Zoë K. Mildon, Manuel Diercks, Gerald P. Roberts, Joanna P. Faure Walker, Athanassios Ganas, Ioannis Papanikolaou, Vassilis Sakas, Jenni Robertson, Claudia Sgambato, Sam Mitchell
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Geodetically-derived deformation rates are sometimes used to infer seismic hazard, implicitly assuming that short-term (annual-decadal) deformation is representative of longer-term deformation. This is despite geological observations indicating that deformation/slip rates are variable over a range of timescales. Using geodetic data from 2016 to 2021, we observe an up to 7-fold increase in vertical deformation rate in mid-2019 across the Pisia-Skinos normal fault in Greece. We hypothesize that this deformation is aseismic as there is no temporally correlated increase in the earthquake activity (M > 1). We explore four possible physical mechanisms, and our preferred hypothesis is that the transient deformation is caused by centimeter-scale slip in the upper 5 km of the Pisia fault zone. This is the first observation of shallow tectonic (i.e., not related to human activities) aseismic deformation on a normal fault globally. Our results suggest that continental normal faults can exhibit variable deformation over shorter timescales than previously observed, and thus care should be taken when utilizing geodetic rates to quantify seismic hazard.
期刊介绍:
Tectonics (TECT) presents original scientific contributions that describe and explain the evolution, structure, and deformation of Earth¹s lithosphere. Contributions are welcome from any relevant area of research, including field, laboratory, petrological, geochemical, geochronological, geophysical, remote-sensing, and modeling studies. Multidisciplinary studies are particularly encouraged. Tectonics welcomes studies across the range of geologic time.