Physics – Geophysics
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002georl..29x..60b&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 29, Issue 24, pp. 60-1, CiteID 2207, DOI 10.1029/2002GL015612
Physics
Geophysics
9
Marine Geology And Geophysics: Midocean Ridge Processes
Scientific paper
We present the results of a series of 3-D boundary element calculations to investigate the effects of oceanic transform faults on stress state and fault development at adjacent mid-ocean ridge spreading centers. We find that the time-averaged strength of transform faults is low, and that on time scales longer than a typical earthquake cycle transform faults behave as zones of significant weakness. Specifically, mechanical coupling of only ~5% best explains the observed patterns of strike-slip and oblique normal faulting near a ridge-transform intersection. On time scales shorter than a typical earthquake cycle, transient ``locked'' periods can produce anomalous reverse faulting similar to that observed at the inside corner (IC) of several slow-spreading ridge segments. Furthermore, we predict that extensional stresses will be suppressed at the IC due to the shear along the transform resisting ridge-normal extension. This implies that an alternative mechanism is necessary to explain the preferential normal fault growth and enhanced microseismicity observed at many ICs.
Behn Mark D.
Lin Jian
Zuber Maria T.
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