Simplified models of the Alpine Fault seismic cycle: Stress transfer in the mid-crust

Geophysical Journal International

Volumn 166, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 386-402

  Ellis, S ^a   Beavan, J ^a   Eberhart Phillips, D ^a   Stockhert B ^b  

^a GNS SCIENCE   (New Zealand)

^b RUHR UNIVERSITY BOCHUM   (Germany)

Author keywords

Crustal deformation; Fault tectonics; Geodesy; Geodynamics; Neotectonics; Rheology

Indexed keywords

CRUST; FINITE ELEMENT METHOD; GEOPHYSICAL METHOD; NUMERICAL MODEL; SEISMICITY; SHEAR ZONE; STRAIN RATE; STRESS;

EID: 33745595606     PISSN: 0956540X     EISSN: 1365246X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02917.x     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Abaqus/Standard users manual, 2004. Abaqus/Standard Users manual vol. 1 and 2, version 6.4, Abaqus Inc., Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
2. Allis, R.G. & Shi, Y., 1995. New insights to temperature and pressure beneath the central Southern Alps, New Zealand, New Zealand J. Geol. Geophys., 38, 585-592.
3. Batt, G.E. & Braun, J., 1999. The tectonic evolution of the Southern Alps, New Zealand: Insights from fully thermally coupled dynamical modeling, Geophys. J. Int., 136, 403-420.
4. Beaumont, C., Fullsack, P. & Hamilton, J., 1992. Erosional control of active compressional orogens, in Thrust Tectonics, pp. 1-18, ed. McClay, K.R., Egham.
5. Beaumont, C., Fullsack, P. & Hamilton, J., 1994. Styles of crustal deformation in compressional orogens caused by subduction of the underlying lithosphere, Tectonophysics, 232, 119-132.
6. Beaumont, C., Kamp, P.J.J., Hamilton, J. & Fullsack, P., 1996. The continental collision zone, South Island, New Zealand: Comparison of geodynamical models and observations, J. geophys. Res., 101(B2), 3333-3359.
7. Beavan, J. & Haines, J., 2001. Contemporary horizontal velocity and strain rate fields of the Pacific-Australian plate boundary zone through New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 106(1), 741-770.
8. Beavan, J. et al., 1999. Crustal deformation during 1994-1998 due to oblique continental collision in the central Southern Alps, New Zealand, and implications for seismic potential of the Alpine fault, J. geophys. Res., 104(B11), 25233-25255.
9. Beavan, J.P., Tregoning, P., Bevis, M., Kato, T. & Meertens, C., 2002. The motion and rigidity of the Pacific Plate and implications for plate boundary deformation, J. geophys. Res., 106, 2261, doi:10.1029/ 2001JB000282
10. Beavan, J., Matheson, D., Denys, P., Denham, M., Herring, T., Hager, B. & Molnar, P., 2004. A vertical deformation profile across the Southern Alps, New Zealand, from 3.5 years of continuous GPS data, in Proceedings of the Workshop "The state of GPS Vertical Positioning Precision: Separation of Earth Processes by Space Geodesy", Vol. 23, pp. 111-123, ed. van Dam, T., Cahiers du Centre Européen de Géodynamique et de Séismologie, Luxembourg.
11. Berryman, K., Cooper, A., Norris, R., Sutherland, R. & Villamor, P., 1998. Paleoseismic investigation of the Alpine Fault at Haast and Okuru, Geol. Soc. N.Z. Misc. Publ., 101A, 44.
12. Bosl, W.J. & Nur, A., 2000. Crustal fluids and earthquakes, in Geocomplexity and the physics of earthquakes, Vol. 120, pp. 267-284, eds Rundle, J.B., Turcotte, D.L. & Klein, W., American Geophysical Union, Geophys. Monograph.
13. Bouchon, M., 1997. The state of stress on some faults of the San Andreas system as inferred from near-field strong motion data, J. geophys. Res., 102, 11731-11744.
14. Byerlee, J.D., 1978. Friction of rocks, Pure appl. Geophys., 116, 615-626.
15. Cande, S.C. & Stock, J.M., 2004. Cenozoic reconstructions of the Australia-New Zealand-South Pacific Sector of Antarctica, in 'The Cenozoic Southern Ocean: Tectonics, Sedimentation and Climate Change Between Australia and Antarctica' Vol. 151, pp. 5 -18, eds Neville F. Exon James P. Kennett, & Mitchel J. Malone, AGU Monograph Series.
16. Cattin, R. & Avouac, J.P., 2000. Modeling mountain building and the seismic cycle in the Himalaya of Nepal, J. geophys. Res., 105(6), 13389-13407.
17. Chéry, J., Zoback, M.D. & Hassani, R., 2001. An integrated mechanical model of the San Andreas fault in Central and Northern California, J. geophys. Res., 106(10), 22051-22066.
18. Cooper, A.F., 1980. Retrograde alteration of chromium kyanite in metachert and amphibolite whiteschist from the Southern Alps, New Zealand. N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 17, 855-880.
19. Cox, S.C. & Findlay, R.H., 1995. The Main Divide Fault Zone and its role in formation of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, New Zealand J. Geol. Geophys., 38(4), 489-499.
20. Davey, F. et al., 1998. Preliminary results from a geophysical study across a modern, continent-continent collisional plate boundary - the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Tectonophysics, 288, 221-235.
21. DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F. & Stein, S., 1990. Current plate motions, Geophys. J. Int., 101, 425-478.
22. DeMets, C., Gordon, R.G., Argus, D.F. & Stein, S., 1994. Effect of recent revisions to the geomagnetic reversal time scale on estimates of current plate motions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 21, 2191-2194.
23. Deng, J., Gurnis, M., Kanamori, H. & Hauksson, E., 1998. Viscoelastic flow in the lower crust after the 1992 Landers, California, earthquake, Science, 282, 1689-1692.
24. Dixon, J.E., Dixon, T.H., Bell, D.R. & Malservisi, R., 2004. Lateral variation in upper mantle viscosity: Role of water, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 222, 451-467.
25. Eberhart-Phillips, D. & Bannister, S., 2002. Three-dimensional crustal structure in the Southern Alps region of New Zealand from inversion of local earthquake and active source data, J. geophys. Res., 107 (B10), 2262, doi:10.1029/2001JB000567
26. Ellis, S. & Beavan, R.J., 2001. Interseismic, coseismic and postseismic deformation from Arthur's Pass 2: Constraints on rheology of the lower crust, in eds Geological Society of New Zealand annual conference 2001, 27-29 November, Hamilton: Advances in geosciences: Abstracts & programme, Vol. 110A, p. 39, Lowe, D.J., Cooke, P.J., Pallentin, A., Geol. Soc. N.Z. Misc. Publ.
27. Ellis, S. & Stöckhert, B., 2004a. Elevated stresses and creep rates beneath the brittle-ductile transition caused by seismic faulting in the upper crust, J. geophys. Res., 109, B05407,.
28. Ellis, S. & Stöckhert, B., 2004b. Imposed strain localization in the lower crust on seismic timescales, Earth, Planets, Space, 56 (12), 1103-1109.
29. Ellis, S., Wissing, S. & Pfiffner, A., 2001. Strain localization as a key to reconciling experimentally derived flow-law data with dynamic models of continental collision, Int. J. Earth Sci., 90, 168-180.
30. Ellis, S., Beavan, J. & Eberhart-Phillips, D., 2006. Bounds on the width of mantle lithosphere flow derived from surface geodetic measurements: Application to the central Southern Alps, New Zealand, pending revision to Geophys. J. Int., in press.
31. Fialko, Y., 2004. Evidence of fluid-filled upper crust from observations of post-seismic deformation due to the 1992 Mw7.3 Landers earthquake, J. geophys. Res., 109, doi:10.1029/2003JB002, 985. 985.
32. Freed, A.M. & Bürgmann, R., 2004. Evidence of power-law flow in the Mojave desert mantle, Nature, 430, 548-551.
33. Gerbault, M., Henrys, S. & Davey, F., 2003. Numerical models of lithospheric deformation forming the Southern Alps of New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 108 (B7), 2341, doi:10.1029/2001JB001716
34. Gilbert, L.E., Scholz, C.H. & Beavan, J., 1994. Strain localization along the San Andreas Fault; consequences for loading mechanisms, J. geophys. Res., 99(12), 23975-23984.
35. Hanmer, S., 1988. Great Slave Lake Shear Zone, Canadian Shield: A reconstructed vertical profile of a crustal scale fault, Tectonophys., 149, 245-264.
36. Henrys, S., Woodward, D., Okaya, D. & Yu, J., 2004. Mapping the Moho beneath the Southern Alps continent-continent collision, New Zealand, using wide-angle reflections, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L17602, doi:10.1029/2004GL020561
37. Hobbs, B.E., Ord, A., Regenauer-Lieb, K. & Drummond, B., 2004. Fluid reservoirs in the crust and mechanical coupling between the upper and lower crust, Earth Planet. Space, 56(12), 1151-1161.
38. Hudnut, K.W., King, N.E., Galetzka, J.G., Stark, K.F., Behr, J.A., Aspiotes, A., van Wyk, S., Moffitt, R., Dockter, S., Wyatt, F., 2002. Continuous GPS observations of postseismic deformation following the 16 October 1999 Hector Mine earthquake (Mw7.1), Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 92, 1403-1422, eds Rymer, M.J., Langenheim, V.E., Hauksson, E., U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA.
39. Kleffman, S., Davey, F., Melhuish, A., Okaya, D. & Stern, T., 1998. Crustal structure in the central South Island, New Zealand, from the Lake Pukaki seismic experiment, N.Z.J. Geol. Geophys., 41, 39-49.
40. Kohlstedt, D.L., Evans, B. & Mackwell, S.J., 1995. Strength of the lithosphere: Constraints imposed by laboratory experiments, J. geophys. Res., 100, 17587-17602.
41. Koons, P.O., 1987. Some thermal and mechanical consequences of rapid uplift: An example from the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 86, 307-319.
42. Koons, P.O., 1990. Two-sided orogen: Collision and erosion from the sandbox to the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Geology, 18, 679-683.
43. Koons, P.O., Norris, R.J., Craw, D. & Cooper, A.F., 2003. Influence of exhumation on the structural evolution of transpressional plate boundaries: An example from the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Geology, 31, 3-6.
44. Lachenbruch, A.H. & Sass, J.H., 1980. Heat-flow and energetics of the San Andreas fault zone, J. geophys. Res., 85(B11), 6185-6222.
45. Leitner, B., Eberhart-Phillips, D., Anderson, H. & Nabelek, J.L., 2001. A focused look at the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: Focal mechanisms and stress observations, J. geophys. Res., 106, 2193-2220.
46. Little, T.A., Holcombe, R.J. & Ilg, B.R., 2002a. Kinematics of oblique collision and ramping inferred from microstructures and strain in middle crustal rocks, central Southern Alps, New Zealand, J. Struc. Geol., 24, 219-239.
47. Little, T.A., Savage, M.K. & Tikoff, B., 2002b. Relationship between crustal finite strain and seismic anisotropy in the mantle, Pacific-Australia plate boundary zone, South Island, New Zealand, Geophys. J. Int., 151(1), 106-116.
48. Little, T.A., Cox, S., Vry, J.K. & Batt, G., 2005. Variations in exhumation level and uplift rate along the oblique-slip Alpine Fault, central Southern Alps, New Zealand, GSA Bull., 117 (5), 707 -723, doi:10.1130/B25500.1.
49. Liu, Z. & Bird, P., 2002. Finite element modeling of neotectonics in New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 107 (12), 2328, doi:10.1029/2001JB001075
50. Liu, Z. & Bird, P., 2006. 2-D and 3-D finite element modelling of mantle processes beneath central South Island, New Zealand, Geophys. J. Int., 165, 3, doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02930.x
51. Mandl, G., 1988. Mechanics of Tectonic Faulting: Models and basic concepts, Developments in Structural Geology 1, Series Editor: H.J. Zwart, Elsevier, New York, p. 407.
52. McGarr, A. & Fletcher, J.B., 2002. Mapping apparent stress and energy radiation over fault zones of major earthquakes, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 92(5), 1633-1646.
53. Miller, S.A., Ben-Zion, Y. & Burg, J.-P., 1999. A three-dimensional fluid-controlled earthquake model; behavior and implications, J. geophys. Res., 104(5), 10621-10638.
54. Molnar, P. et al., 1999. Continuous deformation versus faulting through the continental lithosphere of New Zealand, Science, 286, 516-519.
55. Montesi, L. & Zuber, M., 2002. A unified description of localization for application to large-scale tectonics, J. geophys. Res., 107(B3), doi:10.1029/2001JB000465
56. Moore, M., England, P. & Parsons, B., 2002. Relation between surface velocity field and shear wave splitting in the South Island of New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 107(B9), 2198, doi:10.1029/2000JB000093.
57. Norris, R.J., 2004. Strain localization within ductile shear zones beneath active faults: The Alpine Fault contrasted with the adjacent Otago fault system, New Zealand, Earth Planets Space, 56(12), 1095-1101.
58. Norris, R. & Cooper, A., 2001. Late Quaternary slip rates and slip partitioning on the Alpine Fault, New Zealand, J. Struc. Geol., 23, 507-520.
59. Norris, R. & Cooper, A., 2003. Very high strain-rates recorded in mylonites along the Alpine Fault, New Zealand: Implications for the deep structure of plate boundary faults, J. Struc. Geol., 25, 2141-2157.
60. Owen, S. et al., 2002. Early postseismic deformation from the 16 October 1999 Mw 7.1 Hector Mine, California, earthquake as measured by Survey-Mode GPS, Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 92, 1423-1432.
61. Paterson, M. & Luan, F., 1990. Quartzite rheology under geological conditions, in Deformation Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics, Vol. 54, pp. 299-307, eds Knipe, R.J. & Rutter, E.H., Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ.
62. Peltzer, G., Rosen, P., Rogex, F. & Hudnut, K., 1998. Post-seismic deformation along the Landers 1992 earthquake surface rupture, J. geophys. Res., 103, 30131-30145.
63. Pollitz, F.F., 2006. Transient rheology of the upper mantle beneath central Alaska inferred from the crustal velocity field following the 2002 Denali earthquake, submitted to Geophys. J. Int.
64. Pollitz, F.F., Peltzer, G. & Bürgmann, R., 2000. Mobility of the continental mantle: Evidence from postseismic geodetic observations following the 1992 Landers earthquake, J. geophys. Res., 105, 8035-8054.
65. Pollitz, F.F., Bürgmann, R. & Segall, P., 1998. Joint estimation of afterslip rate and postseismic relaxation following the 1989 Loma Prieta earythquake, J. geophys. Res., 103, 26975-26992.
66. Pollitz, F.F., Wicks, C. & Thatcher, W., 2001. Mantle flow beneath a continental strike-slip fault: Postseismic deformation after the 1999 Hector Mine earthquake, Science, 293, 1814-1818.
67. Regenauer-Lieb, K., Hobbs, B. & Ord, A., 2004. On the thermodynamics of listric faults, Earth Plane. Space, 56(12), 1111-1120.
68. Rolandone, F. & Jaupart, C., 2002. The distributions of slip rate and ductile deformation in a strike-slip shear zone, Geophys. J. Int., 148, 179-192.
69. Rolandone, F., Bürgmann, R. & Nadeau, R.M., 2004. The evolution of the seismic-aseismic transition during the earthquake cycle: constraints from the time-dependent depth distribution of aftershocks, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, doi:10.1029/2004GL21379
70. Savage, J.C. & Svarc, J., 1997. Postseismic deformation associated with the 1992 Mw = 7.3 Landers earthquake, southern California, J. geophys. Res., 102, 7565-7577.
71. Scherwath, M., Stern, T., Davey, F., Okaya, D., Holbrook, W.S., Davies, R. & Kleffmann, S., 2003. Lithospheric structure across oblique continental collision in New Zealand from wide-angle P wave modelling, J. geophys. Res., 108(12), 2566, doi:10.1029/2002JB002286
72. Scholz, C., 1988. The brittle-plastic transition and the depth of seismic faulting, Geol. Rundsch., 77, 319-328.
73. Scholz, C., 1990. The Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting. 1, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 439.
74. Segall, P., Bürgmann, R. & Matthews, M., 2000. Time dependent deformation following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, J. geophys. Res., 105, 5615-5634.
75. Shen, Z.-K., Jackson, D., Feng, Y., Cline, M., Kim, M., Fang, P. & Bock, Y., 1994. Postseismic deformation following the Landers earthquake, California, Bull seism. Soc. Am., 84, 780-791.
76. Shi, Y., Allis, R. & Davey, F., 1996. Thermal modelling of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, Pageoph., 146, 469-501.
77. Sibson, R.H., 1977. Fault rocks and fault mechanisms, Geol. Soc. Lond., 133, 191-213.
78. Sibson, R.H., White, S.H. & Atkinson, B.K., 1979. Fault rock distribution and structure within the Alpine Fault Zone: A preliminary account, in The Origin of the Southern Alps, Vol. 18, pp. 55 -65, eds Walcott, R.I. & Cresswell, M.M., Bull. Roy. Soc. N.Z.
79. Smith, E., Stern, T. & O'Brien, B., 1995. A seismic velocity model for the central South Island, New Zealand, N.Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 38, 565-571.
80. Stern, T., Molnar, P., Okaya, D. & Eberhart-Phillips, D., 2000. Teleseismic P wave delays and modes of shortening the mantle lithosphere beneath South Island, New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 105(B9), 21615-21631.
81. Stern, T., Kleffmann, S., Okaya, D., Scherwath, M. & Bannister, S., 2001. Low seismic wave speeds and enhanced fluid pressure beneath the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Geology, 29(8), 679-682.
82. Sutherland, R., Davey, F. & Beavan, J., 2000. Plate boundary deformation in South Island, New Zealand, is related to inherited lithospheric structure, Earth planet. Sci. Let., 177, 141-151.
83. Tippett, J.M. & Kamp, P.J.J., 1993. Fission track analysis of the late Cenozoic vertical kinematics of continental Pacific crust, South Island, New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 98, 16119-16148.
84. Van Avendonk, H., Holbrook, W.S., Okaya, D., Austin, J.K., Davey, F., Stern, T. & SIGHT Group, 2004. Continental crust under compression: a seismic refraction study of SIGHT Transect I, South Island, New Zealand, J. geophys. Res., 109 (B6), doi:10.1029/2003JB002790
85. Vergne, J, Cattin, R. & Avouac, J.P., 2001. On the use of dislocations to model interseismic strain and stress build-up at intracontinental thrust faults, Geophys. J. Int., 147(1), 155-162.
86. Walcott, R., 1998. Modes of oblique compression: Late Cenozoic tectonics of the South Island of New Zealand, Rev. Geophys., 36, 1-26.
87. Wannamaker, P.E., Jiracek, G.R., Stodt, J.A., Caldwell, T.G., Gonzalez, V.M., McKnight, J.D. & Porter, A.D., 2002. Fluid generation and pathways beneath an active compressional orogen, the New Zealand Southern Alps, inferred from magnetotelluric data, J. geophys. Res., 107 (B6), 2117, doi:10.1029/2001JB000186
88. Wellman, H.W., 1979. An uplift map for the South Island of New Zealand, and a model for uplift of the Southern Alps, The Origin of the Southern Alps, edited by R.I. Walcott and M.M. Cresswell, Bull. Roy. Soc. NZ, 18, 13 -20.
89. Wells, A., Yetton, M.D., Duncan, R.P. & Stewart, G.H., 1999. Prehistoric dates of the most recent Alpine Fault earthquakes, New Zealand, Geology, 27(11), 995-998.
90. West, D.P. & Hubbard, M., 1997. Progressive localization of deformation during exhumation of a major strike-slip shear zone: Norumbega Fault Zone, south-central Maine, USA, Tectonophys., 273, 185-201.
91. White, J.C., 1996. Transient discontinuities revisited: Pseudotachylte, plastic instability and the influence of low pore fluid pressure on deformation processes in the mid-crust, J. struc. Geol., 18, 1471-1486.
92. Yetton, M., 1998. Progress in understanding the paleoseismicity of the central and northern Alpine Fault, Westland, New Zealand, N. Z. J. Geol. Geophys., 41, 475-483.
93. Yetton, M., Wells, A. & Traylen, N., 1998. The probabilities and consequences of the next Alpine Fault earthquake, EQC Res. Rep., 95/193.