The Queen Charlotte Islands refraction project. Part II. Structural model for transition from Pacific plate to North American plate

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1713-1725 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Mackie ◽  
R. M. Clowes ◽  
S. A. Dehler ◽  
R. M. Ellis ◽  
P. Morel-À-l'Huissier
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
North American ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Pacific Plate ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Lithospheric Structure ◽  
Gravity Modelling ◽  
Oblique Subduction ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
Thin Crust

The oceanic-continental boundary west of the Queen Charlotte Islands is marked by the active Queen Charlotte Fault Zone. Motion along the fault is predominantly dextral strike slip, but relative plate motion and other studies indicate that a component of convergence between the oceanic Pacific plate and the continental North American plate presently exists. This convergence could be manifest through different types of deformation: oblique subduction, crustal thickening, or lateral distortion of the plates. In 1983, a 330 km offshore–onshore seismic refraction profile extending from the deep ocean across the islands to the mainland of British Columbia was recorded to investigate (i) structure of the fault zone and associated oceanic–continental boundary and (ii) lithospheric structure beneath the islands and Hecate Strait to define the regional transition from Pacific plate to North American plate and thus the nature of the convergence. Two-dimensional ray tracing and synthetic seismogram modelling of many record sections enabled the derivation of a composite velocity structural section along the profile. The structural section also was tested with two-dimensional gravity modelling. Part I of the study addressed the structure of the fault zone; part II addresses lithospheric structure extending eastward to the mainland.The derived velocity structure has some important and well-constrained features: (i) anomalously low crustal velocities (5.3 km/s with a 0.2 km/s per km gradient) underlain by a steep, 19 °eastward-dipping boundary above the mantle in the terrace region west of the main fault; (ii) a thin crust of 21–27 km beneath the Queen Charlotte Islands; and (iii) a gentle 4 °eastward dip of the Moho below Hecate Strait as crustal thickness increases from 27 km to 32 km. The gravity modelling requires that mantle material extend upwards to a depth of about 30 km below the mainland and indicates that an underlying subducted slab, if it exists, extends eastward no farther than the mainland.Unfortunately, the velocity structure delineated by this study could not unambiguously determine the mode of deformation, because the lowermost crustal block beneath Queen Charlotte Islands and Hecate Strait can be interpreted as subducted oceanic crust or middle to lower continental crust. Thus, two different tectonic models for the transition from Pacific plate to North American plate are discussed: in one, oblique subduction is the principal characteristic; in the other, oceanic lithosphere juxtaposed against continental lithosphere across a narrow boundary zone along which only transcurrent motion occurs is the dominant feature. Based on the thin crust beneath the Queen Charlotte Islands, the lack of a wide zone of deformation along the plate boundary region, and other geological and geophysical characteristics, oblique subduction is the more plausible model.

scholarly journals Possibility of recovery of slip deficit rate between the North American plate and the Pacific plate off Sanriku, northeast Japan

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinzaburo Ozawa ◽  
Hisashi Suito ◽  
Takuya Nishimura ◽  
Mikio Tobita ◽  
Hiroshi Munekane
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Pacific Plate ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
The North ◽  
Slip Deficit ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Off Sanriku

Tertiary extension and tilting in the Queen Charlotte Islands, evidence from dyke swarms and their paleomagnetism

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1878-1898 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Irving ◽  
J. G. Souther ◽  
J. Baker
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Western Margin ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Magnetic Stability ◽  
Transform Margin ◽  
Dyke Swarms

The Queen Charlotte Islands form the western margin of the Tertiary Queen Charlotte Basin, which is situated on the western margin of the North American Plate. They contain seven major dyke swarms of Late Eocene to Miocene age, a period when the relative motions of the Pacific and the North American plates in this region were dominantly dextral strike slip (transform margin), with intervals of highly oblique divergence and convergence. Within each swarm, dykes have a systematic trend. However, trends vary from swarm to swarm, indicating that the stress field varied. A total of 678 cores (1352 specimens) were collected from 129 dykes in six swarms over a distance of about 200 km. Magnetic stability is variable. One hundred and one dykes yielded records of the paleofield. Data are also reported from an Oligocene pluton (5 sites, 27 cores, 52 specimens) and Miocene lavas (8 sites, 52 cores, 101 specimens). Both normal and reversed magnetizations occur, but irrespective of sign, the mean directions of remanent magnetization of each swarm and of the pluton and the lavas have systematically steeper inclinations than the value calculated from coeval rocks in North America. To explain this it is proposed that, after dyke emplacement, the sampling areas were tilted to the north or northwest by amounts that vary between 9 and 16°. Apparently, crustal tilting, similar in magnitude and direction, extended over distances of approximately 200 km. This cannot reflect tilting of a single block. Instead, it is argued that at least the southern Queen Charlotte Islands underwent considerable northerly or north-northwesterly directed extension and normal block faulting, which followed and in part was concurrent with the formation of widespread mid-Tertiary dyke swarms, plutons and lava flows. Making use of the fact that dykes propagate perpendicular to the direction of extension, and combining previously measured dyke orientations with paleomagnetic data, three stages of extension are proposed: east–west extension sometime during the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene; north–south extension sometime in the interval Late Oligocene to Early Miocene; and northwest–southeast extension sometime during Late Miocene or later time.

scholarly journals CCAF-DB: The Caribbean and Central American Active Fault Database

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Styron ◽  
Julio García-Pelaez ◽  
Marco Pagani
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
North American ◽  
Active Fault ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Central American ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Caribbean Plate ◽  
Oblique Convergence ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract. A database of ~250 active fault traces in the Caribbean and Central American regions has been assembled to characterize the seismic hazard and tectonics of the area, as part of the GEM Foundation's Caribbean and Central American Risk Assesment (CCARA) project. The dataset is available in many vector GIS formats, and contains fault trace locations as well as attributes describing fault geometry and kinematics, slip rates, data quality and uncertainty, and other metadata as available. The data is public and open-source (available at https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/central_am_carib_faults), will be updated progressively as new data is available, and is open to community contribution. The active fault data show deformation in the region to be centered around the margins of the Caribbean plate. Northern Central America has sinistral and reverse faults north of the sinistral Motagua-Polochic Fault Zone, which accommodates sinistral Caribbean-North American relative motion. The Central American Highlands extend east-west along a broad array of normal faults, bound by the Motagua-Polochic Fault Zone in the north and dextral faulting in the southwest between the Caribbean plate and the Central American forearc. Faulting in southern Central America is complicated, with trench-parallel reverse and sinistral faults. The northern Caribbean-North American plate boundary is sinistral offshore of Central America, with transpressive stepovers through Jamaica, southern Cuba and Hispaniola. Farther east, deformation becomes more contractional closer to the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, with minor extension and sinistral shear throughout the upper plate, accommodating oblique convergence of the Caribbean and North American plates.

The Queen Charlotte Islands refraction project. Part I. The Queen Charlotte Fault Zone

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1857-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya A. Dehler ◽  
Ron M. Clowes
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
Lower Terrace ◽  
Vertical Fault ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismographs

The active margin between the continental North American plate and oceanic Pacific plate west of the Queen Charlotte Islands was the site of an extensive onshore–offshore seismic refraction project in 1983. An airgun line shot over two ocean-bottom seismographs (OBS's) and a 32-charge explosion line recorded on the two OBS's and eight land-based seismographs (LBS's) deployed across northern Moresby Island were selected to study the structure of the predominantly transform Queen Charlotte Fault Zone and the associated offshore terrace. Two-dimensional ray tracing and synthetic seismogram modelling produced a pronounced laterally varying velocity structural model showing three major crustal components (oceanic, terrace, and continental) separated by an outer, crustally pervasive fault and active Queen Charlotte Fault, respectively. The 3 km thick block-faulted upper terrace unit, overlain by deformed sediments, is indistinguishable from adjacent oceanic sediments and upper crustal basalts located to the west. The upper part of the 10–17 km thick lower terrace unit has anomalously low velocities relative to the adjacent oceanic and continental crustal units. A high gradient increases terrace velocity rapidly with depth until the contrast becomes negligible at approximately 17 km depth. Changes in depth to Moho beneath the terrace suggest an increase in eastward Moho dip from 2–5 °observed west of the terrace to 19 °below it. Tectonic mechanisms proposed to explain the anomalous terrace structure involve sediment accretion during subduction of oceanic lithosphere, alternating or combined with compressive upthrusting of material along near-vertical fault planes during periods of active transform motion.

scholarly journals CCAF-DB: the Caribbean and Central American active fault database

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 831-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Styron ◽  
Julio García-Pelaez ◽  
Marco Pagani
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Fault Zone ◽  
North American ◽  
Active Fault ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Central American ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Caribbean Plate ◽  
Oblique Convergence ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract. A database of ∼250 active fault traces in the Caribbean and Central American regions has been assembled to characterize the seismic hazard and tectonics of the area, as part of the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation's Caribbean and Central American Risk Assessment (CCARA) project. The dataset is available in many vector GIS formats and contains fault trace locations as well as attributes describing fault geometry and kinematics, slip rates, data quality and uncertainty, and other metadata as available. The database is public and open source (available at: https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/central_am_carib_faults, last access: 23 March 2020), will be updated progressively as new data become available, and is open to community contribution. The active fault data show deformation in the region to be centered around the margins of the Caribbean plate. Northern Central America has sinistral and reverse faults north of the sinistral Motagua–Polochic fault zone, which accommodates sinistral Caribbean–North American relative motion. The Central Highlands in Central America extend east–west along a broad array of normal faults, bound by the Motagua–Polochic fault zone in the north and trench-parallel dextral faulting in the southwest between the Caribbean plate and the Central American forearc. Faulting in southern Central America is complicated, with trench-parallel reverse and sinistral faults. The northern Caribbean–North American plate boundary is sinistral off the shore of Central America, with transpressive stepovers through Jamaica, southern Cuba and Hispaniola. Farther east, deformation becomes more contractional closer to the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, with minor extension and sinistral shear throughout the upper plate, accommodating oblique convergence of the Caribbean and North American plates.

scholarly journals Seismic velocity structure at the southern termination of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake rupture, Japan

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhira Aoyagi ◽  
Haruo Kimura ◽  
Kazuo Mizoguchi
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Seismic Velocity ◽  
Earthquake Rupture ◽  
2016 Kumamoto Earthquake ◽  
Seismic Velocity Structure ◽  
Kumamoto Earthquake ◽  
Seismogenic Layer ◽  
The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake ◽  
Tectonic Line

Abstract The earthquake rupture termination mechanism and size of the ruptured area are crucial parameters for earthquake magnitude estimations and seismic hazard assessments. The 2016 Mw 7.0 Kumamoto Earthquake, central Kyushu, Japan, ruptured a 34-km-long area along previously recognized active faults, eastern part of the Futagawa fault zone and northernmost part of the Hinagu fault zone. Many researchers have suggested that a magma chamber under Aso Volcano terminated the eastward rupture. However, the termination mechanism of the southward rupture has remained unclear. Here, we conduct a local seismic tomographic inversion using a dense temporary seismic network to detail the seismic velocity structure around the southern termination of the rupture. The compressional-wave velocity (Vp) results and compressional- to shear-wave velocity (Vp/Vs) structure indicate several E–W- and ENE–WSW-trending zonal anomalies in the upper to middle crust. These zonal anomalies may reflect regional geological structures that follow the same trends as the Oita–Kumamoto Tectonic Line and Usuki–Yatsushiro Tectonic Line. While the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake rupture mainly propagated through a low-Vp/Vs area (1.62–1.74) along the Hinagu fault zone, the southern termination of the earthquake at the focal depth of the mainshock is adjacent to a 3-km-diameter high-Vp/Vs body. There is a rapid 5-km step in the depth of the seismogenic layer across the E–W-trending velocity boundary between the low- and high-Vp/Vs areas that corresponds well with the Rokkoku Tectonic Line; this geological boundary is the likely cause of the dislocation of the seismogenic layer because it is intruded by serpentinite veins. A possible factor in the southern rupture termination of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake is the existence of a high-Vp/Vs body in the direction of southern rupture propagation. The provided details of this inhomogeneous barrier, which are inferred from the seismic velocity structures, may improve future seismic hazard assessments for a complex fault system composed of multiple segments.

Queen Charlotte fault zone: microearthquakes from a temporary array of land stations and ocean bottom seismographs

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 776-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Hyndman ◽  
R. M. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Small Component ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
The North ◽  
Vertical Fault ◽  
Linear Sections ◽  
Ocean Bottom Seismographs ◽  
Steep Slopes

A temporary array of land and ocean bottom seismograph stations was used to accurately locate microearthquakes on the Queen Charlotte fault zone, which occurs along the continental margin of western Canada. The continental slope has two steep linear sections separated by a 25 km wide irregular terrace at a depth of 2 km. Eleven events were located with magnitudes from 0.5 to 2.0, 10 of them beneath the landward one of the two steep slopes, some 5 km off the coast of the southern Queen Charlotte Islands. No events were located beneath the seaward and deeper steep slope. The depths of seven of these events were constrained by the data to between 9 and 21 km with most near 20 km. The earthquake and other geophysical data are consistent with a near vertical fault zone having mainly strike-slip motion. A model including a small component of underthrusting in addition to strike-slip faulting is suggested to account for the some 15° difference between the relative motion of the North America and Pacific plates from plate tectonic models and the strike of the margin. One event was located about 50 km inland of the main active zone and probably occurred on the Sandspit fault. The rate of seismicity on the Queen Charlotte fault zone during the period of the survey was similar to that predicted by the recurrence relation for the region from the long-term earthquake record.

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