Daniel Stich

Delamination in the Betic Range: Deep structure, seismicity, and GPS motion

Subduction comes to an end when all oceanic lithosphere is consumed and continental or transitional crust, with positive buoyancy, becomes involved. During continental collision, the final stage of subduction may be characterized by slab breakoff, limited continental subduction, and delamination below the fold-and-thrust belt. We report receiver function images, constructed from a dense array of seismic broadband stations, that reveal the underthrusting of Iberia beneath the Alboran plate. The underthrusted crust is delaminating beneath part of the Betic mountain range, still connected to the foreland lithosphere on one side, and interrupted discontinuously along the other side. Intermediate deep earthquakes associated with the delamination process do not respond to downdip stresses like subduction earthquakes. The GPS velocity field and source mechanisms for shallow earthquakes demonstrate ongoing active shortening on top of the hinge of delamination, and localized perpendicular extension on top of the edge of delamination, introducing independent motion of the overriding crustal block. Delamination beneath the Betic Range drives seismicity by inducing fundamental changes in deformation patterns within the collision orogen.

Crustal‐scale transcurrent fault development in a weak‐layered crust from an integrated geophysical research: Carboneras Fault Zone, eastern Betic Cordillera, Spain

New magnetotelluric and receiver transfer function studies provide insights from the upper to the lower crust of the eastern Betic Cordillera, which is deformed by large folds, normal faults, and a major transcurrent left-lateral fault, the Carboneras Fault Zone (CFZ). Receiver function analysis determines a NNW dipping Moho reaching 20° that increases in depth, from 20 km south of the CFZ up to 34 km in the Sierra de Los Filabres. In addition, seismic discontinuities determined in the upper crust are interpreted as major contacts between metamorphic complexes that are detached and folded. The MT inversion model reveals a conductive zone, also representing a crustal seismic discontinuity, associated with the Alpujarride/Nevado-Filabride contact and fitting the N vergent geometry of the Sierra Alhamilla antiform. A small flexure at Moho coincides with the CFZ, as revealed by the Bouguer anomaly trend, in agreement with the receiver function results. Moreover, the Bahr strike and tipper angle at the stations placed closest to the CFZ clearly reveal the continuity of the CFZ at least down to approximately 15 km in depth, crossing all the detected crustal discontinuities up to the Moho. The lack of a clear Moho offset associated with the Carboneras Fault supports the idea that some large strike-slip faults tend to accommodate the deformation by a broadening fault zone at lower crustal levels. Its nucleation could occur at the base of a thin crust, where melting processes critically reduced the lithospheric strength during the late Miocene, to then propagate upward, reaching the topographic surface. Northward, the lithosphere comprised moderately larger strength, and the crustal discontinuities favored the development of larger folds with kilometric amplitude instead of strike-slip faults since the late Miocene.

An Overview of the Damaging and Low Magnitude Mw 4.8 La Paca Earthquake on 29 January 2005: Context, Seismotectonics, and Seismic Risk Implications for Southeast Spain

This article presents an overview of the La Paca earthquake of magnitude mbLg 4.7, which occurred on 29 January 2005, with its epicenter located near the town of Avile´s in the Murcia region in southeast Spain. Despite its low magnitude, the earthquake caused important damage in two towns of the epicentral area, La Paca and Zarcilla de Ramos. These areas recorded intensities of VI–VII (European Macroseismic Scale, 1998) and sustained estimated economic losses amounting to 10 million €. Aftershocks continued for more than 2 weeks, producing considerable alarm in the population and mobilizing emergency services from the whole region. The La Paca seismic series is the third registered in the region in the past 8 years, being preceded by the Mula (1999) and southwest Bullas (2002) seismic series. These main events had also low magnitudes (mbLg 4.8) and caused damage levels similar to the 2005 earthquake. The case is an example of a moderate seismic zone where low-magnitude and frequent earthquakes have important implications on the seismic hazard and risk of the region. Although these are not the largest expected earthquakes, they have yielded important information for improving the knowledge of the seismic activity of the area. With this aim in mind, different topics have been analyzed from a multidisciplinary perspective, including seismicity, local tectonics and surface geology, focal mechanisms, macroseismic effects, and ground motion. Results indicate a local tectonic interpretation, consistent with a strike-slip focal mechanism, the confirmation of a triggering process between the 2002 and 2005 earthquakes, a geotechnical and ground-motion characterization for the damaged sites (supporting local amplification effects and estimated peak ground acceleration values of �0.1g), and an understanding of damage patterns in relation to local building trends. The results may be used as guidelines for future revisions of the Spanish Building Code (Norma de la Construccio´n Sismorresistente Espan˜ola [NCSE-02], 2002). The study results should contribute to risk mitigation in a region where strong-motion records from the maximum expected earthquakes are not available. This approach can be extended to other regions with similar seismic backgrounds and a lack of strong-motion records.

Evidence for active strike-slip faulting along the Eurasia-Africa convergence zone: Implications for seismic hazard in the southwest Iberian margin

New seismic imaging and seismotectonic data from the southwest Iberian margin, the site of the present-day boundary between the European and African plates, reveal that active strike slip is occurring along two prominent lineaments that have recently been mapped using multibeam bathymetry. Multichannel seismic and subbottom profiler images acquired across the lineaments show seafloor displacements and active faulting to depths of at least 10 km and of a minimum length of 150 km. Seismic moment tensors show predominantly WNW–ESE right-lateral strike-slip motion, i.e., oblique to the direction of plate convergence. Estimates of earthquake source depths close to the fault planes indicate upper mantle (i.e., depths of 40–60 km) seismogenesis, implying the presence of old, thick, and brittle lithosphere. The estimated fault seismic parameters indicate that the faults are capable of generating great magnitude (Mw ≥ 8.0) earthquakes. Such large events raise the concomitant possibility of slope failures that have the potential to trigger tsunamis. Consequently, our findings identify an unreported earthquake and tsunami hazard for the Iberian and north African coastal areas.

Results of seismic monitoring surveys of Deception Island volcano, Antarctica, from 1999–2011

Abstract Deception Island volcano (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) has been monitored in summer surveys since 1994. We analyse the seismicity recorded from 1999–2011 with a local network and seismic arrays. It includes long-period (LP) events, volcanic tremor episodes and volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes. Long-period events are conspicuous, ranging from 58 (2007–08) to 2868 events (2003–04). The highest number of LP events in one day is 243 on 2 February 2001, and there are several discrete periods of intense LP activity. These variations may be related to alterations in the shallow hydrothermal system of Deception Island. The number of VT earthquakes recorded during the surveys range from 4 (2008–09) to 125 (2007–08). In some periods VT distributions are temporally and spatially homogeneous, with a generally low level of seismicity. In other periods we observe a peak of VT activity lasting a few days, concentrated in a particular area. These two patterns may respond to different processes, involving regional stresses and local tectonic destabilization induced by volcanic activity. Overall, this study indicates that over the period 1999–2011 the volcano presented a moderate level of seismicity, and suggests that there has been no significant reactivation of the volcano since the 1999 seismic crisis.

Multiplet Focal Mechanisms from Polarities and Relative Locations: The Iznajar Swarm in Southern Spain

Abstract In April 1998, a swarm of ∼1800 microearthquakes near the village of Iznajar (southern Spain) was recorded at the Granada basin short-period seismic network. Focal mechanisms from local P -wave polarities are poorly constrained and cannot characterize the seismotectonics of the series. Here we combine polarity information and multiplet relocation to address this issue. We use waveform cross correlation on P and S arrivals to identify events with highly similar seismograms, group our detections into multiplet clusters, and invert the cross-correlation time delays to obtain precise relative locations. Relative locations have errors of several tens to a few hundreds of meters horizontally and vertically, and define strike and dip of active fault patches with an accuracy of ∼20 ° –30 ° . We introduce the multiplet fault plane orientations into focal mechanism inversion, now yielding mostly well-constrained solutions, in addition to resolving the nodal plane symmetry. We observe mainly north-south left-lateral strike-slip faulting and a few north-northwest–south-southeast normal faulting solutions, illustrating the kinematic complexity of the swarm, and pointing to a local deformation style different from the nearby Granada basin.

Vertical Ground Motion in Southern Spain

We quantify the attenuation of ground motion with distance in south- ern Spain using 6052 velocity recordings from 1107 local and regional earthquakes registered by the Andalusianvertical-component short-period network. Epicentral dis- tances and magnitudes range from 3 to 500 km and from 1.0 to 5.1, respectively. The observed peak velocity and the root mean square (rms). Fourier velocity amplitudes with distance are parameterized by excitation, distance, and site terms for a set of fre- quencies ranging from 1 to 12 Hz. We obtain these terms by performing an iterative- damped least-squares regression. From the excitation term, we extract its scaling law with magnitude by using Brunes source model. The distance terms are fitted by ana- lytic functions that depend on geometrical spreading coefficients and a frequency- dependent attenuation parameter. Apart from the analysis of the entire data set, we perform two separate analyses of two subdata sets: offshore earthquakes (Alboran data set) and inland earthquakes (Betic data set). These data sets have differences in their probed earth structures, showing distance terms clearly distinct, with higher attenuation in the Alboran area (Q0 ∼ 100) compared to the Betic area (Q0 ∼ 200). Random vibration theory proved to be a suitable tool to simulate observed peak am- plitudes from the obtained spectral scaling laws and signal durations.

Resolution of rupture directivity in weak events: 1‐D versus 2‐D source parameterizations for the 2011, Mw 4.6 and 5.2 Lorca earthquakes, Spain

Resolving robustly source parameters of small-moderate magnitude earthquakes is still a challenge in seismology. We infer directivity from apparent source time functions (ASTFs) at regional distance and quantify the associated uncertainties. ASTFs are used for: (i) modeling a propagating 1D line source from the duration data; and, (ii) inverting the 2D slip distribution from the full signals. Slip inversion is performed through a Popperian scheme, where random trial models are either falsified on account of large misfit, or else become members of the solution set of the inverse problem. We assess the resolution of rupture directivity representing centroid shifts from the solution set in a rose diagram. Using as example an event with well-studied rupture directivity, the 2011 Mw 5.2 Lorca (Spain) earthquake, 1D and 2D parameterizations yield similar estimates for direction (N213°E and N220°E, respectively) and asymmetry (67:33, 65:35) of rupture propagation, as well as rupture length (2.1 km, 2.7 km) and speed (3.5 km/s, 3.25 km/s). The high rupture velocity ≥ 90% vS may be held primarily responsible for the strong directivity effect of this earthquake. We show that inversion of apparent source durations is intrinsically unable to resolve highly asymmetric bilateral ruptures, while inversion of full ASTFs misses part of the signals complexity, suggesting the presence of deconvolution artifacts. We extend the analysis to the Mw 4.6 foreshock of the Lorca earthquake, inferring similar directivity parameters and slip pattern as for the mainshock. The rupture towards SW of both earthquakes suggests that this direction could be inherent to the fault segment.

Normal Faulting in the 1923 Berdún Earthquake and Postorogenic Extension in the Pyrenees

The 10 July 1923 earthquake near Berdun (Spain) is the largest instrumentally recorded event in the Pyrenees. We recover old analog seismograms and use 20 hand-digitized waveforms for regional moment tensor inversion. We estimate moment magnitude Mw 5.4, centroid depth of 8 km, and a pure normal faulting source with strike parallel to the mountain chain (N292°E), dip of 66° and rake of -88°. The new mechanism fits into the general predominance of normal faulting in the Pyrenees and extension inferred from Global Positioning System data. The unique location of the 1923 earthquake, near the south Pyrenean thrust front, shows that the extensional regime is not confined to the axial zone where high topography and the crustal root are located. Together with seismicity near the northern mountain front, this indicates that gravitational potential energy in the western Pyrenees is not extracted locally but induces a wide distribution of postorogenic deformation.