西太平洋俯冲带岩石圈变形研究

全球海洋岩石圈的最大弯曲与大地震发生在俯冲带。当弯曲应力超过岩石承受范围，就会产生正断层和地震，海水沿着正断层进入上地幔并发生蛇纹石化，引发浅源地震并可能造成灾难性海啸。选取西太平洋最具代表性的日本、伊豆-小笠原、马里亚纳和雅浦俯冲带以及汤加-克马德克俯冲带，归纳近些年的地球物理观测及地球动力学模拟的结果，对比分析了不同俯冲带挠曲正断层的分布特征，并探讨了俯冲板块变形与地震之间的相关性,以揭示俯冲板片弯曲变形及相应的正断层与潜在板块水化特征。     

A great earthquake doublet and seismic stress transfer cycle in the central Kuril islands

Temporal variations of the frictional resistance on subduction-zone plate boundary faults associated with the stick-slip cycle of large interplate earthquakes are thought to modulate the stress regime and earthquake activity within the subducting oceanic plate. Here we report on two great earthquakes that occurred near the Kuril islands, which shed light on this process and demonstrate the enhanced seismic hazard accompanying triggered faulting. On 15 November 2006, an event of moment magnitude 8.3 ruptured the shallow-dipping plate boundary along which the Pacific plate descends beneath the central Kuril arc. The thrust ruptured a seismic gap that previously had uncertain seismogenic potential, although the earlier occurrence of outer-rise compressional events had suggested the presence of frictional resistance. Within minutes of this large underthrusting event, intraplate extensional earthquakes commenced in the outer rise region seaward of the Kuril trench, and on 13 January 2007, an event of moment magnitude 8.1 ruptured a normal fault extending through the upper portion of the Pacific plate, producing one of the largest recorded shallow extensional earthquakes. This energetic earthquake sequence demonstrates the stress transfer process within the subducting lithosphere, and the distinct rupture characteristics of these great earthquakes illuminate differences in seismogenic properties and seismic hazard of such interplate and intraplate faults.     

广东恩开断裂带新构造活动特征

恩开断裂带是华南沿海地区重要的断裂带之一,长约160km,由3条大致平行展布的北东向断裂组成,其中苍城—海陵断裂(F₁)、均安断裂(F₂)倾向北西,鹤城—金鸡断裂(F₃)倾向南东。这3条断裂在第三纪主要作张性正断层运动。约在上新世末或第四纪初,断裂带受到北西西—南东东方向的强烈挤压,北东向断裂转为压性活动。然而,约在中更新世开始,挤压力逐渐减弱,加之,华南沿海地区水平挤压力有从南往北减弱的趋势,断裂带南段,挤压力仍足以使断裂上盘逆冲上升,形成逆断层地貌;继续往北,水平挤压力与重力大小相近,两者平衡使断层两盘处于动态稳定之中,差异升降弱;再往北,水平挤压力更弱,重力均衡使断裂再次发生正断层运动。约在晚更新世开始,区内的一系列北西向断裂形成或复活,由于与主压应力方向夹角小,断裂面摩擦力小而比北东向断裂更易发生错动,使北东向断裂多处被切。北西向断裂的活动一方面限制了北东向断裂的平移,另一方面释放了部分应变能,最终使北东向断裂的活动性降低。     

Slip on 'weak' faults by the rotation of regional stress in the fracture damage zone

Slip on unfavourably oriented faults with respect to a remotely applied stress is well documented and implies that faults such as the San Andreas fault and low-angle normal faults are weak when compared to laboratory-measured frictional strength. If high pore pressure within fault zones is the cause of such weakness, then stress reorientation within or close to a fault is necessary to allow sufficient fault weakening without the occurrence of hydrofracture. From field observations of a major tectonic fault, and using laboratory experiments and numerical modelling, here we show that stress rotation occurs within the fractured damage zone surrounding faults. In particular, we find that stress rotation is considerable for unfavourably oriented 'weak' faults. In the 'weak' fault case, the damage-induced change in elastic properties provides the necessary stress rotation to allow high pore pressure faulting without inducing hydrofracture.     

Non-volcanic tremor and low-frequency earthquake swarms

Non-volcanic tremor is a weak, extended duration seismic signal observed episodically on some major faults, often in conjunction with slow slip events. Such tremor may hold the key to understanding fundamental processes at the deep roots of faults, and could signal times of accelerated slip and hence increased seismic hazard. The mechanism underlying the generation of tremor and its relationship to aseismic slip are, however, as yet unresolved. Here we demonstrate that tremor beneath Shikoku, Japan, can be explained as a swarm of small, low-frequency earthquakes, each of which occurs as shear faulting on the subduction-zone plate interface. This suggests that tremor and slow slip are different manifestations of a single process.     

Effects of acoustic waves on stick-slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes

It remains unknown how the small strains induced by seismic waves can trigger earthquakes at large distances, in some cases thousands of kilometres from the triggering earthquake, with failure often occurring long after the waves have passed. Earthquake nucleation is usually observed to take place at depths of 10-20 km, and so static overburden should be large enough to inhibit triggering by seismic-wave stress perturbations. To understand the physics of dynamic triggering better, as well as the influence of dynamic stressing on earthquake recurrence, we have conducted laboratory studies of stick-slip in granular media with and without applied acoustic vibration. Glass beads were used to simulate granular fault zone material, sheared under constant normal stress, and subject to transient or continuous perturbation by acoustic waves. Here we show that small-magnitude failure events, corresponding to triggered aftershocks, occur when applied sound-wave amplitudes exceed several microstrain. These events are frequently delayed or occur as part of a cascade of small events. Vibrations also cause large slip events to be disrupted in time relative to those without wave perturbation. The effects are observed for many large-event cycles after vibrations cease, indicating a strain memory in the granular material. Dynamic stressing of tectonic faults may play a similar role in determining the complexity of earthquake recurrence.     

Faulting induced by precipitation of water at grain boundaries in hot subducting oceanic crust

Dehydration embrittlement has been proposed to explain both intermediate- and deep-focus earthquakes in subduction zones. Because such earthquakes primarily occur at shallow depths or within the core of the subducting plate, dehydration at relatively low temperatures has been emphasized. However, recent careful relocation of subduction-zone earthquakes shows that at depths of 100-250 km, earthquakes continue in the uppermost part of the slab (probably the former oceanic crust that has been converted to eclogite) where temperatures are higher. Here we show that at such pressures and temperatures, eclogite lacking hydrous phases but with significant hydroxyl incorporated as defects in pyroxene and garnet develops a faulting instability associated with precipitation of water at grain boundaries and the production of very small amounts of melt. This new faulting mechanism satisfactorily explains high-temperature earthquakes in subducting oceanic crust and could potentially be involved in much deeper earthquakes in connection with similar precipitation of water in the mantle transition zone (400-700 km depth). Of potential importance for all proposed high-pressure earthquake mechanisms is the very small amount of fluid required to trigger this instability.     

The dating of shallow faults in the Earth's crust.

Direct dating of ductile shear zones and calculation of uplift/exhumation rates can be done using various radiometric dating techniques. But radiometric dating of shallow crustal faulting, which occurs in the crust's brittle regime, has remained difficult because the low temperatures typical of shallow crusted faults prevent the complete syntectonic mineral recrystallization that occurs in deeper faults. Both old (detrital) and newly grown (authigenic) fine-grained phyllosilicates are thus preserved in shallow fault zones and therefore their radiometric ages reflect a mixture of both mineral populations. Also, the loss of 39Ar during neutron irradiation in dating of clay minerals can produce erroneously old ages. Here we present a method of characterizing the clay populations in fault gouge, using X-ray modelling, combined with sample encapsulation, and show how it can be used to date near-surface fault activity reliably. We examine fault gouge from the Lewis thrust of the southern Canadian Rockies, which we determine to be approximately 52 Myr old. This result requires the western North America stress regime to have changed from contraction to extension in only a few million years during the Eocene. We also estimate the uplift/exhumation age and sedimentary source of these rocks to be approximately 172 Myr.     

Stress changes from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and increased hazard in the Sichuan basin

On 12 May 2008, the devastating magnitude 7.9 (Wenchuan) earthquake struck the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, collapsing buildings and killing thousands in major cities aligned along the western Sichuan basin in China. After such a large-magnitude earthquake, rearrangement of stresses in the crust commonly leads to subsequent damaging earthquakes. The mainshock of the 12 May earthquake ruptured with as much as 9 m of slip along the boundary between the Longmen Shan and Sichuan basin, and demonstrated the complex strike-slip and thrust motion that characterizes the region. The Sichuan basin and surroundings are also crossed by other active strike-slip and thrust faults. Here we present calculations of the coseismic stress changes that resulted from the 12 May event using models of those faults, and show that many indicate significant stress increases. Rapid mapping of such stress changes can help to locate fault sections with relatively higher odds of producing large aftershocks.     

Intermediate-depth earthquake faulting by dehydration embrittlement with negative volume change

Earthquakes are observed to occur in subduction zones to depths of approximately 680 km, even though unassisted brittle failure is inhibited at depths greater than about 50 km, owing to the high pressures and temperatures. It is thought that such earthquakes (particularly those at intermediate depths of 50-300 km) may instead be triggered by embrittlement accompanying dehydration of hydrous minerals, principally serpentine. A problem with failure by serpentine dehydration is that the volume change accompanying dehydration becomes negative at pressures of 2-4 GPa (60-120 km depth), above which brittle fracture mechanics predicts that the instability should be quenched. Here we show that dehydration of antigorite serpentinite under stress results in faults delineated by ultrafine-grained solid reaction products formed during dehydration. This phenomenon was observed under all conditions tested (pressures of 1-6 GPa; temperatures of 650-820 degrees C), independent of the sign of the volume change of reaction. Although this result contradicts expectations from fracture mechanics, it can be explained by separation of fluid from solid residue before and during faulting, a hypothesis supported by our observations. These observations confirm that dehydration embrittlement is a viable mechanism for nucleating earthquakes independent of depth, as long as there are hydrous minerals breaking down under a differential stress.     

Evidence for seismogenic fracture of silicic magma

It has long been assumed that seismogenic faulting is confined to cool, brittle rocks, with a temperature upper limit of approximately 600 degrees C (ref. 1). This thinking underpins our understanding of volcanic earthquakes, which are assumed to occur in cold rocks surrounding moving magma. However, the recent discovery of abundant brittle-ductile fault textures in silicic lavas has led to the counter-intuitive hypothesis that seismic events may be triggered by fracture and faulting within the erupting magma itself. This hypothesis is supported by recent observations of growing lava domes, where microearthquake swarms have coincided with the emplacement of gouge-covered lava spines, leading to models of seismogenic stick-slip along shallow shear zones in the magma. But can fracturing or faulting in high-temperature, eruptible magma really generate measurable seismic events? Here we deform high-temperature silica-rich magmas under simulated volcanic conditions in order to test the hypothesis that high-temperature magma fracture is seismogenic. The acoustic emissions recorded during experiments show that seismogenic rupture may occur in both crystal-rich and crystal-free silicic magmas at eruptive temperatures, extending the range of known conditions for seismogenic faulting.     

Some thoughts on seismotectonics of major earthquake occurrence zones in China

A major earthquake occurrence zone means a place where M≥6 events have occurred since the Holocene and similar shocks may happen again in the future. The dynamic context of the major earthquake occurrence zones in China is primarily associated with the NNE-directed push of the India plate,next with the westward subduction of the Pacific plate. The Chinese mainland is a grand mosaic structure of many crust blocks bounded by faults and sutures. When it is suffered from boundary stresses,deformation takes place along these faults or sutures while the block interiors remain relatively stable or intact. Since the Quaternary,for example,left slip on the Xianshuihe-Xiaojiang fault zone in southwestern China has produced a number of fault-depression basins in extensional areas during periods Q1 and Q2. In the Q3,the change of stress orientation and enhancement of tectonic movement made faults of varied trends link each other,and continued to be active till present day,producing active fault zones in this region. Usually major earthquakes occur at some special locations on these active fault zones. During these events,in the epicenter areas experience intensive deformation characterized by large-amplitude rise and fall of neighboring sections,generation of horst-graben systems and dammed rivers. The studies on palaeoearthquakes suggest that major shocks of close magnitudes often repeated for several times at a same place. By comparison of the Chi-Chi,Taiwan event in 1999 and Yuza,Yunnan event in 1955,including contours of accelerations and intensities,destruction of buildings,and in contrast to the Xigeda formation in southwestern China,a sandwich model is established to account for the mechanism of deformation caused by major earthquakes. This model consists of three layers,i. e. the two walls of a fault and the ruptured zone intercalated between them. This ruptured zone is just the loci where stress is built up and released,and serves as a channel for seismic waves.     

采动影响下逆断层特征参数对断层活化的作用规律

笔者分析了采动影响下断层滑移的主要影响因素,以数值模拟为研究手段,利用FLAC3D建立了逆断层简化模型,分析了不同断层倾角、不同落差及采掘工作面与断层不同距离的断层带附近煤岩体弹性能、断层面正应力与剪应力、断层滑移量的变化规律,从而揭示了采动影响下逆断层特征参数对断层活化的基本作用规律。研究结果表明:上盘或下盘开采,断层带附近煤岩体弹性能集中程度随工作面与断层距离的增大而降低,随断层倾角及落差的增加而增大,但下盘开采对断层带的能量集中程度较上盘高。下盘开采时剪应力较上盘显著增加,但正应力变化较小,易于断层活化。上盘或下盘开采,随工作面与断层距离的增加,断层滑移量减小。上盘开采,随断层倾角增大,断层滑移量增加;随断层落差增大,断层滑移量减小。下盘开采,随断层倾角增大,断层滑移量减小;随断层落差的增大,断层滑移量增加。     

Earthquakes triggered by silent slip events on Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii

Slow-slip events, or 'silent earthquakes', have recently been discovered in a number of subduction zones including the Nankai trough in Japan, Cascadia, and Guerrero in Mexico, but the depths of these events have been difficult to determine from surface deformation measurements. Although it is assumed that these silent earthquakes are located along the plate megathrust, this has not been proved. Slow slip in some subduction zones is associated with non-volcanic tremor, but tremor is difficult to locate and may be distributed over a broad depth range. Except for some events on the San Andreas fault, slow-slip events have not yet been associated with high-frequency earthquakes, which are easily located. Here we report on swarms of high-frequency earthquakes that accompany otherwise silent slips on Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii. For the most energetic event, in January 2005, the slow slip began before the increase in seismicity. The temporal evolution of earthquakes is well explained by increased stressing caused by slow slip, implying that the earthquakes are triggered. The earthquakes, located at depths of 7-8 km, constrain the slow slip to be at comparable depths, because they must fall in zones of positive Coulomb stress change. Triggered earthquakes accompanying slow-slip events elsewhere might go undetected if background seismicity rates are low. Detection of such events would help constrain the depth of slow slip, and could lead to a method for quantifying the increased hazard during slow-slip events, because triggered events have the potential to grow into destructive earthquakes.     

Friction falls towards zero in quartz rock as slip velocity approaches seismic rates

An important unsolved problem in earthquake mechanics is to determine the resistance to slip on faults in the Earth's crust during earthquakes. Knowledge of coseismic slip resistance is critical for understanding the magnitude of shear-stress reduction and hence the near-fault acceleration that can occur during earthquakes, which affects the amount of damage that earthquakes are capable of causing. In particular, a long-unresolved problem is the apparently low strength of major faults, which may be caused by low coseismic frictional resistance. The frictional properties of rocks at slip velocities up to 3 mm s(-1) and for slip displacements characteristic of large earthquakes have been recently simulated under laboratory conditions. Here we report data on quartz rocks that indicate an extraordinary progressive decrease in frictional resistance with increasing slip velocity above 1 mm s(-1). This reduction extrapolates to zero friction at seismic slip rates of approximately 1 m s(-1), and appears to be due to the formation of a thin layer of silica gel on the fault surface: it may explain the low strength of major faults during earthquakes.     

Reflection signature of seismic and aseismic slip on the northern Cascadia subduction interface

At the northern Cascadia margin, the Juan de Fuca plate is underthrusting North America at about 45 mm x yr(-1) (ref. 1), resulting in the potential for destructive great earthquakes. The downdip extent of coupling between the two plates is difficult to determine because the most recent such earthquake (thought to have been in 1700) occurred before instrumental recording. Thermal and deformation studies indicate that, off southern Vancouver Island, the interplate interface is presently fully locked for a distance of approximately 60 km downdip from the deformation front. Great thrust earthquakes on this section of the interface (with magnitudes of up to 9) have been estimated to occur at an average interval of about 590 yr (ref. 3). Further downdip there is a transition from fully locked behaviour to aseismic sliding (where high temperatures allow ductile deformation), with the deep aseismic zone exhibiting slow-slip thrust events. Here we show that there is a change in the reflection character on seismic images from a thin sharp reflection where the subduction thrust is inferred to be locked, to a broad reflection band at greater depth where aseismic slip is thought to be occurring. This change in reflection character may provide a new technique to map the landward extent of rupture in great earthquakes and improve the characterization of seismic hazards in subduction zones.     

秋立塔克构造带盐构造形成的传力方式的构造物理模拟

库车坳陷第三系下部库姆格列木群是一套巨厚的膏 (盐 )层 ,该层系不管是在应力传递方面 ,还是在控制构造样式方面都有重要的作用 .秋立塔克构造带是库车前陆褶皱冲断带的变形前缘 ,盐上、盐下构造极不协调 ,盐上层变形强烈 ,发育滑脱断层、大型推覆构造、突发构造和三角带构造 ;盐下变形弱 ,发育小规模的冲断层 .根据构造分析推断 ,在盐上层中 ,应力从变形后缘 (克拉苏构造带 )向变形前缘秋立塔克构造带的传递有 2种方式 ,即重力滑动传递和顺层挤压传递 .构造物理模拟实验证明这种推断是合理的     

A scaling law for slow earthquakes

Recently, a series of unusual earthquake phenomena have been discovered, including deep episodic tremor, low-frequency earthquakes, very-low-frequency earthquakes, slow slip events and silent earthquakes. Each of these has been demonstrated to arise from shear slip, just as do regular earthquakes, but with longer characteristic durations and radiating much less seismic energy. Here we show that these slow events follow a simple, unified scaling relationship that clearly differentiates their behaviour from that of regular earthquakes. We find that their seismic moment is proportional to the characteristic duration and their moment rate function is constant, with a spectral high-frequency decay of f(-1). This scaling and spectral behaviour demonstrates that they can be thought of as different manifestations of the same phenomena and that they comprise a new earthquake category. The observed scale dependence of rupture velocity for these events can be explained by either a constant low-stress drop model or a diffusional constant-slip model. This new scaling law unifies a diverse class of slow seismic events and may lead to a better understanding of the plate subduction process and large earthquake generation.     

Tectonic contraction across Los Angeles after removal of groundwater pumping effects

After the 1987 Whittier Narrows and 1994 Northridge earthquakes revealed that blind thrust faults represent a significant threat to metropolitan Los Angeles, a network of 250 continuously recording global positioning system (GPS) stations was deployed to monitor displacements associated with deep slip on both blind and surface faults. Here we augment this GPS data with interferometric synthetic aperture radar imagery to take into account the deformation associated with groundwater pumping and strike-slip faulting. After removing these non-tectonic signals, we are left with 4.4 mm yr-1 of uniaxial contraction across the Los Angeles basin, oriented N 36 degrees E (perpendicular to the major strike-slip faults in the area). This indicates that the contraction is primarily accommodated on thrust faults rather than on the northeast-trending strike-slip faults. We have found that widespread groundwater and oil pumping obscures and in some cases mimics the tectonic signals expected from the blind thrust faults. In the 40-km-long Santa Ana basin, groundwater withdrawal and re-injection produces 12 mm yr-1 of long-term subsidence, accompanied by an unprecedented seasonal oscillation of 55 mm in the vertical direction and 7 mm horizontally.     

潮汐应力与云南及邻区的地震

提出了潮汐应力对发震断层的力学模式,描述了附加潮汐应力对发震断层的促滑作用方式,并将该模式应用于云南及邻区的地震,计算了173个地震震源处沿主压应力P轴和主张应力T轴方向的附加潮汐应力分量,分析了这睦量对发震断层的作用方式以及受潮汐应力促滑作用的发震断层类型,结果表明,所研究的云南及邻区发生的173个地震中,64％的地震发震断层受到潮汐应力的促滑作用,其中,受减压型促滑作用的发震断层数比例略大于受增压型促滑作用的发动层数比例;在受到潮汐应力促滑作用的111个发震断层中,走滑型发震断层占67％,倾滑斜滑型发震断层占33％,说明云南及邻区的走滑型地震较易受到潮汐应力的触发作用。