Search

Accuracy of hypocenter location, in particular focal depth, is a precondition for high‐resolution seismotectonic analysis of natural and induced seismicity. For instance, linking seismicity with mapped fault segments requires hypocenter accuracy at the sub‐kilometer scale. In this study, we demonstrate that inaccurate velocity models and improper phase selection can bias absolute hypocenter locations and location uncertainties, resulting in errors larger than the targeted accuracy. To avoid such bias in densely instrumented seismic networks, we propose a coupled hypocenter‐velocity inversion procedure restricted to direct, first‐arriving, mainly upper‐crustal Pg and Sg phases. On the basis of synthetic tests and selected ground‐truth events we demonstrate that a sub‐kilometer hypocenter accuracy can be achieved by regional‐scale, three‐dimensional Pg and Sg velocity models combined with dynamic phase selection and a non‐linear location algorithm. The tomographic inversion uses about 60,000 Pg and 30,000 Sg quality‐checked phases of local earthquakes in the Central Alps region. The derived models image the VP and VS structure of the Central Alps upper crust at unprecedented resolution, including small‐scale anomalies such as those caused by Subalpine Molasse units below the Alpine front. The relocation procedure is applied to more than 18,000 earthquakes and the relocated hypocenters reveal previously unrecognized seismogenic structures, for instance in the Swiss Molasse basin south of Bern. The ML 4.6 Urnerboden earthquake of 2017 is used as an example to demonstrate how the derived 3D velocity structure and relocated hypocenters can be jointly interpreted to constrain the lithology hosting upper‐crustal seismicity in the Central Alps. Plain Language Summary: To better understand how mountain belts like the European Alps presently deform and what are the plate‐tectonic forces driving this deformation requires accurate knowledge of the location of earthquakes within these continental collision zones. In this study, we achieve an accuracy of less than a kilometer for earthquake locations in Switzerland, based on detailed knowledge of the subsurface structure of the Earth's crust. We use three‐dimensional tomographic imaging methods to improve subsurface structural models of the Central Alps. These models also provide new insights into the geological structure of this mountain range and in combination with the improved earthquake locations allow for detailed studies of present‐day tectonic processes. Key Points: Sub‐kilometer hypocenter accuracy is achieved with dynamically selected Pg and Sg phases, in combination with 3D crustal velocity modelsNew 3D VP and VS models image the upper crust of the Central Alps region at unprecedented resolutionJoint interpretation of relocated hypocenters and seismic velocities can constrain lithologies hosting seismicity in the Central Alps [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We integrate structural, geophysical, and geodetic studies showing that the Dinarides‐Hellenides orogen along the Adria‐Europe plate boundary in the Western Balkan peninsula has experienced clockwise oroclinal bending since Eocene‐Oligocene time. Rotation of the Hellenic segment of this orogen has accelerated since the middle Miocene and is associated with a north‐to‐south increase in shortening along the orogenic front. Within the Paleogene nappe pile, bending was accommodated by orogen‐parallel extension, clockwise block rotation, and thrusting in the hanging wall of the Skhoder‐Peja Normal Fault (SPNF). The SPNF and related faults cut the older Skhoder‐Peja Transfer Zone with its pre‐Neogene dextral offset of the West Vardar ophiolite nappe. Rotation of the SPNF hanging wall involved Miocene‐to‐recent, out‐of‐sequence thrusting that was transferred to the Hellenic orogenic front via lateral ramps on dextral transfer zones. Along strike of the Dinarides‐Hellenides and coincident with the southward increase in Neogene shortening, the depth of the Adriatic slab increases from ~160 km north of the SPNF to ~200 km just to the south thereof, to several hundreds of kilometers to the south of the Kefalonia Transfer Zone. The geodynamic driver of tectonics since the early Miocene has been enhanced rollback of the Hellenic segment of the Adriatic slab in the aftermath of Eocene‐Oligocene slab tearing and breakoff beneath the Dinarides, which focused slab pull in the south. The SW‐retreating Hellenic slab segment induced clockwise bending of the southern Dinarides and northern Hellenides, including their Adriatic foreland, about a rotation pole in the vicinity of the Mid‐Adriatic Ridge. Key Points: The junction of the Dinarides and Hellenides is the site of a N‐to‐S increase in Neogene shortening and upper‐plate extensionThis shortening reflects oroclinal bending about a pole near the Mid‐Adriatic Ridge that has been driven by Hellenic rollback subductionThe Shkoder‐Peja Normal Fault accommodated Neogene orogen‐parallel extension and clockwise rotation of shallower levels of the orogen [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waning stage(s) of the Tethyan ocean(s) in the Balkans are not well understood. Controversy centres on the origin and life-span of the Cretaceous Sava Zone, which is allegedly a remnant of the last oceanic domain in the Balkan Peninsula, defining the youngest suture between Eurasia- and Adria-derived plates. In order to investigate to what extent Late-Cretaceous volcanism within the Sava Zone is consistent with this model we present new age data together with trace-element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data for the Klepa basaltic lavas from the central Balkan Peninsula. Our new geochemical data show marked differences between the Cretaceous Klepa basalts (Sava Zone) and the rocks of other volcanic sequences from the Jurassic ophiolites of the Balkans. The Klepa basalts mostly have Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic and trace-element signatures that resemble enriched within-plate basalts substantially different from Jurassic ophiolite basalts with MORB, BAB and IAV affinities. Trace-element modelling of the Klepa rocks indicates 2%-20% polybaric melting of a relatively homogeneously metasomatised mantle source that ranges in composition from garnet lherzolite to ilmenite+apatite bearing spinel-amphibole lherzolite. Thus, the residual mineralogy is characteristic of a continental rather than oceanic lithospheric mantle source, suggesting an intracontinental within-plate origin for the Klepa basalts. Two alternative geodynamic models are internally consistent with our new findings: (1) if the Sava Zone represents remnants of the youngest Neotethyan Ocean, magmatism along this zone would be situated within the forearc region and triggered by ridge subduction; (2) if the Sava Zone delimits a diffuse tectonic boundary between Adria and Europe which had already collided in the Late Jurassic, the Klepa basalts together with a number of other magmatic centres represent volcanism related to transtensional tectonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Srednogorie Late Cretaceous magmatic arc in the Carpathian-Balkan orogen formed on the European margin during closure of the Neotethys Ocean. It was subsequently deformed into a complex orocline by continental collisions. The Cu-Au mineralized arc consists of geologically distinct segments: the Apuseni, Banat, Timok, Panagyurishte, and Eastern Srednogorie segments. New U-Pb zircon ages and geochemical whole rock data for the Banat and Apuseni segments are combined with previously published data to reconstruct the original arc geometry and better constrain its tectonic evolution. Trace element and isotopic signatures of the arc magmas indicate a subduction-enriched source in all segments and variable contamination by continental crust. The magmatic arc was active for 25 Myr (~92-67 Ma). Across-arc age trends of progressively younger ages toward the inferred paleo-trench indicate gradual steepening of the subducting slab away from the upper plate European margin. This leads to asthenospheric corner flow in the overriding plate, which is recorded by decreasing 87Sr/86Sr (0.70577 to 0.70373) and increasing 143Nd/144Nd (0.51234 to 0.51264) ratios over time in some segments. The close spatial relationship between arc magmatism, large-scale shear zones, and related strike-slip sedimentary basins in the Timok and Pangyurishte segments indicates mild transtension in these central segments of the restored arc. In contrast, the Eastern Srednogorie segment underwent strong orthogonal intraarc extension. Segmental distribution of tectonic stress may account for the concentration of rich porphyry Cu deposits in the transtensional segments, where lower crustal magma storage and fractionation favored the evolution of volatile-rich magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aegean region (Greece, western Turkey) is one of the best studied continental extensional provinces. Here, we provide the first detailed kinematic restoration of the Aegean region since 35 Ma. The region consists of stacked upper crustal slices (nappes) that reflect a complex paleogeography. These were decoupled from the subducting African-Adriatic lithospheric slab. Especially since ∼25 Ma, extensional detachments cut the nappe stack and exhumed its metamorphosed portions in metamorphic core complexes. We reconstruct up to 400 km of trench-perpendicular (NE-SW) extension in two stages. From 25 to 15 Ma, the Aegean forearc rotated clockwise relative to the Moesian platform around Euler poles in northern Greece, accommodated by extensional detachments in the north and an inferred transfer fault SE of the Menderes massif. The majority of extension occurred after 15 Ma (up to 290 km) by opposite rotations of the western and eastern parts of the region. Simultaneously, the Aegean region underwent up to 650 km of post-25 Ma trench-parallel extension leading to dramatic crustal thinning on Crete. We restore a detachment configuration with the Mid-Cycladic Lineament representing a detachment that accommodated trench-parallel extension in the central Aegean region. Finally, we demonstrate that the Sakarya zone and Cretaceous ophiolites of Turkey cannot be traced far into the Aegean region and are likely bounded by a pre-35 Ma N-S fault zone. This fault became reactivated since 25 Ma as an extensional detachment located west of Lesbos Island. The paleogeographic units south of the İzmir-Ankara-Sava suture, however, can be correlated from Greece to Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tectonic and metamorphic data for the Central Alps (Switzerland/Italy) are used to discuss this classic example of a Barrovian metamorphic terrain, notably the evolution of its thermal structure in space and time. Available P-T-t data indicate variable contributions of advective and conductive heat transport during collision and subsequent cooling and exhumation. Some areas experienced a prolonged period of partial melting while other areas, at the same time, show but moderate heating. The Barrow-type metamorphic field gradient observed in the final orogen is the result of two distinct tectonic processes, with their related advective and conductive heat transport processes. The two tectonic processes are (1) accretion of material within a subduction channel related to decompression and emplacement of high-pressure units in the middle crust and (2) wedging and related nappe formation in the continental lower plate. The second process postdates the first one. Wedging and underthrusting of continental lower plate material produces heat input into lower crustal levels, and this process is responsible for predominantly conductive heat transport in the overlying units. The interacting processes lead to different maximum temperatures at different times, producing the final Barrovian metamorphic field gradient. The south experienced rapid cooling, whereas the north shows moderate cooling rates. This discrepancy principally reflects differences in the temperature distribution in the deeper crust prior to cooling. Differences in the local thermal gradient that prevailed before the cooling also determined the relationships between cooling rate and exhumation rate in the different areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sava Zone of the northern Dinarides is part of the Cenozoic Adria-Europe plate boundary. Here Late Cretaceous subduction of remnants of Meliata-Vardar oceanic lithosphere led to the formation of a suture, across which upper plate European-derived units of Tisza-Dacia were juxtaposed with Adria-derived units of the Dinarides. Late Cretaceous siliciclastic sediments, deposited on the Adriatic plate, were incorporated into an accretionary wedge that evolved during the initial stages of continent-continent collision. Structurally deeper parts of the exposed accretionary wedge underwent amphibolite-grade metamorphism. Grt-Pl-Ms-Bt thermobarometry and multiphase equilibria indicate temperatures between 550°C and 630°C and pressures between 5 and 7 kbar for this event. Peak metamorphic conditions were reached at around 65 Ma. Relatively slow cooling from peak metamorphic conditions throughout most of the Paleogene was possibly induced by hanging wall erosion in conjunction with southwest directed propagation of thrusting in the Dinarides. Accelerated cooling took place in Miocene times, when the Sava Zone underwent substantial extension that led to the exhumation of the metamorphosed units along a low-angle detachment. Footwall exhumation started under greenschist facies conditions and was associated with top-to-the-north tectonic transport, indicating exhumation from below European plate units. Extension postdates the emplacement of a 27 Ma old granitoid that underwent solid-state deformation under greenschist facies conditions. The 40Ar/39Ar sericite and zircon and apatite fission track ages from the footwall allow bracketing this extensional unroofing between 25 and 14 Ma. This extension is hence linked to Miocene rift-related subsidence in the Pannonian basin, which represents a back-arc basin formed due to subduction rollback in the Carpathians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terra Nova, 00, 1–8, 2010 The present tectonic activity of the Jura fold-and-thrust belt is a matter of scientific debate. At its north-western front, differentially uplifted palaeo-meanders of the Doubs River record Late Quaternary growth of the Citadelle Anticline, associated with a minimum rock uplift of 13 m. Local rock uplift rates estimated from optical stimulated luminescence dating of oxbow lake deposits measure 0.17 ± 0.05 mm per annum. Reconstruction of the deformation history reveals that buckling took place simultaneously with focused Pleistocene river incision. The structural, geomorphic and temporal setting suggests that active deformation could possibly be sustained by incision-related erosion. These observations shed new light on the modes of recent deformation in the Jura Mountains and on the present-day dynamics of the Alpine orogenic front. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigated HP/LT metasedimentary units of the Valaisan and adjacent European domains occupy a key position in the Alpine belt for understanding the transition from early subduction-related HP/LT metamorphism to collision-related Barrovian overprint and the evolution of mountain belts in general. The timing of high-pressure metamorphism, subsequent retrogression and following Barrow-type overprint was studied by 40Ar/39Ar dating of biotite and several white mica generations that are well characterized in terms of mineral chemistry, texture and associated mineral assemblages. Four distinct age populations of white mica record peak pressure conditions (42-40 Ma) and several stages of subsequent retrograde metamorphic evolution (36-25 Ma). Biotite isotopic analyses yield consistent apparent ages that cluster around 18-16 Ma for the Barrow-type thermal overprint. The recorded isotopic data reveal a significant time gap in the order of some 20 Ma between subduction-related HP/LT metamorphism and collision-related Barrovian overprint, supporting the notion of a polymetamorphic evolution associated with a bimodal P-T path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates spatial and temporal interactions of thin- and thick-skinned tectonics in a classical foreland setting located at the front of the Jura fold-and-thrust belt in eastern France. The working area coincides with the intracontinental Rhine-Bresse Transfer Zone and represents the most external front of the deformed Alpine foreland. The investigation combines analyses of largely unpublished and newly available subsurface information with our own structural data, including an exhaustive paleostress analysis and geomorphologic observations. Results are provided in the form of a new tectonic map and a series of regional cross sections through the study area. The Besançon Zone, forming the most external part of the thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt, encroached onto the Eo-Oligocene Rhine-Bresse Transfer Fault System until early Pliocene times. Thrust propagation was largely controlled by the Late Paleozoic to Paleogene preexisting fault pattern that characterizes the Rhine-Bresse Transfer Zone. Thick-skinned deformation, dominant throughout the Avant-Monts Zone located farther to the west, was associated with compressional to transpressional reactivation of such faults. Overprinting and crosscutting criteria of fault slip data allow distinguishing between systematically fanning maximum horizontal stress axes that define the front of the thin-skinned Jura fold-and-thrust belt and consistently NW-SE directed maximum horizontal stress axes that characterize deformation of the autochthonous cover of the foreland, which is affected by thick-skinned tectonics. Tectonic and geomorphic analyses indicate that thick-skinned tectonics started at a very late stage of foreland deformation (post-early Pliocene). Geomorphic observations imply that deformation between Mesozoic cover and basement is locally still decoupled. However, overprinting relationships and recent seismicity suggest that present-day tectonic activity is thick skinned, which probably reflects ongoing tectonic underplating in the Alpine foreland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the formation of the northernmost anticlines of the late Miocene to early Pliocene thin-skinned Jura fold-and-thrust belt and provides evidence that a transition to thick-skinned tectonics did occur in this particular area during the late Pliocene. The northernmost anticlines of the Jura fold-and-thrust belt are characterized by pronounced along-strike asymmetries that were predetermined by a fault pattern inherited from Paleogene Upper Rhine Graben rifting. This fault pattern had disrupted the Triassic basal décollement of the Jura Mountains and controlled the nucleation of thrusts and folds, as well as transfer zones during the generally (N)NW directed transport of the detached sedimentary cover. Sinistral, transpressive oblique ramps nucleated along Paleogene, NNE trending basement normal faults and led to a northward protrusion of the Jura front, encroaching onto the southernmost Upper Rhine Graben. Shortening across the frontal anticlines is greatest along the oblique ramps and decreases along strike toward the east, necessitating a gentle clockwise rotation of the detached sediments. Despite the fact that the stress field in the sedimentary cover remained unchanged, thin-skinned folding and thrusting came to a halt in the early Pliocene, giving way to thick-skinned tectonics, very probably governing neotectonic activity in the area. This transition might represent a geodynamic reorganization of the northwestern Alpine foreland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Nappe refolding, back-thrusting and normal faulting frequently cause severe late-stage overprinting of the architecture of an orogen. A combined investigation of nappe stack polarity, kinematics of shearing and metamorphic gradients in the Western Alps develops criteria for distinguishing between these three modes of late-stage deformation. This distinction is a prerequisite for any retro-deformation necessary for understanding the main tectonic and metamorphic evolution of collisional orogens. In the case of the Western Alps overprint was by mega-scale nappe refolding in the Oligocene. This implies exhumation of the HP-rocks prior to postnappe folding, i.e. during nappe stacking and by foreland-directed ascent within a subduction channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]