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At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
USGS2001

Io in the near infrared: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) results from the Galileo flybys in 1999 and 2000

Galileo's Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) observed Io during the spacecraft's three flybys in October 1999, November 1999, and February 2000. The observations, which are summarized here, were used to map the detailed thermal structure of active volcanic regions and the surface distribution of SO 2 and to investigate the origin of a yet unidentified compound showing an absorption feature at ∼1 μm. We present a summary of the observations and results, focusing on the distribution of thermal emission and of SO 2 deposits. We find high eruption temperatures, consistent with ultramafic volcanism, at Pele. Such temperatures may be present at other hot spots, but the hottest areas may be too small for those temperatures to be detected at the spatial resolution of our observations. Loki is the site of frequent eruptions, and the low thermal emission may represent lavas cooling on the caldera's surface or the cooling crust of a lava lake. High-resolution spectral observations of Emakong caldera show thermal emission and SO 2 within the same pixels, implying that patches of SO 2 frost and patches of cooling lavas or sulfur flows are present within a few kilometers from one another. Thermal maps of Prometheus and Amirani show that these two hot spots are characterized by long lava flows. The thermal profiles of flows at both locations are consistent with insulated flows, with the Amirani flow field having more breakouts of fresh lava along its length. Prometheus and Amirani each show a white ring at visible wavelengths, while SO 2 distribution maps show that the highest concentration of SO 2 in both ring deposits lies outside the white portion. Visible measurements at high phase angles show that the white deposit around Prometheus extends into the SO 2 ring. This suggests that the deposits are thin and that compositional or grain size variations may occur in the radial direction. SO 2 mapping of the Chaac region shows that the interior of a caldera adjacent to Chaac has almost pure SO 2 . The deposit appears to be topographically controlled, suggesting a possible origin by liquid flow.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗
USGS2002

Remotely sensed geology from lander-based to orbital perspectives: Results of FIDO rover May 2000 field tests

Blind field tests of the Field Integration Design and Operations (FIDO) prototype Mars rover were carried out 7-16 May 2000. A Core Operations Team (COT), sequestered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory without knowledge of test site location, prepared command sequences and interpreted data acquired by the rover. Instrument sensors included a stereo panoramic camera, navigational and hazard-avoidance cameras, a color microscopic imager, an infrared point spectrometer, and a rock coring drill. The COT designed command sequences, which were relayed by satellite uplink to the rover, and evaluated instrument data. Using aerial photos and Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data, and information from the rover sensors, the COT inferred the geology of the landing site during the 18 sol mission, including lithologic diversity, stratigraphic relationships, environments of deposition, and weathering characteristics. Prominent lithologic units were interpreted to be dolomite-bearing rocks, kaolinite-bearing altered felsic volcanic materials, and basalt. The color panoramic camera revealed sedimentary layering and rock textures, and geologic relationships seen in rock exposures. The infrared point spectrometer permitted identification of prominent carbonate and kaolinite spectral features and permitted correlations to outcrops that could not be reached by the rover. The color microscopic imager revealed fine-scale rock textures, soil components, and results of coring experiments. Test results show that close-up interrogation of rocks is essential to investigations of geologic environments and that observations must include scales ranging from individual boulders and outcrops (microscopic, macroscopic) to orbital remote sensing, with sufficient intermediate steps (descent images) to connect in situ and remote observations.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗
USGS2001

Upper crustal structure in Puget Lowland, Washington: Results from the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound

A new three-dimensional (3-D) model shows seismic velocities beneath the Puget Lowland to a depth of 11 km. The model is based on a tomographic inversion of nearly one million first-arrival travel times recorded during the 1998 Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), allowing higher-resolution mapping of subsurface structures than previously possible. The model allows us to refine the subsurface geometry of previously proposed faults (e.g., Seattle, Hood Canal, southern Whidbey Island, and Devils Mountain fault zones) as well as to identify structures (Tacoma, Lofall, and Sequim fault zones) that warrant additional study. The largest and most important of these newly identified structures lies along the northern boundary of the Tacoma basin; we informally refer to this structure here as the Tacoma fault zone. Although tomography cannot provide information on the recency of motion on any structure, Holocene earthquake activity on the Tacoma fault zone is suggested by seismicity along it and paleoseismic evidence for abrupt uplift of tidal marsh deposits to its north. The tomography reveals four large, west to northwest trending low-velocity basins (Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and Port Townsend) separated by regions of higher velocity ridges that are coincident with fault-bounded uplifts of Eocene Crescent Formation basalt and pre-Tertiary basement. The shapes of the basins and uplifts are similar to those observed in gravity data; gravity anomalies calculated from the 3-D tomography model are in close agreement with the observed anomalies. In velocity cross sections the Tacoma and Seattle basins are asymmetric: the basin floor dips gently toward a steep boundary with the adjacent high-velocity uplift, locally with a velocity "overhang" that suggests a basin vergent thrust fault boundary. Crustal fault zones grow from minor folds into much larger structures along strike. Inferred structural relief across the Tacoma fault zone increases by several kilometers westward along the fault zone to Lynch Cove, where we interpret it as a zone of south vergent faulting overthrusting Tacoma basin. In contrast, structural relief along the Seattle fault zone decreases west of Seattle, which we interpret as evidence that the N-S directed compression is being accommodated by slip transfer between the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones. Together, the Tacoma and Seattle fault zones raise the Seattle uplift, one of a series of east-west trending, pop-up structures underlying Puget Lowland from the Black Hills to the San Juan Islands.

Washington↗
USGS2001

Strain accumulation near Yucca Mountain, Nevada, 1993-1998

A 50‐km aperture geodetic network centered on the proposed high‐level radioactive waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was surveyed with GPS in 1993 and 1998. The average deformation rate across the area is described by the principal strain rates 22.8±8.8 nstrain yr N77.6°W±13.5° and −8.8±11.9 nstrain yr N12.5°E±13.5° (extension reckoned positive) and a clockwise rotation rate about a vertical axis of 9.6±7.4 nrad yr relative to fixed North America. Quoted uncertainties are standard deviations. Those strain rates are consistent with the geodetic strain rates (2±12 nstrain yr N87°±12°W and −22±12 nstrain yr N03°±12°E) previously reported by . [1999] for the 1983–1998 interval and with the low extension rate (5–20 nstrain yr) [., 1998] inferred from the geologic record. None of those strain rates is consistent with the 50±9 nstrain yr N65°W extension rate for the area reported by Wernicke et al.

Nevada↗
USGS2002

Response of the San Andreas fault to the 1983 Coalinga-Nuñez earthquakes: an application of interaction-based probabilities for Parkfield

The Parkfield-Cholame section of the San Andreas fault, site of an unfulfilled earthquake forecast in 1985, is the best monitored section of the world's most closely watched fault. In 1983, the M = 6.5 Coalinga and M = 6.0 Nuñez events struck 25 km northeast of Parkfield. Seismicity rates climbed for 18 months along the creeping section of the San Andreas north of Parkfield and dropped for 6 years along the locked section to the south. Right-lateral creep also slowed or reversed from Parkfield south. Here we calculate that the Coalinga sequence increased the shear and Coulomb stress on the creeping section, causing the rate of small shocks to rise until the added stress was shed by additional slip. However, the 1983 events decreased the shear and Coulomb stress on the Parkfield segment, causing surface creep and seismicity rates to drop. We use these observations to cast the likelihood of a Parkfield earthquake into an interaction-based probability, which includes both the renewal of stress following the 1966 Parkfield earthquake and the stress transfer from the 1983 Coalinga events. We calculate that the 1983 shocks dropped the 10-year probability of a M ∼ 6 Parkfield earthquake by 22% (from 54 ± 22% to 42 ± 23%) and that the probability did not recover until about 1991, when seismicity and creep resumed. Our analysis may thus explain why the Parkfield earthquake did not strike in the 1980s, but not why it was absent in the 1990s. We calculate a 58 ± 17% probability of a M ∼ 6 Parkfield earthquake during 2001–2011.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2002

Aftershock triggering by complete Coulomb stress changes

We examine the correlation between seismicity rate change following the 1992, M 7.3, Landers, California, earthquake and characteristics of the complete Coulomb failure stress (CFS) changes (ΔCFS( t )) that this earthquake generated. At close distances the time-varying “dynamic” portion of the stress change depends on how the rupture develops temporally and spatially and arises from radiated seismic waves and from permanent coseismic fault displacement. The permanent “static” portion (ΔCFS) depends only on the final coseismic displacement. ΔCFS diminishes much more rapidly with distance than the transient, dynamic stress changes. A common interpretation of the strong correlation between ΔCFS and aftershocks is that load changes can advance or delay failure. Stress changes may also promote failure by physically altering properties of the fault or its environs. Because it is transient, ΔCFS( t ) can alter the failure rate only by the latter means. We calculate both ΔCFS and the maximum positive value of ΔCFS( t ) (peak ΔCFS( t )) using a reflectivity program. Input parameters are constrained by modeling Landers displacement seismograms. We quantify the correlation between maps of seismicity rate changes and maps of modeled ΔCFS and peak ΔCFS( t ) and find agreement for both models. However, rupture directivity, which does not affect ΔCFS, creates larger peak ΔCFS( t ) values northwest of the main shock. This asymmetry is also observed in seismicity rate changes but not in ΔCFS. This result implies that dynamic stress changes are as effective as static stress changes in triggering aftershocks and may trigger earthquakes long after the waves have passed.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2001

Inferring rate and state friction parameters from a rupture model of the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) Japan earthquake

We consider the applicability of laboratory-derived rate-and state-variable friction laws to the dynamic rupture of the 1995 Kobe earthquake. We analyze the shear stress and slip evolution of Ide and Takeo's [1997] dislocation model, fitting the inferred stress change time histories by calculating the dynamic load and the instantaneous friction at a series of points within the rupture area. For points exhibiting a fast-weakening behavior, the Dieterich-Ruina friction law, with values of d c = 0.01–0.05 m for critical slip, fits the stress change time series well. This range of d c is 10–20 times smaller than the slip distance over which the stress is released, D c , which previous studies have equated with the slip-weakening distance. The limited resolution and low-pass character of the strong motion inversion degrades the resolution of the frictional parameters and suggests that the actual d c is less than this value. Stress time series at points characterized by a slow-weakening behavior are well fitted by the Dieterich-Ruina friction law with values of d c ≥0.01–0.05 m. The apparent fracture energy G c can be estimated from waveform inversions more stably than the other friction parameters. We obtain a G c ≈ 1.5×l0 6 J m −2 for the 1995 Kobe earthquake, in agreement with estimates for previous earthquakes. From this estimate and a plausible upper bound for the local rock strength we infer a lower bound for D c of about 0.008 m.

Kobe, Osaka↗
USGS2001

Spatial extent of a hydrothermal system at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, determined from array analyses of shallow long-period seismicity 1. Method

We present a probabilistic method to locate the source of seismic events using seismic antennas. The method is based on a comparison of the event azimuths and slownesses derived from frequency-slowness analyses of array data, with a slowness vector model. Several slowness vector models are considered including both homogeneous and horizontally layered half-spaces and also a more complex medium representing the actual topography and three-dimensional velocity structure of the region under study. In this latter model the slowness vector is obtained from frequency-slowness analyses of synthetic signals. These signals are generated using the finite difference method and include the effects of topography and velocity structure to reproduce as closely as possible the behavior of the observed wave fields. A comparison of these results with those obtained with a homogeneous half-space demonstrates the importance of structural and topographic effects, which, if ignored, lead to a bias in the source location. We use synthetic seismograms to test the accuracy and stability of the method and to investigate the effect of our choice of probability distributions. We conclude that this location method can provide the source position of shallow events within a complex volcanic structure such as Kilauea Volcano with an error of ±200 m.

Hawai'i↗
USGS2001

Viscoelastic shear zone model of a strike-slip earthquake cycle

I examine the behavior of a two-dimensional (2-D) strike-slip fault system embedded in a 1-D elastic layer (schizosphere) overlying a uniform viscoelastic half-space (plastosphere) and within the boundaries of a finite width shear zone. The viscoelastic coupling model of Savage and Prescott [1978] considers the viscoelastic response of this system, in the absence of the shear zone boundaries, to an earthquake occurring within the upper elastic layer, steady slip beneath a prescribed depth, and the superposition of the responses of multiple earthquakes with characteristic slip occurring at regular intervals. So formulated, the viscoelastic coupling model predicts that sufficiently long after initiation of the system, (1) average fault-parallel velocity at any point is the average slip rate of that side of the fault and (2) far-field velocities equal the same constant rate. Because of the sensitivity to the mechanical properties of the schizosphere-plastosphere system (i.e., elastic layer thickness, plastosphere viscosity), this model has been used to infer such properties from measurements of interseismic velocity. Such inferences exploit the predicted behavior at a known time within the earthquake cycle. By modifying the viscoelastic coupling model to satisfy the additional constraint that the absolute velocity at prescribed shear zone boundaries is constant, I find that even though the time-averaged behavior remains the same, the spatiotemporal pattern of surface deformation (particularly its temporal variation within an earthquake cycle) is markedly different from that predicted by the conventional viscoelastic coupling model. These differences are magnified as plastosphere viscosity is reduced or as the recurrence interval of periodic earthquakes is lengthened. Application to the interseismic velocity field along the Mojave section of the San Andreas fault suggests that the region behaves mechanically like a ???600-km-wide shear zone accommodating 50 mm/yr fault-parallel motion distributed between the San Andreas fault system and Eastern California Shear Zone. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.

California↗
USGS2002

Lower crustal deformation beneath the central Transverse Ranges, southern California: Results from the Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment

We present a P wave velocity model derived from active source seismic data collected during the 1994 Los Angeles Region Seismic Experiment. Our model extends previously published upper crustal velocity models to mantle depths. Our model was developed by both ray tracing through a layered model and calculating travel times through a gridded model. It includes an 8-km-thick crustal root centered beneath the surface trace of the San Andreas fault, north of the highest topography in the San Gabriel Mountains. A simple mass balance calculation suggests that ∼36 km of north-south shortening across the San Andreas fault in the central Transverse Ranges could have formed this root. If north-south compression began when the “Big Bend” in the San Andreas fault formed at ∼5 Ma, 36 km of shortening implies a north-south contraction rate of ∼7.1 mm/yr across the central Transverse Ranges. If, instead, north-south compression began when the Transverse Ranges formed at 3.4–3.9 Ma, 36 km of shortening implies a contraction rate of 9.2–10.6 mm/yr. North of the San Andreas fault, the Mojave Desert crust has a low-velocity (6.3 km/s) mid and lower crust and a 28-km-deep Moho. South of the San Andreas fault, beneath the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley basins, there is a fast (6.6–6.8 km/s), thick (10–12 km) lower crust with a 27-km-deep Moho. Farther south still, the lower crust of the Continental Borderland is fast (6.6–6.8 km/s) and thin (5 km) with a shallow (22 km deep) Moho.

California↗
USGS2002

Carbon dioxide emission rate of Kīlauea Volcano: Implications for primary magma and the summit reservoir

We report a CO 2 emission rate of 8500 metric tons per day (t d −1 ) for the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, several times larger than previous estimates. It is based on three sets of measurements over 4 years of synchronous SO 2 emission rates and volcanic CO 2 /SO 2 concentration ratios for the summit correlation spectrometer (COSPEC) traverse. Volcanic CO 2 /SO 2 for the traverse is representative of the global ratio for summit emissions. The summit CO 2 emission rate is nearly constant, despite large temporal variations in summit CO 2 /SO 2 and SO 2 emission rates. Summit CO 2 emissions comprise most of Kīlauea's total CO 2 output (∼9000 t d −1 ). The bulk CO 2 content of primary magma determined from CO 2 emission and magma supply rate data is ∼0.70 wt %. Most of the CO 2 is present as exsolved vapor at summit reservoir depths, making the primary magma strongly buoyant. Turbulent mixing with resident reservoir magma, however, prevents frequent eruptions of buoyant primary magma in the summit region. CO 2 emissions confirm that the magma supply enters the edifice through the summit reservoir. A persistent several hundred parts per million CO 2 anomaly arises from the entry of magma into the summit reservoir beneath a square kilometer area east of Halemaumau pit crater. Since most of the CO 2 in primary magma is degassed in the summit, the summit CO 2 emission rate is an effective proxy for the magma supply rate. Both scrubbing of SO 2 and solubility controls on CO 2 and S in basaltic melt cause high CO 2 /SO 2 in summit emissions and spatially uncorrelated distributions of CO 2 and SO 2 in the summit plume.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2002

Magmatic inflation at a dormant stratovolcano: 1996-1998 activity at Mount Peulik volcano, Alaska, revealed by satellite radar interferometry

A series of ERS radar interferograms that collectively span the time interval from July 1992 to August 2000 reveal that a presumed magma body located 6.6 ??? 0.5 km beneath the southwest flank of the Mount Peulik volcano inflated 0.051 ??? 0.005 km3 between October 1996 and September 1998. Peulik has been active only twice during historical time, in 1814 and 1852, and the volcano was otherwise quiescent during the 1990s. The inflation episode spanned at least several months because separate interferograms show that the associated ground deformation was progressive. The average inflation rate of the magma body was ???0.003 km3/month from October 1996 to September 1997, peaked at 0.005 km3/month from 26 June to 9 October 1997, and dropped to ???0.001 km3/month from October 1997 to September 1998. An intense earthquake swarm, including three ML 4.8 - 5.2 events, began on 8 May 1998 near Becharof Lake, ???30 km northwest of Peulik. More than 400 earthquakes with a cumulative moment of 7.15 ?? 1017 N m were recorded in the area through 19 October 1998. Although the inflation and earthquake swarm occurred at about the same time, the static stress changes that we calculated in the epicentral area due to inflation beneath Peulik appear too small to provide a causal link. The 1996-1998 inflation episode at Peulik confirms that satellite radar interferometry can be used to detect magma accumulation beneath dormant volcanoes at least several months before other signs of unrest are apparent. This application represents a first step toward understanding the eruption cycle at Peulik and other stratovolcanoes with characteristically long repose periods.

Alaska↗
USGS2002

Topographic stress perturbations in southern Davis Mountains, west Texas 1. Polarity reversal of principal stresses

We have applied a previously developed analytical stress model to interpret subsurface stress conditions inferred from acoustic televiewer logs obtained in two municipal water wells located in a valley in the southern Davis Mountains near Alpine, Texas. The appearance of stress-induced breakouts with orientations that shift by 90° at two different depths in one of the wells is explained by results from exact solutions for the effects of valleys on gravity and tectonically induced subsurface stresses. The theoretical results demonstrate that above a reference depth termed the hinge point, a location that is dependent on Poisson's ratio, valley shape, and magnitude of the maximum horizontal tectonic stress normal to the long axis of the valley, horizontal stresses parallel to the valley axis are greater than those normal to it. At depths below this hinge point the situation reverses and horizontal stresses normal to the valley axis are greater than those parallel to it. Application of the theoretical model at Alpine is accommodated by the fact that nearby earthquake focal mechanisms establish an extensional stress regime with the regional maximum horizontal principal stress aligned perpendicular to the valley axis. We conclude that the localized stress field associated with a valley setting can be highly variable and that breakouts need to be examined in this context when estimating the orientations and magnitudes of regional principal stresses.

Texas↗
USGS2002

Topographic stress perturbations in southern Davis Mountains, west Texas 2. Hydrogeologic implications

As part of a regional groundwater investigation, geophysical logs were obtained in two municipal water wells located near the west Texas city of Alpine. These boreholes are 252 and 285 m deep and penetrate extrusive rocks of Tertiary age. The deeper well was drilled in the central valley and the other along the northern flank of an east-west trending valley-ridge setting. Analysis and interpretation of the logs reveal that the two wells are subjected to significantly different stress environments because of topographic effects and exhibit significantly different hydrogeologic properties. Water production is associated with two specific types of features common to both wells: (1) the upper and lower contacts of a dense trachyte unit located in the shallow part of the wells and (2) deeper zones of highly fractured rocks within the interior of a basalt formation. The transmissivity of the trachyte boundaries is twice as large in the central valley well as it is in the ridge flank well, whereas the transmissivity of the deeper basalts is an order of magnitude greater in the flank well than it is in the central well. This discrepancy is examined from the perspective of rock failure, fracture opening, and flow enhancement by computing values for a Drucker-Prager stability factor that is based on the magnitudes of the normal and deviatoric stress invariants as a function of depth. Thus the field measurements and subsequent stress analysis offer evidence of a coupled tectonic-hydrologic interaction at this site.

Texas↗
USGS2002

A Holocene paleosecular variation from 14C-dated volcanic rocks in western North America

A paleosecular variation (PSV) curve for western North America is presented on the basis of 94 virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) from dated volcanic rocks sampled at 446 sites. Approximately 60% of the paleomagnetic database has been previously published. A curve defined by “spherical smoothed splines” is fitted to the VGPs, ranked by the quality of the age determinations, where the data density is highest between 3690 and −30 years before present (B.P.) (A.D. 1950), between 7800 and 7050 years B.P., and between 14,060 and 12,700 years B.P. The younger segments of the curve derived from volcanic rocks are similar but less complex than other high-resolution PSV curves derived from lacustrine sediments, particularly the record at Fish Lake, Oregon. The PSV record from lava flows (PSVL), however, is perhaps more reliable in its general shape and chronology because of the higher fidelity of volcanic rocks as magnetic field recorders and because of the greater density of 14 C dates. The new PSVL record provides a partial Holocene master curve for western North America and will be of particular value in dating geological and archeological materials using paleomagnetic directions.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, ↗
USGS2003

The crustal structure from the Altai Mountains to the Altyn Tagh fault, northwest China

[1] We present a new crustal section across northwest China based on a seismic refraction profile and geologic mapping. The 1100‐km‐long section crosses the southern margin of the Chinese Altai Mountains, Junggar Accretional Belt and eastern Junggar basin, easternmost Tianshan Mountains, and easternmost Tarim basin. The crustal velocity structure and Poisson's ratio (σ), which provide a constraint on crustal composition, were determined from P and S wave data. Despite the complex geology, the crustal thickness along the entire profile is nearly uniform at 50 km. The thickest crust (56 km) occurs at the northern end of the profile beneath the Altai Mountains and the thinnest (46 km) crust is beneath the Junggar basin. Beneath surficial sediments, the crust is found to have three layers with P wave velocities ( V p ) of 6.0–6.3, 6.3–6.6, and 6.9–7.0 km/s, respectively. The southern half of the profile, including the eastern Tianshan Mountains and eastern margin of the Tarim basin, shows low P wave velocities and σ = 0.25 to a depth of 30 km, which suggests a quartz‐rich, granitic upper crustal composition. The northern half of the profile below the Altai Mountains and Junggar Accretional Belt has a higher Poisson's ratio of σ = 0.26–0.27 to a depth of 30 km, indicative of an intermediate crustal composition. The entire 1100‐km‐long profile is underlain by a 15–30 km thick high velocity (6.9–7.0 km/s; σ = 0.26–0.28) lower‐crustal layer that we interpret to have a bulk composition of mafic granulite. At the southern end of the profile, a 5‐km‐thick midcrustal low‐velocity layer ( V p = 5.9 km/s, σ = 0.25) underlies the Tianshan and the region to the south, and may be indicative of a near‐horizontal detachment interface. P n velocities are ∼7.7–7.8 km/s between the Tianshan and the Junggar basin, and ∼7.9–8.0 km/s below the Altai Mountains and eastern margin of the Tarim basin. We interpret the consistent three‐layer stratification of the crust to indicate that the crust has undergone partial melting and differentiation after Paleozoic terrane accretion. The thickness (50 km) of the crust appears to be related to compression resulting from the Indo‐Asian collision.

Altai Mountains↗
USGS2002

Strain accumulation and rotation in western Nevada, 1993-2000

The positions of 44 GPS monuments in an array extending from the Sierra Nevada at the latitude of Reno to near Austin, Nevada, have been measured several times in the 1993–2000 interval. The western half of the array spans the Walker Lane belt, whereas the eastern half spans the central Nevada seismic zone (CNSZ). The principal strain rates in the Walker Lane belt are 29.6 ± 5.3 nstrain yr −1 N88.4°E ± 5.4° and −12.8 ± 6.0 nanostrain yr −1 N01.6°W ± 5.4°, extension reckoned positive, and the clockwise (as seen from above the Earth) rotation rate about a vertical axis is 13.6 ± 4.0 nrad yr −1 . The quoted uncertainties are standard deviations. The motion in the Walker Lane belt can then be represented by a zone striking N35°W subject to 16.8 ± 4.9 nstrain yr −1 extension perpendicular to it and 19.5 ± 4.0 nstrain yr −1 right-lateral, simple shear across it. The N35°W strike of the zone is the same as the direction of the local tangent to the small circle drawn about the Pacific-North America pole of rotation. The principal strain rates for the CNSZ are 46.2 ± 11.0 nstrain yr −1 N49.9°W ± 6.0° and −13.6 ± 6.1 nstrain yr −1 N40.1°E ± 6.0°, and the clockwise rotation rate about a vertical axis is 20.3 ± 6.3 nrad yr −1 . The motion across the CNSZ can then be represented by a zone striking N12°E subject to 32.6 ± 11.0 nstrain yr −1 extension perpendicular to it and 25.1 ± 6.3 nstrain yr −1 right-lateral, simple shear across it. The N12°E strike of the zone is similar to the strikes of the faults (Rainbow Mountain, Fairview Peak, and Dixie Valley) within it.

California, Nevada↗
USGS2002

Plume-driven plumbing and crustal formation in Iceland

Through combination of surface wave and body wave constraints we derive a three-dimensional (3-D) crustal S velocity model and Moho map for Iceland. It reveals a vast plumbing system feeding mantle plume melt into upper crustal magma chambers where crustal formation takes place. The method is based on the partitioned waveform inversion to which we add additional observations. Love waves from six local events recorded on the HOTSPOT- SIL networks are fitted, S n travel times from the same events measured, previous observations of crustal thickness are added, and all three sets of constraints simultaneously inverted for our 3-D model. In the upper crust (0–15 km) an elongated low-velocity region extends along the length of the Northern, Eastern and Western Neovolcanic Zones. The lowest velocities (−7%) are found at 5–10 km below the two most active volcanic complexes: Hekla and Bárdarbunga-Grímsvötn. In the lower crust (>15 km) the low-velocity region can be represented as a vertical cylinder beneath central Iceland. The low-velocity structure is interpreted as the thermal halo of pipe work which connects the region of melt generation in the uppermost mantle beneath central Iceland to active volcanoes along the neovolcanic zones. Crustal thickness in Iceland varies from 15–20 km beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula, Krafla and the extinct Snæfellsnes rift zone, to 46 km beneath central Iceland. The average crustal thickness is 29 km. The variations in thickness can be explained in terms of the temporal variation in plume productivity over the last ∼20 Myr, the Snæfellsnes rift zone being active during a minimum in plume productivity. Variations in crustal thickness do not depart significantly from an isostatically predicted crustal thickness. The best fit linear isostatic relation implies an average density jump of 4% across the Moho. Rare earth element inversions of basalt compositions on Iceland suggest a melt thickness (i.e., crustal thickness) of 15–20 km, given passive upwelling. The observed crustal thickness of up to 46 km implies active fluxing of source material through the melt zone by the mantle plume at up to 3 times the passive rate.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗