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EPSC 320 Problem Set 1 September 26, 2011 Due: October 6, 2011 1.

Geological and geophysical features associated with plate boundaries:


Click at the underlined text should direct you to the webpages. If those do not work, copy and paste the address in the parenthesis to your web browser.

(1) Ocean oor: Go to NOAA webpage (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/2minrelief.html) where you can nd a high-resolution seaoor and land elevation world map. Select the 45 by 45 degrees segment between South American and Africa with most ocean area or directly at this page (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/2minsurface/00N045W.html). This type of map shows the bathymetry of the ocean: dark blue signies deep water and light blue means shallow water. Identify the geological structures on this map (the ocean part). (2) Earthquakes: Go to USGS earthquake webpage (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/epic/epic rect.php). Select approximately the same 45 by 45 degrees area as in part (1), and search for seismicity within that area. Choosegenerate map for output le type, USGS/NEIC (PDE), 1973 - 2011/?/? (?/? is usually a recent date) for data base. Submit such a map from your search. How deep are these earthquakes? Where do they seem to be clustered? (3) Volcanoes Go to world volcano map (http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/region.cfm?rnum=18). Focus on the South Atlantic Ocean. How doe these volcanoes correlate with the earthquakes in part (2)? (4) Seaoor age: Go to world seaoor age map (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/ocean age/data/2008/ngdc-generated images/whole world/2008 age of oceans plates.jpg) How old is the crust along the ridge of the Atlantic Ocean? Explain, using all the above evidence, what this type of plate boundary is.

2. Plate relative motion Ares is a planet with just two plates: Plate A and B, as shown in Figure 1. Plate A comprises the upper hemisphere and Plate B the lower. Points a, b, c, and d lie on the equator, with point d diametrically opposite to point b. The zero meridian passes through point a. The rotation pole of the relative motion between Plates A and B lies at 45o N, 0o E. The rotation axis is shown by the dashed line. The angular velocity has an amplitude of 1010 radians per terrestrial year. Planet Ares can be approximated as a perfect sphere with radius R = 3400 km. (1) What is the nature of the plate boundary between Plates A and B?

Plate A

b Plate B

Figure 1: Planet Ares with two plates: A and B.

(2) State where magnetic lineations might be found and sketch the pattern that would be observed. (3) What is the relative velocity between Plates A and B at an arbitrary point on the equator (dene its latitude and longitude). Specically, what are the relative velocities at points a, b, c and d? (4) Sketch possible fault-plane solutions for earthquakes at locations a, b, c, and d.

3. Stress and strain The University of California, San Diego, operates the Pinon Flat Observatory (PFO) in the mountains northeast of San Diego (near Anza). Instruments include high-quality strain meters for measuring crustal deformation. (1) Assume, at 5 km depth beneath PFO, the seismic velocities are =6 km/s and = 3.5 km/s and the density is = 2.7 103 kg/m3 . Compute values for the Lame parameters, and , from these numbers. (2) Following the 1992 Landers earthquake (MS = 7.3), located in southern California 80 km north of PFO (Figure 2), the PFO strain meters measured a large static change in strain compared to values before the event. Horizontal components of the strain tensor changed by the following amounts: 11 = 0.26 106 , 22 = 0.92 106 , 12 = 0.69 106 . In this notation, direction 1 is east, 2 is north, and extension is positive. You may assume that this strain change occurred instantaneously at the time of the event. Assuming these strain values are also accurate at depth, use the result you obtained in part (1) to determine the change in stresses at 5 km, 11 , 22 and 12 , due to the Landers earthquake. Treat this as a two-dimensional problem by assuming there is no strain in the vertical direction and no depth dependence of the strain. (3) Compute the orientations of the principal strain axes (horizontal) for the response at PFO to the Landers event. Express your answers as azimuths (degrees relative to north).

Figure 2: The 1992 MS = 7.2 Landers earthquake, a primarily right-lateral strike-slip event, in southern California produced noticeable deformation at PFO observatory, about 80 km south of the event.

4. Seismic moment and magnitude The Cascadia subduction zone stretches from British Columbia, Canada to Northern California, USA, over 1100 km and accomodates 30-45 mm/year plate convergence rate between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates (Figure 3). Magnitude 9 megathrust earthquakes are suggested to occur along the Cascadia margin every 300 to 500 years, with the last event in January, 1700 AD. At the current plate rate of 45 mm/year and a recurrence period of 500 years, assume (a) all the accumulated slip was released in this moment magnitude Mw = 9.0 event, (b) this event ruptured the entire margin of 1100 km along the coast, (c) slip was uniform on a rectangular subduction fault area (accurately estimated slip distribution and fault area are more heterogeneous than our simple assumptions here), and (d) the subduction fault dips at a constant angle of 12o (good approximation for the shallow depths), (1) estimate what is the maximum depth of earthquake rupture on the fault. (2) if half of the accumulated slip was to be released in a Mw = 8.0 earthquake, use the depth calculated in part (1), what would be the segment length (along the coast) that was ruptured?

Figure 3: From McCrory et al. [2004]. Topography and plate motions along the Cascadia margin.

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