Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Tectonics and Structure
Imaging evolution of Cascadia slow-slip event using high-rate GPS
Published: 2021-12-24
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
The slip history of short-term slow slip event (SSE) is typically inferred from daily Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which, however, cannot image the sub-daily processes, leaving the underlying mechanisms of SSEs elusive. To address the temporal resolution issue, we attempted to employ the kinematic subdaily GPS analysis, which has never been applied to SSE studies because its [...]
A snapshot of the earliest stages of normal fault growth
Published: 2021-12-22
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Tectonics and Structure
Observations of how faults lengthen and accrue displacement during the very earliest stages of their growth are limited, reflecting the fact that the early syn-kinematic sediments that record this growth are often deeply buried and difficult to image with geophysical data. Here, we use borehole and high-quality 3D seismic reflection data from offshore Norway to quantify the lateral propagation [...]
Tectonic controls on geomorphology and spatial distribution of monogenetic volcanoes in the Central Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes (Argentina)
Published: 2021-12-16
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology
Monogenetic volcanoes are among the most common volcanic landforms on Earth. The morphology and distribution of small volcanoes can provide important information about eruption dynamics and tectonics. The Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes (CSVZ) comprises one of the most active magmatic regions on Earth. Characterized by the presence of polygenetic volcanoes and calderas in a complex tectonic [...]
Thermochemical structure and evolution of cratonic lithosphere in central and southern Africa
Published: 2021-12-10
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Seismology, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
The thermochemical structure of the subcontinental mantle holds information on its origin and evolution that can inform energy and mineral exploration strategies, natural hazard mitigation and evolutionary models of the Earth. However, imaging the fine-scale thermochemical structure of continental lithosphere remains a major challenge. Here we combine multiple land and satellite datasets via [...]
Improving Urban Seismic Risk Estimates for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Incorporating Recent Geological Knowledge of Hazards
Published: 2021-12-07
Subjects: Geology, Geomorphology, Tectonics and Structure
Many cities are built on or near active faults, which pose seismic hazard and risk to the urban population. This risk is exacerbated by city expansion, which may obscure signs of active faulting. Here we estimate the risk to Bishkek city, Kyrgyzstan, due to realistic earthquake scenarios based on historic earthquakes in the region and improved knowledge of the active faulting. We use previous [...]
Sensitivity of horizontal surface deformation to mantle dynamics from 3D instantaneous dynamics modeling of the eastern Mediterranean region
Published: 2021-11-29
Subjects: Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
Geodetically estimated surface motions contain contributions to crustal deformation from coupled geodynamic processes active at all spatial scales and constitute key data for lithosphere dynamics research. Data interpretation methods should therefore account for the full range of possible processes, otherwise risking misinterpretation of data signal and incorrect estimation of lithosphere [...]
Rare allanite in granulitised eclogites constrains timing of eclogite to granulite facies transition in the Bhutan Himalaya
Published: 2021-11-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
During continental collision, crustal rocks are buried, deformed, transformed and exhumed. The rates, timescales and tectonic implications of these processes are determined by linking geochemical, geochronological and microstructural data from metamorphic rock-forming and accessory minerals. Exposures of lower orogenic crust provide important insights into orogenic evolution, but are rare in [...]
Reproducibility in subsurface geoscience
Published: 2021-10-26
Subjects: Biogeochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Education, Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Glaciology, Hydrology, Mineral Physics, Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Other Earth Sciences, Other Environmental Sciences, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Sedimentology, Soil Science, Speleology, Stratigraphy, Sustainability, Tectonics and Structure, Volcanology, Water Resource Management
Reproducibility, the extent to which consistent results are obtained when an experiment or study is repeated, sits at the foundation of science. The aim of this process is to produce robust findings and knowledge, with reproducibility being the screening tool to benchmark how well we are implementing the scientific method. However, the re-examination of results from many disciplines has caused [...]
A Mixed, Unified Forward/Inverse Framework for Earthquake Problems: Fault Implementation and Coseismic Slip Estimate
Published: 2021-10-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geophysics and Seismology, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
We introduce a new finite-element (FE) based computational framework to solve forward and inverse elastic deformation problems for earthquake faulting via the adjoint method. Based on two advanced computational libraries, FEniCS and hIPPYlib for the forward and inverse problems, respectively, this framework is flexible, transparent, and easily extensible. We represent a fault discontinuity [...]
Fluid-driven Cyclic Reorganisation in Shallow Basaltic Fault Zones
Published: 2021-10-06
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Tectonics and Structure
Faults represent a critical heterogeneity in basaltic sequences, yet few studies have focused on their architectural and hydromechanical evolution. We present a detailed multi-scale characterisation of passively exhumed fault zones from the layered basalts of the Faroe Islands, which reveals cyclic stages of fault evolution. Outcrop-scale structures and fault rock distribution within the fault [...]
Spacing and Strain During Multiphase Boudinage in 3D
Published: 2021-10-01
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Most models of brittle boudinage predict a dependency of fracture spacing on thickness of the boudinaged layer. This basic relationship can be distorted in the case of multiphase boudinage, where structural inheritance, possibly combined with time evolution of rheology affects boudin geometries, but is not recognized in 2D outcrops. Here we present analyses from a metre-scale, serially sectioned [...]
Early Pliocene Marine Transgression into the Lower Colorado River Valley, Southwestern USA, by Re-Flooding of a Former Tidal Strait
Published: 2021-09-29
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Marine straits and seaways are known to host a wide range of sedimentary processes and products, but the role of marine connections in the development of large river systems remains little studied. This study explores a hypothesis that shallow marine waters flooded the lower Colorado River valley at ~ 5 Ma along a fault-controlled former tidal straight, soon after the river was first integrated [...]
Structural controls on earthquake rupture revealed by the 2020 Mw 6.0 Jiashi earthquake (Kepingtag belt, SW Tian Shan, China)
Published: 2021-09-24
Subjects: Geology, Geophysics and Seismology, Tectonics and Structure
The Kepingtag (Kalpin) fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Chinese Tian Shan is characterized by active shortening and intense seismic activity. Geological cross-sections and seismic reflection profiles suggest thin-skinned, northward-dipping thrust sheets detached in an Upper Cambrian décollement. The January 19 2020 Mw 6.0 Jiashi earthquake provides an opportunity to investigate how coseismic [...]
Analogue modelling of the interplay between gravity gliding and spreading across complex rift topography in the Santos Basin
Published: 2021-09-17
Subjects: Geology, Tectonics and Structure
The Santos Basin presents a complex and controversial evolution and distribution of salt tectonics domains. The controversies revolve mainly around the kinematically- linked Albian Gap and São Paulo Plateau. The Albian Gap is a ~450 km long and 60 km wide feature characterized by a post-Albian counter-regional rollover overlying depleted Aptian salt and in which the Albian is absent. The São [...]
Thrusts control the thermal maturity of accreted sediments
Published: 2021-09-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tectonics and Structure
Thermal maturity assessments of hydrocarbon-generation potential and thermal history rarely consider how upper-plate structures developing during subduction influence the trajectories of accreted sediments. Our thermomechanical models of subduction support that thrusts evolving under variable sedimentation rates and décollement strengths fundamentally influence the trajectory, temperature, and [...]