Audrey Galve

Three‐dimensional velocity structure of the outer fore arc of the Colombia‐Ecuador subduction zone and implications for the 1958 megathrust earthquake rupture zone

In 2005, an onshore, offshore 3-D refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic experiment was conducted along the convergent margin at the border between Colombia and Ecuador, over the rupture zone of the 1958, Mw 7.6 subduction earthquake. A well-defined Vp velocity model of the plate boundary and upper and lower plates was constructed, down to 25 km depth, using first arrival traveltimes inversion. The model reveals a several kilometers thick, low-velocity zone in the upper plate, located immediately above the interplate contact. This low-velocity zone might be related to alteration and fracturing of the mafic and ultramafic rocks, which composed the upper plate in this area by fluids released by the lower plate with possible contributions from sediment underplating. Near the toe of the margin, the model shows a low-velocity gradient in the outer wedge, which is interpreted as highly faulted and fractured rocks. This low-velocity/low-gradient region appears to limit the oceanward extension of the rupture zones of the 1958 and 1979 earthquakes, possibly because coseismic deformation and uplift of the outer margin wedge dissipates most of the seismic energy.

Dehydration of subducting slow-spread oceanic lithosphere in the Lesser Antilles

Subducting slabs carry water into the mantle and are a major gateway in the global geochemical water cycle. Fluid transport and release can be constrained with seismological data. Here we use joint active-source/local-earthquake seismic tomography to derive unprecedented constraints on multi-stage fluid release from subducting slow-spread oceanic lithosphere. We image the low P-wave velocity crustal layer on the slab top and show that it disappears beneath 60–100u2009km depth, marking the depth of dehydration metamorphism and eclogitization. Clustering of seismicity at 120–160u2009km depth suggests that the slab’s mantle dehydrates beneath the volcanic arc, and may be the main source of fluids triggering arc magma generation. Lateral variations in seismic properties on the slab surface suggest that serpentinized peridotite exhumed in tectonized slow-spread crust near fracture zones may increase water transport to sub-arc depths. This results in heterogeneous water release and directly impacts earthquakes generation and mantle wedge dynamics.

Slab segmentation controls the interplate slip motion in the SW Hellenic subduction: New insight from the 2008 Mw 6.8 Methoni interplate earthquake

We present an integrated approach of the seismic structure and activity along the offshore SW Hellenic subduction from combined observations of marine and land seismic stations. Our imaging of the slab top topography from teleseismic receiver function analysis at ocean bottom seismometers supports a trenchward continuation of the along-dip slab faults beneath the Peloponnesus. We further show that their morphostructural control accounts for the backstepping of the thrust contact of the Mediterranean Ridge accretionary wedge over the upper plate. Local seismic activity offshore SW Peloponnesus constrained by ocean bottom seismometer observations reveals a correlation with specific features of the forearc: the Matapan Troughs. We study the Mw6.8 14.02.2008 interplate earthquake offshore SW Peloponnesus and show that its nucleation, rupture zone, and aftershocks sequence are confined to one slab panel between two adjacent along-dip faults and are thus controlled by not only the offshore slab top segmentation but also the upper plate sea-bottom morphology.