Active upper plate thrust faulting in regions of low plate interface coupling, repeated slow slip events, and coastal uplift: Example from the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand

作者：Mountjoy Joshu J^*; Barnes Philip M

来源：Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 2011, 12: Q01005.

DOI：10.1029/2010GC003326

• splay faults
• plate coupling
• coastal uplift
• seismic reflection
• subduction zone
• slow slip

Contractional fore-arc faulting and deformation is a characteristic feature of many subduction systems. Definition of the three-dimensional geometry and displacement rates of active, upper plate, out-of-sequence thrust faults along similar to 250 km of the upper Hikurangi Margin enables us to examine the relationship between fore-arc deformation and the subduction interface in light of interseismic coupling estimates and distribution of slow slip events, both modeled from GPS measurements. These mid-fore-arc structures include the seaward vergent, outer shelf Lachlan and Ariel faults, with vertical separation rates up to 5 mm/yr, and several other major inner shelf faults with rates that are up to 3.8 mm/yr and comparable with Holocene coastal uplift rates. Seismic reflection imaging and geometric projection of these faults at depth indicate that they splay from the region of the plate interface where geodetic inversions for interseismic coupling and slow slip events suggest that the plate boundary undergoes aseismic slip. This observation may indicate either (1) that frictional properties and interseismic coupling on the plate interface are independent and unrelated to the active splay fault deformation in the inner-middle fore arc or (2) that the active splay faulting reflects long-term mechanical coupling related to higher shear stress, or the relative yield strength of the plate interface to the overriding plate, and that the current pattern of interseismic coupling may not be persistent over geological time scales of 20 ka. We compare structure and processes on the northern Hikurangi and Costa Rican margins and find similarities and significant differences astride these subduction systems.

• 出版日期2011-1-26