S. M. Dean

Contrasting Décollement and Prism Properties over the Sumatra 2004–2005 Earthquake Rupture Boundary

Quake Control Large earthquakes occur at the margins of two colliding plates, where one plate subducts beneath the other at a shallow angle. These megathrust earthquakes often cause destructive tsunamis owing to the displacement of large volumes of water at the fault along the plate boundary. Two related studies of the seismic structure of subduction zones attempt to reveal the underlying mechanisms of megathrust earthquakes (see the Perspective by Wang). Kimura et al. (p. 210) compared seismic reflection images and microearthquake locations at the Philippine Sea plate where it subducts obliquely beneath Japan. The locations of repeating microearthquakes correspond to active transfer of material from the subducting plate to the continent—a process only previously assumed from exhumed metamorphic rocks. Dean et al. (p. 207) observe an expansive structure in the sea-floor sediment near the location of the 2004 and 2005 Sumatra earthquakes in Indonesia that suggests sediment properties may influence the magnitude of megathrust ruptures and their subsequent tsunamis. A plate boundary fault reflector suggests different rupture styles in the last two major Sumatran earthquakes. Styles of subduction zone deformation and earthquake rupture dynamics are strongly linked, jointly influencing hazard potential. Seismic reflection profiles across the trench west of Sumatra, Indonesia, show differences across the boundary between the major 2004 and 2005 plate interface earthquakes, which exhibited contrasting earthquake rupture and tsunami generation. In the southern part of the 2004 rupture, we interpret a negative-polarity sedimentary reflector ~500 meters above the subducting oceanic basement as the seaward extension of the plate interface. This predécollement reflector corresponds to unusual prism structure, morphology, and seismogenic behavior that are absent along the 2005 rupture zone. Although margins like the 2004 rupture zone are globally rare, our results suggest that sediment properties influence earthquake rupture, tsunami hazard, and prism development at subducting plate boundaries.

Tectonic implications of exposure of lower continental crust beneath the Iberia Abyssal Plain, Northeast Atlantic Ocean: Geophysical evidence

We present new seismic data from a basement high beneath the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain that appears, from the latest Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) results and indirectly from various seismic observations, to consist of lower continental crustal material. This is a unique opportunity to use seismic profiles and other geophysical evidence to investigate the tectonic process which led to the exhumation of these rocks. We infer that the lower crust was exhumed at the seafloor and then uplifted toward the end of rifting. Our results lead to the following new observations: low-angle detachment faults, previously reported along the east-west Lusigal-12 profile across the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain, penetrate both the 3–10 km thick continental crust and, unusually, the uppermost mantle. Processing of new multichannel seismic reflection profiles across the basement high on which ODP Sites 900, 1067, and 1068 are located reveals that the high is bounded by a previously unsuspected steep, landward dipping normal fault on its east flank. Basement cores from the above ODP sites also reveal that the high is not capped by the previously predicted early syn-rift sediment but by rocks from the lower continental crust. These unexpected observations are incorporated into a new tectonic model of the development of this part of the west Iberia margin which is also consistent with other geophysical observations. A novel feature of this model is the proposal that the seaward edge of the continental crust is thinned to 3–6 km by a currently poorly understood process. The model implies three stages of deformation: (1) lithospheric extension, principally by symmetric pure shear, which leads to a ∼10 km thick crust in which the lower crust is largely absent over the axial zone and the crust-mantle boundary forms a shear zone, (2) further thinning and then dissection of the most distal continental crust by seaward dipping, low-angle normal faults, (3) inception of a high-angle, landward dipping normal fault that offsets the tectonized crust-mantle boundary and uplifts the lower crust to the crest of the basement high on which ODP Sites 900, 1067, and 1068 were drilled.

Anomalous melt production after continental break-up in the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain

Abstract Recent geophysical work and Ocean Drilling Program drilling in the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain have indicated that, in a transition zone up to 170 km wide between thinned continental crust and oceanic crust, the basement consists of serpentinized peridotite mantle with sparse mafic intrusive or extrusive rocks. There is no evidence for the addition of significant magmatic material to the stretched continental crust landward of this zone during the last phase of rifting, whereas seaward of this zone, where the half-spreading rate is about 10 mm a−1, the crust rapidly reaches a thickness of c. 6 km, which is normal for Atlantic oceanic crust. Models of melt generation during pure shear, finite-duration continental rifting can successfully reproduce the observed absence of significant syn-rift magmatism on, within and beneath the thinned continental crust if the rifting episode is longer than 10–20 Ma. However, for normal mantle potential temperatures, such models predict significant melt generation in the transition zone seaward of the thinned continental crust even for rift durations longer than 20 Ma. Restricted melting beneath the transition zone might be explained partly by lateral heat loss to the adjacent continental lithosphere, by anomalously low mantle potential temperatures at break-up time, or by depth-dependent stretching such that the observed infinite stretching factor for the crust is not representative of the lithosphere as a whole. An additional mechanism for restricted melt production involves a transitional state between the end of continental extension and the onset of steady-state sea-floor spreading, during which mantle upwelling is less focused than at normal oceanic spreading centres.

The role of syn-rift magmatism in the rift-to-drift evolution of the West Iberia continental margin: geophysical observations

Abstract The presence of a well-defined ocean-continent transition (OCT) and the absence of large volumes of extrusive or intrusive rocks on the West Iberia margin make it a good place to investigate how the largely amagmatic rifting and break-up of continental lithosphere evolves into oceanic crust produced by magmatic sea-floor spreading. In the southern Iberia Abyssal Plain there is a broad OCT with a characteristic seismic and magnetic character, distinct from both thinned continental crust and normal oceanic crust, which supports the notion that it consists predominantly of exhumed and serpentinized mantle. Interpretations of magnetic and seismic data indicate that on average only small amounts of syn-rift melt exist within the OCT. Isolated, probably margin-parallel, intrusive melt bodies are scattered within the eastern part of the OCT well beneath the top of acoustic basement. Within the western part of the OCT, closer to unambiguous sea-floor spreading magnetic anomalies, such bodies were later(?) emplaced at higher levels and more closely together in the basement until eventually sea-floor spreading began. The evidence does not support the hypothesis that ultraslow sea-floor spreading can explain the magnetic anomalies observed within the wider parts of the West Iberia OCT, where the OCT evolution is best resolved.

Compressional structures on the West Iberia rifted margin: controls on their distribution

Abstract The West Iberia margin is a magma-poor rifted margin that resulted from Jurassic to Cretaceous polyphase rifting leading to the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Mesozoic rift structures were overprinted by two compressive tectonic events during Eocene and Miocene times resulting from collision between Iberia, Europe and Africa. The effects of these compressive tectonic events are expressed by faults and folds within the post-rift sedimentary sequence. We mapped and studied these Cenozoic deformation structures throughout the Southern Iberia Abyssal Plain (40°–41°N, 11°–13°W) on the basis of an extensive dataset of time migrated seismic profiles acquired by various academic institutions. Acoustic basement has also been analysed on the basis of its seismic aspect, in order to test potential relationships with the distribution of the post-rift sedimentary deformation. Our observations lead to three major conclusions concerning the deformation affecting the post-rift sediments in the Southern Iberia Abyssal Plain: (1) the deformation occurs within the zone of exhumed continental mantle and not at its transition to continental or oceanic crust; (2) it is localized within a zone overlying basement with well-defined seismic characteristics; and (3) it is closely related to the major topographic features observed in the ocean–continent transition. The localization of the deformation within the zone of exhumed continental mantle and not at its boundaries to the adjacent oceanic and continental crust suggests that the limits between the different types of crust are transitional rather than sharp. Our results show that the zone of exhumed continental mantle represents the weakest zone within the margin that is preferentially deformed during initial convergence. At higher convergence rates, this zone may coincide with the location of a future subduction.

3‐D active source tomography around Simeulue Island offshore Sumatra: Thick crustal zone responsible for earthquake segment boundary

We present a detailed 3-D P-wave velocity model obtained by first-arrival travel-time tomography with seismic refraction data in the segment boundary of the Sumatra subduction zone across Simeulue Island, and an image of the top of the subducted oceanic crust extracted from depth-migrated multi-channel seismic reflection profiles. We have picked P-wave first arrivals of the air-gun source seismic data recorded by local networks of ocean-bottom seismometers, and inverted the travel-times for a 3-D velocity model of the subduction zone. This velocity model shows an anomalous zone of intermediate velocities between those of oceanic crust and mantle that is associated with raised topography on the top of the oceanic crust. We interpret this feature as a thickened crustal zone in the subducting plate with compositional and topographic variations, providing a primary control on the upper plate structure and on the segmentation of the 2004 and 2005 earthquake ruptures.

Exploring Structural Controls on Sumatran Earthquakes

A series of linked marine and land studies have recently targeted the Sumatra subduction zone, focusing on the 2004 and 2005 plate boundary earthquake ruptures in Indonesia. A collaborative research effort by scientists from the United Kingdom (UK Sumatra Consortium), Indonesia, United States, France, and Germany is focusing on imaging the crustal structure of the margin to examine controls on along-strike and updip earthquake rupture propagation. The fundamental science objective is to examine how margin architecture and properties control earthquake rupture location and propagation.