Strike-slip Component (strike-slip + component)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


2001 August earthquake swarm at Shadwan Island, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

GEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2006
Ahmed Badawy
SUMMARY The earthquake swarm that struck Shadwan Island at the entrance of the Gulf of Suez in 2001 August included 408 events. Almost all of these events (94 per cent) were microearthquakes and only 6 per cent had small measurable magnitudes (5.0 > ML, 3.0). Most of the earthquakes were weak and followed each other so closely in time that they could not be identified at more distant stations. The fault plane solutions of the strongest events of the swarm show almost identical focal mechanisms, predominately normal faulting with a significant sinistral strike-slip component for nodal planes trending NW,SE. A comparison with the mechanisms of the 1969 and 1972 events which took place 20 km north of the swarm epicentral region shows similarities in faulting type and orientation of nodal planes. The azimuths of T -axes determined from focal mechanisms in this study are oriented in the NNE,SSW direction. This direction is consistent with the present-day stress field derived from borehole breakouts in the southern Gulf of Suez and the last phase of stress field changes in the Late Pleistocene, as well as with recent GPS results. The source parameters of the largest (ML, 3.0) events of the 2001 August Shadwan swarm have been estimated from the P -wave spectra of the Egyptian National Seismograph Network (ENSN). Averaging of the values obtained at different stations shows relatively similar source parameters, including a fault length of 0.65 ,L, 2 km, a seismic moment of 7.1 × 1012,Mo, 3.0 × 1014 N m and a stress drop of 0.4 ,,,, 10 bar. [source]


DETERMINATION OF FAULT SLIP COMPONENTS USING SUBSURFACE STRUCTURAL CONTOURS: METHODS AND EXAMPLES

JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2004
S-S. Xu
Problems with measuring fault slip in the subsurface can sometimes be overcome by using subsurface structural contour maps constructed from well logs and seismic information. These maps are useful for estimating fault slip since fault motion commonly causes the dislocation of structural contours. The dislocation of a contour is defined here as the distance in the direction of fault strike between two contours which have the same value on both sides of a fault. This dislocation can be estimated for tilted beds and folded beds as follows: (i),If a dip-slip fault offsets a tilted bed, the dislocation (Sc) of contours can be estimated from the vertical component (Sv) of the fault slip and the dip (,) of the bedding according to the following relationship: Sc= Sv/tan ,. Since Sc and , can be measured from a contour map, the vertical component of fault slip can be obtained from this equation. If a strike-slip fault offsets a tilted bed, the dislocation (Scs) of contours is equal to the strike-slip of the fault (Sc), that is, Scs= Ss. (ii),If a fault offsets a symmetric fold, the strike component (Scs) of fault slip and the dislocation of the contours (Sc) can be calculated, respectively, from the equations Scs= (Smax+ Smin) / 2 and Sc= (Smax - Smin) / 2. Smax is the greater total dislocation (Sc+ Scs) of a contour line between the two limbs of the fold and Smin is the smaller total dislocation (Sc - Scs) for the same contour line. In this case, Sv can be also calculated using the obtained value of Sc and the equation Sv= Sc tan ,. Similarly, for an asymmetric fold, the dislocation of contours due to the vertical slip component is Scb= (Smax - Smin)/(n + 1), and the strike-slip component is Ss= Scs= (nSmin+ Smax/(n + 1), where n is the ratio between the values of interlines of the two limbs, and Scb is the dislocation of contours due to the vertical slip component for either of the two limbs (here it is for limb b). In all cases, three conditions are required for the calculation of contour dislocation: (i),the contour lines must be approximately perpendicular to the fault strike; the intersection angle between the fault strike and the strike of bedding should be greater than 65°; (ii),the bed must not be dip more than 35°; and (iii),folding or flexure of the stratigraphic horizons must have occurred before faulting. These methods for determining fault slip from the dislocation of structural contours are discussed using case studies from the Cantarell oilfield complex, Campeche Sound (southern Gulf of Mexico), the Jordan-Penwell Ellenburger oilfield in Texas, and the Wilmington oilfield in California. [source]


Surface Rupture and Co-seismic Displacement Produced by the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake of May 12th, 2008, Sichuan, China: Eastwards Growth of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 5 2008
DONG Shuwen
Abstract An earthquake of Ms 8 struck Wenchuan County, western Sichuan, China, on May 12th, 2008 and resulted in long surface ruptures (>300 km). The first-hand observations about the surface ruptures produced by the earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Yingxiu, Beichuan and Qingchuan, ascertained that the causative structure of the earthquake was in the central fault zones of the Longmenshan tectonic belt. Average co-seismic vertical displacements along the individual fault of the Yingxiu-Beichuan rupture zone reach 2.5-4 m and the cumulative vertical displacements across the central and frontal Longmenshan fault belt is about 5,6 m. The surface rupture strength was reduced from north of Beichuan to Qingchuan County and shows 2,3 m dextral strike-slip component. The Wenchuan thrust-faulting earthquake is a manifestation of eastward growth of the Tibetan Plateau under the action of continuous convergence of the Indian and Eurasian continents. [source]


Thrust geometries in unconsolidated Quaternary sediments and evolution of the Eupchon Fault, southeast Korea

ISLAND ARC, Issue 3 2004
Young-Seog Kim
Abstract The Korean peninsula is widely regarded as being located at the relatively stable eastern margin of the Asian continent. However, more than 10 Quaternary faults have recently been discovered in and reported from the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. One of these, the Eupchon Fault, was discovered during the construction of a primary school, and it is located close to a nuclear power plant. To understand the nature and characteristics of the Quaternary Eupchon Fault, we carried out two trench surveys near the discovery site. The fault system includes one main reverse fault (N20°E/40°SE) with approximately 4 m displacement, and a series of branch faults, cutting unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Structures in the fault system include synthetic and antithetic faults, hanging-wall anticlines, drag folds, back thrusts, pop-up structures, flat-ramp geometries and duplexes, which are very similar to those seen in thrust systems in consolidated rocks. In the upper part of the fault system, several tip damage zones are observed, indicating that the fault system propagates upward and terminates in the upper part of the section. Pebbles along the main fault plane show a preferred orientation of long axes, indicating the fault trace. The unconformity surface between the Quaternary deposits and the underlying Tertiary andesites or Cretaceous sedimentary rocks is displaced by this fault with a reverse movement sense. The stratigraphic relationship shows normal slip sense at the lower part of the section, indicating that the fault had a normal slip movement and was reversely reactivated during the Quaternary. The inferred length of the Quaternary thrust fault, based on the relationship between fault length and displacement, is 200,2000 m. The current maximum horizontal compressive stress direction in this area is generally east-northeast,west-southwest, which would be expected to produce oblique slip on the Eupchon Fault, with reverse and right-lateral strike-slip components. [source]