Plate interface properties in the Northeast Hikurangi Subduction Zone, New Zealand, from converted seismic waves

1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (16) ◽  
pp. 2565-2568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Eberhart-Phillips ◽  
Martin Reyners
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Interface Properties ◽  
Plate Interface

scholarly journals Seismic Constraint on Heterogeneous Deformation and Stress State in the Forearc of the Hikurangi Subduction Zone, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-153
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Gosselin ◽  
Pascal Audet ◽  
Bill Fry ◽  
Emily Warren-Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Stress State ◽  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Receiver Functions ◽  
Scattering Data ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Plate Interface ◽  
Tectonic Plates ◽  
Megathrust Earthquakes ◽  
The North

Abstract The Hikurangi subduction zone (HSZ) is the collisional boundary between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The region is believed to be capable of hosting large megathrust earthquakes and associated tsunamis. Recent studies observe a range of slip behavior along the plate interface, with a sharp contrast between locked and creeping parts of the megathrust along the margin. This work uses teleseismic scattering data (receiver functions [RFs]) recorded at 53 long-running seismograph stations on the North Island of New Zealand to constrain the structure and mechanical properties of the forearc in the HSZ. We observe directional variations in RF phases at P–S converted delay times (i.e., depths) associated with the overlying forearc crust and note a general correlation with spatial variations in plate coupling as well as other geophysical properties. Our results suggest differences in the nature of crustal deformation (and stress state) along the Hikurangi margin, with evidence of clockwise rotation and/or extension in the northern HSZ, where the overriding forearc crust is uncoupled from the subducting Pacific slab.

Seismic microzoning in New Zealand

1971 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
W. R. Stephenson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Structural Damage ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Multiple Reflection ◽  
Ground Failure ◽  
Seismic Microzoning ◽  
Popular View ◽  
Wave Trains ◽  
Local Geology ◽  
Ground Damage

"Seismic Microzoning" means many different things to different people. There is always included the element of different damage in nearby areas, but how the differences arise, how we should study them, and how we should apply the results of our studies, are still uncertain. To some people, microzoning refers to structural damage due to ground failure; faulting, slumping and liquefaction all belong in this category. To others, microzoning is the effects of the focussing of seismic waves by boundaries, resulting in modified ground damage and building damage. A third very popular view of microzoning holds that it concerns multiple reflection of seismic waves in layers, with interference of the wave trains giving rise to maxima, where ground and structural damage will be accentuated. Microzoning can be defined as the division of land areas into small regions of differing local geology for which differences in earthquake attack on structures are specified. This paper is an attempt to set down aspects of microzoning in a logical manner, and to relate them. It also discusses activities here and overseas, and considers where microzoning and microzoning research in New Zealand should head.

Geodetic strain and the deformational history of the North Island of New Zealand during the late Cainozoic

1987 ◽  
Vol 321 (1557) ◽  
pp. 163-181 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Subduction Zone ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Plate Boundary ◽  
Boundary Zone ◽  
Metamorphic Belt ◽  
Volcanic Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Plate Boundary Zone

The subduction zone under the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand comprises, from east to west, a frontal wedge, a fore-arc basin, uplifted basement forming the arc and the Central Volcanic Region. Reconstructions of the plate boundary zone for the Cainozoic from seafloor spreading data require the fore-arc basin to have rotated through 60° in the last 20 Ma which is confirmed by palaeomagnetic declination studies. Estimates of shear strain from geodetic data show that the fore-arc basin is rotating today and that it is under extension in the direction normal to the trend of the plate boundary zone. The extension is apparently achieved by normal faulting. Estimates of the amount of sediments accreted to the subduction zone exceed the volume of the frontal wedge: underplating by the excess sediments is suggested to be the cause of late Quaternary uplift of the fore-arc basin. Low-temperature—high-pressure metamorphism may therefore be occurring at depth on the east coast and high-temperature—low-pressure metamorphism is probable in the Central Volcanic Region. The North Island of New Zealand is therefore a likely setting for a paired metamorphic belt in the making.

The influence of fluids in the unusually high-rate seismicity in the Ometepec segment of the Mexican subduction zone

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Legrand ◽  
A Iglesias ◽  
S K Singh ◽  
V Cruz-Atienza ◽  
C Yoon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Aftershock Sequence ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Earth Tides ◽  
P Value ◽  
Plate Interface ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Slow Slip Events ◽  
Mexican Subduction Zone

Summary The rate of earthquakes with magnitudes Mw ≤ 7.5 in the Ometepec segment of the Mexican subduction zone is relatively high as compared to the neighboring regions of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Although the reason is not well understood, it has been reported that these earthquakes give rise to a large number of aftershocks. Our study of the aftershock sequence of the 2012 Mw7.4 Ometepec thrust earthquake suggests that it is most likely due to two dominant factors: (1) The presence of an anomalously high quantity of over-pressured fluids near the plate interface, and (2) the roughness of the plate interface. More than 5,400 aftershocks were manually detected during the first ten days following the 2012 earthquake. Locations were obtained for 2,419 events (with duration magnitudes Md ≥ 1.5). This is clearly an unusually high number of aftershocks for an earthquake of this magnitude. Furthermore, we generated a more complete catalog, using an unsupervised fingerprint technique, to detect more smaller events (15,593 within one month following the mainshock). For this catalog, a high b-value of 1.50 ± 0.10 suggests the presence of fluid release during the aftershock sequence. A low p-value (0.37 ± 0.12) of the Omori law reveals a slow decaying aftershock sequence. The temporal-distribution of aftershocks shows peaks of activity with two dominant periods of 12h and 24h that correlate with the Earth tides. To explain these observations, we suggest that the 2012 aftershock sequence is associated with the presence of over-pressured fluids and/or a heterogeneous and irregular plate interface related to the subduction of the neighboring seamounts. High fluid content has independently been inferred by magneto-telluric surveys and deduced from heat flow measurements in the region. The presence of fluids in the region has also been proposed to explain the occurrence of slow slip events, low frequency earthquakes, and tectonic tremors.

Paleoecological insights into subduction zone earthquake occurrence, eastern North Island, New Zealand

2006 ◽  
Vol 118 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1051-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Cochran ◽  
K. Berryman ◽  
J. Zachariasen ◽  
D. Mildenhall ◽  
B. Hayward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Earthquake Occurrence ◽  
Subduction Zone Earthquake
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