Mechanism of 2003, 2007 and 2009 earthquakes (S. Vicente Cape) and implications for the 1755 Lisbon earthquake

The San Vicente Cape region (SW Iberia) is of great seismological interest due to its tectonic complexity and for the occurrence of the 1755 Lisbon mega-earthquake. A structure capable of generating such large earthquake has not been convincingly found but authors agree with the possible occurrence in the future of a similar earthquake offshore of San Vicente Cape.We have studied the mechanism of three earthquakes in this area: 29 July 2003 (Mw = 5.3), 12 February 2007 (Mw = 6.1) and 17 December 2009 (Mw = 5.5) which throw light on the dynamics of the region. These earthquakes are the largest occurred in the last 40 years at the western of San Vicente Cape. From inversion of body waves and kinematic slip distribution, we have obtained that the three shocks have similar characteristics (dimensions, maximum slip, stress drop, source time function, focal depth and rupture velocity), but we can observe differences on geometry of the rupture that reflect the great seismotectonics complexity of the zone. The 2003 and 2007 focal mechanisms are similar, corresponding to thrusting motion but the 2009 earthquake has dip-slip motion on a vertical plane. The ruptures planes for the three shocks, deduced from the slip distribution, show ruptures on NE-SW planes, with the released energy propagating to NE direction, compatible with the regional horizontal compression in the NW-SE direction produced by the convergence between the Eurasian and African plates. This direction of faulting may be applied to the generation of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, in terms of a complex rupture along NE-SW trending thrust faults at the Gorringe Bank, the Horseshoe Scarp and the Marques de Pombal Fault, with rupture propagating in NE direction toward the coast of Portugal and which may explain the large damage at Lisbon city

Relativistic descriptions of quasielastic charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering: application to scaling and superscaling ideas

The analysis of the recent experimental data on charged-current neutrino-nucleus scattering cross sections measured at MiniBooNE requires fully relativistic theoretical descriptions also accounting for the role of final state interactions. In this work we evaluate inclusive quasielastic differential neutrino cross sections within the framework of the relativistic impulse approximation. Results based on the relativistic mean field potential are compared with the ones corresponding to the relativistic Green function approach. An analysis of scaling and superscaling properties provided by both models is also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Intermediate depth and deep earthquakes: complexity of the Ibero-Magrhebian region

The Ibero-Magrhebian region is located at the plate boundary between Eurasia and Africa and it is a tectonically complex region. A sign of the complexity, is the occurrence of intermediate depth earthquakes (40<h<150 km), located in south Spain, between Granada- Malaga and at the west part of Alboran Sea, together with the occurrence of very deep earthquakes (h≈650 km) near Dúrcal (Granada). Intermediate depth shocks are mostly confined within a relatively narrow region (50 km width) located East of Gibraltar, extending NNE-SSW from the Malaga (Spain) area to a region offshore the Moroccan coast. We have studied focal mechanisms of these earthquakes from inversion of body wave. The stress pattern in the Ibero-Maghrebian region obtained from solutions of selected shallow, intermediate depth and deep shocks show the complexity of the region. The seismotectonic scheme show horizontal compression in NNW-SSE direction in the Gulf of Cádiz. In northern Africa, the stress pattern changes and it corresponds to strike-slip motion, with extends from west of the Gibraltar Strait until the western Algeria, where in the Oran region the horizontal compression N-S reapers, with a clear domain of the thrusting faults in Algeria. In the Alboran Sea there is horizontal extension in E-W direction for shallow events. The intermediate depth shock located at the western part of the Alboran Sea show a change on the stress pattern: to the west of 4.5oW, focal mechanisms show vertical tension axis, while to the east, they show vertical pressure axis. These stress orientations are not present in deep earthquakes, where the pressure axes dip 45o to the east. The intermediate and deep earthquakes may be related to some kind of subduction or delamination processes, more recent for the intermediate depth shocks and older for the very deep activity

Correlations and the Cross Section of Exclusive (e,e′pe,e'p) Reactions for 16^{16}O

The reduced cross section for exclusive ($e,e'p$) reactions has been studied in DWIA for the example of the nucleus $^{16}$O using a spectral function containing effects of correlations. The spectral function is evaluated directly for the finite nucleus starting from a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction within the framework of the Green's function approach. The emphasis is focused on the correlations induced by excitation modes at low energies described within a model-space of shell-model configurations including states up to the $sdg$ shell. Cross sections for the $p$-wave quasi-hole transitions at low missing energies are presented and compared with the most recent experimental data. In the case of the so-called perpendicular kinematics the reduced cross section derived in DWIA shows an enhancement at high missing momenta as compared to the PWIA result. Furthermore the cross sections for the $s$- and $d$-wave quasi-hole transitions are presented and compared to available data at low missing momenta. Also in these cases, which cannot be described in a model without correlations, a good agreement with the experiment is obtained.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures include

Final-State Interactions in the Superscaling Analysis of Neutral-Current Quasielastic Neutrino Scattering

Effects of strong final-state interactions in the superscaling properties of neutral-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections are investigated using the Relativistic Impulse Approximation as guidance. First- and second-kind scaling are analyzed for neutrino beam energies ranging from 1 to 2 GeV for the cases of 12C, 16O and 40Ca. Different detection angles of the outgoing nucleon are considered in order to sample various nucleon energy regimes. Scaling of the second kind is shown to be very robust. Validity of first-kind scaling is found to be linked to the kinematics of the process. Superscaling still prevails even in the presence of very strong final-state interactions, provided that some kinematical restrains are kept, and the conditions under which superscaling can be applied to predict neutral-current quasielastic neutrino scattering are determined.Comment: 39 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Spin dependent Momentum Distributions in Deformed Nuclei

We study the properties of the spin dependent one body density in momentum space for odd--A polarized deformed nuclei within the mean field approximation. We derive analytic expressions connecting intrinsic and laboratory momentum distributions. The latter are related to observable transition densities in {\bf p}--space that can be probed in one nucleon knock--out reactions from polarized targets. It is shown that most of the information contained in the intrinsic spin dependent momentum distribution is lost when the nucleus is not polarized. Results are presented and discussed for two prolate nuclei, $^{21}$Ne and $^{25}$Mg, and for one oblate nucleus, $^{37}$Ar. The effects of deformation are highlighted by comparison to the case of odd--A nuclei in the spherical model.Comment: Latex 2.09. 25 pages and 6 figures (available from [email protected]), to appear in Ann. of Phy

Focal Mechanism and Rupture Process of 2004 Alhoceima (Morocco, Mw=6.2) Earthquake from Teleseismic and Regional Broad-Band Data.

We have study the focal mechanism of the 2004 Alhoceima (Morocco, Mw=6.2) earthquake using teleseismic and regional broad-band data. The solution obtained shows strike slip motion with planes striking respectively on NNE-SSW and WNW-ESE direction and horizontal pressure axes in NNW-SSE direction. We inverted body waves at teleseismic distances using as initial orientation the solution obtained from 126 P polarities. A model of extended source with rupture velocity between 2.5-3.0 km was used for the inversion. We find a complex rupture with four events at shallow depth (2-8 km). The rupture started at 6 km depth and propagated toward the south with maximum seismic moment releases at the first step (80% over a total of 1.8 x10e18 Nm). Similar result was obtained from slip inversion. An aftershock occurred on 12/03/04 (Mw=4.8) was used as empirical green function using broad-band data at re gional distances (40 to 300 km) to estimate the source time function. Comparison of these results with those obtained for the 1994 earthquake show similar behaviour, namely, a complex rupture process and apparently no relation of the 1994 and 2004 shocks with the Nekor fault, the most important geological feature in the studied area. The stress pattern derived from the 1994 and 2004 focal mechanisms are in agreement with the regional stress pattern in the Alboran Sea: horizontal compres- sion in NNW-SSE and horizontal extension in E-W direction