Slip on ridge transform faults : insights from earthquakes and laboratory experiments

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June, 2005The relatively simple tectonic environment of mid-ocean ridge transform fault (RTF) seismicity provides a unique opportunity for investigation of earthquake and faulting processes. We develop a scaling model that is complete in that all the seismic parameters are related to the RTF tectonic parameters. Laboratory work on the frictional stability of olivine aggregates shows that the depth extent of oceanic faulting is thermally controlled and limited by the 600°C isotherm. Slip on RTFs is primarily aseismic, only 15% of the tectonic offset is accommodated by earthquakes. Despite extensive fault areas, few large earthquakes occur on RTFs, and few aftershocks follow the large events. Standard models of seismicity, in which all earthquakes result from the same seismic triggering process, do not describe RTF earthquakes. Instead, large earthquakes appear to be preceded by an extended fault preparation process marked by abundant foreshocks within 1 hour and 15 km of the mainshocks. In our experiments normal force vibrations, such as seismic radiation from nearby earthquakes, can weaken and potentially destabilize steadily creeping faults. Integrating the rheology, geology, and seismicity of RTFs, we develop a synoptic model to better understand the spatial distribution of fault strength and stability and provide insight into slip accommodation on RTFs.Funding from the Deep Ocean Earth Institute Fellowship, MIT Presidential Fellowship, NSF Fellowship, and WHOI Academic Programs Office

Extension of Gutenberg-Richter Distribution to Mw -1.3, No Lower Limit in Sight

With twelve years of seismic data from TauTona Gold Mine, South Africa, we show that mining-induced earthquakes follow the Gutenberg-Richter relation with no scale break down to the completeness level of the catalog, at moment magnitude MW −1.3. Events recorded during relatively quiet hours in 2006 indicate that catalog detection limitations, not earthquake source physics, controlled the previously reported minimum magnitude in this mine. Within the Natural Earthquake Laboratory in South African Mines (NELSAM) experiment\u27s dense seismic array, earthquakes that exhibit shear failure at magnitudes as small as MW −3.9 are observed, but we find no evidence that MW −3.9 represents the minimum magnitude. In contrast to previous work, our results imply small nucleation zones and that earthquake processes in the mine can readily be scaled to those in either laboratory experiments or natural faults

Effects of normal stress variation on the strength and stability of creeping faults

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 109 (2004): B03406, doi:10.1029/2003JB002824.A central problem in studies of fault interaction and earthquake triggering is that of quantifying changes in frictional strength and the constitutive response caused by dynamic stressing. We imposed normal stress vibrations on creeping laboratory shear zones to investigate the process of dynamic weakening and the conditions under which resonant frictional behavior occurs. Layers of quartz powder were sheared at room temperature in a double-direct shear geometry at normal stress sigma barn = 25–200 MPa, vibration amplitude A = 0.1–10 MPa, period T = 0.1–200 s, and loading rate V = 1–1000 μm/s. Frictional response varied systematically with A, T, and V. Small-amplitude, short-period vibrations had no effect on frictional strength, but large-amplitude, short-period vibrations reduced shear zone strength by about 1%. Intermediate periods caused phase lags between shear strength and imposed vibrations. During long-period vibrations, frictional strength varied sinusoidally, in phase with vibrations and with an amplitude consistent with a constant coefficient of friction. Our data show that friction exhibits a critical vibration period, as predicted by theory. At long periods, the Dieterich (aging) friction law, with the Linker and Dieterich modification to describe step changes in normal stress, provides a good fit to our experimental results for all A and V. At short periods, however, theory predicts more dynamic weakening than we observed experimentally, suggesting that existing rate and state friction laws do not account for the full physics of our laboratory experiments. Our data show that normal-force vibrations can weaken and potentially destabilize steadily creeping fault zones.This research was supported by NSF grant EAR 01-96570 and USGS grant 02HQGR0156, and M.B. was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Thermal segmentation of mid-ocean ridge-transform faults

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 18 (2017): 3405–3418, doi:10.1002/2017GC006967.3-D finite element simulations are used to calculate thermal structures and mantle flow fields underlying mid-ocean ridge-transform faults (RTFs) composed of two fault segments separated by an orthogonal step over. Using fault lengths and slip rates, we derive an empirical scaling relation for the critical step over length ( inline image), which marks the transition from predominantly horizontal to predominantly vertical mantle flow at the base of the lithosphere under a step over. Using the ratio of step over length (LS) to inline image, we define three degrees of segmentation: first-degree, corresponding to type I step overs ( inline image ≥ 3); second-degree, corresponding to type II step overs (1 ≤  inline image < 3); and third-degree, corresponding to type III step overs ( inline image <1). In first-degree segmentation, thermal structures and mantle upwelling patterns under a step over are similar to those of mature ridges, where normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) form. The seismogenic area under first-degree segmentation is characteristic of two, isolated faults. Second-degree segmentation creates pull-apart basins with subdued melt generation, and intratransform spreading centers with enriched MORBs. The seismogenic area of RTFs under second-degree segmentation is greater than that of two isolated faults, but less than that of an unsegmented RTF. Under third-degree segmentation, mantle flow is predominantly horizontal, resulting in little lithospheric thinning and little to no melt generation. The total seismogenic area under third-degree segmentation approaches that of an unsegmented RTF. Our scaling relations characterize the degree of segmentation due to step overs along transform faults and provide insight into RTF frictional processes, seismogenic behavior, and melt transport.NSF Grant Numbers: OCE-1352565, OCE-14-58201; NOAA. Grant Number: NA10NOS4000073; 2011 ExxonMobil Geosciences2018-03-1

Broadband Records of Earthquakes in Deep Gold Mines and a Comparison with Results from SAFOD, California

For one week during September 2007, we deployed a temporary network of field recorders and accelerometers at four sites within two deep, seismically active mines. The ground-motion data, recorded at 200 samples/sec, are well suited to determining source and ground-motion parameters for the mining-induced earthquakes within and adjacent to our network. Four earthquakes with magnitudes close to 2 were recorded with high signal/noise at all four sites. Analysis of seismic moments and peak velocities, in conjunction with the results of laboratory stick-slip friction experiments, were used to estimate source processes that are key to understanding source physics and to assessing underground seismic hazard. The maximum displacements on the rupture surfaces can be estimated from the parameter Rv, where v is the peak ground velocity at a given recording site, and R is the hypocentral distance. For each earthquake, the maximum slip and seismic moment can be combined with results from laboratory friction experiments to estimate the maximum slip rate within the rupture zone. Analysis of the four M 2 earthquakes recorded during our deployment and one of special interest recorded by the in-mine seismic network in 2004 revealed maximum slips ranging from 4 to 27 mm and maximum slip rates from 1.1 to 6:3 m=sec. Applying the same analyses to an M 2.1 earthquake within a cluster of repeating earthquakes near the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth site, California, yielded similar results for maximum slip and slip rate, 14 mm and 4:0 m=sec

Spatial and temporal variations in earthquake stress drop on Gofar Transform Fault, East Pacific Rise : implications for fault strength

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 7722-7740, doi:10.1029/2018JB015942.On Gofar Transform Fault on the East Pacific Rise, the largest earthquakes (6.0 ≤ MW ≤ 6.2) have repeatedly ruptured the same portion of the fault, while intervening fault segments host swarms of microearthquakes. These long‐term patterns in earthquake occurrence suggest that heterogeneous fault zone properties control earthquake behavior. Using waveforms from ocean bottom seismometers that recorded seismicity before and after an anticipated 2008 MW 6.0 mainshock, we investigate the role that differences in material properties have on earthquake rupture at Gofar. We determine stress drop for 138 earthquakes (2.3 ≤ MW ≤ 4.0) that occurred within and between the rupture areas of large earthquakes. Stress drops are calculated from corner frequencies derived using an empirical Green's function spectral ratio method, and seismic moments are obtained by fitting the omega‐square source model to the low frequency amplitude of the displacement spectrum. Our analysis yields stress drops from 0.04 to 3.2 MPa with statistically significant spatial variation, including ~2 times higher average stress drop in fault segments where large earthquakes also occur compared to fault segments that host earthquake swarms. We find an inverse correlation between stress drop and P wave velocity reduction, which we interpret as the effect of fault zone damage on the ability of the fault to store strain energy that leads to our spatial variations in stress drop. Additionally, we observe lower stress drops following the MW 6.0 mainshock, consistent with increased damage and decreased fault strength after a large earthquake.W. M. Keck Foundation; National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) Grant Number: 13525652019-03-0

Scaling relations for seismic cycles on mid-ocean ridge transform faults

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 36 (2009): L21301, doi:10.1029/2009GL040115.Mid-ocean ridge transform faults (RTFs) have thermal structures that vary systematically with tectonic parameters, resulting in predictable seismic characteristics and clear seismic cycles. We develop a scaling relation for repeat time, tR, of the largest expected earthquake, MC: tR = μ−1Δσ2/3CMc1/3AT1/4V−1, where μ is the shear modulus, Δσ is the stress drop, CMc is a constant, AT is the area above 600°C, and V is the slip rate. We identify repeating MC earthquakes by measuring differential arrival times of first orbit Rayleigh waves to determine centroid offsets between pairs of events. Comparing our observations of tR (5–14 years for earthquakes on Gofar and Blanco RTFs) with predictions from our scaling relation, we can constrain RTF stress drops. Specific tests of this scaling relation are proposed for earthquakes on Blanco, Gofar, Discovery, and Clipperton RTFs, which are all expected to have large ruptures in the next few years.JM was supported by the Deep Ocean Exploration Institute at WHOI. MB was supported by a Tyco Postdoctoral Fellowship and NOAA grant NA05NOS4001153 at UNH

Thermal structure of oceanic transform faults

Author Posting. © Geological Society of America, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of Geological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geology 35 (2007): 307-310, doi:10.1130/G23112A.1.We use three-dimensional finite element simulations to investigate the temperature structure beneath oceanic transform faults. We show that using a rheology that incorporates brittle weakening of the lithosphere generates a region of enhanced mantle upwelling and elevated temperatures along the transform; the warmest temperatures and thinnest lithosphere are predicted to be near the center of the transform. Previous studies predicted that the mantle beneath oceanic transform faults is anomalously cold relative to adjacent intraplate regions, with the thickest lithosphere located at the center of the transform. These earlier studies used simplified rheologic laws to simulate the behavior of the lithosphere and underlying asthenosphere. We show that the warmer thermal structure predicted by our calculations is directly attributed to the inclusion of a more realistic brittle rheology. This temperature structure is consistent with a wide range of observations from ridge-transform environments, including the depth of seismicity, geochemical anomalies along adjacent ridge segments, and the tendency for long transforms to break into small intratransform spreading centers during changes in plate motion.Funding was provided by National Science Foundation grants EAR-0405709, EAR-0509882, OCE-0548672, and OCE-0623188