Triggering of the 2014 M_w7.3 Papanoa earthquake by a slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico

Since their discovery two decades ago, slow slip events have been shown to play an important role in accommodating strain in subduction zones. However, the physical mechanisms that generate slow slip and the relationships with earthquakes are unclear. Slow slip events have been recorded in the Guerrero segment of the Cocos–North America subduction zone. Here we use inversion of position time series recorded by a continuous GPS network to reconstruct the evolution of aseismic slip on the subduction interface of the Guerrero segment. We find that a slow slip event began in February 2014, two months before the magnitude (M_w) 7.3 Papanoa earthquake on 18 April. The slow slip event initiated in a region adjacent to the earthquake hypocentre and extended into the vicinity of the seismogenic zone. This spatio-temporal proximity strongly suggests that the Papanoa earthquake was triggered by the ongoing slow slip event. We demonstrate that the triggering mechanism could be either static stress increases in the hypocentral region, as revealed by Coulomb stress modelling, or enhanced weakening of the earthquake hypocentral area by the slow slip. We also show that the plate interface in the Guerrero area is highly coupled between slow slip events, and that most of the accumulated strain is released aseismically during the slow slip episodes

Firn seismic anisotropy in the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream from ambient-noise surface waves

We analyse ambient-noise seismic data from 23 three-component seismic nodes to study firn velocity structure and seismic anisotropy near the EastGRIP camp along the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS). Using nine-component correlation tensors, we derive dispersion curves of Rayleigh and Love wave group velocities from 3 to 40 Hz. These velocity distributions exhibit anisotropy along and across the flow. To assess these variations, we invert dispersion curves for shear wave velocities (Vsh and Vsv) in the top 150 m of the NEGIS using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. The reconstructed 1-D shear velocity model reveals radial anisotropy in the firn, with Vsh 12 %–15 % greater than Vsv, peaking at the critical density (550 kg m−3). We combine density data from firn cores drilled in 2016 and 2018 to create a new density parameterisation for the NEGIS, serving as a reference for our results. We link seismic anisotropy in the NEGIS to effective and intrinsic causes. Seasonal densification, wind crusts, and melt layers induce effective anisotropy, leading to faster Vsh waves. Changes in firn recrystallisation cause intrinsic anisotropy, altering the Vsv / Vsh ratio. We observe a shallower firn–ice transition across the flow (≈ 50 m) compared with along the flow (≈ 60 m), suggesting increased firn compaction due to the predominant wind direction and increased deformation towards the shear margin. We demonstrate that short-duration (9 d minimum), passive, seismic deployments and noise-based analysis can determine seismic anisotropy in firn, and we reveal 2-D firn structure and variability.</p

Ambient-noise tomography of the wider Vienna Basin region

International audienceWe present a new 3-D shear-velocity model for the top 30 km of the crust in the wider Vienna Basin region based on surface waves extracted from ambient-noise cross-correlations. We use continuous seismic records of 63 broad-band stations of the AlpArray project to retrieve interstation Green's functions from ambient-noise cross-correlations in the period range from 5 to 25 s. From these Green's functions, we measure Rayleigh group traveltimes, utilizing all four components of the cross-correlation tensor, which are associated with Rayleigh waves (ZZ, RR, RZ and ZR), to exploit multiple measurements per station pair. A set of selection criteria is applied to ensure that we use high-quality recordings of fundamental Rayleigh modes. We regionalize the interstation group velocities in a 5 km × 5 km grid with an average path density of ∼20 paths per cell. From the resulting group-velocity maps, we extract local 1-D dispersion curves for each cell and invert all cells independently to retrieve the crustal shear-velocity structure of the study area. The resulting model provides a previously unachieved lateral resolution of seismic velocities in the region of ∼15 km. As major features, we image the Vienna Basin and Little Hungarian Plain as low-velocity anomalies, and the Bohemian Massif with high velocities. The edges of these features are marked with prominent velocity contrasts correlated with faults, such as the Alpine Front and Vienna Basin transfer fault system. The observed structures correlate well with surface geology, gravitational anomalies and the few known crystalline basement depths from boreholes. For depths larger than those reached by boreholes, the new model allows new insight into the complex structure of the Vienna Basin and surrounding areas, including deep low-velocity zones, which we image with previously unachieved detail. This model may be used in the future to interpret the deeper structures and tectonic evolution of the wider Vienna Basin region, evaluate natural resources, model wave propagation and improve earthquake locations, among others

Self-similarity of the largest-scale segmentation of the faults : implications for earthquake behavior

Earthquakes are sensitive to the along-strike segmentation of the faults they break, especially in their initiation, propagation and arrest. We examine that segmentation and search whether it shows any specific properties. We focus on the largest-scale fault segmentation which controls the largest earthquakes. It is well established that major segments within faults markedly shape their surface cumulative slip-length profiles; segments appear as large slip bumps separated by narrow, pronounced slip troughs (inter-segments). We use that property to examine the distribution (location, number, length) of the major segments in 927 active normal faults in Afar (East Africa) of various lengths (0.3-65 km), cumulative slips (1-1300 m), slip rates (0.5-5 mm/yr), and ages (10(4)-10(6)yr). This is the largest fault population ever analyzed. To identify the major bumps in the slip profiles and determine their number, location and length, we analyze the profiles using both the classical Fourier transform and a space-frequency representation of the profiles, the S-transform, which is well adapted for characterizing local spectral properties. Our work reveals the following results: irrespective of their length, 70% of the slip profiles have a triangular envelope shape, in conflict with the elastic crack concept. Irrespective of their length, the majority of the faults (at least 50-70%) have a limited number of major segments, between 2 and 5 and more commonly equal to 3-5. The largest-scale segmentation of the faults is thus self-similar and likely to be controlled by the fault mechanics. The slip deficits at the major inter-segment slip troughs tend to smooth as the faults accumulate more slip resulting in increased connection of the major segments. The faults having accumulated more slip therefore generally appear as un-segmented (10-30%). Our observations therefore show that, whatever the fault on which they initiate, large earthquakes face the same number of major segments to potentially break. The number of segments that they eventually break seems to depend on the slip history (structural maturity) of the fault