Geology topics

Shuoshuo Han

Publications and source records attributed to Shuoshuo Han.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Fault sources of the 2020 southern Puerto Rico seismic sequence and the regional tectonic structure

The 2020 southwestern Puerto Rico seismic sequence occurred in an area not known for seismic activity and included multiple normal and strike‐slip focal mechanisms. The largest earthquake, M w 6.4, caused significant damage and permanent shoreline subsidence. The locations of the ruptured faults have been explored extensively using seismological and geodetic evidence, but no consensus has been reached. Here, we report the results of a high‐resolution seismic reflection survey that identified a north‐verging 20 km long curved normal fault spanning the upper reach of the Guayanilla canyon, which we call the Guayanilla Canyon fault. Part of the fault likely ruptured during the M w 6.4. The concave‐to‐the‐north fault bounds a south‐dipping ∼1 km deep asymmetric basin. This long‐lived structure, identified also on sediment isopach and magnetic anomaly maps, appears to control the formation of the Guayanilla canyon system, the only submarine drainage system in southern Puerto Rico, suggesting a relationship among seismic activity, geomorphology, and reef development. Our seismic reflection data do not support the existence of previously published major seismogenic faults in the area, such as the north‐northeast–south‐southwest Guayanilla fault zone, the Northern Boqueron Bay‐Punta Montalva fault, or a northwest–southeast strike‐slip fault, suggested to have ruptured as part of the M w 6.4 earthquake. We identified smaller faults in the survey area, some of which can be correlated with seafloor expressions, and/or with changes in sediment thickness and magnetic anomalies, and/or with moderate‐sized earthquakes. Multiple seismic images of Investigator fault, a prominent mid‐slope feature parallel to the south coast of Puerto Rico, show buried low‐angle thrusts and an abrupt change in the attitude of the overlying sediments, leading us to interpret this feature as the expression of a boundary between the now‐inactive upper accretionary prism of Muertos trough and a buried back‐arc basin that overlies the arc basement of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico↗

USGS2025

Evidence for petit-spot volcanism in the Puerto Rico Trench

Petit-spot volcanism occurs in intraplate settings along the outer rise of subducting plates. Here we present evidence for petit-spot type of volcanism from multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data from the Puerto Rico Trench (PRT). It is the first report of such volcanism in the Atlantic basin. Up to 34 possible petit-spot volcanic cones are mapped in the eastern section of the PRT, with an average diameter of 950 m and a mean height of 92 m. The seamounts are in a region of the PRT that has the longest and highest bending faults, up to 50.6 km long and 1.49 km high. Some of the volcanic cones are associated with fault scarps. The larger bending fault scarps in the region of the volcanic cones suggest the stress state in the eastern PRT is favorable for allowing asthenospheric melt to escape to the surface.

Puerto Rico Trench↗

USGS2025

No evidence for an active margin-spanning megasplay fault at the Cascadia Subduction Zone

It has been previously proposed that a megasplay fault within the Cascadia accretionary wedge, spanning from offshore Vancouver Island to Oregon, has the potential to slip during a future Cascadia subduction zone earthquake. This hypothetical fault has major implications for tsunami size and arrival times and is included in disaster-planning scenarios currently in use in the region. This hypothesis is evaluated in this study using CASIE21 deep-penetrating and U.S. Geological Survey high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. We map changes in wedge structural style and seismic character to identify the inner-outer wedge transition zone where a megasplay fault has been previously hypothesized to exist and evaluate evidence for active faulting within this zone. Our results indicate that there is not an active, through-going megasplay fault in Cascadia, but instead, the structure and activity of faulting at the inner-outer wedge transition zone is highly variable and segmented along strike, consistent with the segmentation of other physical and mechanical properties in Cascadia. Wedge sedimentation, plate dip, and subducting topography are proposed to play a major role in controlling megasplay fault development and evolution. Incorporating updated megasplay fault location, geometry, and activity into modeling of Cascadia earthquakes and tsunamis could help better constrain associated hazards.

British Columbia, Oregon, Washington↗

USGS2025

Slab tearing and segmented subduction termination driven by transform tectonics

Subduction may terminate when a mid-ocean ridge approaches a trench, introducing buoyant lithosphere that resists subduction, leading to slab detachment and plate boundary reconfiguration. Yet, the spatial and temporal dynamics of slab tearing remain enigmatic due to a lack of modern examples. Here, we integrate new seismic images with regional seismicity to investigate an actively fragmenting subduction system at northern Cascadia’s ridge-trench-fault triple junction where subduction termination is imminent. Our analyses reveal a broad shear-zone initiated at ~4 Ma by exploiting ridge-parallel fabrics of nascent oceanic lithosphere and progressively localized into a mature trench-perpendicular transform boundary. This process severed an oceanic microplate and enabled its diminished subduction relative to adjacent subducting lithosphere. Downdip, we image trench-parallel slab tears offset by the transform, suggesting lateral tear propagation was intersected by the transform boundary, facilitating efficient decoupling of the microplate while allowing adjacent subduction to continue. We propose a 4D model where transform boundaries drive laterally diachronous slab fragmentation and subduction termination.

Vancouver, Washington↗

USGS2024

Subducting plate structure and megathrust morphology from deep seismic imaging linked to earthquake rupture segmentation at Cascadia

The origin of rupture segmentation along subduction zone megathrusts and linkages to the structural evolution of the subduction zone are poorly understood. Here, regional-scale seismic imaging of the Cascadia margin is used to characterize the megathrust spanning ~900 km from Vancouver Island to the California border, across the seismogenic zone to a few tens of kilometers from the coast. Discrete domains in lower plate geometry and sediment underthrusting are identified, not evident in prior regional plate models, which align with changes in lithology and structure of the upper plate and interpreted paleo-rupture patches. Strike-slip faults in the lower plate associated with oblique subduction mark boundaries between regions of distinct lower plate geometry. Their formation may be linked to changes in upper plate structure across long-lived upper plate faults. The Juan de Fuca plate is fragmenting within the seismogenic zone at Cascadia as the young plate bends beneath the heterogeneous upper plate resulting in structural domains that coincide with paleo-rupture segmentation.

Oregon, Washington↗