Accurate hypocentre determination in the seismogenic zone of the subducting Nazca Plate in northern Chile using a combined on-/offshore network

The coupled plate interface of subduction zones—commonly called the seismogenic zone—has been recognized as the origin of fatal earthquakes. A subset of the after-shock series of the great Antofagasta thrust-type event (1995 July 30; Mw= 8.0) has been used to study the extent of the seismogenic zone in northern Chile. To achieve reliable and precise hypocentre locations we applied the concept of the minimum 1-D model, which incorporates iterative simultaneous inversion of velocity and hypocentre parameters. The minimum 1-D model is complemented by station corrections which are influenced by near-surface velocity heterogeneity and by the individual station elevations. By relocating mine blasts, which were not included in the inversion, we obtain absolute location errors of 1 km in epicentre and 2 km in focal depth. A study of the resolution parameters ALE and DSPR documents the importance of offshore stations on location accuracy for offshore events. Based on precisely determined hypo-centres we calculate a depth of 46 km for the lower limit of the seismogenic zone, which is in good agreement with previous studies for this area. For the upper limit we found a depth of 20 km. Our results of an aseismic zone between the upper limit of the seismogenic zone and the surface correlates with a detachment zone proposed by other studies; the results are also in agreement with thermal studies for the Antofagasta forearc regio

Three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure on the shallow part of the Central Costa Rican Pacific margin from local earthquake tomography using off- and onshore networks

The Central Costa Rican Pacific margin is characterized by a high-seismicity rate, coincident with the subduction of rough-relief ocean floor and has generated earthquakes with magnitude up to seven in the past. We inverted selected P-wave traveltimes from earthquakes recorded by a combined on- and offshore seismological array deployed during 6 months in the area, simultaneously determining hypocentres and the 3-D tomographic velocity structure on the shallow part of the subduction zone (<70 km). The results reflect the complexity associated to subduction of ocean-floor morphology and the transition from normal to thickened subducting oceanic crust. The subducting slab is imaged as a high-velocity perturbation with a band of low velocities (LVB) on top encompassing the intraslab seismicity deeper than ∼30 km. The LVB is locally thickened by the presence of at least two subducted seamounts beneath the margin wedge. There is a general eastward widening of the LVB over a relatively short distance, closely coinciding with the onset of an inverted forearc basin onshore and the appearance of an aseismic low-velocity anomaly beneath the inner forearc. The latter coincides spatially with an area of the subaerial forearc where differential uplift of blocks has been described, suggesting tectonic underplating of eroded material against the base of the upper plate crust. Alternatively, the low velocities could be induced by an accumulation of upward migrating fluids. Other observed velocity perturbations are attributed to several processes taking place at different depths, such as slab hydration through outer rise faulting, tectonic erosion and slab dehydratio

PACOMAR 91/92 - Fahrtbericht SONNE 76 [SO76], 20. Dezember 1991 bis 25. Januar 1992

Das PACOMAR Projekt (PAcific COntinental MARgins) ist ein gemeinsames Vorhaben von deutschen und costaricanischen Forschungseinrichtungen. Es wird hauptsächlich unterstützt vom Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (BMFT) in Form von Zuwendungen an das GEOMAR-Forschungszentrum für marine Geowissenschaften, an das Geologisch-Paläontologische Institut (GPI) der Christian-Aibrechts-Universität zu Kiel sowie an die Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) in Hannover. Auf Seiten Costa Ricas wird das Projekt durch Kooperation mit der costaricanischen Elektrizitätsgesellschaft (ICE), dem Geologischen Institut an der Universität Costa Rica und der costaricanischen Erdölgesellschaft (RECOPE) unterstützt. Dieses Vorhaben befaßt sich mit der Untersuchung von katastrophalen Naturereignissen, wie Erdbeben oder durch sie erzeugte Flutwellen (Tsunamis), und grundlegenden vulkanischen Prozessen. In diesem Fahrtbericht sind die ersten Ergebnisse der Forschungsfahrt S0-76 mit dem F/S Sonne vom 20. Dezember 1991 bis zum 25. Januar 1992 zusammengefaßt. Diese Ergebnisse sowie anschließende Laboruntersuchungen und Auswertungen an Land bilden die Grundlage für die Pla-nungen und Vorbereitungen einer zweiten Fahrt mit dem gleichen Forschungsschiff, S0-81, im August und September 1992

Margin architecture and seismic attenuation in the central Costa Rican forearc

Seismic attenuation across the central Costa Rican margin wedge is determined fromamplitude analysis ofwideangle seismic data. Travel time and amplitude modeling are applied to ocean bottom hydrophones along two trench-parallel profiles, located 30 km (P21) and 35 km (P18) landward of the deformation front northeast of Quepos Plateau. Tomographic inversion images a progressively thinning margin wedge from the coast to the lower slope at the trench. A 1–1.5 km thick décollement zone with seismic velocities of 3.5–4.5 km/s is sandwiched between the marginwedge and the subducting Cocos plate. For strike line P21, amplitude modeling indicates a Qp value of 50–150 for the upper margin wedge with seismic velocities ranging from 3.9 km/s to 4.9 km/s. Along strike line P18, Qp values of 50–150 are determined with velocities of 4.3–5.0 km/s in the upper margin wedge, increasing to 5.1–5.4 km/s in the lower margin wedge. Quantitative amplitude decay curves support the observed upper plate Qp values. In conjunction with earlier results from offshore Nicoya Peninsula, our study documents landward decreasing attenuation across the margin wedge, consistent with a change in lithology from the sediment-dominated frontal prism to the igneous composition of the forearc middle pris

Creating realistic models based on combined forward modeling and tomographic inversion of seismic profiling data

Amplitudes and shapes of seismic patterns derived from tomographic images often are strongly biased with respect to real structures in the earth. In particular, tomography usually provides continuous velocity distributions, whereas major velocity changes in the earth often occur on first-order interfaces. We propose an approach that constructs a realistic structure of the earth that combines forward modeling and tomographic inversion (FM&TI). Using available a priori information, we first construct a synthetic model with realistic patterns. Then we compute synthetic times and invert them using the same tomographic code and the same parameters as in the case of observed data processing. We compare the reconstruction result with the tomographicimage of observed data inversion. If a discrepancy is observed, we correct the synthetic model and repeat the FM&TI process. After several trials, we obtain similar results of synthetic and observed data inversion. In this case, the derived synthetic model adequately represents the real structure of the earth. In a working scheme of this approach, we three authors used two different synthetic models with a realistic setup. One of us created models, but the other two performed the reconstruction with no knowledge of the models. We discovered that the synthetic models derived by FM&TI were closer to the true model than the tomographic inversion result. Our reconstruction results from modeling marine data acquired in the Musicians Seamount Province in the Pacific Ocean indicate the capacity and limitations of FM&TI

Deep lithospheric structures along the southern central Chile Margin from wide-angle P-wave modellilng

Crustal- and upper-mantle structures of the subduction zone in south central Chile, between 42 degrees S and 46 degrees S, are determined from seismic wide-angle reflection and refraction data, using the seismic ray tracing method to calculate minimum parameter models. Three profiles along differently aged segments of the subducting Nazca Plate were analysed in order to study subduction zone structure dependencies related to the age, that is, thermal state, of the incoming plate. The age of the oceanic crust at the trench ranges from 3 Ma on the southernmost profile, immediately north of the Chile triple junction, to 6.5 Ma old about 100 km to the north, and to 14.5 Ma old another 200 km further north, off the Island of Chiloe. Remarkable similarities appear in the structures of both the incoming as well as the overriding plate. The oceanic Nazca Plate is around 5 km thick, with a slightly increasing thickness northward, reflecting temperature changes at the time of crustal generation. The trench basin is about 2 km thick except in the south where the Chile Ridge is close to the deformation front and only a small, 800-m-thick trench infill could develop. In south central Chile, typically three quarters (1.5 km) of the trench sediments subduct below the decollement in the subduction channel. To the north and south of the study area, only about one quarter to one third of the sediments subducts, the rest is accreted above. Similarities in the overriding plate are the width of the active accretionary prism, 35-50 km, and a strong lateral crustal velocity gradient zone about 75-80 km landward from the deformation front, where landward upper-crustal velocities of over 5.0-5.4 km s&lt;SU-1&lt;/SU decrease seaward to around 4.5 km s&lt;SU-1&lt;/SU within about 10 km, which possibly represents a palaeo-backstop. This zone is also accompanied by strong intraplate seismicity. Differences in the subduction zone structures exist in the outer rise region, where the northern profile exhibits a clear bulge of uplifted oceanic lithosphere prior to subduction whereas the younger structures have a less developed outer rise. This plate bending is accompanied by strongly reduced rock velocities on the northern profile due to fracturing and possible hydration of the crust and upper mantle. The southern profiles do not exhibit such a strong alteration of the lithosphere, although this effect may be counteracted by plate cooling effects, which are reflected in increasing rock velocities away from the spreading centre. Overall there appears little influence of incoming plate age on the subduction zone structure which may explain why the M-w = 9.5 great Chile earthquake from 1960 ruptured through all these differing age segments. The rupture area, however, appears to coincide with a relatively thick subduction channel