenesis and zircon U-Pb dating of skarnified pyroxene-bearing dioritic rocks in Bisheh area, south of Birjand, eastern Iran

در منطقه بیشه واقع در شرق بلوک لوت، هورنبلند دیوریت های پورفیری در سنگهای رسوبی و آذرین (توف‌ها و سنگهای دیوریتی پیروکسن‌دار) نفوذ کرده و به‌ترتیب تشکیل اگزواسکارن و اندواسکارن داده است. بخشهای تغییر نیافته سنگهای دیوریتی پیروکسن‌دار، دارای ماهیت کالک آلکالن پتاسیم بالا و متاآلومین (78/1 A/NK≥ و 95/0(A/CNK≤ هستند. نمودار چند عنصری به‌هنجار شده با گوشته اولیه نشان دهنده غنی شدگی از عناصر LIL مانند Rb، Ba، Cs و تهی شدگی از عناصر HFS نظیر Nb، P، Ti، Y و Yb است. نمودار عناصر نادر خاکی بیانگر مقادیر (La/Yb)N از 75/7 تا 63/8 و بی هنجاری منفی ضعیف Eu می باشد. این خصوصیات به همراه مقادیر بالای Th/Yb و Ta/Yb نشان‌دهنده ماگماتیسم وابسته به مناطق فرورانش حاشیه قاره هاست. تهی‌شدگی مشخص Nb و Ti ، میزان نسبتا بالای Mg#، نسبتهای اولیه 87Sr/86Sr ( 70606/0)، 143Nd/144Nd ( 512424/0) و Nd e (05/3-) نشان می دهد که ماگمای سازنده سنگهای مورد مطالعه از گوشته غنی شده منشأ گرفته و دچار آغشتگی پوسته ای شده است. مقادیر بالای Rb، Th، K و مقدار پایین P و Ti در سنگهای مورد بررسی مؤید آلودگی ماگما در پوسته فوقانی طی تکامل ماگما است. میزان Ba/Rb پایین (4/7-6/4) و Rb/Sr بالا (22/0-17/0)، نشاندهنده حضور فلوگوپیت در گوشته منشأ است. با توجه به میزان بالای CaO+ Al2O3 نمونه های مورد مطالعه (متوسط 3/22 درصد)، میتوان گارنت پیروکسنیت فلوگوپیتدار را به‌عنوان منشأ ماگما در نظر گرفت. سن‌سنجی به روش زیرکن-اورانیم-سرب بر روی پیروکسن دیوریت پورفیری نشان می‌دهد که این ماگماتیسم در 07/44 میلیون سال پیش یعنی در ائوسن میانی(Lutetian) رخ داده است.

U–Pb detrital zircon dates and source provenance analysis of Phanerozoic sequences of the Congo Basin, central Gondwana

The Congo Basin (CB) is the largest sediment sink of central Gondwana, built on a mosaic of Precambrian crustal blocks amalgamated during the mid-Paleoproterozoic (Eburnian; 2.1–1.8Ga), late Mesoproterozoic (Kibaran; 1.4–1.0Ga), and late Neoproterozoic–early Cambrian (Pan African; 750–500Ma). Sporadic uplift, tilting and erosion of these Precambrian terrains form the source regions for the sedimentary sequences that fill the CB. We investigate the Phanerozoic successions in the field and along four historic deep boreholes drilled in the center of the basin, and date detrital zircons from the main stratigraphic groups to characterize their provenance ages and reconstruct the paleogeographic evolution of the CB during amalgamation and break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent. Sedimentological data show that the oldest, upper Neoproterozoic–lower Paleozoic Redbeds (the Inkisi, Aruwimi and Biano Groups) were derived from the north. Zircons from these sequences have two dominant age-populations of 1100–950Ma and 800–600Ma, likely sourced from Kibaran and Pan African terrains within the Oubanguides (e.g. the Central Saharan Belt) and parts of the North African Shield (e.g. Darfour). The overlying Carboniferous–Permian glacial and deglaciation sequences (the Lukuga Group) have similar peaks, as well as abundant zircons of 2.05–1.85Ga and a subordinate number dated at 1.42–1.37Ga. The latter are from Eburnian and Kibaran sources in east-central Africa, consistent with west-facing glacial paleo-valleys preserved along the eastern margin of the CB. The succeeding Triassic (the Haute–Lueki Group) and Jurassic–Cretaceous (the Kwango Group) fluvial and aeolian red sandstones were again derived from the north. Their range of zircon dates has two main peaks at 1000Ma and 600Ma, but also contain small younger grains of 290–240Ma and 200–190Ma. We interpret these younger zircons to be derived from volcanic dust that originated during late Paleozoic–Jurassic magmatism of the Choiyoi and Chon Aike Provinces flanking the Andean subduction margin of Gondwana. By contrast, the uppermost Cenozoic alluviums of the CB (the Kalahari Group) contain diamond concentrates and large zircon fragments dated at 3–2.5Ga, derived from the Kasai and Cuango Cratons, to the south, which host Cretaceous diamondiferous kimberlites.

The Hikurangi Margin Continuous GNSS and Seismograph Network of New Zealand

Online Material: Tables of GNSS and seismograph station details. ### Overview The Hikurangi margin geophysical monitoring network (HiMNet) is a telemetered network of 49 short‐period (1 s) seismometers and 80 continuously recording Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS; currently based on the Global Positioning System [GPS] constellation) stations in the Hikurangi subduction margin forearc, New Zealand. HiMNet was established between 2001 and 2011 to monitor continuous and transient deformation and seismic activity near the Hikurangi subduction zone. The resulting data have enabled the contemporary behavior and earthquake potential of the Hikurangi subduction zone to be better understood and for earthquake and ground deformation assessments to be carried out with increased precision immediately following geologic events. In this paper, we discuss the design and installation of HiMNet, as well as data handling, availability, and quality. We demonstrate the success of the network by highlighting scientific and event response advancements that are underpinned by the HiMNet data. These include the discovery of transient slow‐slip events (SSEs) in New Zealand (Douglas et al. , 2005; Wallace and Beavan, 2010; Wallace et al. , 2012), the detection of seismic tremor in New Zealand (Fry et al. , 2011; Kim et al. , 2011), and faster and more accurate earthquake solutions. The benefits of the improved network coverage are demonstrated by presenting the event summaries of four damaging earthquakes (the 2007 Gisborne, 2013 Cook Strait, 2013 Lake Grassmere, and 2014 Eketahuna earthquakes; Francois‐Holden et al. , 2008; Hamling et al. , 2014) that occurred within the HiMNet region between 2007 and 2014. ### Tectonic Setting The onshore accessibility of much of the forearc makes the Hikurangi margin an ideal setting for monitoring seismic and aseismic deformation related to subduction interface processes. The Hikurangi plateau, which comprises thick oceanic lithosphere of Cretaceous age (Mortimer and Parkinson, 1996), is being subducted beneath the eastern North Island …

Estimation of a Source Model and Strong Motion Simulation for Tacna City, South Peru

We estimate several scenarios for source models of megathrust earthquakes likely to occur on the Nazca-South American plates interface in southern Peru. To do so, we use a methodology for estimating the slip distribution of megathrust earthquakes based on an interseismic coupling (ISC) distribution model in subduction margins and on information about historical earthquakes. The slip model obtained from geodetic data represents large-scale features of asperities within the megathrust that are appropriate for simulating long-period waves and tsunami modelling. To simulate broadband frequency strong ground motions, we add small scale heterogeneities to the geodetic slip by using spatially correlated random noise distributions. Using these slip models and assuming several hypocenter locations, we calculate a set of strong ground motions for southern Peru and incorporate site effects obtained from microtremors array surveys in Tacna, the southernmost city in Peru.

The contribution of offshore seismic data to understanding the evolution of the New Zealand continent

Abstract Reconnaissance 2D seismic reflection data intended to investigate the petroleum potential of New Zealand's marine territories have contributed many insights into the geological evolution of the large continental block that surrounds New Zealand. These include: definition of a back-thrust system to the Mesozoic Gondwana subduction margin along the Northland–Reinga Basin and the transition to back-arc rifting; the development of a Mesozoic back-arc rift system through the present New Caledonia and probably the Bounty troughs; the Early Cretaceous cause, at least locally, of the cessation of subduction along the New Zealand sector of the Gondwana margin; evidence for anticlockwise rotation of eastern New Zealand relative to the west in Late Eocene time; an explanation for the development of the Alpine Fault and the South Island compressional strike-slip margin between the Pacific and Australian plates through South Island.

Thermal history and exhumation of basement rocks from Mesozoic to Cenozoic subduction cycles, central North Island, New Zealand

A new thermochronological study of the basement rocks of the central North Island, New Zealand, records thermal and exhumation histories related to two subduction cycles since the latest Jurassic. The basement comprises metasedimentary terranes accreted onto eastern Gondwana during Mesozoic subduction. Since the Oligocene, these terranes have been located on the hanging wall of the Hikurangi subduction margin, overriding the Pacific Plate. Results of zircon fission track (121–264 Ma) analysis yield detrital or slightly reset ages; apatite fission track (19.8–122 Ma) and (U-Th-Sm)/He (10.3–95.2 Ma) ages are fully reset. Results from inverse thermal history modeling of the data of individual and stacked samples imply the following: (1) after their accretion, the basement rocks were cooled and exhumed to shallow depths of the crust in the Early Cretaceous (by ~150–135 Ma). This was followed by an episode of reheating until ~100 Ma, which we interpret to be the result of burial by sedimentation above the accretionary wedge during extensional deformation caused by continued underplating and thickening of the wedge from beneath. (2) From 100 Ma, our data indicate thermotectonic quiescence until the Oligocene (~27 Ma). (3) During initiation of the Hikurangi Margin, the fore-arc proto-Axial Ranges began to exhume during the late Oligocene to early Miocene (~27–20 Ma). Subduction-triggered unroofing removed ~1.2–2.8 km of overburden, most of which was probably the less lithified passive margin sediments. (4) Along the western central North Island, the exhumational response to the Hikurangi subduction was limited, with a total magnitude of erosion <1.5 km in the Cenozoic.

Contribution of Vertical Methane Flux to Shallow Sediment Carbon Pools across Porangahau Ridge, New Zealand

Moderate elevated vertical methane (CH4) flux is associated with sediment accretion and raised fluid expulsion at the Hikurangi subduction margin, located along the northeast coast of New Zealand. This focused CH4 flux contributes to the cycling of inorganic and organic carbon in solid phase sediment and pore water. Along a 7 km offshore transect across the Porangahau Ridge, vertical CH4 flux rates range from 11.4 mmol·m−2·a−1 off the ridge to 82.6 mmol·m−2·a−1 at the ridge base. Stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) in pore water and sediment were variable across the ridge suggesting close proximity of heterogeneous carbon sources. Methane stable carbon isotope ratios ranging from −107.9‰ to −60.5‰ and a C1:C2 of 3000 indicate a microbial, or biogenic, source. Near ridge, average δ13C for pore water and sediment inorganic carbon were 13C-depleted (−28.7‰ and −7.9‰, respectively) relative to all core subsamples (−19.9‰ and −2.4‰, respectively) suggesting localized anaerobic CH4 oxidation and precipitation of authigenic carbonates. Through the transect there was low contribution from anaerobic oxidation of CH4 to organic carbon pools; for all cores δ13C values of pore water dissolved organic carbon and sediment organic carbon averaged −24.4‰ and −22.1‰, respectively. Anaerobic oxidation of CH4 contributed to pore water and sediment organic carbon near the ridge as evidenced by carbon isotope values as low as to −42.8‰ and −24.7‰, respectively. Carbon concentration and isotope analyses distinguished contributions from CH4 and phytodetrital carbon sources across the ridge and show a low methane contribution to organic carbon.

Hillslope response to climate-modulated river incision in the Waipaoa catchment, East Coast North Island, New Zealand

Quantifying how hillslopes respond to river incision and climate change is fundamental to understanding the evolution of uplifting landscapes during glacial-interglacial cycles. We investigated the interplay among uplift, river incision, and hillslope response in the nonglacial Waipaoa River catchment located in the exhumed inner forearc of an active subduction margin on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. New high-resolution topographic data sets (light detection and ranging [lidar] and photogrammetry) combined with field mapping and tephrochronology indicate that hillslopes adjusted to rapid latest Pleistocene and Holocene river incision through the initiation and reactivation of deep-seated landslides. In the erodible marine sedimentary rocks of the Waipaoa sedimentary system, postincision deep-seated landslides can occupy over 30% of the surface area. The ages of tephra cover beds identified by electron microprobe analysis on 80 tephra samples from 173 soil test pits and 64 soil auger sites show that 4000–5000 yr after the initiation of river incision, widespread hillslope adjustment started between the deposition of the ca. 14,000 cal. yr B.P. Waiohau Tephra and the ca. 9420 cal. yr B.P. Rotoma Tephra. Tephrochronology and geomorphic mapping analysis indicate that river incision and deep-seated landslide slope adjustment were synchronous between main-stem rivers and headwater tributaries. Hillslope response in the catchment can include the entire slope, measured from river to ridgeline, and, in some cases, the interfluves between incising subcatchments have been dramatically modified through ridgeline retreat and/or lowering. Using the results of our landform tephrochronology and geomorphic mapping, we derive a conceptual time series of hillslope response to uplift and climate change–induced river incision over the last glacial-interglacial cycle.

West Andaman Fault determined to be strike slip, not back thrust

Before the devastating tsunami hit Sumatra on 26 December 2004, not much was known about the fault zones located offshore Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. Since then, geologists have set out to study the subduction margin's structure and dynamics for future mitigation of earthquake hazards.

Structure of the Andean Palaeozoic basement in the Chilean coast at 31º 30’ S: Geodynamic evolution of a subduction margin

The Palaeozoic basement outcropping to the north of Los Vilos is formed by (i) the Choapa Metamorphic Complex (ChMC) made of metabasites (amphibolites and retrogressed eclogites), fine-grained gneisses, schists and quartz-schists, and (ii) the meta-sedimentary and sedimentary rocks of the Arrayán and Huentelauquén formations respectively. Near Huentelauquén (31º 30’ S), the ChMC has been af­fected by three deformation episodes related with the Gondwanan orogenic episode. The first episode (D1) is represented by a foliation (S1) formed under HP-LT metamorphic conditions and preserved in syn-D2 garnet and albite porphyroblasts. A generalised crenulation cleavage (S2) was developed under pressure decreasing conditions during the second deformation episode (D2). This episode is responsible for the exhumation of the ChMC, which took place through an east-directed reverse fault system that thrusts the ChMC over the Arrayán Formation, producing more than 20 km shortening. The third deformation episode (D3) is represented by a west-verging kilometre-scale anticline, with a thrust in its reverse limb (Las Caldas thrust). Minor folds and crenulations are also associated with D3. D3 structures af­fect the ChMC and the Arrayán Formation and are responsible for the overturning of the D2 thrusts. The Huentelauquén Formation, late Carboniferous – Permian in age, is the latest unit deformed by Gondwanan structures. The characterisation of the structure and its relation to metamorphism in the study area, lead to propose a geodynamic model related with an Andean type non-collisional orogenic process, for the Gondwanan orogenic episode of the Andes at this latitude.

Continent-scale linearity of kimberlite–carbonatite magmatism, mid-continent North America

Cretaceous–Tertiary kimberlite–carbonatite magmatism in mid-continent North America extends along a N40°W linear trend from Louisiana to Alberta, and occurs in at least four different pulses (∼109–85, 67–64, 55–52, and less than 50 Ma). The lack of spatial age progressions of magmatism consistent with motion of North America over a fixed hot spot, the presence of Sr–Nd–Hf–Pb isotopic and trace-element compositions that show a temporal evolution from lithospheric to asthenospheric melt-sources, and the orientation of the magmatic belt parallel to the western subduction margin of the North American plate, suggest that this linear zone is the surface expression of mantle melting related to the subduction system. We propose that fragmentation of Farallon and Kula plates opened slab windows perpendicular to their convergence direction. In this model, sheet-like mantle upwellings were induced along slab-window margins, and these upwellings underwent low-degree partial melting to produce highly alkalic magmas along the trend parallel to, but ∼2000km east of, the convergent margin. The N40°W trend may reflect melting associated with penetration of the mantle transition-zone by the downgoing oceanic plate(s).

A large mantle water source for the northern San Andreas fault system: a ghost of subduction past

Recent research indicates that the shallow mantle of the Cascadia subduction margin under near-coastal Pacific Northwest, USA is cold and partially serpentinized, storing large quantities of water in this wedge-shaped region. Such a wedge probably formed to the south in California during an earlier period of subduction. We show by numerical modeling that after subduction ceased with the creation of the San Andreas Fault System (SAFS), the mantle wedge warmed, slowly releasing its water over a period of more than 25 Ma by serpentine dehydration into the crust above. This deep, long-term water source could facilitate fault slip in San Andreas System at low shear stresses by raising pore pressures in a broad region above the wedge. Moreover, the location and breadth of the water release from this model gives insights into the position and breadth of the SAFS. Such a mantle source of water also likely plays a role in the occurrence of non-volcanic tremor (NVT) that has been reported along the SAFS in central California. This process of water release from mantle depths could also mobilize mantle serpentinite from the wedge above the dehydration front, permitting upward emplacement of serpentinite bodies by faulting or by diapiric ascent. Specimens of serpentinite collected from tectonically emplaced serpentinite blocks along the SAFS show mineralogical and structural evidence of high fluid pressures during ascent from depth. Serpentinite dehydration may also lead to tectonic mobility along other plate boundaries that succeed subduction, such as other continental transforms, collision zones, or along present-day subduction zones where spreading centers are subducting.

Normal faulting in the forearc of the Hellenic subduction margin: Paleoearthquake history and kinematics of the Spili Fault, Crete, Greece

The late-Cenozoic kinematic and late-Pleistocene paleoearthquake history of the Spili Fault is examined using slip-vector measurements and in situ cosmogenic (36Cl) dating, respectively. The Spili Fault appears to have undergone at least three successive but distinct phases of extension since Messinian (∼7 Ma), with the most recent faulting resulting in the exhumation of its carbonate plane for a fault-length of ∼20 km. Earthquake-slip and age data show that the lower 9 m of the Spili Fault plane were exhumed during the last ∼16,500 years through a minimum of five large-magnitude (Mw > 6) earthquakes. The timing between successive paleoearthquakes varied by more than one order of magnitude (from 800 to 9000 years), suggesting a highly variable earthquake recurrence interval during late Pleistocene (CV = 1). This variability resulted to significant fluctuations in the displacement rate of the Spili Fault, with the millennium rate (3.5 mm/yr) being about six times faster than its late-Pleistocene rate (0.6 mm/yr). The observed variability in the slip-size of the paleoearthquakes is, however, significantly smaller (CV = 0.3). These data collectively suggest that the Spili Fault is one of the fastest moving faults in the forearc of the Hellenic subduction margin.

The crustal structure and tectonic development of the continental margin of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica: implications from geophysical data

The Amundsen Sea Embayment of West Antarctica represents a key component in the tectonic history of Antarctic-New Zealand continental breakup. The region played a major role in the plate-kinematic development of the southern Pacific from the inferred collision of the Hikurangi Plateau with the Gondwana subduction margin at approximately 110-100 Ma to the evolution of the West Antarctic Rift System. However, little is known about the crustal architecture and the tectonic processes creating the embayment. During two RV Polarstern expeditions in 2006 and 2010 a large geophysical dataset was collected consisting of seismic-refraction and reflection data, ship-borne gravity and helicopter-borne magnetic measurements. Two P-wave velocity-depth models based on forward travel-time modelling of nine ocean bottom hydrophone recordings provide an insight into the lithospheric structure beneath the Amundsen Sea Embayment. Seismic-reflection data image the sedimentary architecture and the top-of-basement. The seismic data provide constraints for 2-D gravity modelling, which supports and complements P-wave modelling. Our final model shows 10 - 14 km thick stretched continental crust at the continental rise that thickens to as much as 28 km beneath the inner shelf. The homogenous crustal architecture of the continental rise, including horst and graben structures are interpreted as indicating that wide-mode rifting affected the entire region. We observe a high-velocity layer of variable thickness beneath the margin and related it, contrary to other “normal volcanic type margins”, to a proposed magma flow along the base of the crust from beneath eastern Marie Byrd Land – West Antarctica to the Marie Byrd Seamount province. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility of upper mantle serpentinization by seawater penetration at the Marie Byrd Seamount province. Hints of seaward-dipping reflectors indicate some degree of volcanism in the area after break-up. A set of gravity anomaly data indicate several phases of fully developed and failed rift systems, including a possible branch of the West Antarctic Rift System in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.

Infrastructure and provenance of Ganderia: Evidence from detrital zircon ages in the Brookville terrane, southern New Brunswick, Canada

The Brookville terrane in southern New Brunswick contains some of the oldest known sedimentary rocks of the Ganderian microcontinent of the northern Appalachian orogen. It includes the stromatolitic metacarbonate- and quartzite-dominated Ashburn Formation and metasiltstone-dominated Martinon Formation, in mylonitic contact with the Brookville Gneiss, an assemblage of low-pressure/high-temperature paragneiss and tonalitic orthogneiss. All of the metasedimentary units were intruded by the ca. 550–528Ma subduction-related Golden Grove Plutonic Suite. Analysis by LA-ICP-MS and TIMS of zircon grains from the Ashburn Formation quartzite yielded no <10% discordant ages younger than ca. 1200Ma, a predominance of Meso- and Paleoproterozoic ages back to ca. 2100Ma, and a few Neoarchaean ages. A sample from the metasiltstone matrix of a carbonate olistostrome in the Martinon Formation contains rounded grains with ages mainly between ca. 1000Ma and 2200Ma, indicating provenance similar to that of the Ashburn Formation. However, the sample also contains euhedral grains with ages averaging around 650Ma, indicating the maximum depositional age. A quartzite/calc-silicate sample from the Brookville paragneiss yielded detrital zircon grains with most ages between 1150Ma and 2000Ma, indicating provenance similar to that of the Ashburn and Martinon formations. An orthogneiss sample yielded euhedral (igneous) zircon grains with a concordia age of 615±4Ma, indicating an interval of continental margin subduction at least 60Ma older than that represented by the Golden Grove Plutonic Suite. The Ashburn and Martinon formations and Brookville paragneiss are evidence for development of a Late Cryogenian passive margin on the Proto-Andean-Caribbean edge of Amazonia after it had separated from Laurentia by ca. 650Ma to open the Puncoviscana Ocean. By 615Ma at least part of this margin had become a subduction zone which remained active during the Late Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian, part of the Pampean arc system. Brookville and related terranes rifted away in the mid-Cambrian to form the foundation of Early Paleozoic Ganderia, which ultimately collided with composite Laurentia during the Salinic orogeny.

Sharing Resources for Aleutian Arc Research

The Aleutian arc is arguably the best place on Earth to investigate several fundamental questions about arc magmatism and subduction initiation because the record of arc growth is mostly preserved due to a lack of intra‐arc rifting. In December, 94 scientists met in San Francisco, Calif., at a workshop sponsored by the Geodynamic Processes at Rifting and Subduction Margins (GeoPRISMS) program to discuss possibilities for sharing resources for fieldwork in the Aleutian arc so that the cost per project could be reduced.

GOCE derived vertical gravity gradient delineates great earthquake rupture zones along the Chilean margin

Abstract In the south Central Andes region, the Nazca oceanic plate that subducts beneath the South American plate is characterized by a rough topography derived from different oceanic features that collide against the continental margin. These features determine an important segmentation of both the margin and of the interplate zone. The Chilean subduction margin has been characterized by megathrust earthquakes affecting the plate interface with large rupture areas reaching hundreds of kilometers parallel to the trench. The occurrence of these phenomena has been linked, among other causes, to the subduction of sediments that fill the trench and their spatial relation to the relatively prominent oceanic features. We calculated the topography corrected vertical gravity gradient from GOCE satellite data and from EGM2008 model in order to delineate mass heterogeneities related to density variations along the south-central Chile subduction zone. Obtained results show a spatial relation between the subduction of the Nazca oceanic highs and associated along-strike segmentation of the vertical gravity gradients over the interplate zone. We compared our results with the different rupture areas and found a good correspondence with the ellipses for the main earthquakes such as the Valdivia-1960 and Maule-2010 ones. Then, we compared vertical gravity gradients with slip distribution obtained from different models, finding that they are actually correlated with high slip over negative vertical gradient. The GOCE derived gradient adjusts better with the main slip distribution contour since its signal has a characteristic high wavelength. Instead, the EGM2008 model presents a better performance in defining the high frequency anomalies. However, the last results need to be considered only in those regions where the statistical comparison with GOCE data shows a good performance. This is because EGM2008 model data present varying quality of the original terrestrial data, while the quality of the GOCE data is locally homogeneous.

Passive margin subduction and the dynamics of collisional orogenesis

Continental passive margins are characterized by a wide variety of geometries and widths. Whether these variations have an influence on subsequent dynamics of orogenesis is unresolved. To investigate, a series of upper mantle numerical experiments were performed with systematically varied continental margin widths and geometries. Results show that the vertical geometry of subducting continental margin crust controls both crustal and mantle lithosphere deformation. On both scales, end-members can be identified. Namely, break-off versus delamination of continental mantle lithosphere and double vergence versus single vergence of crustal thrust fronts form as a direct result of passive margin geometry. We find that the subduction of upper crust to depths >100 km promotes lithospheric delamination and is facilitated by an extended passive margin. Modeled orogens show decreasing upper plate deformation with increasing margin width. These results suggest that along-strike deformational variation within orogens may develop due to precollision passive margin geometry.

Submarine gas seepage in a mixed contractional and shear deformation regime: Cases from the Hikurangi oblique‐subduction margin

Gas seepage from marine sediments has implications for understanding feedbacks between the global carbon reservoir, seabed ecology, and climate change. Although the relationship between hydrates, gas chimneys, and seafloor seepage is well established, the nature of fluid sources and plumbing mechanisms controlling fluid escape into the hydrate zone and up to the seafloor remain one of the least understood components of fluid migration systems. In this study, we present the analysis of new three‐dimensional high‐resolution seismic data acquired to investigate fluid migration systems sustaining active seafloor seepage at Omakere Ridge, on the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand. The analysis reveals at high resolution, complex overprinting fault structures (i.e., protothrusts, normal faults from flexural extension, and shallow (&lt;1 km) arrays of oblique shear structures) implicated in fluid migration within the gas hydrate stability zone in an area of 2 × 7 km. In addition to fluid migration systems sustaining seafloor seepage on both sides of a central thrust fault, the data show seismic evidence for subseafloor gas‐rich fluid accumulation associated with proto‐thrusts and extensional faults. In these latter systems fluid pressure dissipation through time has been favored, hindering the development of gas chimneys. We discuss the elements of the distinct fluid migration systems and the influence that a complex partitioning of stress may have on the evolution of fluid flow systems in active subduction margins.

Forearc structure and morphology along the Sumatra‐Andaman subduction zone

AbstractThe Sunda subduction margin, the location of recent magnitude 8–9 megathrust earthquakes, is characterized by major changes in prism and forearc morphology and structure along its 5000 km length. On the Sumatra‐Andaman section, measurements of prism width and surface slope (α) indicate along‐strike segments, inclu1ding abrupt changes, of prism morphology: (1) a narrow and steep prism between Burma and the Andamans; (2) broad with an averaged gentle slope in the Andamans, Nicobars, and North Sumatra; (3) steep and narrow in Central Sumatra; and (4) wider and less steep offshore South Sumatra, decreasing in width to West Java. Prism width varies from ~90 to 180 km and average surface slope from ~1 to 3° with a strong inverse correlation between width and slope, also observed globally. The prism deviates from typical taper geometry in parts of the margin, notably offshore North Sumatra where it is characterized by a steep toe and broad plateau. Along‐strike changes in morphology are strongly linked to input sediment thickness. Sections of the prism toe represent key global examples of unusual landward vergent thrusting. These sections correspond to a thick sediment input and to a wide prism with shallow surface slope. A low basal shear stress or backstop mechanism may drive this style of faulting. Prism morphology and structure appear to be driven predominantly by input sediment thickness linked to oceanic basement topography, with sediment properties, plate smoothness, and orthogonal subduction rate and obliquity also contributing, and no clear role of plate age or dip.