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The Caribbean and Central America region (CCAR) undergoes the entire spectrum of earthquake types due to its complex tectonic setting comprised of transform zones, young oceanic spreading ridges, and subduction along its eastern and western boundaries. CCAR is, therefore, an ideal setting in which to study the impacts of long-term tectonic deformation on the distribution of present-day seismic activity. In this work, we develop a revised continuous tectonic strain rate model based on interseismic, secular geodetic data. We compare it with its predecessor, the Global Strain Rate Model v2.1 (GSRM). Specifically, we compare predicted fault types with known active faults and evaluate the style of predicted fault types with present-day earthquake focal mechanism data. We first create a 0.25$^{circ}$ x 0.25$^{circ}$ finite element grid that is comprised of block geometries defined from previous studies. Second, we isolate and remove anomalous signals that are inconsistent with rigid block motion from the latest open access community Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) velocity solution from UNAVCO and combine it with GNSS data compiled for the GSRM. In a third step, we delineate zones of deformation and rigidity by creating a buffer around the boundary of each block that varies depending on the size of the block and the expected deformation zone, which are based on locations of GNSS data consistent with rigid block motion. Fourth, we assign the regions within the buffer of zero for the deforming areas and a plate index outside the buffer to constrain plate rigidity. Finally, we calculate a tectonic strain rate and continuous velocity model for CCAR using the Haines and Holt finite element approach to fit bicubic Bessel splines to the GNSS data assuming block rotation for zones of rigidity. Our model of the CCAR is consistent with compression along subduction zones, extension across the East Pacific Rise, and a combination of compression and extension across the North America - Caribbean plate boundary with a few exceptions due to limitations with the modeling approach. Modeling results are then used to calculate expected faulting behaviors that we compare with seismic activity, the GSRM, and mapped geologic faults. We find the accumulation of strain rates in areas near the Middle American Trench, Hispaniola, the northeastern Caribbean, and northern South America indicate tectonic deformation that may result in seismic events. We conclude the tectonic deformation plays a critical role in explaining present-day seismicity along land masses adjacent to the subduction zone and the Hispaniola block. / Master of Science / Central America and the Caribbean are areas with high occurrences of earthquakes. This is due to the various types of tectonic plate boundaries that occur in the region. When plates move in relation to each other, they can accumulate strain, which plays a role in the size and type of earthquakes that occur. In this work, we aim to determine the effects on strain on earthquakes. To do this, we utilize an inversion method to calculate strain rates from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data. In our model, we first create a grid of points and a geometry of the regional tectonic blocks. We then gather data from public and published sources. The model also requires that we define where the plates are allowed to deform (accumulate strain) and where they remain rigid. Using the Haines and Holt method, we invert the GNSS velocities for strain rates and velocities. We find long-term tectonic deformation dominates the present-day seismic activity in three key regions: along the Middle America Trench and across the Hispaniola block.

The lithosphere of northwestern Canada recorded more than 2.5 Gy of complex tectonic evolution, from the formation of the ancient cores of the continental lithosphere such as the Slave craton to the Phanerozoic Cordilleran orogeny with substantial variations in crust and upper mantle structures that led to the concentration of natural resources (i.e., diamonds in cratons). Present-day northwestern Canada juxtaposes a thin and hot Cordilleran lithosphere to the thick and cold cratonic lithosphere, which has important implications for regional geodynamics. Recently, seismic station coverage has drastically increased across northwestern Canada, allowing the development of seismic tomography models and other passive-source seismic methods at high resolution in order to investigate the tectonic evolution and dynamics of the lithosphere in this region. The P- and S-wave upper mantle structures of northwestern Canada reveal that the distribution of kimberlite fields in the Slave craton correlates with the margin of fast and slow seismic mantle anomalies, which could delineate weak zones in the lithosphere. Based on our tomographic models we identify two high-velocity seismic anomalies straddling the arcuate Cordillera Deformation Front that have controlled its regional deformation, including a newly identified Mackenzie craton characterized by high seismic velocities extending from the lower crust to the upper mantle to the north of the Mackenzie Mountains. Furthermore, our P-wave tomography model shows sharp velocity contrasts beneath the surface trace of the Tintina Fault. Estimates of seismic anisotropy show a progressive rotation of fast-axis directions when approaching the fault zone. Together, they provide seismic evidence for the trans-lithospheric nature of the Tintina Fault. We further propose that the Tintina Fault has chiseled off small pieces of the Laurentian craton between the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene, which would imply that large lithospheric-scale shear zones are able to cut through small pieces of refractory cratonic mantle and transport them over several hundred kilometers.

A zona de cisalhamento Patos consiste em uma mega-estrutura transcorrente E-W que deformou rochas pré-cambrianas durante a orogênese brasiliana. As relações entre fusão parcial e deformação, os mecanismos de deformação envolvidos na nucleação da estrutura e a evolução termocronológica da milonitização foram investigados por meio de trabalhos de campo e técnicas multidisciplinares tais como a anisotropia de suscetibilidade magnética (ASM), geocronologia (U-Pb SHRIMP) e orientações preferenciais cristalográficas medidas através de difração de elétrons retroespalhados (EBSD). O domo de Santa Luzia, situado na conexão da zona de cisalhamento com a Faixa Seridó, caracteriza-se pela trama magnética levemente oblíqua à elongação NE do corpo. Idades U-Pb obtidas na borda recristalizada de zircões do migmatito forneceram idades de 575 ± 3.4 Ma. Trama magnética e idade semelhantes foram encontradas no granito Acari, sugerindo a contemporaneidade entre o alojamento dos magmas e a deformação cisalhante. No anatexito Espinho Branco, geometrias complexas observadas em campo não são reproduzidas na trama de ASM, a qual concorda com a cinemática da zona de cisalhamento Patos. Entretanto, sítios com suscetibilidades baixas (< 0.5 mSI) exibem dispersões na trama magnética, as quais contrastam com orientações cristalográficas de biotita e dados de campo. Contudo, a anisotropia de remanência anisterética mantém-se coerente com o campo de deformação a que foi submetido o anatexito, sugerindo que a dispersão das direções principais de ASM relaciona-se à fases hidrotermais tardias que desorganizam a trama magnética. Ortognaisses miloníticos situados na borda norte da zona de cisalhamento são marcados por migração de bordas dos grãos, fraturamento intracristalino e mirmequitização periférica. As tramas de eixos [0001] de quartzo exibem máximos em Y nos milonitos de alto-grau, sugerindo ativação do sistema de deslizamento prismático-a. As microestruturas gradam para o estado magmático no contato com o anatexito, sendo comuns tramas randômicas de eixo-c de quartzo. Zircões extraídos de leucossomas fornecem uma idade de 566 ± 5 Ma, atribuídos à cristalização do magma. A margem sul da estrutura exibe uma progressiva redução do tamanho dos grãos e geração de milonitos finos a ultramilonitos sem a presença de fusão parcial. Zircões extraídos de um augen granítico forneceram uma idade de intercepto inferior de 545 ± 14 Ma, atribuída ao metamorfismo. Os milonitos da borda sul registram tramas de eixo-c de quartzo com máximos entre Z e Y, sugerindo ativação dos sistemas romboédrico- e basal-a. Nos feldspatos, os principais sistemas de deslizamento são (010)[001] e (010)[100] em todos os litotipos, com exceção do sistema (100)[010], observado na transição entre migmatitos e os milonitos de baixo grau. Estimativas de temperatura por meio do método TitaniQ registram temperaturas médias de ~ 490ºC nos milonitos da borda sul. O conjunto de resultados permite concluir que: i) a ASM reflete os incrementos finais da deformação regional que afetou os migmatitos, ii) a fusão parcial associada ao cisalhamento dextral do Patos ocorreu em c. 565 Ma, enquanto a milonitização de médio a baixo grau, datada em 545 Ma, caracteriza o retrabalhamento metamórfico ocasionado pela localização da deformação em regime dúctil-rúptil; iii) este retrabalhamento é correlacionável a outras zonas de cisalhamento da Província Borborema, constituindo um evento de caráter regional possivelmente relacionado às colisões tardias na margem oeste do Gondwana e, iv) a zona de cisalhamento Patos foi formada após a colisão dos crátons Oeste Africano e Congo-São Francisco ao escudo da Borborema, acomodando deslocamentos transcorrentes a partir de descontinuidades crustais formadas em estágio pré-colisional. / The Patos shear zone is an E-W transcurrent structure that deformed Precambrian rocks from the Borborema Province during the Neoproterozoic. The relationships between partial melting and deformation, the nucleation of the shear zone and the thermochronological evolution of mylonites were investigated by means of detailed field work coupled with Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS), U-Pb SHRIMP geochronology and crystallographic fabrics measured through electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). In the Santa Luzia dome, located within the Seridó Belt, the magnetic lineations are slightly oblique to the dome NE elongation. Zircon recrystallized rims yield U-Pb ages of 575 ± 3.4 Ma. These data are consistent with ages and magnetic fabrics found in the Acari granite, suggesting that magma emplacement and shearing were coeval in the Seridó belt. In the Espinho Branco anatexite, emplaced within the mylonites of the Patos shear zone, complex field leucosome geometries are not reproduced in the magnetic fabric, which is consistent with the kinematics of the shear zone. However, low susceptibilities (< 0.5 mSI) display a scattering of magnetic orientations and do not correlate with biotite lattice fabrics and field foliations. Nevertheless, anisotropy of anhystheretic remanence fabrics remain parallel to the external strain field, suggesting that AMS dispersions may be related to late percolation of hydrothermal fluids. Mylonitic orthogneisses from the northern border of the Patos shear zone are marked by grain boundary migration, intracrystalline fracturing and myrmekitization at the periphery of grains. Quartz [0001] lattice fabrics form maxima mainly on Y, suggesting activation of prism-a slip systems. Towards the contact with migmatites, the microstructures progressively change from solid-state to magmatic, characterized by widespread interstitial quartz and random orientations of quartz c-axis fabrics. Zircons from the leucosomes yield an age of 566 ± 5 Ma, which is attributed to magma crystallization. The southern border of the Patos shear zone is marked by progressive grain size reduction and formation of fine-grained mylonites to ultramylonites without traces of partial melting. An age of 545 ± 14 Ma, obtained in zircons from an ultramylonitic augen granite, constrains the timing of the low-grade metamorphism. These Southern mylonites show quartz [0001] fabrics with maxima spreading between Z and Y, suggesting activation of prism and basal slip systems. In feldspars, the main activated slip systems are (010)[001] and (010)[100] in all rock types, except for the (100)[010] slip system, observed in the transition from migmatites to low-grade mylonites. TitaniQ temperature estimates record mean temperatures of ~ 490ºC for the southern mylonites. These data allows us to conclude that: i) AMS reflects the final strain increments recorded in migmatites during regional deformation, ii) partial melting and dextral shearing in the Patos shear zone occurred at ~ 565 Ma, while low-grade mylonitisation dated at 545 Ma defines a late reworking at ductile-brittle conditions, iii) this reworking event is observed in other areas of the Borborema Province, defining a regional event possibly associated with late collisions in the western margin of Gondwana, iv) the Patos shear zone was nucleated after the collision between the Congo-São Francisco and West-African Cratons, through accommodation of strike-slip displacements localized in crustal discontinuities previously formed in an early pre-collisional stage.

A zona de cisalhamento Patos consiste em uma mega-estrutura transcorrente E-W que deformou rochas pré-cambrianas durante a orogênese brasiliana. As relações entre fusão parcial e deformação, os mecanismos de deformação envolvidos na nucleação da estrutura e a evolução termocronológica da milonitização foram investigados por meio de trabalhos de campo e técnicas multidisciplinares tais como a anisotropia de suscetibilidade magnética (ASM), geocronologia (U-Pb SHRIMP) e orientações preferenciais cristalográficas medidas através de difração de elétrons retroespalhados (EBSD). O domo de Santa Luzia, situado na conexão da zona de cisalhamento com a Faixa Seridó, caracteriza-se pela trama magnética levemente oblíqua à elongação NE do corpo. Idades U-Pb obtidas na borda recristalizada de zircões do migmatito forneceram idades de 575 ± 3.4 Ma. Trama magnética e idade semelhantes foram encontradas no granito Acari, sugerindo a contemporaneidade entre o alojamento dos magmas e a deformação cisalhante. No anatexito Espinho Branco, geometrias complexas observadas em campo não são reproduzidas na trama de ASM, a qual concorda com a cinemática da zona de cisalhamento Patos. Entretanto, sítios com suscetibilidades baixas (< 0.5 mSI) exibem dispersões na trama magnética, as quais contrastam com orientações cristalográficas de biotita e dados de campo. Contudo, a anisotropia de remanência anisterética mantém-se coerente com o campo de deformação a que foi submetido o anatexito, sugerindo que a dispersão das direções principais de ASM relaciona-se à fases hidrotermais tardias que desorganizam a trama magnética. Ortognaisses miloníticos situados na borda norte da zona de cisalhamento são marcados por migração de bordas dos grãos, fraturamento intracristalino e mirmequitização periférica. As tramas de eixos [0001] de quartzo exibem máximos em Y nos milonitos de alto-grau, sugerindo ativação do sistema de deslizamento prismático-a. As microestruturas gradam para o estado magmático no contato com o anatexito, sendo comuns tramas randômicas de eixo-c de quartzo. Zircões extraídos de leucossomas fornecem uma idade de 566 ± 5 Ma, atribuídos à cristalização do magma. A margem sul da estrutura exibe uma progressiva redução do tamanho dos grãos e geração de milonitos finos a ultramilonitos sem a presença de fusão parcial. Zircões extraídos de um augen granítico forneceram uma idade de intercepto inferior de 545 ± 14 Ma, atribuída ao metamorfismo. Os milonitos da borda sul registram tramas de eixo-c de quartzo com máximos entre Z e Y, sugerindo ativação dos sistemas romboédrico- e basal-a. Nos feldspatos, os principais sistemas de deslizamento são (010)[001] e (010)[100] em todos os litotipos, com exceção do sistema (100)[010], observado na transição entre migmatitos e os milonitos de baixo grau. Estimativas de temperatura por meio do método TitaniQ registram temperaturas médias de ~ 490ºC nos milonitos da borda sul. O conjunto de resultados permite concluir que: i) a ASM reflete os incrementos finais da deformação regional que afetou os migmatitos, ii) a fusão parcial associada ao cisalhamento dextral do Patos ocorreu em c. 565 Ma, enquanto a milonitização de médio a baixo grau, datada em 545 Ma, caracteriza o retrabalhamento metamórfico ocasionado pela localização da deformação em regime dúctil-rúptil; iii) este retrabalhamento é correlacionável a outras zonas de cisalhamento da Província Borborema, constituindo um evento de caráter regional possivelmente relacionado às colisões tardias na margem oeste do Gondwana e, iv) a zona de cisalhamento Patos foi formada após a colisão dos crátons Oeste Africano e Congo-São Francisco ao escudo da Borborema, acomodando deslocamentos transcorrentes a partir de descontinuidades crustais formadas em estágio pré-colisional. / The Patos shear zone is an E-W transcurrent structure that deformed Precambrian rocks from the Borborema Province during the Neoproterozoic. The relationships between partial melting and deformation, the nucleation of the shear zone and the thermochronological evolution of mylonites were investigated by means of detailed field work coupled with Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS), U-Pb SHRIMP geochronology and crystallographic fabrics measured through electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). In the Santa Luzia dome, located within the Seridó Belt, the magnetic lineations are slightly oblique to the dome NE elongation. Zircon recrystallized rims yield U-Pb ages of 575 ± 3.4 Ma. These data are consistent with ages and magnetic fabrics found in the Acari granite, suggesting that magma emplacement and shearing were coeval in the Seridó belt. In the Espinho Branco anatexite, emplaced within the mylonites of the Patos shear zone, complex field leucosome geometries are not reproduced in the magnetic fabric, which is consistent with the kinematics of the shear zone. However, low susceptibilities (< 0.5 mSI) display a scattering of magnetic orientations and do not correlate with biotite lattice fabrics and field foliations. Nevertheless, anisotropy of anhystheretic remanence fabrics remain parallel to the external strain field, suggesting that AMS dispersions may be related to late percolation of hydrothermal fluids. Mylonitic orthogneisses from the northern border of the Patos shear zone are marked by grain boundary migration, intracrystalline fracturing and myrmekitization at the periphery of grains. Quartz [0001] lattice fabrics form maxima mainly on Y, suggesting activation of prism-a slip systems. Towards the contact with migmatites, the microstructures progressively change from solid-state to magmatic, characterized by widespread interstitial quartz and random orientations of quartz c-axis fabrics. Zircons from the leucosomes yield an age of 566 ± 5 Ma, which is attributed to magma crystallization. The southern border of the Patos shear zone is marked by progressive grain size reduction and formation of fine-grained mylonites to ultramylonites without traces of partial melting. An age of 545 ± 14 Ma, obtained in zircons from an ultramylonitic augen granite, constrains the timing of the low-grade metamorphism. These Southern mylonites show quartz [0001] fabrics with maxima spreading between Z and Y, suggesting activation of prism and basal slip systems. In feldspars, the main activated slip systems are (010)[001] and (010)[100] in all rock types, except for the (100)[010] slip system, observed in the transition from migmatites to low-grade mylonites. TitaniQ temperature estimates record mean temperatures of ~ 490ºC for the southern mylonites. These data allows us to conclude that: i) AMS reflects the final strain increments recorded in migmatites during regional deformation, ii) partial melting and dextral shearing in the Patos shear zone occurred at ~ 565 Ma, while low-grade mylonitisation dated at 545 Ma defines a late reworking at ductile-brittle conditions, iii) this reworking event is observed in other areas of the Borborema Province, defining a regional event possibly associated with late collisions in the western margin of Gondwana, iv) the Patos shear zone was nucleated after the collision between the Congo-São Francisco and West-African Cratons, through accommodation of strike-slip displacements localized in crustal discontinuities previously formed in an early pre-collisional stage.

An earthquake is a mechanism of stress release along plate boundaries due to relative motion between the Earth's lithospheric blocks. The period in which stresses are accruing across the plate boundary is known as the interseismic portion of the earthquake cycle. This dissertation focuses on interseismic portion of the earthquake cycle to extract characteristics of fault, shear zone and rock properties. Global Positioning System (GPS) data are used to observe the pattern of deformation across two primarily strike-slip fault systems: the Carrizo Segment of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) and the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). Two sets of GPS data are processed, analyzed and applied to analytic and numerical models describing the interseismic behavior of the earthquake cycle. The Carrizo segment is mature (i.e., had many earthquakes) and has juxtaposed terrains with varying rock properties laterally across the fault system. Lateral variations in rock properties affect the pattern of deformation around strike-slip faults and affect how surrounding rock deforms and if not considered may bias the interpretation of the faulted system. The Carrizo segment separates Franciscan terrain northeast of the fault from Salinian block to the southwest. GPS data are well fit to a model with a 15-25 km weak zone northeast of the Carrizo segment. The long-term slip rate estimated on the SAF is 34-38 mm/yr, with 2-4 mm/yr accommodated on faults to the west. The viscosity for the combined lower crust/upper mantle is estimated at 2-5x10^19 Pa s. This model is consistent with the distribution of rock type and corresponding laboratory data on their material properties, paleoseismic, seismic and magnetotelluric data. The ECSZ is a young (<10 >Myr) system of strike-slip faults including the Owens Valley - Airport Lake, Panamint Valley - Ash Hill - Hunter Mountain and Death Valley - Furnace Creek fault systems. The ECSZ study concentrates on fault evolution by finding the current position of maximum shear across the shear zone and estimating fault rates. Geologic studies suggest that the Death Valley - Furnace Creek fault system on eastern end of the ECSZ was the primary accommodator of slip early in the ECSZ history. This study suggests that the current locus of shear has shifted westward, and resides in the center of the ECSZ under the Panamint Valley - Ash Hill -Hunter Mountain fault system. The model dependent estimated geodetic rate of the Ash Hill - Panamint Valley -Hunter Mountain fault system (4.91-6.11 mm/yr) is faster than geologic estimates (1.6 - 4 mm/yr). The result is interpreted as a simplification of the ECSZ with time, combined with progressive westward migration of deformation. The best estimate for a combined rate across the shear zone is 10 mm/yr (20% of total Pacific-North America motion). The summation of rates obtained by this study is 49 mm/yr, well within estimates obtained by previous studies using independent techniques.

Paleomagnetic data from 25 sites (5 samples per site) in andesite flows of the Gringo Gulch Volcanics in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, were analyzed to determine a lower Paleocene paleomagnetic pole. Alternating-field demagnetization to 500 oe peak field was sufficient to erase secondary viscous components. The mean direction of magnetization (inclination = -58.8°, declination = 167.5 °) was obtained by averaging the site mean directions of the 25 sites, which are all reversed. The resultant lower Paleocene pole position is at lat. 77.0 °N, 1on. 201.0 °E (dp = 1.2 °, dm = 1.7 °).