Tomografia sísmica da litosfera continental algarvia

RESUMO: O presente estudo de Tomografia é focado na região do Algarve. Para a localização dos eventos e determinação do modelo de velocidades, são utilizadas as ondas P e S. Os dados foram obtidos entre Janeiro/2006 e Julho/2007. As estimativa dos tempos de origem e coordenadas hipocentrais foram calculadas. A relocalização de eventos e inversão linear respeitaram dois passos: 1) determinação do modelo mínimo 1-D e 2) relocalização dos hipocentros e obtenção da estrutura 3-D em termos de velocidades das ondas P. ABSTRACT: The present Tomographic study is focused on Algarve region. For event location and velocity model determination P and S waves were used. Data was collected between January/2006 and July/2007. The estimation of origin times and hipocentral determination were calculated. Relocation of events and linear inversion respected two steps: 1) minimum velocity model determination and 2) hipocentral relocation and 3-D Earth structure determination in terms of P wave velocities

Crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of the Hoggar swell

Abstract The Hoggar region is known as one of the most important swells in the African continent. Its altitude culminates at 2908 Ž . Ž m in the Tahat hill Atakor . The Hoggar and other massifs of central Africa Aır, Eghei, Tibesti, Darfur, Cameroon mount, . . . . form a system of domal uplifts with similar scale, morphology and volcanic activity. The knowledge of the structure beneath the Hoggar swell will help us to understand the origin of continental swells. In order to get an image of the lithosphere in this region, we have performed a teleseismic field experiment. The 33 short-period seismic stations have been maintained for 2 1r2 month along a 700-km long NNW-SSW profile. This experiment crossed the Central Hoggar and extended northward into the In-Salah Sahara basin which is characterized by high heat flow values of deep origin. The high quality of the data recorded during this experiment allows us to perform a velocity inversion. The Hoggar appears to be characterized by lower mantle velocities. The anomalous zone extends from the upper lithosphere to the mantle. The weak velocity contrast is interpreted in agreement with gravity, geothermal and petrological data as due to extensive mantle modifications inherited from Cenozoic volcanic activity. It confirms that the Hoggar swell is not due to a large-scale uplift of hot asthenospheric materials but corresponds to a now cooled-off modified mantle. On the contrary, local low-velocity zones associated with the Atakor and Tahalra volcanic districts show that hot materials still exist at depths in relation with recent basaltic volcanism.

Structure of the Collision Zone Between the Nazca Ridge and the Peruvian Convergent Margin: Geodynamic and Seismotectonic Implications

We study the structure and tectonics of the collision zone between the Nazca Ridge (NR) and the Peruvian margin constrained by seismic, gravimetric, bathymetric, and natural seismological data. The NR was formed in an on-ridge setting, and it is characterized by a smooth and broad shallow seafloor (swell) with an estimated buoyancy flux of ~7 Mg/s. The seismic results show that the NR hosts an oceanic lower crust 10–14 km thick with velocities of 7.2–7.5 km/s suggesting intrusion of magmatic material from the hot spot plume to the oceanic plate. Our results show evidence for subduction erosion in the frontal part of the margin likely enhanced by the collision of the NR. The ridge-trench collision zone correlates with the presence of a prominent normal scarp, a narrow continental slope, and (uplifted) shelf. In contrast, adjacent of the collision zone, the slope does not present a topographic scarp and the continental slope and shelf become wider and deeper. Geophysical and geodetic evidence indicate that the collision zone is characterized by low seismic coupling at the plate interface. This is consistent with vigorous subduction erosion enhanced by the subducting NR causing abrasion and increase of fluid pore pressure at the interplate contact. Furthermore, the NR has behaved as a barrier for rupture propagation of megathrust earthquakes (e.g., 1746 Mw 8.6 and 1942 Mw 8.1 events). In contrast, for moderate earthquakes (e.g., 1996 Mw 7.7 and 2011 Mw 6.9 events), the NR has behaved as a seismic asperity nucleating at depths >20 km

Asperities and barriers on the seismogenic zone in North Chile: state-of-the-art after the 2007 Mw 7.7 Tocopilla earthquake inferred by GPS and InSAR data

The Mw 7.7 2007 November 14 earthquake had an epicentre located close to the city of Tocopilla, at the southern end of a known seismic gap in North Chile. Through modelling of Global Positioning System (GPS) and radar interferometry (InSAR) data, we show that this event ruptured the deeper part of the seismogenic interface (30–50 km) and did not reach the surface. The earthquake initiated at the hypocentre and was arrested ~150 km south, beneath the Mejillones Peninsula, an area already identified as an important structural barrier between two segments of the Peru–Chile subduction zone. Our preferred models for the Tocopilla main shock show slip concentrated in two main asperities, consistent with previous inversions of seismological data. Slip appears to have propagated towards relatively shallow depths at its southern extremity, under the Mejillones Peninsula. Our analysis of post-seismic deformation suggests that small but still significant post-seismic slip occurred within the first 10 d after the main shock, and that it was mostly concentrated at the southern end of the rupture. The post-seismic deformation occurring in this period represents ~12–19 per cent of the coseismic deformation, of which ~30–55 per cent has been released aseismically. Post-seismic slip appears to concentrate within regions that exhibit low coseismic slip, suggesting that the afterslip distribution during the first month of the post-seismic interval complements the coseismic slip. The 2007 Tocopilla earthquake released only ~2.5 per cent of the moment deficit accumulated on the interface during the past 130 yr and may be regarded as a possible precursor of a larger subduction earthquake rupturing partially or completely the 500-km-long North Chile seismic gap

Seismic and aseismic slip on the Central Peru megathrust

Slip on a subduction megathrust can be seismic or aseismic, with the two modes of slip complementing each other in time and space to accommodate the long-term plate motions. Although slip is almost purely aseismic at depths greater than about 40 km, heterogeneous surface strain suggests that both modes of slip occur at shallower depths, with aseismic slip resulting from steady or transient creep in the interseismic and postseismic periods. Thus, active faults seem to comprise areas that slip mostly during earthquakes, and areas that mostly slip aseismically. The size, location and frequency of earthquakes that a megathrust can generate thus depend on where and when aseismic creep is taking place, and what fraction of the long-term slip rate it accounts for. Here we address this issue by focusing on the central Peru megathrust. We show that the Pisco earthquake, with moment magnitude M_w = 8.0, ruptured two asperities within a patch that had remained locked in the interseismic period, and triggered aseismic frictional afterslip on two adjacent patches. The most prominent patch of afterslip coincides with the subducting Nazca ridge, an area also characterized by low interseismic coupling, which seems to have repeatedly acted as a barrier to seismic rupture propagation in the past. The seismogenic portion of the megathrust thus appears to be composed of interfingering rate-weakening and rate-strengthening patches. The rate-strengthening patches contribute to a high proportion of aseismic slip, and determine the extent and frequency of large interplate earthquakes. Aseismic slip accounts for as much as 50–70% of the slip budget on the seismogenic portion of the megathrust in central Peru, and the return period of earthquakes with M_w = 8.0 in the Pisco area is estimated to be 250  years

Rapid response to the earthquake emergency of May 2012 in the Po Plain, northern Italy

No abstrac

Instrumental data on the seismic activity along the Dead Sea Transform

International audienceWe analyzed the catalog of instrumental recordings of seismic activityfrom 1900 to 2010 along the Dead Sea Transform. The seismicity pattern revealssignificant activity confined to 5 main sections of the transform. In all the sectionsof the transform there is a significant amount of seismic activity at depths of9–10 km (lower part of the upper crust). The seismic activity extends to large depthsof 20 km and more, where about 30 % of the seismic activity occurs in the lowercrust, especially in the Dead Sea basin and the Arava Valley. The deep seismicity iscorrelative with previous low heat flow measurements along the transform, and thussuggesting a relatively cold crust. We analyzed more than 4,300 S-wave spectra ofearthquakes in the magnitude range is 0.8 ≤ Md ≤ 6.2, with M0 values ranging from3.1x1011 N · m to 5.4x1018 N · m, and Brune stress drop estimates, Δσ, between0.1 MPa and 15 MPa. The total seismic moment release in the years 1900–2010 inthe Dead Sea Transform due to all the earthquakes, including the earthquake in1927, is only a fraction of the expected seismic moment release

Crustal structure and magmato-tectonic processes in an active rift (Asal-Ghoubbet, Afar, East Africa): 1. Insights from a 5-month seismological experiment

International audience[1] We seek to characterize how magmatic and tectonic activities combine and interact during the continental rifting process. We address this question in two companion papers. In both, we analyze the seismicity that occurs in an active magmato-tectonic rift, Asal-Ghoubbet (East Africa), to identify the features and/or processes responsible for its activity. Here, we report results from a 5-month experiment that we conducted in the rift. Eleven seismometers were deployed to complement the eight-station permanent network. This allowed recording $400 earthquakes in the rift; 200 events could be well located (precision 5–6 km) magma reservoir. Most events concentrate at the roof of the pipe (at 3–4 km) and result from up and down slip ruptures on both the volcanic (ring) and tectonic faults that enclose the pipe at depth. The up and down motions are likely driven by pressure changes in the magma reservoir. Hence, although a few rift faults were associated with seismicity, most remained seismically silent during the experiment. In the companion paper, we analyze the seismic activity in the rift over the 23 years that followed its last rifting episode. This confirms the importance of the Fieale-Shark Bay plumbing system in the overall rift behavior. structure and magmato-tectonic processes in an active rift (Asal-Ghoubbet, Afar, East Africa): 1. Insights from a 5-month seismological experiment