Enrique Triep

Anisotropy and mantle flow in the Chile-Argentina subduction zone from shear wave splitting analysis

[1] We examine shear wave splitting in teleseismic phases to observe seismic anisotropy in the South American subduction zone. Data is from the CHARGE network, which traversed Chile and western Argentina across two transects between 30� S and 36� S. Beneath the southern and northwestern parts of the network, fast polarization direction (j) is consistently trench-parallel, while in the northeast j is trench-normal; the transition between these two zones is gradual. We infer that anisotropy sampled by teleseismic phases is localized within or below the subducting slab. We explain our observations with a model in which eastward, Nazca-entrained asthenospheric flow is deflected by retrograde motion of the subducting Nazca plate. Resulting southward flow through this area produces N-S j observed in the south and northwest; E-W j result from interaction of this flow with the local slab geometry producing eastward mantle flow under the actively flattening part of the slab. INDEX TERMS: 7203 Seismology: Body wave propagation; 7218 Seismology: Lithosphere and upper mantle; 8123 Tectonophysics: Dynamics, seismotectonics; 8150 Tectonophysics: Plate boundary—general (3040); 9360 Information Related to Geographic Region: South America. Citation: Anderson, M. L., G. Zandt, E. Triep, M. Fouch, and S. Beck (2004), Anisotropy and mantle flow in the Chile-Argentina subduction zone from shear wave splitting analysis, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L23608, doi:10.1029/ 2004GL020906.

S-Local-Wave Seismic Anisotropy in the Forearc Above the Subducted Nazca Plate Between 33°S and 34.5°S

S-wave splitting from local earthquakes within the Nazca plate that are deeper than the interplate seismogenic zone enabled the determination of the fast velocity direction, Φ, and the lag time, δt, in the forearc of the overriding plate. Data were collected from 20 seismic stations, most of which were temporary, deployed between ~33.5°S and ~34.5°S and included part of the normal subduction section to the south and part of the transitional section to flat subduction to the north. The fast velocity direction has a complex pattern with three predominant directions northwest–southeast, north–south and northeast–southwest and relatively high δt. A quality evaluation of the highest measurements enabled us to identify possible cycle skipping in some of the measurements, which could be responsible for the large observed lag time. We consider that most of the anisotropy that was observed in the forearc is probably located in the mantle wedge, and a minor part is located in the crust. The complex pattern of splitting parameters when the anisotropy is associated at the mantle wedge could be the result of three-dimensional variations in the subducting Nazca plate at these latitudes. Also, similarities between the splitting parameters and the principal compressional stress direction from Pliocene and Quaternary rocks suggest that the anisotropy in the crust could originate by tectonic local stress.