[1] Indenter experiments have been performed on quartz crystals in order to establish a pressure solution creep law relevant at upper to middle crustal conditions. This deformation mechanism contributes to Earth's crust geodynamics, controlling processes as different as fault permeability, strength, and stress evolution during interseismic periods or mechanochemical differentiation during diagenesis and metamorphism. Indenter experiments have been performed at 350°C and 20-120 MPa during months with differential stress varying from 25 to 350 MPa. Several experimental parameters were varied: nature of quartz (synthetic or natural), nature of fluid, manner in which the solid/ solution/solid interface was filled, and orientation of the indented surfaces versus quartz crystallographic c axis. Significant strain rates could only be obtained when using high-solubility solutions (NaOH 1 mol L À1 ). Displacement rates of the indenter were found activated by differential stress, with exponential dependence, as theoretically predicted. The mean thickness of the trapped fluid phase below the indenter was estimated in the range 2-10 nm. Moreover, the development of this trapped fluid phase was relatively fast and allowed fluid penetration into previously dry contact regions by marginal dissolution. The indenter displacement rate was driven by differential stress, and its kinetics was controlled by diffusion along the trapped fluid and the development of a morphological roughness along the interface. Conversely, marginal strain energy driven dissolution was observed around the indenter, and its kinetics was controlled by freesurface reaction. These experimental results are applied to model the interactions between pressure solution and brittle processes in fault zones, providing characteristic time scales for postseismic transitory creep and sealing processes in quartz-rich rocks.

International audienceThe Ubaye valley, one of the most active seismic zones in the French Alps, was visited in 2003–2004 by a prolific and protracted earthquake swarm with a maximum magnitude M L = 2.7. The seismic activity clustered along a 9-km-long, 3- to 8-km-deep rupture zone which trends NW-SE across the valley and dips 80°SW. Focal mechanisms for the larger shocks show either normal faulting with a SW-NE trending extension direction or NW-SE strike slip with right lateral displacement. The activity initiated in the central part of the rupture zone, diffused to its periphery, and eventually concentrated in its southeastern deeper part. A permanent station situated above the swarm allowed us to monitor the entire phenomenon from its inception to its conclusion. The complete time series includes more than 16,000 events, with shocks down to magnitude M L = −1.3. It shows bursts of activity, separated by quiescent periods, with no well-defined subswarms as observed in other similar studies. The Gutenberg-Richter b value significantly varied between 1.0 and 1.5 in the course of the phenomeno

[1] We study changes in effective stress (normal stress minus pore pressure) that occurred in the French Alps during the [2003][2004] Ubaye earthquake swarm. Two complementary data sets are used. First, a set of 974 relocated events allows us to finely characterize the shape of the seismogenic area and the spatial migration of seismicity during the crisis. Relocations are performed by a double-difference algorithm. We compute differences in travel times at stations both from absolute picking times and from cross-correlation delays of multiplets. The resulting catalog reveals a swarm alignment along a single planar structure striking N130°E and dipping 80°W. This relocated activity displays migration properties consistent with a triggering by a diffusive fluid overpressure front. This observation argues in favor of a deep-seated fluid circulation responsible for a significant part of the seismic activity in Ubaye. Second, we analyze time series of earthquake detections at a single seismological station located just above the swarm. This time series forms a dense chronicle of +16,000 events. We use it to estimate the history of effective stress changes during this sequence. For this purpose we model the rate of events by a stochastic epidemic-type aftershock sequence model with a nonstationary background seismic rate l 0 (t). This background rate is estimated in discrete time windows. Window lengths are determined optimally according to a new change-point method on the basis of the interevent times distribution. We propose that background events are triggered directly by a transient fluid circulation at depth. Then, using rate-and-state constitutive friction laws, we estimate changes in effective stress for the observed rate of background events. We assume that changes in effective stress occurred under constant shear stressing rate conditions. We finally obtain a maximum change in effective stress close to −8 MPa, which corresponds to a maximum fluid overpressure of about 8 MPa under constant normal stress conditions. This estimate is in good agreement with values obtained from numerical modeling of fluid flow at depth, or with direct measurements reported from fluid injection experiments.

SUMMARY In the French western Alps, east of Grenoble, we identify the Belledonne Border Fault as an active seismic fault. This identification is based on the seismic monitoring of the Grenoble area by the Sismalp seismic network over the past 12 yr (1989–2000). We located a set of earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 0 to 3.5 along a ∼50 km long alignment which runs in a N30°E direction on the western flank of the Belledonne crystalline massif. Available focal solutions for these events are consistent with this direction (N36°E strike‐slip fault with right‐lateral displacement). These events along the Belledonne Border Fault have a mean focal depth of ∼7 km (in the crystalline basement), with a probably very low slip rate. The Belledonne Border Fault has never been mapped at the surface, where the otherwise heavily folded and faulted Mesozoic cover makes this identification difficult. Historical seismicity also shows that, over the past two and a half centuries, a few events located mainly along the southern part of the Belledonne Border Fault caused damage, with the magnitude 4.9 1963 Monteynard earthquake reaching intensity VII. The most recent damaging event in the study area is the magnitude 3.5 1999 Laffrey earthquake (intensity V–VI). Although its epicentre lies at the southern tip of the Belledonne Border Fault, there is clear evidence that aftershocks were activated by the left‐lateral slip of a N122°E‐striking fault. The length of the Belledonne Border Fault, which could easily accommodate a magnitude 6 event, as well as the proximity to the Isère valley with its unlithified Quaternary deposits up to 500 m thick known to generate marked site effects, make the identification of the Belledonne Border Fault an important step in the evaluation of seismic risk in the Grenoble area. Besides, the activity observed on the fault will now have to be taken into account in future geodynamic models of the western Alps.

International audienceThe aim of the SI-Hex project (acronym for « Sismicité Instrumentale de l’Hexagone ») is to provide a catalogue of seismicity for metropolitan France and the French marine economic zone for the period 1962–2009 by taking into account the contributions of the various seismological networks and observatories from France and its neighbouring countries. The project has been launched jointly by the Bureau Central Sismologique Français (CNRS-University/BCSF) and the Laboratoire de Détection et de Géophysique (CEA-DAM/LDG). One of the main motivations of the project is to provide the end user with the best possible information on location and magnitude of each earthquake. So far, due to the various procedures in use in the observatories, the different locations and magnitudes of earthquakes located in the SI-Hex zone were presenting large discrepancies. In the 2014 version of the catalogue, 1D localizations of hypocentres performed with a unique computational scheme and covering the whole 1962–2009 period constitute the backbone of the catalogue (SI-Hex solutions). When available, they are replaced by more precise localizations made at LDG or, for recent times, by the regional observatories within: 1) the French Alps, 2) the southernmost Alps and the Mediterranean domain including Corsica, 3) the Pyrenees, and 4) the Armorican massif. Moment magnitudes Mw are systematically reported in the SI-Hex catalogue. They are computed from coda-wave analysis of the LDG records for most Mw>3.4 events, and are converted from local magnitudes ML for smaller magnitude events. Finally, special attention is paid to the question of discrimination between natural and artificial seismic events in order to produce a catalogue for direct use in seismic hazard analysis and seismotectonic investigations. The SI-Hex catalogue is accessible on the web site www.franceseisme.fr and contains 38,027 earthquake hypocentres, together with their seismic moment magnitudes Mw

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The ML 5.3 Épagny earthquake that occurred on 1996 July 15 in the vicinity of Annecy (French Alps) was the strongest event to shake southeastern France in the last 34 years. Moderate to serious damage in the Annecy area is consistent with MSK intensities of VII–VIII. This earthquake occurred on the Vuache Fault, a geologically well‐known, morphologically clear, NW–SE‐trending strike‐slip fault that links the southern Jura Mountains with the northern Subalpine chains. The hypocentre was located in Mesozoic limestones at shallow depths (1–3 km). The focal mechanism indicates left‐lateral strike‐slip motion on a N136°E‐striking plane dipping 70° to the NE. Abundant field evidence was gathered in the days following the main shock. Several hundred aftershocks were recorded thanks to the rapid installation of a 16‐station seismic network. All aftershocks occurred along the southernmost segment of the Vuache Fault, defining a 5‐km‐long, 3.5‐km‐deep, N130°E‐striking rupture zone dipping 73° to the NE. The fault plane solutions of 60 aftershocks were found to be consistent with left‐lateral slip on NW–SE‐striking planes. At the SE tip of the aftershock zone we found ground cracks parallel to the fault close to the Annecy–Meythet airport runway; at the NW tip, near Bromines, we observed left‐lateral displacement of concrete walls in a building. We also noticed flow changes in two springs close to that locality. Geodetic levelling across the fault revealed about 1 cm of uplift for the region north of the fault. The recording of aftershocks with a six‐station accelerometric network showed that lacustrine deposits locally amplified the ground motion up to eight times, which explains how this moderate‐magnitude shock could cause such heavy damage. Historical records draw attention to the central segment of the Vuache Fault, which has been locked for at least 200 years. Situated NW of the 1996 aftershock zone, between the Mandallaz and Vuache mountains, this segment forms a 12‐km‐long potential seismic gap where other M5 events or one single M6 event might occur.