Browsing by Author "Mothes, P. A."
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Item Restricted Distribution of discrete seismic asperities and aseismic slip along the Ecuadorian megathrust(Elsevier, 2014-08-15) Chlieh, Mohamed; Mothes, P. A.; Nocquet, J.-M.; Jarrin, P.; Charvis, P.; Cisneros, D.; Font, Y.; Collot, J.-Y.; Villegas Lanza, Juan Carlos; Rolandone, F.; Vallée, M.; Régnier, M.; Segovia, M.; Martín, X.; Yepes, H.A dense GPS network deployed in Ecuador reveals a highly heterogeneous pattern of interseismic coupling confined in the first 35 km depth of the contact between the subducting oceanic Nazca plate and the North Andean Sliver. Interseismic models indicate that the coupling is weak and very shallow (0–15 km) in south Ecuador and increases northward, with maximum found in the rupture areas of large (Mw>7.0) megathrust earthquakes that occurred during the 20th century. Since the great 1906 Mw=8.8 Colombia–Ecuador earthquake may have involved the simultaneous rupture of three to six asperities, only one or two asperities were reactivated during the large seismic sequence of 1942 (Mw=7.8), 1958 (Mw=7.7), 1979 (Mw=8.2) and 1998 (Mw=7.1). The axis of the Carnegie Ridge, which is entering the subduction zone south of the Equator, coincides well with the location of a 50 km wide creeping corridor that may have acted as persistent barrier to large seismic ruptures. South of this creeping region, a highly locked asperity is found right below La Plata Island. While this asperity may have the potential to generate an Mw ~7.0-7.5 earthquake and a local tsunami, until now it is unknown to have produced any similar events. That region is characterized by the presence of slow slip events that may contribute significantly to reduce the long-term moment deficit accumulated there and postpone the failure of that asperity. At the actual accumulation rate, a characteristic recurrence time for events such as those in 1942, 1958 and 1979 is 140±30 yr, 90±20 yr, 153±80 yr, respectively. For the great 1906 event, we find a recurrence time of at least 575 ± 100 yr, making the great 1906 earthquake a rare super cycle event.Item Restricted Motion of continental slivers and creeping subduction in the northern Andes(Nature Research, 2014) Nocquet, J.-M.; Villegas Lanza, Juan Carlos; Chlieh, M.; Mothes, P. A.; Rolandone, F.; Jarrin, P.; Cisneros, D.; Alvarado, A.; Audin, L.; Bondoux, F.; Martin, X.; Font, Y.; Régnier, M.; Vallée, M.; Tran, T.; Beauval, C.; Maguiña Mendoza, J.M.; Martinez, W.; Tavera, Hernando; Yepes, H.Along the western margin of South America, plate convergence is accommodated by slip on the subduction interface and deformation of the overriding continent. In Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, continental deformation occurs mostly through the motion of discrete domains, hundreds to thousands of kilometres in scale. These continental slivers are wedged between the Nazca and stable South American plates. Here we use geodetic data to identify another large continental sliver in Peru that is about 300–400 km wide and 1,500 km long, which we call the Inca Sliver. We show that movement of the slivers parallel to the subduction trench is controlled by the obliquity of plate convergence and is linked to prominent features of the Andes Mountains. For example, the Altiplano is located at the boundary of converging slivers at the concave bend of the central Andes, and the extending Gulf of Guayaquil is located at the boundary of diverging slivers at the convex bend of the northern Andes. Motion of a few large continental slivers therefore controls the present-day deformation of nearly the entire Andes mountain range. We also show that a 1,000-km-long section of the plate interface in northern Peru and southern Ecuador slips predominantly aseismically, a behaviour that contrasts with the highly seismic neighbouring segments. The primary characteristics of this low-coupled segment are shared by ~20% of the subduction zones in the eastern Pacific Rim.