Search results for "Active fault"
showing 9 items of 19 documents
Active faults and inferred seismic sources in the San Vito lo Capo peninsula, Northwestern Sicily, Italy.
2006
Two independent active faults, capable of generating medium-sized earthquakes in the San Vito lo Capo peninsula, northwestern Sicily (Italy) have been identified as a result of detailed field studies. In western Sicily, instrumental seismicity is low; in fact, except for the 1968 Belice earthquake (Ms = 5.4), historical records indicate that this area is relatively quiescent. Most of the seismicity is in the offshore sector of the Sicilian Maghrebian Chain, which is characterized by several medium- to low-magnitude events. The main shock of the 2002 Palermo seismic sequence (Mw = 5.9) represents the largest earthquake felt in the area in recent years. The deformation pattern characterizing …
Helium and CO2 soil gas emission from Santorini (Greece)
1994
Soil gas investigation is a useful tool to detect active faults. The sudden appearance of soil gas anomalies in zones of deep-reaching faults represents a promising potential precursor of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In volcanic areas the development of soil gas monitoring techniques is particularly important, as they can represent, together with remote sensing techniques, the only geochemical methods that can be safely applied during volcanic unrest, when it becomes impossible or too dangerous to sample crater fumaroles. A soil gas survey was carried out in June 1993 at the main island of Thera, in the Santorini volcanic complex. CO2 flux and CO2 and helium concentrations were measu…
A complex thrust sequence in western Himalaya: the active Medlicott Wadia Thrust.
2017
15 pages; International audience; The recent activity of the Medlicott-Wadia Thrust (MWT) is investigated by geomorphic and tectonic studies in the Riasi zone, south of the Pir Panjal range (India, Jammu-Kasmir state of western Himalaya). In the Riasi area, the MWT forms a splay of five faults that dip northward. The recent activity of the splay is quantified using a set of deformed Quaternary alluvial units. The central branch of the thrust splay moved Precambrian limestones above Quaternary sediments and is sealed by 36 ± 3 ka (youngest OSL age) deposits. The other branches offset the top of a 15 ± 1 ka (youngest OSL age) alluvial fan by 180 to 120 m; the two southernmost branches form 17…
Coseismic extension recorded within the damage zone of the Vado di Ferruccio Thrust Fault, Central Apennines, Italy
2018
Recent high resolution hypocentral localisation along active fault systems in the Central Apennines illuminates the activation of seismogenic volumes dipping at low angle (<30°) in extensional settings overprinting contractional deformations affecting the continental crust of the Adria microplate. Individuation of the geological structures and of the fault processes associated with these seismic patterns will contribute to the interpretation of seismic sequence evolution, and seismic hazard studies.Here we report field and microstructural evidence of seismogenic extensional faults localized within pre-existing thrust fault zones. The Vado di Ferruccio Thrust Fault (VFTF) is a narrow …
The Leiza palaeo-fault: Role and importance in the Upper Cretaceous sedimentation and palaeogeography of the Basque Pyrenees (Spain)
1999
Abstract New analysis of the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Central Depression, a syncline within the Basque Pyrenees, shows that this structure was a deep marine basin analogous to the regional flysch troughs. It was bounded by active faults, including the Leiza palaeo-fault, which sustained erosion of the partly subaerially exposed margins. The Leiza palaeo-fault and its western counterpart, the Kalamua palaeo-fault, are thought to constitute the former plate boundary between Iberia and Europe, and a westward continuation of the North Pyrenean Palaeo-Fault.
Scattering and absorption imaging of a highly fractured fluid-filled seismogenetic volume in a region of slow deformation
2020
Regions of slow strain often produce swarm-like sequences, characterized by the lack of a clear mainshock-aftershock pattern. The comprehension of their underlying physical mechanisms is challenging and still debated. We used seismic recordings from the last Pollino swarm (2010–2014) and nearby to separate and map seismic scattering (from P peak-delays) and absorption (from late-time coda-wave attenuation) at different frequencies in the Pollino range and surroundings. High-scattering and high-absorption anomalies are markers of a fluid-filled fracture volume extending from SE to NW (1.5–6 Hz) across the range. With increasing frequency, these anomalies approximately cover the area where t…
Holocene surface ruptures of the Rurrand Fault, Germany—insights from palaeoseismology, remote sensing and shallow geophysics
2016
The Lower Rhine Embayment in Central Europe hosts a rift system that has very low deformation rates. The faults in this area have slip rates of less than 0.1 mm/yr, which does not allow to investigate ongoing tectonic deformation with geodetic techniques, unless they cover very long time spans. Instrumental seismicity does only cover a small fraction of the very long earthquake recurrence intervals of several thousands of years. Paleoseismological studies are needed to constrain slip rates and the earthquake history of such faults. Destructive earthquakes are rare in the study area, but did occur in historic times. In 1755/56, a series of strong earthquakes caused significant destruction in…
Tectonic beheading of fluvial valleys in the Maestrat grabens (eastern Spain): Insights into slip rates of Pleistocene extensional faults
2013
Abstract Interaction between faulting and landscape evolution in regions of active tectonics allows us to use subtle geomorphological markers for estimating fault slip rates. Geomorphic features of two valleys connected with the bottom of the Alcala de Xivert graben, at the Maestrat graben system (eastern Spain), suggest that they correspond to the lowest segments of ancient valleys whose original heads were located at the axis of the neighbouring Irta range. They were beheaded owing to displacement of the Torreblanca and Irta faults during a period of active extensional faulting in Middle Pleistocene times. These faults produced a negative inversion of the relief, sinking a narrow graben (…
New evidence for the form and extent of the Pernicana Fault System (Mt. Etna) from structural and soil–gas surveying
1998
A multidisciplinary study based on structural and soil–gas surveys was carried out in order to investigate the relationship between soil CO2 degassing and the tectonic setting of the lower northeastern flank of Mt. Etna volcano. The results show that anomalous soil CO2 emissions occur mainly along faults trending WNW–ESE and also where these faults intersect the other main fault set (trending NE–SW) that displaces the study area. In particular, anomalies in CO2 degassing were revealed both along the Pernicana Fault and along another fault (Fiumefreddo Fault) which may represent the prolongation of the former towards the Ionian Sea coast. In the areas where these structures show evident surf…