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How tectonic plates slip slowly and episodically along their boundaries, is a major, open question in earthquake science. Here, we use offshore in-situ sediment pore-pressure acquired in the proximity of the active offshore Main Marmara Fault and onshore geodetic time-series data set from a single GPS station to demonstrate the pore-pressure/deformation coupling during a 10-month slow-slip event. We show that pore pressure fluctuations are the expression of hydro-mechanical process affecting the deep seismogenic zone and indicate that small disturbances in geodetic data may have important meaning in terms of transient deformations. These results have major implications in understanding the spatial impact of slow-slip processes and their role in earthquake cycles. We demonstrate that piezometers measuring along a transform fault can help define the time scale regulating the coupling between slow-slip events and earthquake nucleation process. This study shows a direct evidence of pore pressure changes in seabed sediments associated with slow and transient slip along the North Anatolian Fault. This is a major contribution to our understanding of the role of slow-slip events in earthquake cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 3D and 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic reflection data in the Western High-Sea of Marmara, this study reviews shallow gas occurrence and related structures and classifies gas conduit systems within the upper, few hundred meter-thick sediment layers below the seafloor. Acoustic anomalies including high amplitude-reverse polarity reflections (bright spots), low amplitude transparent zones, chaotic or discontinuous reflections, pull-down effects, and plumes in the water column are interpreted in terms of natural gas occurrence and fluid flow structures (e.g., mud volcanoes, pockmarks). The gas occurrence is thought to be mostly of thermogenic origin. Mud volcanoes are one of the primary gas conduits forming craters on the seabed due to overpressure of fluidized gassy sediment flows. Following the reach of the Northern Branch of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF-N) to the Western High, the thermogenic fluids are believed to migrate vertically and horizontally to shallow depths mainly through the faults. Natural gas most probably originates from the Thrace Basin Eocene source rock or the Eocene-Oligocene reservoir rock, which extends below the Western High. Shallow gas is distributed by minor faults and gas pipes. Gas, to some extent, emanates from the seafloor via pockmarks and mud volcanoes or is trapped by the crests of the anticlines coinciding with erosional surfaces, impermeable sediments, and gas hydrate-bearing layers. Shallow traps below the tectonized “Western High” structure are likely located in thin layers of sands imbedded with impermeable silty clay layers. However, there is no shallow reservoir in the usual sense within the upper layers imaged by the 3D seismic data (< 300 ms two-way travel time). The existence of gas is an indicator of hydrocarbon-rich layers at depth and of active tectonics, and it also impacts the global climate and marine life conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large earthquakes on mid-ocean ridge transform faults are commonly preceded by foreshocks and changes in the seismic properties of the fault zone. These seismic precursors could be linked to fluid-related processes. Hydrothermal fluids within young, hot crust near the intersection of oceanic transform faults are probably in a supercritical condition. At constant temperature, supercritical fluids become significantly more compressible with decreasing pressure, with potential impacts on fault behaviour. Here we use a theoretical model to show that oceanic transform faults can switch from dilatant and progressive deformation to rupture in response to fluid-related processes. We assume that the fault core material behaves according to a Cam-clay-type constitutive law, which is commonly used to account for the behaviour of clays. According to our model, we find that the fault is initially stable, with stresses gradually increasing over a timescale of years in response to tectonic loading. The fault evolves into a metastable phase, lasting a few days, during which the fault rocks dilate and pore pressures decrease, causing the compressibility of the supercritical fluids to increase. This in turn triggers fault-slip instability that creates foreshock swarms. In the final phase, the fault fails in the mainshock rupture. Our results imply that seismic precursors are caused by changes in fluid pressure which result in variations in fluid compressibility, in response to rock deformation just before rupture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rotating, acoustic gas bubble detector, BOB (Bubble OBservatory) module was deployed during two surveys, conducted in 2009 and 2011 respectively, to study the temporal variations of gas emissions from the Marmara seafloor, along the North Anatolian Fault zone. The echosounder mounted on the instrument insonifies an angular sector of 7° during a given duration (of about 1 h). Then it rotates to the next, near-by angular sector and so forth. When the full angular domain is insonified, the 'pan and tilt system' rotates back to its initial position, in order to start a new cycle (of about 1 day). The acoustic data reveal that gas emission is not a steady process, with observed temporal variations ranging between a few minutes and 24 h (from one cycle to the other). Echo-integration and inversion performed on the acoustic data as described in the companion paper of Leblond et al. (Mar Geophys Res, ), also indicate important variations in, respectively, the target strength and the volumetric flow rates of individual sources. However, the observed temporal variations may not be related to the properties of the gas source only, but reflect possible variations in sea-bottom currents, which could deviate the bubble train towards the neighboring sector. During the 2011 survey, a 4-component ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) was co-located at the seafloor, 59 m away from the BOB module. The acoustic data from our rotating, monitoring system support, but do not provide undisputable evidence to confirm, the hypothesis formulated by Tary et al. (), that the short-duration, non-seismic micro-events recorded by the OBS are likely produced by gas-related processes within the near seabed sediments. Hence, the use of a multibeam echosounder, or of several split beam echosounders should be preferred to rotating systems, for future experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continental shelf in the Arctic north of Russia consists of a series of epicontinental seas, which are the offshore continuation of potentially oil and gas basins on land. The geology of all these epicontinental seas is poorly known, due to the remoteness, the extreme climatic conditions and the extensive costs associated with seismic exploration. Radar altimeter sensors thus provide an invaluable tool for studying the geological structures off the coast. The unique ERS-1 contribution comes from its high latitude coverage (81.5 deg south to north), and the space and time density of its measurements (168-day repeat-orbit). The gravity anomaly field is derived from the geoid height measurements by computing the deflections of the vertical in the north-south and east-west directions and transforming these deflections into gravity anomalies. The gravimetry reveals interesting features of the basement of the Barents and Kara Seas which have not been chartered in recent, previous compilation maps of sedimentary thickness in the Arctic Ocean (Jackson and Oakey, 1988; Gramberg and Puscharovski, 1989). We obtain no indication of the SE-NW offshore Baikalian trend described by Fichler et al (1997) using ERS-1 gravimetry. Instead, the data indicate the presence of a north-south trending gravity high associated with the maximum sediment thickness within the South Barents Sea and the North Barents Sea Basins. Further geological studies are needed to interpret the gravimetric data, which directly addresses the problem of understanding the gravity signature of deep, old, sedimentary basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using offshore geodetic observations, we show that a segment of the North Anatolian Fault in the central Sea of Marmara is locked and therefore accumulating strain. The strain accumulation along this fault segment was previously extrapolated from onshore observations or inferred from the absence of seismicity, but both methods could not distinguish between fully locked or fully creeping fault behavior. A network of acoustic transponders measured crustal deformation with mm-precision on the seafloor for 2.5 years and did not detect any significant fault displacement. Absence of deformation together with sparse seismicity monitored by ocean bottom seismometers indicates complete fault locking to at least 3 km depth and presumably into the crystalline basement. The slip-deficit of at least 4 m since the last known rupture in 1766 is equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 to 7.4 in the Sea of Marmara offshore metropolitan Istanbul. The state of the Main Marmara Fault (fault segment of the North Anatolian Fault) is widely discussed, towards whether it is creeping or locked. The authors here present seafloor geodetic measurements which indicate a complete locking of the fault in the central part of the Sea of Marmara. This provides significant information for the assessment of both seismic and potential tsunami hazard to Istanbul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The affiliation of Pierre Henry should have been the following: Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll France, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France. This correction was requested by Aix-Marseille University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]