The layered structure and bulk composition of continental crust contains important clues about its history of mountain-building, about its magmatic evolution, and about dynamical processes that continue to happen now. Geophysical and geological features such as gravity anomalies, surface topography, lithospheric strength and the deformation that drives the earthquake cycle are all directly related to deep crustal chemistry and the movement of materials through the crust that alter that chemistry. The North American continental crust records billions of years of history of tectonic and dynamical changes. The western U.S. is currently experiencing a diverse array of dynamical processes including modification by the Yellowstone hotspot, shortening and extension related to Pacific coast subduction and transform boundary shear, and plate interior seismicity driven by flow of the lower crust and upper mantle. The midcontinent and eastern U.S. is mostly stable but records a history of ancient continental collision and rifting. EarthScope’s USArray seismic deployment has collected massive amounts of data across the entire United States that illuminates the deep continental crust, lithosphere and deeper mantle. This study uses EarthScope data to investigate the thickness and composition of the continental crust, including properties of its upper and lower layers. One-layer and two-layer models of crustal properties exhibit interesting relationships to the history of North American continental formation and recent tectonic activities that promise to significantly improve our understanding of the deep processes that shape the Earth’s surface. Model results show that seismic velocity ratios are unusually low in the lower crust under the western U.S. Cordillera. Further modeling of how chemistry affects the seismic velocity ratio at temperatures and pressures found in the lower crust suggests that low seismic velocity ratios occur when water is mixed into the mineral matrix, and the combination of high temperature and water may point to small amounts of melt in the lower crust of Cordillera.

The Guinea Plateau is a shallow-marine, flat-lying bathymetric province situated along the equatorial West African margin, offshore Republic of Guinea. The Guinea Plateau and the conjugate Demerara Plateau hold particular geologic significance, as they represent the final point of separation between the African and South American continents during Gondwana break-up. Recent interpretation of both 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys along the Guinean margin have illuminated subsurface features related to Early Cretaceous crustal extension. Seismic structural investigations on these datasets suggest that the majority of extension is accommodated along large-scale listric normal faults located on a relatively narrow (<50 km) continental slope (up to ~39% extension). Minimal faulting reveals that little upper-crustal extension has occurred on the Guinea Plateau. Additionally, multiple 2-D seismic profiles image the transition from continental crust on the plateau and slope, to oceanic crust in the deeper marine basin. This continent-ocean boundary is the most representative boundary when testing the accuracy of plate reconstructions. Mapping of both the continent-ocean boundary and fracture zones across the equatorial Atlantic suggests that the Demerara Plateau and the South American plate are too far south in previous pre-rift reconstructions. A revised model introduces 20 km of Early Cretaceous NNW-oriented contraction across the Amazon Basin; an area of relative weakness where both geologic and geophysical data support such accommodation. Sea-surface flow models, which used this revised reconstruction and interpreted paleo-bathymetric data, predict upwelling throughout the newly formed equatorial seaway, and later along the West African margin during periods of regional organic-rich black shale deposition. With reduced decomposition of organic matter strongly correlated to upwelling, being able to predict these zones is of particular significance to petroleum companies, who have recently started exploring both the equatorial South American and West African coastlines.

No description available.

La frontière de plaque transpressive Nord Caraïbe s'exprime dans la région d'Haïti par un partitionnement de la déformation entre deux failles décrochantes et des chevauchements. L'étude de données de bathymétrie, de sismique réflexion, et de fonctions récepteur apporte des contraintes sur la structure et le fonctionnement de cette frontière de plaque en transpression en mer et à terre. Les données de bathymétrie des campagnes Haïti-SIS 1 et 2 nous ont permis de cartographier précisément le grand système de failles décrochantes senestres et leur segmentation. L'étude des profils de sismique réflexion a mis en évidence l'existence de structures pré-existantes à l'activité du décrochement EPGFZ en mer. Nous avons également identifié un domaine crustal distinct, que nous avons relié au plateau océanique Caribéen. L'étude des déformations actuelles en mer nous permet de montrer que la faille EPGFZ est principalement décrochante, avec une composante compressive qui augmente vers l'Est. Les estimations de raccourcissement restent cependant très faibles (2 à 3%) en comparaison des estimations faites par les modélisations GPS. A terre en Haïti, nous avons imagé l'épaisseur crustale grâce à une étude de fonctions récepteur. Les épaisseurs imagées délimitent trois domaines différents. Nous proposons que ces domaines correspondent à trois ensembles géologiques distincts, composés respectivement de l'arc Crétacé des Grandes Antilles au Nord, du plateau océanique Caraïbe au Sud, et d'une croûte continentale au centre. Cette croûte pourrait être sous-charriée par du matériel dense provenant de la subduction d'une portion du plateau océanique Caribéen sous Haïti. / The Northern Caribbean transpressive plate boundary is expressed in Haiti by the partitioning of the deformation between two strike-slip faults and compressive structures. Bathymetric, seismic reflection and receiver-functions studies are methods used here to constrain the structure and the dynamic of the Northern Caribbean transpressive plate boundary offshore and onshore. The bathymetric data acquired during the Haiti-SIS cruises provide a detailed mapping of the geometry and segmentation of the senestrial strike-slip fault systems. The seismic profiles in the Jamaica Passage show that basin structures exist prior to the initiation of the EPGFZ and are cross-cut and folded by the EPGFZ. We identify a distinct crustal domain that we relate to the Caribbean large igneous province. The present deformations offshore show that the EPGFZ is primary strike-slip, with an increasing compressive component of the deformation toward the east. The shortening estimates are very small (2 to 3%) compared to the short-term GPS modeling estimates. Onshore in Haiti, we image the crustal structure from a receiver-functions study. The crustal thickness is ~23 km in the northern part of Haiti, ~22 km in the southern part of Haiti and ~41 km in the middle part, delimiting 3 distinct domains. We propose that these domains correspond to 3 geological distinct terranes: the Cretaceous volcanic arc in the north, the oceanic igneous province in the south, and in between a continental crust underthrusted by dense material. The underthrusted material could be a subducted portion of the Caribbean large igneous province under the Trans-Haitian fold-and-thrust belt.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第24963号 / 理博第4988号 / 新制||理||1712(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科地球惑星科学専攻 / (主査)教授 澁谷 拓郎, 教授 久家 慶子, 教授 大見 士朗 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

No description available.

Continental rifting ultimately creates a deep accommodation space for sediment. When a major river flows into a late-stage rift, thick deltaic sediment can change the thermal regime and alter the mechanisms of extension and continental breakup. The Salton Trough, the northernmost rift segment of the Gulf of California plate boundary, has experienced the same extension as the rest of the Gulf, but is filled to sea level by sediment from the Colorado River. Unlike the southern Gulf, seafloor spreading has not initiated. Instead, seismicity, high heat flow, and minor volcanoes attest to ongoing rifting of thin, transitional crust. Recently acquired controlled-source seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data in the Salton Trough provide constraints upon crustal architecture and active rift processes. The crust in the central Salton Trough is only 17-18 km thick, with a strongly layered but relatively one-dimensional structure for ~100 km in the direction of plate motion. The upper crust includes 2-3 km of Colorado River sediment. The basement below the sediment is interpreted to be similar sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow and geothermal activity. Meta-sedimentary rock extends to at least 7-8 km depth. A 4-5 km thick layer in the middle crust is either additional meta-sedimentary rock or stretched pre-existing continental crust. The lowermost 4-5 km of the crust is rift-related mafic magmatic material underplated from partial melting in the hot upper mantle. North American lithosphere in the Salton Trough has been almost or completely rifted apart. The gap has been filled by ~100 km of new transitional crust created by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. These processes create strong lithologic, thermal, and rheologic layering. Brittle extension occurs within new meta-sedimentary rock. The lower crust, in comparison, stretches by ductile flow and magmatism is not localized. This seismic interpretation is also supported by 1D thermal and rheological modeling. In this passive rift driven by far-field extensional stresses, rapid sedimentation keeps the crust thick and ductile, which delays final breakup of the crust and the initiation of seafloor spreading. / Ph. D.

The largest earthquakes on Earth take place on the megathrusts of subduction zones, but the slip behavior of megathrusts is variable. This thesis considers why by conducting local, regional and global studies of the interrelationships between the structure and seismogenic behavior of subduction zones. New marine geophysical data collected from the collision zone between the Louisville Ridge seamount chain with the Tonga-Kermadec trench constrain overthrusting and subducting plate structure. Mo'unga seamount is identified beneath the outer-forearc, which calibrates the association of residual bathymetric anomalies and subducting relief, implies an E-W geometry for the subducted ridge and suggests the 200 km wide Louisville seismic gap is modulated by the sediment filled flexural moat. Spectral averaging is then applied along the Tonga-Kermadec margin and along strike variations in overthrusting plate structure are verified by wide-angle seismic transects. The remnant Tonga-Ridge occupies the inner fore-arc and residual free-air gravity anomalies constrain its latitudinal extent (north of 30.5&deg;S), width (110&pm;20 km) and strike (~005&deg; south of 25&deg;S). Plate tectonic reconstructions suggest the Lau Ridge is unmodified by subduction related erosion, &lt;200 km of the Tonga Ridge has been eroded, and neither ridge ever occupied the southern Kermadec arc. Crustal thickness variations are thus inherited, reflecting the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Tonga-Kermadec-Hikurangi margin. Spectral averaging is finally applied to all subduction zones on Earth. Part one develops a global catalogue of subducting relief, which is compared with seismological and geodetic inferences of fault-slip behavior. Most seamounts are aseismic, relatively undeformed and observations are not consistent with mechanical models proposing full-decapitation. Aseismic ridges are also associated with megathrust complexity, but are of a larger wavelength and contrasting mode of isostatic compensation. Part two shows almost all intra-margin along-strike transitions in seismogenic behavior are related to pre-existing crustal structure. A paired forearc anomaly is interpreted consisting of a trench-parallel ridge landward of the deep-sea-terrace basin. The ridge crest correlates with the down-dip limit of coseismic slip and strong interplate coupling, the up- dip limit of tremor epicentres, and is interpreted as defining the boundary between the velocity-weakening and seismogenic portion of the subduction interface and the down-dip frictional transition zone. Paired anomalies may be attributed to unrecovered interseismic elastic strain, the preferential subduction erosion of the outer-forearc and/or underplating beneath the inner forearc.

The deep structure of the Bohemian Massif, the largest stable outcrop of the Variscan rocks in central Europe, was studied using the data of the international seismic refraction and wide- angle reflection experiments CELEBRATION 2000, ALP 2002 and SUDETES 2003. The data were interpreted by seismic tomographic inversion and by 2-D trial-and-error forward modelling of the P and S waves. Above, additional constraints on the crustal structure were imposed by reflectivity or gravity modelling, and by receiver function interpretation. Knowledge of the crustal velocity structure in the Bohemian Massif was complemented by its azimuthal variation. Though consolidated, the Bohemian Massif can be subdivided into several tectonic units separated by faults, shear zones, or thrusts reflecting varying influence of the crust forming processes. The resultant velocity models determined different types of the crust-mantle transition reflecting variable crustal thickness and delimiting contacts of these tectonic units at depth.

The Gulf of Mexico Basin Opening project (GUMBO) is a study of the lithological composition and structural evolution of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) that uses Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) data from four transects in the Northern GoM. I examine 39 OBS shot records in the easternmost transect for shear wave arrivals and pick shear wave travel times from the 11 usable records. I then carry out a tomographic inversion of seismic refraction travel times. I use the resulting shear-wave velocity model in conjunction with a previously constructed P-wave model to examine the relationship between Vp and Vs. I compare velocities in the sediment and basement with empirical velocities from previous studies for the purpose of constraining lithological composition below the transect and make an interpretation of the structural evolution of the eastern GoM. The seismic velocities for crust landward of the Florida Escarpment are consistent with normal continental crust. Seaward of the Escarpment, velocities in the upper oceanic crust are anomalously high (Vp = 6.5 – 7 km/sec; Vs = 4.0 – 4.6 km/sec). A possible explanation for this observation is that GoM basalt formation consisted of basaltic sheet flows, forming oceanic crust that does not contain the vesicularity and lower seismic velocities found in typical pillow basalts. Increased magnesium and iron content could also account for these high velocities. Seismic refraction and reflection data provide a means of investigating the nature of the Moho in the northeastern GoM. I use a finite difference method to generate synthetic record sections for data from eight instruments that are part of the two easternmost GUMBO seismic lines (lines 3 & 4). I then vary the thickness of the Moho in these synthetic models and compare the results with the original receiver gather to examine the effects this variability has on amplitudes. The data from the instruments chosen for these two lines are representative of continental and transitional crust. The finite difference models indicate that the Moho beneath GUMBO 3 is ~1500 m thick based on the onset and amplitudes of PmP arrivals. All five instruments display consistent results. The instruments along GUMBO 4 suggest a Moho almost twice as thick as GUMBO 3 on the landward end of the transect that grades into a Moho of similar thickness (1750 m) in the deep water GoM. The three instruments used to model the Moho in this area show that the Moho ranges from ~1750 to 3500 m in thickness. The sharper boundary beneath continental crust in GUMBO Line 3 supports other evidence that suggests magmatic underplating and volcanism in the northern GoM during the mid-Jurassic. The thicker Moho seen on the landward end of GUMBO Line 4 that is overlain by continental crust was likely unaffected by GoM rifting. Therefore, the Moho beneath the Florida Platform might be as old as the Suwannee Terrane, and complex Moho structure is not uncommon for ancient continental crust. / text