2017 Articles
The discovery of a conjugate system of faults in the Wharton Basin intraplate deformation zone
The deformation at well-defined, narrow plate boundaries depends on the relative plate motion, but how the deformation takes place within a distributed plate boundary zone remains a conundrum. This was confirmed by the seismological analyses of the 2012 great Wharton Basin earthquakes [moment magnitude (Mw) 8.6], which suggested the rupture of several faults at high angles to one another. Using high-resolution bathymetry and seismic reflection data, we report the discovery of new N294°E-striking shear zones, oblique to the plate fabric. These shear zones are expressed by sets of normal faults striking at N335°E, defining the direction of the principal compressional stress in the region. Also, we have imaged left-lateral strike-slip faults along reactivated N7°E-oriented oceanic fracture zones. The shear zones and the reactivated fracture zones form a conjugate system of faults, which accommodate present-day intraplate deformation in the Wharton Basin.
Files
- 1601689_SM.pdf application/pdf 1.52 MB Download File
- e1601689.full.pdf application/pdf 5.1 MB Download File
Also Published In
- Title
- Science Advances
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601689
More About This Work
- Academic Units
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- Published Here
- January 25, 2017