Mudrik R. Daryono

Accommodation space, relative sea level, and the archiving of paleo-earthquakes along subduction zones

The spatial variability of Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) change influences the capacities of coastal environments to accommodate a sedimentary record of paleoenvironmental change. In this study we couch a specific investigation in more general terms in order to demonstrate the applicability of the relative sea-level history approach to paleoseismic investigations. Using subsidence stratigraphy, we trace the different modes of coastal sedimentation over the course of time in the eastern Indian Ocean where RSL change evolved from rapidly rising to static from 8000 yr ago to present. Initially, the coastal sites from the Aceh, Sumatra, coastal plain, which are subject to repeated great earthquakes and tsunamis, built up a sedimentary sequence in response to a RSL rise of 1.4 mm/yr. The sequence found at 2 sites 8 km apart contained 3 soils of a mangrove origin (Rhizophora, Bruguiera/Ceriops, Avicennia pollen, and/or intertidal foraminifera) buried by sudden submergence related to coseismic subsidence and 6 tsunami sands that contain pristine subtidal and planktic foraminifera. After 3800 cal yr B.P. (years before A.D. 1950), sea level stabilized and remained such to the present. The stable relative sea level reduced accommodation space in the late Holocene, suggesting that the continued aggradation of the coastal plain was a consequence of periodic coastal inundation by tsunamis.

The Lawanopo Fault, central Sulawesi, East Indonesia

The dominant tectonic-force factor in the Sulawesi Island is the westward Bangga-Sula microplate tectonic intrusion, driven by the 12 mm/year westward motion of the Pacific Plate relative to Eurasia. This tectonic intrusion are accommodated by a series of major left-lateral strike-slip fault zones including Sorong Fault, Sula-Sorong Fault, Matano Fault, Palukoro Fault, and Lawanopo Fault zones. The Lawanopo fault has been considered as an active left-lateral strike-slip fault. The natural exposures of the Lawanopo Fault are clear, marked by the breaks and liniemants of topography along the fault line, and also it serves as a tectonic boundary between the different rock assemblages. Inpections of IFSAR 5m-grid DEM and field checks show that the fault traces are visible by lineaments of topographical slope breaks, linear ridges and stream valleys, ridge neckings, and they are also associated with hydrothermal deposits and hot springs. These are characteristics of young fault, so their morphological expressi...

Coseismic Slip Distribution of the 2 July 2013 Mw 6.1 Aceh, Indonesia, Earthquake and Its Tectonic ImplicationsCoseismic Slip Distribution of the 2 July 2013 Mw 6.1 Aceh, Indonesia, Earthquake

This study investigates the coseismic slip distribution of the 2 July 2013 Mw 6.1 Aceh earthquake using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, measured geological surface offsets, and an aftershock distribution for a period of four days after the mainshock. We use the aftershock distribution to constrain the fault-plane strike of a right-lateral fault identified as the Pantan Terong segment. We estimate the coseismic slip distribution with dip angle information from the Global Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) (model 1) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (model 2) catalogs. We also estimate the coseismic slip distribution using another two fault models. Model 3 is constructed on a left-lateral fault, the Celala segment, which is perpendicular to the Aceh segment of the Sumatran fault, and model 4 is constructed using the multiple faults in models 2 and 3. We further estimate the coseismic slip distribution of this earthquake by employing an elastic dislocation model, inverting only the GPS displacements for model 3 and jointly inverting GPS displacements and geological surface offsets for models 1, 2, and 4. Minimum misfit between data and model is obtained with model 3, suggesting that the earthquake slip occurred along a left-lateral fault. Analysis of stress transfer caused by the 2013 earthquake indicates that the stress level along the Pantan Terong segment is > 0:4 bar and the southeast part of Aceh segment was brought ∼0:3 bar closer to failure, suggesting a possible earthquake occurrence in the future. This work demonstrates that the seismicity-derived fault plane fails to predict the surface displacement, and that the inferred Celala segment produces positive stress on Pantan Terong segment and potentially triggered all the aftershocks.