No description available.

Volcan Sollipulli is a Quaternary stratovolcano situated at 38'50'S in the Southern Volcanic Zone of the Andes of Chile, about 25 km east of the volcanic front. The volcano is capped by a large (25 km2 approx. ) ice-filled caldera. Sollipulli is unusual in this region of predominantly basic to intermediate magmatism in that it has erupted a wide range of magmas from high-MgO (9%) basalt to rhyolite (74% Si02). The last major eruption, the Alpehue eruption, occurred at about 2,900 B. P, ejecting about 4.7 km3 (D. R. E) of homogeneous high-Si dacite pumice, forming an extensive plinian airfall deposit and ignimbrite. The caldera predates the Alpehue eruption and is believed to have formed by passive subsidence combined with erosion rather than by catastrophic collapse. Withdrawal of magma from beneath the centre of the structure and effusive eruption induced subsidence. Magma mixing, fractional crystallisation and crustal assimilation are important evolutionary mechanisms. Some mixed dacite lavas contain primitive basaltic magmatic inclusions with diktytaxitic textures indicative of rapid quenching. Strongly resorbed, reverse zoned sodic plagioclase of dacitic origin occurs in basic inclusions and high-Mg olivine occurs in dacites. Other sequences appeart o have evolved predominantly by fractional crystallisation with some crustal assimilation. The amount of crustal assimilation increasesw ith decreasinga gei n somec ases. Older Sollipulli basic magmash ave evolved as small batchesp redominantlya t moderatet o high pressurein the mid-lower crust whereas younger basic magmas have experienced protracted upper crustal histories in a large magma chamber, fractionating and assimilating crust to produce abundant high-Si dacite. Sollipulli magmas have an anhydrous mineralogy except for the occurrence of very minor amphibolei n somem ixed rocks. Magma temperaturesra ngef rom about 118 0'C in basalts to about 900'C in dacites. The most primitive samples represent hot and relatively water-poor (<1-2% H20) high-Al basaltic magmas. Crystal-rich andesitesa nd dacites record lower temperaturesth an crystal-poore quivalents. The cooler porphyritic magmas appear to have assimilated more crust than the hotter crystal-poor magmas. Most magmas have evolved at oxygen fugacities close to the NNO buffer curve. Large volcanic front centres in the region erupt magmas with lower incompatible elementa bundancea nd higher Ba/Nb than magmase rupteda t minor monogeneticc entresa, nd at stratovolcanoesto the easto f the front, which have incompatiblee lements ignatures transitional towards back-arc alkaline magmas (e. g. high Nb, Ce/Y). Older Sollipulli magmas also have high Ce/Y and Nb similar to magmas at some monogenetic centres but have lower Ti and Y. Younger Sollipulli magmas have even lower Ti and Y. Sollipulli basic magmasa re also characterisedb y higher Mg/Ni than all regional magmas. The simplest explanation is that the high Nb, Ce/Y magmas have assimilated enriched mantle lithosphere. The Ti, Y, Mg/Ni systematics suggest that the Sollipulli magmasa re generated by higher degrees of melting of a similar MORB-source-type mantle than the regional magmas. In the case of the younger Sollipulli magmas, generation from mantle which was slightly depleted during the earlier phase is also possible but the older magmas show no evidence in their spinel compositions for derivation from refractory mantle.

Subsequent to Lower Eocene (ca. 50Ma) collision of the Indian and Asian plates, continental subduction occurred along the N-dipping Main Central Thrust (MCT) of the Himalaya. In western Garhwal, NW India, upper amphibolite facies Vaikrita Group gneisses of the High Himalayan Slab (HHS) were thrust southwards over unmetamorphosed to greenschist facies Garhwal Group quartzites, carbonates and metabasics of the Lesser Himalaya. In the Bhagirathi valley, the MCT forms a ca. 10km thick shear zone composed of mylonitic Munsiari Group augen gneiss, amphibolite and metasediments. Metamorphic grade increases both northwards and with structural height. The MCT zone is bounded to the N by the Vaikrita roof thrust (VT) and by the Munsiari floor thrust (MT) to the S. The VT is a diffuse high-temperature shear zone recognised through a difference in lithology, metamorphic history, and tectonic style between the Vaikrita and Munsiari Groups. The MT is a relatively discrete fault formed at conditions approaching the brittle-ductile transition. N of the MCT zone, the Jhala Normal Fault (JNF) is a ductile to brittle N-dipping extensional shear zone that was responsible for the downthrow of HHS gneisses and Tethyan sediments in response to gravitational instability of the uplifting orogen. Garnet compositional zoning was produced during growth in both the MCT zone and the lower HHS. In the central and upper HHS it resulted from high-temperature homogenization followed by retrogressive re-equilibration. Diffusion studies suggest rapid cooling of the upper HHS garnets may have been caused by crustal thinning across the JNF. The inverted metamorphic sequence is the cumulative result of polyphase metamoiphism. M1 was a post-collisional Barrovian event of garnet to sillimanite grade restricted to the HHS. M2 was contemporaneous with D2 MCT kinematics and was prograde only in the MCT zone and lower HHS possibly as a result of conductive footwall heating. M3 resulted from nearly isothermal decompression of the upper HHS as a consequence of JNF activation. Thermobarometic transects reveal a significant increase in both P and T across the VT with subsequent decreases accompanying structural height in the HHS. Reliable K-Ar (muscovite) cooling ages from a transect through the MCT zone and HHS are progressively younger towards the S. Ages of ca. 22Ma to ca. 8Ma reflect the piggy-back style deformation sequence; disruptions to the younging sequence are interpreted as localised resetting of ages due to out-of-sequence shearing events. Biotite ages commonly suffered from excess argon and were unreliable. An40Ar/39Ar (hornblende) cooling age suggests rocks of the lower MCT zone were not heated above ca. 500°C since the Precambrian. A ca. 20Ma age dates the last high-temperature motion in the upper MCT zone. The decrease in cooling rate obtained from cooling ages for specific mineral blocking temperatures for the upper MCT zone may be hnked to a return to erosion-controlled denudation after JNF extension.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [112]-124).

The Pampean flat slab subduction in west-central Argentina (latitude 30-33S) and the steeply dipping Northern Costa Rica subduction zone (latitude 9-11N) show significant along-trench variations in both the subducting and overriding plates. This dissertation contains the results of three seismological studies using broadband instruments conducted in these subduction zones, with the aim of understanding the structure of the lithosphere and the correlation between the variability observed in the downgoing and the overriding plates. In the Costa Rica region, by analyzing teleseismic receiver functions we investigate the variability in the hydration state of the subducting Cocos Plate and the nature of three distinct crustal terranes within the overriding Caribbean Plate: the Nicoya and Chorotega terranes that display an oceanic character, and the Mesquito Terrane, which is more compatible with continental crust.In the Pampean region of Argentina, we apply a regional-scale double-difference tomography algorithm to earthquake data recorded by the SIEMBRA (2007-2009) and ESP (2008-2010) broadband seismic networks to obtain high-resolution images of the South America lithosphere. We find that most of the upper mantle has seismic properties consistent with a depleted lherzolite or harzburgite, with two anomalous regions above the flat slab: a higher Vp/Vs ratio anomaly consistent with up to 10% hydration of mantle peridotite and a localized lower Vp/Vs ratio anomaly consistent with orthopyroxene enrichment. In addition, we study the geometry and brittle deformation of the subducting Nazca Plate by determining high-quality earthquake locations, slab contours, and focal mechanisms. Our results suggest that the subduction of the incoming Juan Fernandez Ridge controls the slab geometry and that ridge buoyancy and slab pull are key factors in the deformation of the slab. The spatial distribution of the slab seismicity suggests variability in the hydration state of the subducting Nazca Plate and/or in strain due to slab bending. These observations support the hypothesis that the along-trench variability in bathymetric features and hydration state of the incoming plate has profound effects in the subducting slab geometry and the upper plate structure in both flat and steeply dipping subduction zones.

La marge convergente Nord-andine, où la subduction de la plaque Nazca sous la plaque Amérique du Sud a lieu, est caractérisée par une segmentation morphologique, structurale et sismique. Le segment qui correspond à la frontière entre la Colombie et l'Équateur a subi au cours du siècle dernier quatre grands séismes de subduction en 1906, 1942, 1958 et 1979. Afin de déterminer la structure lithosphérique à la frontière Colombie-Equateur et discuter de l'étendue spatiale de certaines hétérogénéités de vitesse imagées en 2D qui ont été associées au comportement sismique de la marge, une campagne sismique 3D a été réalisée, entre mars et avril 2005. Ce travail porte sur l'obtention d'un modèle tomographique 3D de vitesse de la zone de subduction à la frontière entre la Colombie et l'Équateur basé sur l'inversion des temps de premières arrivées des données de sismique réfraction. La tomographie 3D nous permet d'identifier deux structures particulières dans la marge, qui semblent jouer un rôle géodynamique important dans la région, un butoir à faible gradient de vitesse qui pourrait correspondre à une zone altérée de la marge par fracturation et percolation de fluides et une zone à faible vitesse entre 5 et 10 km de profondeur qui pourrait aussi marquer la présence de fluides. Ces deux structures semblent se trouver en relation géométrique avec la zone de rupture du séisme de 1958.

Graduation date: 1997

Thèse de doctorat--Sciences de la Terre--Rennes 1, 2007. Thesis Ph. D.--Philosophy in geology--Christchurch--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Mention parallèle de titre ou de responsabilité : Morphostructural evolution of active subduction margin basins : the example of the Hawke Bay forearc basin, New Zeland. Thèse réalisée en co-tutelle. Bibliogr. p. 209-228. Notes bibliogr. Résumé en français et en anglais.

The crust and upper mantle seismic structure beneath southwestern Mexico was investigated using several techniques including teleseismic tomography using 3D raytracing, a joint tomographic inversion of teleseismic and regional data that included relocation of regional seismicity, and a P to S converted wave study. The data used in these studies came from a broadband seismic deployment called MARS. The seismic deployment lasted 1.5 years from January 2006 to June 2007 and the stations covered much of Jalisco and Colima states as well as the western part of Michoacan states. At depth less than 50 km, P-wave receiver function images show a clear dipping slow velocity anomaly above a fast velocity layer. The slow anomaly convertor seen in receiver functions is directly above a fast dipping seismic anomaly seen in regional tomography results. The slow velocity with high Vp/Vs ratio is interpreted as a high pore fluid pressure zone within the upper layer of subducting oceanic crust. Regional seismicity was located using the double difference technique and then relocated in a tomography inversion. The seismicity is located very close to the slow dipping boundary to depths of 30-35 km and thus along the plate interface between the subducted and overlying plate. Deeper events are below the slow layer and thus are intraplate. Receiver function results also show a weaker continental Moho signal above the dipping slab that I interpret as a region of mantle serpentinization in the mantle wedge. Inland of the subduction zone, a clear Moho is observed with a maximum thickness of near 42 km although it thins to near 36 km depth towards the north approaching the Tepic-Zacoalco Rift. Using H-K analysis to examine Vp/Vs ratios in the crust, I find a band of very high Vp/Vs along the Jalisco Volcanic lineament as well as beneath the Michoacan-Guanajuato volcanic field. These observations suggest the continental crust is warm and possibly partially molten over broad areas associated with these two magmatic regions and not just locally beneath the volcanoes. I also found seismicity associated with the Jalisco Volcanic Lineament but it was trenchward of the volcanoes. This may indicate extension in this region is part of the explanation for this magmatic activity. At depths below 100 km, the tomography results show clear fast anomalies, about 0.3 km/s faster than the reference model, dipping to the northeast that I interpret as the subducting Rivera and Cocos plates. Tomography models show that the Rivera slab is dipping much steeper than the Cocos plate at depth. Below 150 km depth, the Rivera plate shows an almost vertical dip supporting the interpretation that the slab has steepened through time beneath Jalisco leading to a coastward migration of young volcanism with mixed geochemical signatures. The location of the young volcanism of the Jalisco Volcanic Lineament is just at the edge of the steeply dipping slab seen in the tomography. The magmatism is thus likely a nascent arc. The models also display evidence of a gap between the Rivera and Cocos plates that increases in width with depth marking the boundary between the two plates. The gap lies just to the west of Colima graben and allows asthenosphere to rise above the plates feeding Colima volcano. Another interesting finding from this study is a possibility of a slab tear along the western edge of the Cocos plate at a depth of about 50 km extending 60 km horizontally. The tear is coincident with a lack of seismicity in this region although there are events below and above the tear. / text

This thesis examines processes causing faulting in the North American crust in the northern Cascadia subduction zone. A combination of seismological methods, including source mechanism determination, stress inversion and earthquake relocations are used to determine where earthquakes occur and what forces influence faulting. We also determine if forces that control faulting can be monitored using seismic anisotropy. Investigating the processes that contribute to faulting in the crust is important because these earthquakes pose significant hazard to the large population centres in British Columbia and Washington State. To determine where crustal earthquakes occur we apply double-difference earthquake relocation techniques to events in the Fraser River Valley, British Columbia, and the San Juan Islands, Washington. This technique is used to identify "hidden" active structures using both catalogue and waveform cross-correlation data. Results have significantly reduced uncertainty over routine catalogue locations and show lineations in areas of clustered seismicity. In the Fraser River Valley these lineations or streaks appear to be hidden structures that do not disrupt near-surface sediments; however, in the San Juan Islands the identified lineation can be related to recently mapped surface expressions of faults. To determine forces that influence faulting we investigate the orientation and sources of stress using Bayesian inversion results from focal mechanism data. More than 600 focal mechanisms from crustal earthquakes are calculated to identify the dominant style of faulting and inverted to estimate the principal stress orientations and the stress ratio. Results indicate the maximum horizontal compressive stress (SHmax) orientation changes with distance from the subduction interface, from margin-normal along the coast to margin-parallel further inland. We relate the margin-normal stress direction to subduction-related strain rates due to the locked interface between the North America and Juan de Fuca plates just west of Vancouver Island. Further from the margin the plates are coupled less strongly and the margin-parallel SHmax relates to the northward push of the Oregon Block. Active faults around the region are generally thrust faults that strike east-west and might accommodate the margin- parallel compression. Finally, we consider whether crustal anisotropy can be used as a stress monitoring tool in this region. We identify sources and variations of crustal anisotropy using shear-wave splitting analysis on local crustal earthquakes. Results show spatial variations in fast directions, with margin-parallel fast directions at most stations and margin-perpendicular fast directions at stations in the northeast of the region. To use seismic anisotropy as a stress indicator requires identifying which stations are primarily in uenced by stress. We determine the source of anisotropy at each station by comparing fast directions from shear-wave splitting results to the SHmax orientation. Most stations show agreement between these directions suggesting that anisotropy is stress-related. These stations are further analysed for temporal variations and show variation that could be associated with earthquakes (ML 3{5) and episodic tremor and slip events. The combination of earthquake relocations, source mechanisms, stress and anisotropy is unique and provides a better understanding of faulting and stress in the crust of northern Cascadia. / Graduate