Seismogenic zone structure beneath the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, from three-dimensional local earthquake P- and S-wave tomography

Geophysical Journal International

Volumn 164, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 109-124

  DeShon, Heather R ^a,g   Schwartz, Susan Y ^h   Newman, Andrew V ^b   González, Victor ^c   Protti, Marino ^c   Dorman, LeRoy M ^d   Dixon, Timothy H ^e   Sampson, Daniel E ^a   Flueh, Ernst R ^f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL   (Costa Rica)

^d UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^e UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI   (United States)

^f GEOMAR HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR OCEAN RESEARCH KIEL   (Germany)

^g UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON   (United States)

^h NONE

Author keywords

Costa Rica; Earthquake location; Microseismicity; Middle America subduction zone; Seismic velocities; Tomography

Indexed keywords

EARTHQUAKE; MOHO; P-WAVE; PLATE TECTONICS; S-WAVE; SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY; SEISMIC VELOCITY; SEISMOLOGY; SUBDUCTION;

CENTRAL AMERICA; COSTA RICA; NICOYA PENINSULA;

EID: 33645966552     PISSN: 0956540X     EISSN: 1365246X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2005.02809.x     Document Type: Article

References (87)

1. Aki, K. & Lee, W.H.K., 1976. Determination of three-dimensional anomalies under a seismic array using first P arrival times from local earthquakes, 1. A homogeneous initial model, J. geophys. Res., 81, 4381-4399.
2. Avants, M., Schwartz, S.Y., Newman, A.V. & DeShon, H.R., 2001. Large underthrusting earthquakes beneath the Nicoya Peninsula, EOS Trans. Am. geophys. Un., 82, F1266.
3. Barckhausen, U., Roeser, H.A. & von Huene, R., 1998. Magnetic signature of upper plate structures and subducting seamounts at the convergent margin off Costa Rica, J. geophys. Res., 103, 7079-7094.
4. Barckhausen, U., Ranero, C.R., von Huene, R., Cande, S.C. & Roeser, H.A., 2001. Revised tectonic boundaries in the Cocos Plate off Costa Rica: Implications for the segmentation of the convergent margin and for plate tectonic models, J. geophys. Res., 106, 19 207-19 220.
5. Byrne, D.E., Davis, D.M. & Sykes, L.R., 1988. Loci and maximum size of thrust earthquakes and the mechanics of the shallow region of subduction zones, Tectonics, 7, 833-857.
6. Carlson, R.L. & Miller, D.J., 2003. Mantle wedge water contents estimated from seismic velocities in partially serpentinized peridotites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1250, doi:.
7. Christensen, N., 1966. Elasticity of ultrabasic rocks, J. geophys. Res., 71, 5921-5931.
8. Christeson, G.L., McIntosh, K.D., Shipley, T.H., Flueh, E.R. & Goedde, H., 1999. Structure of the Costa Rica convergent margin, offshore Nicoya Peninsula, J. geophys. Res., 104, 25 443 -25 468.
9. Crosson, R.S., 1976. Crustal structure modeling of earthquake data, 1, simultaneous least squares estimation of hypocenter and velocity parameters, J. geophys. Res., 8, 3036-3046.
10. Currie, C.A., Hyndman, R.D., Wang, K. & Kostoglodov, V., 2002. Thermal models of the Mexico subduction zone: Implications for the megathrust seismogenic zone, J. geophys. Res., 107, 2370, doi:.
11. DeMets, C., 2001. A new estimate for present-day Cocos-Caribbean plate motion: Implications for slip along the Central American volcanic arc, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 4043-4046.
12. DeShon, H.R., 2004. Seismogenic zone structure along the Middle America subduction zone, Costa Rica, PhD thesis, p. 356, University of California, Santa Cruz.
13. DeShon, H.R. & Schwartz, S.Y., 2004. Evidence for serpentinization of the forearc mantle wedge along the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L21611, doi:.
14. DeShon, H.R., Schwartz, S.Y., Bilek, S.L., Dorman, L.M., Gonzalez, V., Protti, J.M., Flueh, E.R. & Dixon, T.H., 2003. Seismogenic zone structure of the southern Middle America Trench, Costa Rica, J. geophys. Res., 108, 2491, doi:.
15. Eberhart-Phillips, D., 1986. Three-dimensional velocity structure in Northern California Coast Ranges from inversion of local earthquake arrival times, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 76, 1025-1052.
16. Eberhart-Phillips, D., 1990. Three-dimensional P and S velocity structure in the Coalinga region, California, J. geophys. Res., 95, 15 343-15 363.
17. Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Reyners, M., 1997. Continental subduction and three-dimensional crustal structure: The northern South Island, New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 102, 11 843 -11 861.
18. Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Reyners, M., 1999. Plate interface properties in the Northeast Hikurangi subduction zone, New Zealand, from converted seismic waves, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 2565-2568.
19. Ellsworth, W.L., 1977. Three-dimensional structure of the crust and mantle beneath the island of Hawaii, PhD thesis, p. 327, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
20. Evans, J.R., Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Thurber, C.H., 1994. User's manual for SIMULPS12 for imaging Vp and Vp/Vs: A derivative of the Thurber tomographic inversion SIMUL3 for local earthquakes and explosions. U.S. Geol. Surv. Open-File Report, 94 -431, U.S. Government Printing Office.
21. Fisher, A.T., Stein, C.A., Harris, R.N., Wang, K., Silver, E.A., Pfender, M., Hutnak, M., Cherkaoui, A., Bodzin, R. & H. Villinger 2003. Abrupt thermal transition reveals hydrothermal boundary and role of seamounts within the Cocos Plate, Geophys. Res. Letts., 30, 1550, doi:.
22. Güendel, F., 1986. Seismotectonics of Costa Rica: An analytical view of the southern terminus of the Middle America Trench, PhD thesis, p. 157, University of California, Santa Cruz.
23. Harris, R.N. & Wang, K., 2002. Thermal models of the Middle America trench at the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 2010, doi:.
24. Haslinger, F. et al., 1999. 3-D crustal structure from local earthquake tomography around Gulf of Arta (Ionian region), NW Greece, Tectonophysics, 304, 210-218.
25. Husen, S., Kissling, E., Flueh, E. & Asch, G., 1999. Accurate hypocentre determination in the seismogenic zone of the subducting Nazca Plate in northern Chile using a combined on-/offshore network, Geophys. J. Int., 138, 687-701.
26. Husen, S., Kissling, E., & Flueh, E.R., 2000. Local earthquake tomography of shallow subduction in north Chile: A combined onshore and offshore study, J. geophys. Res., 105, 28 183-28 198.
27. Husen, S., Quintero, R., Kissling, E. & Hacker, B., 2003a. Subduction-zone structure and magmatic processes beneath Costa Rica constrained by local earthquake tomography and petrological modeling, Geophys. J. Int., 155, 11-32.
28. Husen S., Kissling, E., Deichmann, N., Wiemer, S., Giardini, D. & Baer, M., 2003b. Probabilistic earthquake location in complex three-dimensional velocity models: Application to Switzerland, J. geophys. Res., 108 (B2), 2077, doi:.
29. Hutnak, M. et al., 2006. The thermal station of 18-24 Ma upper lithosphere subducting below the Nicoya Peninsula, northern Costa Rica, in The Seismogenic Zone of Subduction Thrust Faults, eds Dixon, T.H. & Moore, J.C., Columbia University Press, New York, in press.
30. Hyndman, R.D. & Peacock, S.M., 2003. Serpentinization of the forearc mantle, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 212, 417-432.
31. Hyndman, R.D. & Wang, K., 1993. Thermal constraints on the zone of major thrust earthquake failure - the Cascadia subduction zone, J. geophys. Res., 98, 2039-2060.
32. Hyndman, R.D., Yamano, M., & Oleskevich, D.A., 1997. The seismogenic zone of subduction thrust faults, The Island Arc, 6, 244-260.
33. Iinuma, T. et al., 2004. Inter-plate coupling in the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, as deduced from a trans-peninsula GPS experiment, Eart. Plan. Sci. Lett. 223, 203-212.
34. Jacobson, R.S., Dorman, L.M., Purdy, G.M., Schultz, A. & Solomon, S.C., 1991. Ocean Bottom Seismometer facilities available, EOS Trans. Am. Geophys. Un., 72, 405-515.
35. Kimura, G., Silver, E.A. & Blum, P., 1997. Proc. Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports 170, p. 458, Ocean Drill. Program, College Station, TX.
36. Kissling, E., Ellsworth, W.L. & Cockerham, R., 1984. Three-dimensional structure of the Long Valley Caldera, California, region by geotomography, U.S. Geol. Surv. Open File Rep., 84-939, 188-220.
37. Kissling, E., Ellsworth, W.L., Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Kradolfer, U., 1994. Initial reference models in local earthquake tomography, J. geophys. Res., 99, 19 635-19 646.
38. Kissling, E., Kradolfer, U. & Maurer, H., 1995. VELEST user's guide-short introduction, Institute of Geophysics and Swiss Seismological Service, 25 pp, ETH, Zurich.
39. Kissling, E., Husen, S. & Haslinger, F., 2001. Model parameterization in seismic tomography: A choice of consequences for the solution quality, Phys. Eart. planet. Int., 123, 89-101.
40. Langseth, M.G. & Silver, E.A., 1996. The Nicoya convergent margin-a region of exceptionally low heat flow, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 891-894.
41. Lundgren, P., Protti, M., Donnellan, A., Heflin, M., Hernandez, E. & Jefferson, D., 1999. Seismic cycle and plate margin deformation in Costa Rica: GPS observations from 1994 to 1997, J. geophys. Res., 104, 28 915-28 926.
42. Marshall, J.S. & Anderson, R.S., 1995. Quaternary uplift and seismic cycle deformation, Peninsula de Nicoya, Costa Rica, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 107, 463-473.
43. Matumoto, T., Othake, M., Latham, G. & Umaña, J., 1977. Crustal structure of southern Central America, Bull. seis. Soc. Am., 67, 121-134.
44. Michelini, A. & McEvilly, T.V., 1991. Seismological studies at Parkfield: I. Simultaneous inversion for velocity structure and hypocenters using cubic b-splines parameterization, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 81, 524-552.
45. Moore, J.C. & Saffer, D., 2001. Updip limit of the seismogenic zone beneath the accretionary prism of southwest Japan: An effect of diagenetic to low-grade metamorphic processes and increasing effective stress, Geology, 29, 183-186.
46. Moore, J.C., Rowe, C. & Meneghini, F., 2006. How can accretionary prisms elucidate seismogenesis in subduction zones?, in The Seismogenic Zone of Subduction Thrust Faults, eds Dixon, T.H. & Moore, J.C., Columbia University Press, New York, in press.
47. Newman, A.V., Schwartz, S.Y., Gonzales, V., DeShon, H.R., Protti, J.M. & Dorman, L., 2002. Along strike variability in the seismogenic zone below Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, doi:.
48. Norabuena, E. et al., 2004. Geodetic and seismic constraints on some seismogenic zone processes in Costa Rica, J. geophys. Res., 109, B11403, doi:.
49. Oleskevich, D.A., Hyndman, R.D. & Wang, K., 1999. The updip and downdip limits to great subduction earthquakes: Thermal and structural models of Cascadia, south Alaska, SW Japan and Chile, J. geophys. Res., 104, 14965-14991.
50. Pacheco, J.F. & Sykes, L.R., 1992. Seismic moment catalog of large, shallow earthquakes, 1900-1989, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 82,1306-1349.
51. Pacheco, J.F., Sykes, L.R. & Scholz, C.H., 1993. Nature of seismic coupling along simple plate boundaries of the subduction type, J. geophys. Res., 98, 141333-14159.
52. Peacock, S.M., van Keken, P.E., Holloway, S.D., Hacker, B.R., Abers, G.A. & Furgason, R.L., 2005. Thermal structure of the Costa Rica-Nicaragua subduction zone, Phys. Eart. plan. Sci. Int., 149, 187-200.
53. Protti, M., Güendel, F. & McNally, K., 1994. The geometry of the Wadati-Benioff zone under southern Central America and its tectonic significance: Results from a high-resolution local seismographic network, Phys. Earth planet. Int., 84, 271-287.
54. Protti, M., Güendel, F. & McNally, K., 1995a. Correlation between the age of the subducting Cocos plate and the geometry of the Wadati-Benioff zone under Nicaragua and Costa Rica, in Geologic and Tectonic Development of the Caribbean Plate Boundary in Southern Central America, Special Paper 295, ed. Mann, P., GSA, Boulder, CO, 309-326.
55. L = 6.8), earthquake at the entrance of the Nicoya Gulf, Costa Rica: Its prior activity, foreshocks, aftershocks, & triggered seismicity, J. geophys. Res., 100, 20345-20358.
56. Protti, M., Schwartz, S.Y. & Zandt, G., 1996. Simultaneous inversion for earthquake location and velocity structure beneath central Costa Rica, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 86, 19-31.
57. Protti, M., Güendel, F. & Malavassi, E., 2001. Evaluación del Potencial Sísmico de la Península de Nicoya, Editorial Fundacion UNA, Heredia, Costa Rica, p. 144.
58. Quintero, R. & Güendel, F., 2000. Stress field in Costa Rica, Central America, J. Seis., 4, 297-319.
59. Quintero, R. & Kissling, E., 2001. An improved P -wave velocity reference model for Costa Rica, Geofís. Int., 40, 3-19.
60. Quintero, R. & Kulhanek, O., 1998. Pn -wave observations in Costa Rica, Geofís. Int., 37.
61. Ranero, C.R. & von Huene, R., 2000. Subduction erosion along the Middle America convergent margin, Nature, 404, 748-752.
62. Ranero, C.R., Phipps Morgan, J., McIntosh, K. & Reichert, C., 2003. Bending-related faulting and mantle serpentinization at the Middle America trench, Nature, 425, 367-373.
63. Reyners, M., Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Stuart, G., 1999. A three-dimensional image of shallow subduction: Crustal structure of the Raukumara Peninsula, New Zealand, Geophys. J. Int., 137, 873-890.
64. Saffer, D.M. & Marone, C., 2003. Comparison of smectite- and illite-rich gouge frictional properties: Application to the updip limit of the seismogenic zone along subduction megathrusts, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 215, 219-235.
65. Sallarès, V., Dañobeitia, J.J., Flueh, E.R. & Leandro, G., 1999. Seismic velocity structure across the middle American landbridge in northern Costa Rica, J. Geodyn., 27, 327-344.
66. Sallarès, V., Dañobeitia, J.J. & Flueh, E.R., 2000. Seismic tomography with local earthquakes in Costa Rica, Tectonophysics, 296, 61-78.
67. Sallarès, V., Dañobeitia, J.J. & Flueh, E.R., 2001. Lithospheric structure of the Costa Rican Isthmus: Effects of subduction zone magmatism on an oceanic plateau, J. geophys. Res., 106, 621-643.
68. Sauter, A., Hallinan, J., Currier, R., Barash, T., Wooding, B., Schultz, A. & Dorman, L.M., 1990. A new ocean bottom seismometer, Conference Proceedings on Marine Instrumentation, MPL-U-125/90, Marine Technology Society, Columbia, MD, 99-104.
69. Schwartz, S.Y. & DeShon, H.R., 2006. Distinct Geodetic and Seismic Up-dip Limits to the Northern Costa Rica Seismogenic Zone: Evidence for Two Mechanical Transitions, in The Seismogenic Zone of Subduction Thrust Faults, eds Dixon, T.H. & Moore, J.C., Columbia University Press, New York, in press.
70. Shipley, T.H., McIntosh, K.D., Silver, E.A. & Stoffa, P.L., 1992. Three-dimensional seismic imaging of the Costa Rica accretionary prism: structural diversity in a small volume of the lower slope, J. geophys. Res., 97, 4439-4459.
71. Smith, W.H.F, & Wessel, P., 1990. Gridding with continuous curvature splines in tension, Geophysics, 55, 293-305.
72. Spinelli, G.A. & Saffer, D., 2004. Along-strike variations in underthrust sediment dewatering on the Nicoya margin, Costa Rica related to the updip limit of seismicity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, 4613, doi:.
73. Spinelli, G.A. & Underwood, M.B., 2004. Characterization of sediment entering the Costa Rica subduction zone: Implications for fluid partitioning along the Nicoya Peninsula plate interface, Island Arc, 3, 432-451.
74. Stein, C.A. & Stein, S., 1992. A model for the global variation in oceanic depth and heat flow with lithospheric age, Nature, 359, 123-129.
75. Thurber, C.H., 1981. Earth structure and earthquake locations in the Coyote Lake area, central California, PhD thesis, p. 339, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
76. Thurber, C.H., 1983. Earthquake locations and three-dimensional crustal structure in the Coyote Lake area, central California, J. geophys. Res., 88, 8226-8236.
77. Thurber, C.H., 1992. Hypocenter-velocity structure coupling in local earthquake tomography, Phys. Earth planet. Inter., 7, 55-62.
78. S theory, in Seismic Tomography: Theory and Practice, pp. 563-583, eds Iyer, H.M. & Hirahara, K., Chapman and Hall, London, United Kingdom.
79. Thurber, C. & Eberhart-Phillips, D., 1999. Local earthquake tomography with flexible gridding, Computers and Geosciences, 25, 809-818.
80. Toomey, D.R. & Foulger, G.R., 1989. Tomographic inversion of local earthquake data from the Hengill-Grensdalur central volcano complex, Iceland, J. geophys. Res., 94, 17 497 -17 510.
81. von Huene, R., Ranero, C.R., Weinrebe, W. & Hinz, K., 2000. Quaternary convergent margin tectonics of Costa Rica: Segmentation of the Cocos Plate and Central American volcanism, Tectonics, 19, 314-334.
82. von Huene, R., Ranero, C.R. & Vannucchi, P., 2004. A generic model of subduction erosion, Geology, 32, doi:, 913-916.
83. Vrolijk, P., 1990. On the mechanical role of smectite in subduction zones, Geology, 18, 703-707.
84. Wagner, L.S., Beck, S. & Zandt, G., 2005. Upper mantle structure in the south central Chilean subduction zone (30° to 36°S), J. geophys. Res., 110, B01308, doi:.
85. Walther, C. & Flueh, E., 2002. Remnant of the ancient Farallon Plate breakup: A low-velocity body in the lower oceanic crust of Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica - evidence from-angle seismics, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 1939, doi:.
86. Wessel, P. & Smith, W.H.F., 1998. New, improved version of the Generic Mapping Tools Released, EOS Trans. Am. geophys. Un., 79, 579.
87. Ye, S., Bialas, J., Flueh, E.R., Stavenhagen, A. & von Huene, R., 1996. Crustal structure of the Middle American Trench off Costa Rica from wide-angle seismic data, Tectonics, 15, 1006-1021.