TY - JOUR A1 - Kummerow, J. A1 - Kind, Rainer A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Giese, Peter A1 - Ryberg, Trond A1 - Wylegalla, Kurt A1 - Scherbaum, Frank T1 - A natural and controlled source seismic profile through the Eastern Alps : TRANSALP N2 - The combined passive and active seismic TRANSALP experiment produced an unprecedented high-resolution crustal image of the Eastern Alps between Munich and Venice. The European and Adriatic Mohos (EM and AM, respectively) are clearly imaged with different seismic techniques: near-vertical incidence reflections and receiver functions (RFs). The European Moho dips gently southward from 35 km beneath the northern foreland to a maximum depth of 55 km beneath the central part of the Eastern Alps, whereas the Adriatic Moho is imaged primarily by receiver functions at a relatively constant depth of about 40 km. In both data sets, we have also detected first-order Alpine shear zones, such as the Helvetic detachment, Inntal fault and SubTauern ramp in the north. Apart from the Valsugana thrust, receiver functions in the southern part of the Eastern Alps have also observed a north dipping interface, which may penetrate the entire Adriatic crust [Adriatic Crust Interface (ACI)]. Deep crustal seismicity may be related to the ACI. We interpret the ACI as the currently active retroshear zone in the doubly vergent Alpine collisional belt. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved Y1 - 2004 ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Götze, Hans-Jürgen A1 - Strecker, Manfred A1 - Franz, Gerhard A1 - Kellner, Antje A1 - Wigger, Peter T1 - Deformation processes in the Andres : international final symposium, April 21 and 22, 2005, Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg T3 - Sonderforschungsbereich Y1 - 2005 VL - 267 PB - Freie Universität CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bachmann, Raik A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Glodny, Johannes A1 - Seifert, Wolfgang A1 - Georgieva, Viktoria A1 - Sudo, Masafumi T1 - Exposed plate interface in the European Alps reveals fabric styles and gradients related to an ancient seismogenic coupling zone N2 - We present observations from a continuous exposure of an ancient plate interface in the depth range of its former seismogenic zone in the central Alps of Europe related to Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary subduction and accretion of the South Penninic lower plate underneath the Adriatic upper plate. The material forming the exposed plate interface zone has experienced flow and fracturing over an extended period of time followed by syncollisional exhumation, thus reflecting a multistage evolution. Fabric formation and metamorphism, however, chiefly record the deformation conditions of the precollisional setting along the plate interface. We identify an unstable slip domain from pseudotachylytes occurring in the temperature range between 200 and 300 degrees C. This zone coincides with a domain of intense veining in the subduction melange with mineral growth into open cavities, indicating fast, possibly seismic, rupture. Evidence for transient near-lithostatic fluid pressure as well as brittle fractures competing with mylonitic shear zones continues into the region below the occurrence of pseudotachylytes, possibly reflecting a zone of conditionally stable slip. The zone above the unstable slip area is devoid of veins but displays ample evidence of fluid-assisted processes similar to the deeper zone: solution-precipitation creep and dehydration reactions in the melange matrix, hydration, and sealing of the base of the upper plate. Seismic rupture here is possibly expressed by ubiquitous localized deformation zones. We hypothesize that trenchward sealing of parts of the plate interface as well as reaction-enhanced destruction of upper plate permeability is an important component, localizing the unstable slip zone. This relation may result from the competition of the pervasive, presumably interseismic, pressure solution creep destroying permeability and building elevated fluid pressure until the strength threshold is reached with seismic failure. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1029/2008jb005927 SN - 0148-0227 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Moreno, Marcelo Spegiorin A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Rosenau, M. A1 - Bolte, John A1 - Klotz, Jan A1 - Echtler, Helmut Peter A1 - Báez, Juan Carlos A1 - Bataille, Klaus A1 - Chen, J. A1 - Bevis, M. A1 - Hase, H. A1 - Oncken, Onno T1 - Heterogeneous plate locking in the South-Central Chile subduction zone building up the next great earthquake JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - We use Global Positioning System (GPS) velocities and kinematic Finite Element models (FE-models) to infer the state of locking between the converging Nazca and South America plates in South-Central Chile (36 degrees S -46 degrees S) and to evaluate its spatial and temporal variability. GPS velocities provide information on earthquake-cycle deformation over the last decade in areas affected by the megathrust events of 1960 (M-w = 9.5) and 2010 (M-w = 8.8). Our data confirm that a change in surface velocity patterns of these two seismotectonic segments can be related to their different stages in the seismic cycle: Accordingly, the northern (2010) segment was in a final stage of interseismic loading whereas the southern (1960) segment is still in a postseismic stage and undergoes a prolonged viscoelastic mantle relaxation. After correcting the signals for mantle relaxation, the residual GPS velocity pattern suggests that the plate interface accumulates slip deficit in a spatially and presumably temporally variable way towards the next great event. Though some similarity exist between locking and 1960 coseismic slip, extrapolating the current, decadal scale slip deficit accumulation towards the similar to 300-yr recurrence times of giant events here does neither yield the slip distribution nor the moment magnitude of the 1960 earthquake. This suggests that either the locking pattern is evolving in time (to reconcile a slip deficit distribution similar to the 1960 earthquake) or that some asperities are not persistent over multiple events. The accumulated moment deficit since 1960 suggests that highly locked patches in the 1960 segment are already capable of producing a M similar to 8 event if triggered to fail by stress transfer from the 2010 event. KW - GPS KW - Chile KW - Maule KW - locking degree KW - postseismic deformation KW - earthquake cycle Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2011.03.025 SN - 0012-821X VL - 305 IS - 3-4 SP - 413 EP - 424 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Shaoyang A1 - Moreno Switt, Marcos A1 - Bedford, Jonathan A1 - Rosenau, Matthias A1 - Heidbach, Oliver A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Oncken, Onno T1 - Postseismic uplift of the Andes following the 2010 Maule earthquake BT - Implications for mantle rheology JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - Postseismic surface deformation associated with great subduction earthquakes is controlled by asthenosphere rheology, frictional properties of the fault, and structural complexity. Here by modeling GPS displacements in the 6 years following the 2010 M-w 8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile, we investigate the impact of heterogeneous viscosity distribution in the South American subcontinental asthenosphere on the 3-D postseismic deformation pattern. The observed postseismic deformation is characterized by flexure of the South America plate with peak uplift in the Andean mountain range and subsidence in the hinterland. We find that, at the time scale of observation, over 2 orders of magnitude gradual increase in asthenosphere viscosity from the arc area toward the cratonic hinterland is needed to jointly explain horizontal and vertical displacements. Our findings present an efficient method to estimate spatial variations of viscosity, which clearly improves the fitting to the vertical signal of deformation. Lateral changes in asthenosphere viscosity can be correlated with the thermomechanical transition from weak subvolcanic arc mantle to strong subcratonic mantle, thus suggesting a stationary heterogeneous viscosity structure. However, we cannot rule out a transient viscosity structure (e.g., power law rheology) with the short time span of observation. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071995 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 44 IS - 4 SP - 1768 EP - 1776 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pena, Carlos A1 - Heidbach, Oliver A1 - Moreno, Marcos A1 - Bedford, Jonathan A1 - Ziegler, Moritz 0. A1 - Tassara, Andres Ollero A1 - Oncken, Onno T1 - Role of Lower Crust in the Postseismic Deformation of the 2010 Maule Earthquake: Insights from a Model with Power-Law Rheology JF - Pure and applied geophysics N2 - The surface deformation associated with the 2010 M-w 8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile was recorded in great detail before, during and after the event. The high data quality of the continuous GPS (cGPS) observations has facilitated a number of studies that model the postseismic deformation signal with a combination of relocking, afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation using linear rheology for the upper mantle. Here, we investigate the impact of using linear Maxwell or power-law rheology with a 2D geomechanical-numerical model to better understand the relative importance of the different processes that control the postseismic deformation signal. Our model results reveal that, in particular, the modeled cumulative vertical postseismic deformation pattern in the near field (< 300 km from the trench) is very sensitive to the location of maximum afterslip and choice of rheology. In the model with power-law rheology, the afterslip maximum is located at 20-35 km rather than > 50 km depth as suggested in previous studies. The explanation for this difference is that in the model with power-law rheology the relaxation of coseismically imposed differential stresses occurs mainly in the lower crust. However, even though the model with power-law rheology probably has more potential to explain the vertical postseismic signal in the near field, the uncertainty of the applied temperature field is substantial, and this needs further investigations and improvements. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-018-02090-3 SN - 0033-4553 SN - 1420-9136 VL - 176 IS - 9 SP - 3913 EP - 3928 PB - Springer CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Luschen, Ewald A1 - Mechie, James A1 - Sobolev, Stephan Vladimir A1 - Schulze, Albrecht A1 - Gaedicke, Christoph A1 - Grunewald, Steffen A1 - Bribach, Jens A1 - Asch, Günter A1 - Giese, Peter A1 - Wigger, Peter A1 - Schmitz, Michael A1 - Lueth, Stefan A1 - Scheuber, Ekkehard A1 - Haberland, Christian A1 - Rietbrock, Andreas A1 - Götze, Hans-Jürgen A1 - Brasse, Heinrich A1 - Patzwahl, Regina A1 - Chong, Guillermo A1 - Wilke, Hans-Gerhard A1 - Gonzalez, Gabriel A1 - Jensen, Arturo A1 - Araneda, Manuel A1 - Vieytes, Hugo A1 - Behn, Gerardo A1 - Martinez, Eloy T1 - Seismic reflection image revealing offset of Andean subduction-zone earthquake locations into oceanic mantle Y1 - 1999 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Li, Shaoyang A1 - Moreno, Marcos A1 - Rosenau, Matthias A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Oncken, Onno T1 - Splay fault triggering by great subduction earthquakes inferred from finite element models JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - We have investigated the influence that megathrust earthquake slip has on the activation of splay faults using a 2-D finite element method (FEM), taking into account the effects of gravity and variations in the frictional strength properties of splay faults. We simulated both landward-dipping and seaward-dipping splay fault geometries, and imposed depth-variable slip distributions of subduction events. Our results indicate that the two types of splay fault exhibit a similar behavior, with variations in frictional properties along the faults affecting only the seismic magnitude. The triggering process is controlled by a critical depth. Megathrust slip concentrated at depths shallower than the critical depth will favor normal displacement, while megathrust slip concentrated at depths deeper than the critical depth is likely to result in reverse motion. Our results thus provide a useful tool for predicting the activation of secondary faults and may have direct implications for tsunami hazard research. KW - earthquake deformation KW - subduction zone earthquakes KW - splay faults KW - faulting behavior KW - FEM models KW - tsunami hazards Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058598 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 41 IS - 2 SP - 385 EP - 391 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yuan, X. H A1 - Sobolev, Stephan Vladimir A1 - Kind, Rainer A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Bock, Günter A1 - Asch, Günter A1 - Schurr, B. A1 - Gräber, F. A1 - Rudloff, Alexander A1 - Hanka, W. A1 - Wylegalla, Kurt A1 - Tibi, R. A1 - Haberland, Christian A1 - Rietbrock, Andreas A1 - Giese, Peter A1 - Wigger, Peter A1 - Rower, P. A1 - Zandt, G. A1 - Beck, S. A1 - Wallace, T. A1 - Pardo, M. A1 - Comte, D. T1 - Subduction and collision processes in the Central Andes constrained by converted seismic phases Y1 - 2000 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Moreno, Marcos A1 - Quinteros, Javier A1 - Carlos Baez, Juan A1 - Deng, Zhiguo A1 - Li, Shaoyang A1 - Oncken, Onno T1 - The super-interseismic phase of the megathrust earthquake cycle in Chile JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - Along a subduction zone, great megathrust earthquakes recur either after long seismic gaps lasting several decades to centuries or over much shorter periods lasting hours to a few years when cascading successions of earthquakes rupture nearby segments of the fault. We analyze a decade of continuous Global Positioning System observations along the South American continent to estimate changes in deformation rates between the 2010 Maule (M8.8) and 2015 Illapel (M8.3) Chilean earthquakes. We find that surface velocities increased after the 2010 earthquake, in response to continental-scale viscoelastic mantle relaxation and to regional-scale increased degree of interplate locking. We propose that increased locking occurs transiently during a super-interseismic phase in segments adjacent to a megathrust rupture, responding to bending of both plates caused by coseismic slip and subsequent afterslip. Enhanced strain rates during a super-interseismic phase may therefore bring a megathrust segment closer to failure and possibly triggered the 2015 event. KW - megathrust KW - earthquake KW - cycle KW - Chile Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071845 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 44 IS - 2 SP - 784 EP - 791 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Moreno, Marcelo Spegiorin A1 - Melnick, Daniel A1 - Rosenau, M. A1 - Báez, Juan Carlos A1 - Klotz, Jan A1 - Oncken, Onno A1 - Tassara, Andres A1 - Chen, J. A1 - Bataille, Klaus A1 - Bevis, M. A1 - Socquet, Anne A1 - Bolte, John A1 - Vigny, C. A1 - Brooks, B. A1 - Ryder, I. A1 - Grund, Volker A1 - Smalley, B. A1 - Carrizo, Daniel A1 - Bartsch, M. A1 - Hase, H. T1 - Toward understanding tectonic control on the M-w 8.8 2010 Maule Chile earthquake JF - Earth & planetary science letters N2 - The Maule earthquake of 27th February 2010 (M-w = 8.8) affected similar to 500 km of the Nazca-South America plate boundary in south-central Chile producing spectacular crustal deformation. Here, we present a detailed estimate of static coseismic surface offsets as measured by survey and continuous GPS, both in near- and far-field regions. Earthquake slip along the megathrust has been inferred from a Joint inversion of our new data together with published GPS, InSAR, and land-level changes data using Green's functions generated by a spherical finite-element model with realistic subduction zone geometry. The combination of the data sets provided a good resolution, indicating that most of the slip was well resolved. Coseismic slip was concentrated north of the epicenter with up to 16 m of slip, whereas to the south it reached over 10 m within two minor patches. A comparison of coseismic slip with the slip deficit accumulated since the last great earthquake in 1835 suggests that the 2010 event closed a mature seismic gap. Slip deficit distribution shows an apparent local overshoot that highlight cycle-to-cycle variability, which has to be taken into account when anticipating future events from interseismic observations. Rupture propagation was obviously not affected by bathymetric features of the incoming plate. Instead, splay faults in the upper plate seem to have limited rupture propagation in the updip and along-strike directions. Additionally, we found that along-strike gradients in slip are spatially correlated with geometrical inflections of the megathrust. Our study suggests that persistent tectonic features may control strain accumulation and release along subduction megathrusts. KW - GPS KW - Chile KW - Maule KW - slip model KW - FEM Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.01.006 SN - 0012-821X VL - 321 IS - 3 SP - 152 EP - 165 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -