ALBERT

Description: We present new seismicity and focal-mechanism data for the Fergana basin and surrounding mountain belts in western Kyrgyzstan from a temporary local seismic network. A total of 210 crustal earthquakes with hypocentral depths shallower than 25 km were observed during a 12-month period in 2009/2010. The hypocenter distribution indicates a complex net of seismically active structures. The seismicity derived in this study is mainly concentrated at the edges of the Fergana basin, whereas the observed rate of seismicity within the basin is low. The seismicity at the dominant tectonic feature of the region, the Talas-Fergana fault, is likewise low, so the fault seems to be inactive or locked. To estimate the uncertainties of earthquake locations derived in this study, a strong explosion with known origin time and location is used as a ground truth calibration event which suggests a horizontal and vertical accuracy of about 1 km for our relocations. We derived 35 focal mechanisms using first motion polarities and retrieved a set of nine moment tensor solutions for earthquakes with moment magnitude (Mw) ranging from 3.3 to 4.9 by waveform inversion. The solutions reveal both thrust and strike-slip mechanisms compatible with a NW-SE direction of compression for the Fergana region. Two previously unknown tectonic structures in the Fergana region could be identified, both featuring strike-slip kinematics. The combined analysis of the results derived in this study allowed a detailed insight into the currently active tectonic structures and their kinematics where little information had previously been available.

Description: We propose to investigate the structure and evolution of the Main Pamir Thrust (MPT) with a high-density seismological array. The MPT, with its surface expression along the east-west trending Alai Valley, marks the northern boundary of the Pamir. The Alai Valley, separating the Pamir and the Tien Shan, constitutes the last vestige of a formerly continuous basin that linked the Tarim and the Tajik Basins. The MPT manifests itself as a place of high seismic activity with frequently occurred disastrous earthquakes. The array is about 50 km long, consisted of 90 three-component geophones (stations G?? and C??) and 10 Trillium-Compact seismometers (stations T??), and equipped with 100 CUBE dataloggers. We will construct a high-resolution receiver function profile to image the MPT and accurately locate the local earthquakes associated with the MPT. Funded by BMBF, within the framework of CaTeNA project – Climatic and Tectonic Natural Hazards in Central Asia. Waveform data are available from the GEOFON data centre, under network code 7A and are embargoed until Jan 2024.

Description: The GeoDataNode project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) conducted a survey of data management practices at GFZ. The aim was to assess the state of current practices and needs, and their alignment to institutional and national guidelines for data management. The target audience included scientific and technical employees at all levels. A response rate of 24% of the target demographic was achieved. The survey revealed a general need for improvement and structuring of research data handling. This includes provision of adequate storage space, back-up schedules, and the familiarization of young researchers with good scientific practice.

Description: The Alps as the result of the convergence of the African and European plates represent extremely complex struc-tures and kinematics. The Southern and Eastern Alps as part of this continental collision are the target area of thecurrent study. In this region, the Priadriatic Fault is sinistrally offset by the Guidicarie Fault and a switch in the sub-duction polarity had been proposed. In order to better understand the crustal and upper-mantle structure and how itis related to faults seen at the surface, we aim to assess the precise distribution of local earthquakes (potentially in-dicating active faults) and the seismic velocity structure in the subsurface. In our investigation, we use the data of avery dense seismic network deployed in the Southern and Eastern Alps (SWATH-D network - DFG funded priorityProgramme 4D-MB) to provide seismicity pattern and velocity structure of the crust and possibly the upper mantle.This temporary network consists of 150 stations with an average inter-station spacing of 15 km complementingthe larger scale AlpArray Seismic Network (AASN). The objectives are, accordingly, to implement a reliable andfully automated algorithm to detect the events and pick the phase onset times of local earthquakes, provide precisehypocentral locations and calculate a velocity model for the target area. Here we focus on the first results of theearthquake analysis procedure and present a 1-D velocity model for the Southern and Eastern Alps. Later, this datawill be used for a 3-D tomographic inversion. So far, we used 10 months of data from September 2017 to Jun 2018and implemented an automated multi-stage processing chain to provide the first catalog. The catalog comprises123 local earthquakes with 5261 P and 2651 S picks. The hypocentral locations were then calculated and a 1-Dvelocity model was also obtained using simultaneous inversion of hypocenters, velocity, and station corrections.The seismicity pattern is characterized by rather diffuse clusters in the Friuli, Lake Garda, Brenner and Trentinoregions with low to medium magnitude (ML 0-4) events within the upper 25 km of the crust. The central part ofthe region, where the Preadriatice fault sinistrally offset by the Guidicarie Fault and its related fold-and-thrust belt,has obviously less activity. Our 1-D velocity model indicates upper crustal velocities that are higher than averagefor the whole Alpine region.

Description: The causes for the formation of large igneous provinces and hotspot trails are still a matter of considerable dispute. Seismic tomography and other studies suggest that hot mantle material rising from the core-mantle boundary (CMB) might play a significant role in the formation of such hotspot trails. An important area to verify this concept is the South Atlantic region, with hotspot trails that spatially coincide with one of the largest low-velocity regions at the CMB, the African large low shear-wave velocity province. The Walvis Ridge started to form during the separation of the South American and African continents at ca. 130 Ma as a consequence of Gondwana breakup. Here, we present the first deep-seismic sounding images of the crustal structure from the landfall area of the Walvis Ridge at the Namibian coast to constrain processes of plume-lithosphere interaction and the formation of continental flood basalts (Paraná and Etendeka continental flood basalts) and associated intrusive rocks. Our study identified a narrow region (〈100 km) of high-seismic-velocity anomalies in the middle and lower crust, which we interpret as a massive mafic intrusion into the northern Namibian continental crust. Seismic crustal reflection imaging shows a flat Moho as well as reflectors connecting the high-velocity body with shallow crustal structures that we speculate to mark potential feeder channels of the Etendeka continental flood basalt. We suggest that the observed massive but localized mafic intrusion into the lower crust results from similar-sized variations in the lithosphere (i.e., lithosphere thickness or preexisting structures).

Description: SEGY and supplementary data of the seismic reflection experiment in the Baza Basin (Southern Spain). Presented are unstacked and unmigrated data of three 2D vibroseis profiles which were carried out in October 2013 and all corresponding raw data.

Description: The SWATH-D experiment is dense deployment of 154 seismic stations in the Central and Eastern Alps between Italy and Austria, complementing the larger-scale sparser AlpArray Seismic Network (AASN). SWATH-D will provide high resolution images from the surface into the upper mantle, and allow observations of local seismicity. SWATH-D focuses on a key area of the Alps where the hypothesized flip in subduction polarity has been suggested, and where an earlier seismic profile (TRANSALP) has imaged a jump in the Moho. Where mains power is available (at ca. 80 sites) stations are providing realtime data via the cellphone network and are equipped with Güralp CMG-3EPSC (60s) seismometers and Earth Data Recorders EDR-210. The rest of the stations are offline and consist mainly of Nanometrics Trillium Compact (120s) and Güralp CMG-3EPSC (60s) seismometers equipped with either Omnirecs CUBE3 or PR6-24 Earth Data Loggers. All stations are equipped with external GPS antennas and the sampling rate is 100 Hz (Heit, et al., 2018). The network will operate for 2 years starting in July 2017. The Swath-D data will be used directly by 20 individual proposals of the MB-4D Priority Program (Mountain Building Processes in Four Dimensions, 2017) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and data products derived from it will contribute to additional 13 proposals. SWATH-D is thus an important link between the MB-4D Priority Program and the international AlpArray communities and a scientific service to many of the proposals within the DFG Priority Program. Waveform data are available from the GEOFON data centre, under network code ZS, and are embargoed until August 2023. After the end of embargo, data will be openly available under CC-BY 4.0 license according to GIPP-rules.

Description: Voluminous magmatism during the South Atlantic opening has been considered as a classical example for plume related continental breakup. We present a study of the crustal structure around Walvis Ridge, near the intersection with the African margin. Two wide-angle seismic profiles were acquired. One is oriented NNW–SSE, following the continent–ocean transition and crossing Walvis Ridge. A second amphibious profile runs NW–SE from the Angola Basin into continental Namibia. At the continent–ocean boundary (COB) the mafic crust beneath Walvis Ridge is up to 33 km thick, with a pronounced high-velocity lower crustal body. Towards the south there is a smooth transition to 20–25 km thick crust underlying the COB in the Walvis Basin, with a similar velocity structure, indicating a gabbroic lower crust with associated cumulates at the base. The northern boundary of Walvis Ridge towards the Angola Basin shows a sudden change to oceanic crust only 4–6 km thick, coincident with the projection of the Florianopolis Fracture Zone, one of the most prominent tectonic features of the South Atlantic ocean basin. In the amphibious profile the COB is defined by a sharp transition from oceanic to rifted continental crust, with a magmatic overprint landward of the intersection of Walvis Ridge with the Namibian margin. The continental crust beneath the Congo Craton is 40 km thick, shoaling to 35 km further SE. The velocity models show that massive high-velocity gabbroic intrusives are restricted to a narrow zone directly underneath Walvis Ridge and the COB in the south. This distribution of rift-related magmatism is not easily reconciled with models of continental breakup following the establishment of a large, axially symmetric plume in the Earth's mantle. Rift-related lithospheric stretching and associated transform faulting play an overriding role in locating magmatism, dividing the margin in a magma-dominated southern and an essentially amagmatic northern segment.