Out of phase Quaternary uplift-rate changes reveal normal fault interaction, implied by deformed marine palaeoshorelines

Meschis, Marco; Roberts, Gerald; Robertson, Jenni; Mildon, Zoë; Sahy, Diana; Goswami, Rajasmita; Sgambato, Claudia; Walker, Joanna Faure; Michetti, A.M.; Iezzi, Francesco

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108432

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…where rates reach values as high as at least ∼60 × 10 −9 /year in the Central Apennines and Calabria, with values of <∼40 × 10 −9 /year in the Southern Apennines. Extension rates measured from geological offsets over 15 Kyr are in good agreement with geodetic rates both in the Central Apennines (D'Agostino et al, 2011; and in Calabria (Meschis et al, 2022;Serpelloni et al, 2010), similar to what has been observed in other tectonically active regions (e.g., Herbert et al, 2014;Marshall et al, 2009Marshall et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Geological Backgroundsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Although displacement rates are relatively uniform on long temporal scales (>300 ka), over short time periods (<20 ka) they can vary greatly, by up to three orders of magnitude (Mouslopoulou et al., 2009; Nicol et al., 2009, 2020). However, for the study area, the agreement between geological rates and those measured with GPS geodesy and seismic moment release rate (e.g., Cowie et al., 2013; D'Agostino et al., 2011; Faure Walker et al., 2010, 2012; Meschis et al., 2022; Serpelloni et al., 2005, 2010), suggests that the geological observation periods may well be long enough to be compatible with the long‐term average for elastic deformation rates and hence stress loading rates. Thus, we have relatively robust constraints on the rates needed to perform interseismic stress loading calculations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 87%

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Influence of Fault System Geometry and Slip Rates on the Relative Role of Coseismic and Interseismic Stresses on Earthquake Triggering and Recurrence Variability

Sgambato,

Faure Walker,

Roberts

et al. 2023

JGR Solid Earth

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We model Coulomb stress transfer (CST) due to 30 strong earthquakes occurring on normal faults since 1509 CE in Calabria, Italy, including the influence of interseismic loading, and compare the results to existing studies of stress interaction from the Central and Southern Apennines, Italy. The three normal fault systems have different geometries and long‐term slip‐rates. We investigate the extent to which stress transfer can influence the occurrence of future earthquakes and what factors may govern the variability in earthquake recurrence in different fault systems. The Calabrian, Central Apennines, and Southern Apennines fault systems have 91%, 73%, and 70% of faults with mean positive cumulative CST in the time considered; this is due to fewer faults across strike, more across strike stress reductions, and greater along‐strike spacing in the three regions respectively. In regions with close along strike spacing or few faults across strike, such as Calabria and Southern Apennines, the stress loading history is mostly dominated by interseismic loading and most faults are positively stressed before an earthquake occur on them (96% of all faults that ruptured in Calabria; 94% of faults in Southern Apennines), and some of the strongest earthquakes occur on faults with the highest mean cumulative stress of all faults prior to the earthquake. In the Central Apennines, where across strike interactions are the predominant process, 79% of earthquakes occur on faults positively stressed. The results highlight that fault system geometry plays a central role in characterizing the stress evolution associated with earthquake recurrence.

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Section: Geological Backgroundsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Influence of Fault System Geometry and Slip Rates on the Relative Role of Coseismic and Interseismic Stresses on Earthquake Triggering and Recurrence Variability

Sgambato,

Faure Walker,

Roberts

et al. 2023

JGR Solid Earth

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“…2, 4) (Valensise and Pantosti, 1992;Westaway, 1993;Tortorici et al, 1995Tortorici et al, , 2003Monaco et al, 1997;Monaco and Tortorici, 2000;Jacques et al, 2001;Catalano et al, 2003Catalano et al, , 2008Palano et al, 2012Palano et al, , 2017Brutto et al, 2016;Presti et al, 2019;Pirrotta et al, 2021Pirrotta et al, , 2022. Well preserved normal fault scarps, marine terraces, and river channel profiles record fault offset and footwall uplift at rates of ~ 0.2 -2 mm/yr in Sicily (Tortorici et al, 1995;Catalano and De Guidi, 2003a;Catalano et al, 2008;Pavano et al, 2016;Meschis et al, 2022a) and southern Calabria (Montenat et al, 1991;Monaco et al, 1997;Catalano et al, 2003;Antonioli et al, 2006Antonioli et al, , 2021Roberts et al, 2013;Roda-Boluda and Whittaker, 2017;Quye-Sawyer et al, 2021;Meschis et al, 2022a;2022b). In southern Calabria the Cittanova, Calanna, Scilla, and Armo faults dip northwest and terminate to the northeast at the left-lateral Coccorino and Nicotera-Gioiosa strike-slip fault zones (Fig.…”

Section: Faults Of the Messina Strait Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Strait forms a narrow hook-shaped constriction where daily exchange of water masses between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas produces strong tidal currents that erode, mobilize, and deposit sediment producing a diversity of bedforms and facies (e.g., Longhitano, 2018a;Martorelli et al, 2023). Numerous studies have documented active faults, earthquakes, tsunamis, sedimentation, and uplift in this region (Ghisetti, 1981(Ghisetti, , 1992Monaco and Tortorici, 2000;Doglioni et al, 2012;Aloisi et al, 2013;Ridente et al, 2014;Longhitano, 2018bLonghitano, , 2018aLonghitano and Chiarella, 2020;Barreca et al, 2021;Antonioli et al, 2021;Meschis et al, 2022aMeschis et al, , 2022b, but uncertainty persists regarding the long term evolution of active faults over the past 2 -3 Myr, vertical crustal motions, growth of topography, and seafloor bathymetry in this region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure and Morphology of an Active Conjugate Relay Zone, Messina Strait, Southern Italy

Dorsey¹,

Longhitano²,

Chiarella³

2023

Preprint

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The Messina Strait is a narrow fault-bounded marine basin that separates the Calabrian peninsula from Sicily in southern Italy. It sits in a seismically active region where normal fault scarps and raised Quaternary marine terraces record ongoing extension driven by southeastward rollback of the Calabrian subduction zone. A review of published studies and new data shows that normal faults in the Messina Strait region define a conjugate relay zone where displacement is transferred along-strike from NW-dipping normal faults in the northeast (southern Calabria) to the SE-dipping Messina-Taormina normal fault in the southwest (offshore eastern Sicily). The narrow marine constriction of the Messina Strait is a graben undergoing active subsidence within the relay zone. Pronounced curvature of normal faults near their tips results from large strain gradients and clockwise rotations related to fault interactions. Based on regional fault geometries and published age constraints, we propose a model for northwest (oceanward) migration of normal faults in southern Calabria during the past ~2–2.5 Myr in response to rapid crustal extension at the southeast margin of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

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“…By combining shore platform (specifically shoreline angle) elevation data with the age of the corresponding terrace, uplift rates can be quantified (e.g., Bradley and Griggs, 1976;Ota et al, 1981;Muhs et al, 1990;Muhs et al, 1992;Zazo et al, 2003;Yildirim et al, 2013;Karymbalis et al, 2022). Accruing over tens to hundreds of thousands of years, patterns of uplift of the overriding plate have the potential to provide insight into local subduction margin processes (e.g., Merritts and Bull, 1989;Berryman, 1993a;1993b;Wilson et al, 2007a;Wilson et al, 2007b;Matsu'ura, 2015;Meschis et al, 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

Causes of permanent vertical deformation at subduction margins: Evidence from late Pleistocene marine terraces of the southern Hikurangi margin, Aotearoa New Zealand

et al. 2023

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Theoretical studies of the seismic cycle at convergent plate boundaries anticipate that most coseismic deformation is recovered, yet significant permanent vertical displacement of the overriding plate is observed at many subduction margins. To understand the mechanisms driving permanent vertical displacement, we investigate tectonic uplift across the southern Hikurangi subduction margin, Aotearoa New Zealand, in the last ∼200 ka. Marine terraces preserved along the Wellington south coast have recently been dated as Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a (∼82 ka), 5c (∼96 ka), 5e (∼123 ka) and 7a (∼196 ka) in age. We use these ages, together with new reconstructions of shoreline angle elevations, to calculate uplift rates across the margin and to examine the processes responsible for their elevation. The highest uplift rate—1.7 ± 0.1 mm/yr–and maximum tilting—2.9° to the west–are observed near Cape Palliser, the closest site to (∼50 km from) the Hikurangi Trough. Uplift rates decrease monotonically westward along the Palliser Bay coast, to 0.2 ± 0.1 mm/yr at Wharekauhau (∼70 km from the trough), defining a gently west-tilted subaerial forearc domain. Locally, active oblique-slip upper-plate faults cause obvious vertical offsets of the marine terraces in the axial ranges (>70 km from the trough). Uplift rates at Baring Head, on the upthrown side of the Wairarapa-Wharekauhau fault system, are ∼0.7–1.6 mm/yr. At Tongue Point, uplift on the upthrown side of the Ōhāriu Fault is 0.6 ± 0.1 mm/yr. Dislocation and flexural-isostatic modelling shows that slip on faults within the overriding plate—specifically the Palliser-Kaiwhata Fault and the Wairarapa-Wharekauhau fault system—may dominate uplift in their immediate hanging walls. Depending on their slip rate and geometry, slip on these two upper-plate fault systems could plausibly cause >80% of late Pleistocene uplift everywhere along the south coast of North Island. Our modelling suggests that subduction of the buoyant Hikurangi Plateau contributes uplift of 0.1–0.2 mm/yr and uplift due to sediment underplating at Tongue Point and Wharekauhau is likely ≤0.6 mm/yr but could be significantly lower. Earthquakes on the subduction interface probably contribute ≤0.4 mm/yr of late Pleistocene uplift, with ≤10% of uplift due to each earthquake being stored permanently, similar to other subduction zones. These results indicate a significant contribution of slip on upper-plate faults to permanent uplift and tilting across the subduction margin and suggest that in regions where upper-plate faults are prevalent, strong constraints on fault geometry and slip rate are necessary to disentangle contributions of deeper-seated processes to uplift.

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Out of phase Quaternary uplift-rate changes reveal normal fault interaction, implied by deformed marine palaeoshorelines

Cited by 11 publications

References 70 publications

Influence of Fault System Geometry and Slip Rates on the Relative Role of Coseismic and Interseismic Stresses on Earthquake Triggering and Recurrence Variability

Influence of Fault System Geometry and Slip Rates on the Relative Role of Coseismic and Interseismic Stresses on Earthquake Triggering and Recurrence Variability

Structure and Morphology of an Active Conjugate Relay Zone, Messina Strait, Southern Italy

Causes of permanent vertical deformation at subduction margins: Evidence from late Pleistocene marine terraces of the southern Hikurangi margin, Aotearoa New Zealand

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