Title
Seismicity and state of stress in the central and southern Peruvian flat slab
Date Issued
01 May 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Kumar A.
Wagner L.S.
Beck S.L.
Long M.D.
Zandt G.
Young B.
Minaya E.
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
We have determined the Wadati-Benioff Zone seismicity and state of stress of the subducting Nazca slab beneath central and southern Peru using data from three recently deployed local seismic networks. Our relocated hypocenters are consistent with a flat slab geometry that is shallowest near the Nazca Ridge, and changes from steep to normal without tearing to the south. These locations also indicate numerous abrupt along-strike changes in seismicity, most notably an absence of seismicity along the projected location of subducting Nazca Ridge. This stands in stark contrast to the very high seismicity observed along the Juan Fernandez ridge beneath central Chile where, a similar flat slab geometry is observed. We interpret this as indicative of an absence of water in the mantle beneath the overthickened crust of the Nazca Ridge. This may provide important new constraints on the conditions required to produce intermediate depth seismicity. Our focal mechanisms and stress tensor inversions indicate dominantly down-dip extension, consistent with slab pull, with minor variations that are likely due to the variable slab geometry and stress from adjacent regions. We observe significantly greater variability in the P-axis orientations and maximum compressive stress directions. The along strike change in the orientation of maximum compressive stress is likely related to slab bending and unbending south of the Nazca Ridge.
Start page
71
End page
80
Volume
441
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Geología
Ingeniería ambiental y geológica
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84959121549
Source
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
ISSN of the container
0012821X
Sponsor(s)
We are thankful to the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) and personnel at the PASSCAL Instrument Center for their help and support throughout the CAUGHT and PULSE deployment. The seismic instruments were provided by UNC-Chapel Hill, Yale University, and IRIS through the PASSCAL Instrument Center. This work was supported by National Science Foundation awards EAR-0908777 , EAR-0907880 , EAR-0944184 , EAR-0943991 , and EAR-0943962 . We are thankful to Rob Clayton and Paul Davis for sharing data from 8 stations of the PERUSE network. We sincerely thank C. Condori Quispe and the staff at the Instituto Geofísico del Perú, Lima, Peru, and the staff at the San Calixto Observatory in Bolivia for their help and logistical support in deployment and demobilization efforts, as well as Mike Fort (PASSCAL) for his invaluable assistance in the field. Special thanks to C. Berk Biryol and S. Knezevic Antonijevic for helpful discussions. Maps were created using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) software ( Wessel and Smith, 1991 ).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus