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The ongoing Indo-Eurasian convergence leads to great megathrust earthquakes in the Himalayan region, affecting the life and infrastructure of the world’s most densely populated areas adjoining the Himalaya. The ~2500-km long Himalayan arc has experienced several earthquakes having magnitude greater than Mw 7.5 during the last millennium. While palaeoseismic and fault slip-rate studies have gained pace during the last few decades in the Western and Central Himalayan regions, the Eastern Himalaya and contiguous regions remain understudied. Even though geological evidence of great earthquakes in 1697, 1714, and 1950 CE has been reported in the Eastern Himalaya, the lateral extent of their rupture is still debated due to limited and sparse palaeoseismic studies. Furthermore, the segmentation of the eastern Himalaya raises concerns about the role of sub-surface transverse structures in controlling the rupture propagation of large to great earthquakes. Hence, we have compiled all the palaeo-earthquake studies carried out in the eastern part of the Himalayan convergent plate margin of the Indian Subcontinent and identified the potential gap areas with the slip deficit, which are capable of generating Mw > 8 earthquakes in the future. This study aims to provide a foundation for future palaeo-earthquake studies, which are crucial in understanding the earthquake recurrence and the strain release pattern in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinking of intermontane basins and expansion of their flanking ranges by reverse faulting and backthrusting in two counter-dipping systems is a typical mechanism of crustal shortening and mountain building in Central Asia. This mechanism is realized along the Kurai Fault Zone (southeastern Gorny Altai). Motions on two reverse fault systems maintained thrusting of the Kurai Range and the Kubadru Uplift on the Kurai Basin sediments and caused the growth of a foreberg before the mountain front. Forberg separates narrow Aktash Basin from the Kurai Basin. The paleoearthquakes were generated by reverse faults that delineate the foreberg. Analysis of the QuickBird satellite images, drone imagery, trenching, archaeoseismological research, radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, and previous results show that eleven large (МW = 6.5–7.6) paleoearthquakes left traces as surface ruptures along the Kurai Fault Zone: twice before 7.5 ka BP, three events between 7.5 and 5.9 ka BP (7.0, 6.3, and 5.9–5.8 ka BP), one from 5.8 to 4.6 ka BP, four more at 4.6, 3.2, 1.5, and 1.3–1.2 ka BP, and the ultimate earthquake no older than 1450–1650 AD. The time difference between large earthquakes was from 200 to 1700 years. Surface faulting occurred mainly along the northern border of the foreberg where fault scarps are progressively younger northward and the Cenozoic sediments of the Aktash Basin thus become involved into uplift. GPR data to a depth of 12 m confirm the complex structure and slip geometry of the observed surface ruptures. The fault scarps are located < 1 km from the planned route of the gas pipeline from Russia to China, and the potential seismic hazard has to be taken into account in its design and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable palaeoseismological data are crucial for understanding the rupture history and seismic hazard assessment of a specific seismogenic structure. Many large earthquakes occurred around the Ordos Block of northern China. However, due to insufficient age data and event interpretations, the rupture patterns of the block are still poorly known. This study focuses on the central section of the Serteng Shan fault that is situated at the north margin of the Ordos Block. We present palaeoseismic sequence of faults using trenches combined with dating methods, including optically stimulated luminescence and 14C dating. We collected eleven optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and seven radiocarbon samples to constrain the timing of palaeoseismic events in the excavated trench exposures along the fault strand. The results show that the studied samples were deposited since the latest Pleistocene, and the ages are, within uncertainty, in the stratigraphic order. The cause of the most recent surface rupture is still not clear. Four other older events, which occurred in 3.1–3.9 ka, 5.8−6.5 ka, 10.8–13.1 ka, and 14.2–16.5 ka, likely extended at different lengths along the Serteng Shan fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Geological Survey of Israel (GSI) was founded in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel. Over the years, changes of the research directions were dictated by national needs as the population grew from less than 1 million to more than 9 million in 2020 in a small country of only 22,000 km2 with highly diverse geological features. This was associated with a change in the structure of the survey and establishing it as a key player in sustainable development and effective utilization of natural resources. It became possible by the upgrade of the staff levels and the research facilities after the survey was recognized as an independent research institute by the government. The achievement of the GSI as an applied science organization in response to the country's ever-developing challenges is going hand in hand with becoming an international geo-scientific recognized organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantify flexural deformation of subducting oceanic plates at a global array of 15 ocean trenches, using a new approach of modelling spatial variations in flexural bending shape and curvature. The investigated trenches are chosen to represent a diverse range of subducting plate age of 24–150 Ma, including the Middle America, Peru, Chile, West and East Aleutian, Sumatra, North and South Philippine, Tonga, Kermadec, Kuril, Japan, Izu-Bonin, and South and North Mariana. The studied trenches show systematic intra- and inter-trench variability in the calculated flexural bending curvature, stress distribution, extensional brittle yield zone, and effective elastic plate thickness Te of the subducting plates. We find that subducting plate age is a critical factor controlling the bending curvature and the corresponding extensional yield zone. The width, depth, and area of the extensional yield zone are all calculated to increase systematically with the subducting plate age. The newly-developed curvature analysis can yield continuously varying apparent Te(x) from the trench axis to outer rise. The calculated extensional yield zones from the curvature analysis are in general consistent with the observed normal faulting earthquakes of magnitude≥6.0 at the 15 global trenches. Our analyses also reveal that the five deepest regions of the global trenches, i.e. the Challenger, Horizon, Serena, and Scholl Deeps and Galathea Depth, are associated with relatively large flexural bending and calculated yield zones comparing to their respective adjacent trench segments. The Serena and Challenger Deeps of the S. Mariana trench are calculated to have the largest flexural bending among the five deeps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate estimation of fault slip rate is fundamental to seismic hazard assessment. Previous work suggested a discrepancy between short-term geodetic and long-term geologic slip rates in the Mojave Desert section of the Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ). Understanding the origin of this discrepancy can improve understanding of earthquake hazard and fault evolution. We measured offsets in alluvial fans along the Calico Fault near Newberry Springs, California, and used several techniques to date the offset landforms and determine a slip rate. Our preferred slip rate estimate is 3.2 ± 0.4 mm/yr, representing an average over the last few hundred thousand years, faster than previous estimates. Seismic hazard associated with this fault may therefore be higher than previously assumed. We discuss possible biases in the various slip rate estimates and discuss possible reasons for the rate discrepancy. We suggest that the ECSZ discrepancy is an artefact of limited data, and represents a combination of faster slip on the Calico Fault, off-fault deformation, unmapped fault strands, and uncertainties in the geologic rates that have been underestimated. Assuming our new rate estimate is correct and a fair amount (40%) of off-fault deformation occurs on major ECSZ faults, the summed geologic rate estimate across the Mojave section of the ECSZ is 10.5 ± 3.1 mm/yr, which is equivalent within uncertainties to the geodetic rate estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palaeoseismological and archaeoseismological studies in the Kurai fault zone, along which the Kurai Range is thrust onto Cenozoic deposits of the Chuya intramontane basin, led to the identification of a long reverse fault scarp 8.0 m high. The scarp segments are primary seismic deformations of large ancient earthquakes. The scarp’s morphology, results of trenching investigations, and deformations of Neogene deposits indicate a thrusting of the piedmont plain onto the Kurai Range, which is unique for the Gorny Altai. Similarly for Northern Tien Shan, we explain this by the formation of both a thrust transporting the mountain range onto the depression and a branching thrust dislocation that forms the detected fault scarp. In a trench made in one of the scarp segments, we identified the parameters of the seismogenic fault – a thrust with a 30° dipping plane. The reconstructed displacement along the fault plane is 4.8 m and the vertical displacement is 2.4 m, which indicates a 7.2–7.6 magnitude of the ancient earthquake. The14C age of the humus-rich loamy sand from the lower part of the colluvial wedge constrains the age of the earthquake at 3403–3059 years BP. Younger than 2500 years seismogenic displacements along the fault scarp are indicated by deformations of cairn structures of the Turalu–Dzhyurt-III burial mound, which was previously dated as iron age between the second half of I BC and I AD. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The mechanism for uplift of the eastern Tibetan Plateau is still a matter of debate. There are two main models: extrusion and crustal flow. These models have been tested by surface observations, but questions about the uplift remain. In addition, the devastating 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake along the Longmen Shan fault zone (LMSFZ) reminds us that the tectonic activity within eastern Tibet is complex and poses a major natural hazard. This activity is accompanied by dramatic uplift along the LMSFZ, but only minor convergence (<4 mm year–1) against the Sichuan basin is observed. In order to investigate the mechanism for uplift of Longmen Shan (LMS) area, we explored the lithospheric structure across the Songpan–Ganzi terrane (SGT), LMS, and western Sichuan basin by undertaking an integrated analysis of a variety of data including new, logistically challenging controlled-source seismic profiling (reflection and refraction) results, receiver function estimates of crustal thickness, gravity and magnetic data, GPS data, and geologic constraints. Our analysis of crustal structure indicates that the crust is not thick enough to support its current elevation and that the crust is essentially composed of three layers of similar thickness. Thus, based on our crustal structure model, 2D numerical modelling was conducted to investigate uplift mechanisms. The modelling results indicate that the middle crust beneath the SGT is the most ductile layer, which is the key factor responsible for the crustal-scale faulting, earthquake behaviour, and periods of uplift. In addition, the modelling results indicate that the strong Sichuan block acts as a backstop for the thrusting along the LMS and crustal thickening to the west. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tomographic travel-time inversion has been applied to trace the subducted slab of the South China Sea (SCS) beneath the Manila Trench. The dataset, taken from the International Seismological Centre (1960–2008), is composed of 13,087 P-wave arrival times from 1401 regional earthquakes and 8834 from 1350 teleseismic events. The results image the different morphology of the subducted SCS slab as a high-velocity zone. The subducting angle of the slab varies along the trench: at 16° N and 16.5° N, the slab dips at a low angle (24° ~ 32°) for 20–250 km depth and at a moderate angle (50°) for ~250–400 km depth. At 17° N, the slab dips at a low angle (32°) to near 400 km depth, and at 17.5° N and 18° N the slabs are near vertical from 70 ~ 700 km depth, while at 20° N the high-velocity anomalies exhibit features from horizontal abruptly to near vertical, extending to 500 km depth. The dramatic steepening of the slab between 17° N and 17.5° N may indicate a slab tear, which is coincident with the axis of a fossil ridge within the SCS slab at around 17° N. In addition, low-velocity zones in the three profiles above 300 km depth may represent the formation of the slab window, induced by ridge subduction and slab tear, initiating upward mantle flow and resulting in the partial melting of the edge of the slab. The slab tear could explain the volcanic gap and geochemical difference between the extinct Miocene and Quaternary volcanoes in the Luzon Arc, the much higher heat flow around the fossil ridge, and the distribution of most of the adakites and the related porphyry Cu-Au deposits in the Luzon area. Based on the geometry and morphology of the subducted slab and certain assumptions, we calculate the initial time of ridge subduction, which implies that ridge subduction and slab tear possibly started at ~8 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 28 March 1970, an unexpected and destructive earthquake (Ms = 7.2) originated along the Erdoğmuş fault (EF), which forms the southern margin of the modern Erdoğmuş–Yenigediz graben in the central part of the Akşehir–Simav fault system. The EF is a N-dipping normal fault, ∼12 km long, generally E–W-trending, and characterized by a minor right-lateral strike–slip component. To determine its past activity, a palaeoseismological exploratory trenching study was conducted. Two trenches (EFT-1 and EFT-2) were excavated on the ground surface rupture of the 1970 Gediz earthquake near Erdoğmuş village. Based on the relative displacement between units observed and mapped in EFT-1, at least three events were identified. Two events were also identified in EFT-2. Only one of the events in EFT-1 can be dated via14C. The estimated recurrence interval on the EF is ∼910 ± 40 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Songshugou ultramafic massif is located to the north of the Shang-Dan fault, the Palaeozoic suture between the North and South China blocks. It is the largest Apline-type ultramafic body in the Qinling orogenic belt of central China, consisting mainly of dunite with a small amount of harzburgite and minor pyroxenite. We present new LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating and trace element results for zircon from two garnet amphibolite samples in the contact metamorphic zone surrounding the massif. One was sampled ∼1 m from the massif, the other ∼5 m away. The studied zircon grains are small, anhedral, and display typical metamorphic characteristics of low Th/U values (<0.1). The U and Th concentrations of zircon range from several hundred ppm to less than 10 ppm. Cathodoluminescence images show two apparent generations of zircon, with lighter cores and darker rims. Core and rim ages however, are identical within error. These two samples yield identical concordant ages of 506±7 and 510±7 Ma, suggesting that the Songshugou ultramafic massif was emplaced at ∼510 Ma. Low HREE concentrations and the absence of Eu anomalies in most analysed zircons suggest that the studied grains most likely formed during garnet amphibolite metamorphism induced by emplacement of the ultramafic massif. To better understand the cooling history of the massif, 40Ar/39Ar ages of amphibole from three garnet amphibolite specimens in the contact metamorphic zone and one amphobolite sample about 20 m away from the massif were determined. The 40Ar/39Ar ages increase from 372±15 Ma (JSM-01) near the massif to disturbed, unreliable 'plateau' ages of 474±8 Ma (JSM-03) and 781±146 Ma (JSM-04) with increasing distance from the ultramafic massif, showing limited heating during exhumation of the massif, followed by slow cooling. Therefore, the Songshugou ultramafic massif does not reflect the Jining orogeny at ∼1 Ga. Instead, it was emplaced into the Proterozoic, Qinling Group during the Palaeozoic, probably due to the subduction along the Shang-Dan fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]