ALBERT

Description: Subduction zones around the world show the common pattern of a Double Seismicity Zone, where seismicity is organized in the form of two sub-parallel planes, one at the plate contact and the other one, 10 to 30 km below, in the mantle of the oceanic lithosphere (Lower Seismicity Zone, LSZ). A commonly held hypothesis states that dehydration processes and the associated mineral reactions promote the earthquakes of the LSZ. Fluids filling a porespace strongly alter the petropyhsical properties of a rock. Especially the seismic P- to S-wave velocity ratio (Vp/Vs) has been shown to be sensitive to the presence of fluid-filled porosity. It transforms uniquely to Poisson’s ratio. To test the mineral–dehydration-hypothesis, we use local earthquake data to measure Vp/Vs in the oceanic mantle of the subducting Nazca slab at 21 ◦ S. We determine it as the slope of the de-meaned differential P- vs. S-wave arrivaltimes of a dense seismicity cluster in the LSZ. This measurement yields a value for Vp/Vs of 2.10 ± 0.09, i.e. a Poisson’s ratio of ∼ 0.35. This value clearly exceeds the range of Vp/Vs values expected for oceanic mantle rocks in their purely solid form at ∼ 50km depth. We follow a poroelastic approach to model the rock’s elastic properties, including Vp/Vs, as a function of porosity and porespace-geometry. This results in a porespace model for the target volume having a vein-like porosity occu- pying only a minor volume fraction. Porosity is in the order of 0.1%. These findings are in very good agreement with field surveys and laboratory experiments of mantle dehydration. The pore-geometry is close to the geometrical percolation threshold, where long-ranged interconnectivity statistically emerges, suggesting good draining capa- bilities. Indeed, porosity is soft so that the amount of porosity and, consequently, permeability is very sensitive to local fluid pressure. We conclude that in the oceanic mantle of the subducting Nazca slab, mineral dehydration reactions are contin- uously releasing water into a transient, dynamically evolving vein-system. Permeability is most probably high enough to drain the rock at the rate of metamorphic fluid production.

Description: The coda of passive seismic recordings is often rich in arrivals that are coherent across several stations. If reflections can be extracted, then they may be used for seismic reflection subsurface imaging. With the objective to image the upper crust of the North Chilean Precordillera (Central Andes; approximate location 21°S 69°W), we developed a workflow to process passive seismic data into subsurface reflection images. We analysed the waveform recordings of several hundred microseismic events using signal processing and imaging techniques adapted from active (controlled source) seismic imaging as used in the oil industry. Key processing steps involved precise arrival time picking and hypocentre determination, removing signal amplitude variations due to varying source radiation patterns, identification and separation of reflections from coherent noise, and transformation of the processed waveforms into images of the subsurface reflectivity. When designing our microseismic reflection imaging workflow, we took advantage of the fact that the passive seismic recording geometry with the hypocentres located at depth and the receivers positioned at the surface resembles a reverse vertical-seismic profiling experiment. The resultant P- and S-wave reflection images reveal several reflective features, such as an approximate 15° westward dipping reflector over the 5–25 km depth range that largely coincides with a distinct seismicity boundary. We interpret the imaged interface as the brittle-ductile transition zone boundary, possibly enhanced by a tectonic shear zone. For the area of the North Chilean Precordillera, the deduced microseismic reflection sections with horizontal extensions of about 50 km represent the first high-resolution images of the shallow crust, which could not be obtained from previous active-source seismic-reflection data.

Description: Prominent trench-parallel fault systems in the arc and fore-arc of the Chilean subduction zone can be traced for several thousand kilometers in north–south direction. These fault systems possibly crosscut the entire crust above the subduction megathrust and are expected to have a close relationship to transient processes of the subduction earthquake cycles. With the motivation to image and characterize the structural inventory and the processes that occur in the vicinity of these large-scale fault zones, we re-processed the ANCORP'96 controlled-source seismic data set to provide images of the faults at depth and to allow linking geological information at the surface to subsurface structures. The correlation of the imaging results with observed hypocenter locations around these fault systems reveals the origin and the nature of the seismicity bound to these fault systems. Active and passive seismic data together yield a picture of a megathrust splay fault beneath the Longitudinal Valley at mid-crustal level, which can be observed from the top of the subduction plate interface and which seems to be connected to the Precordilleran Fault System (PFS) known at the surface. This result supports a previously proposed tectonic model where a megathrust splay fault defines the Western Altiplano as a crustal-scale fault-bend-fold. Furthermore, we clearly imaged two branches of the Uyuni-Kenayani Fault (UKF) in a depth range between 0 and 20 km. In summary, imaging of these faults is important for a profound understanding of the tectonic evaluation and characterization of the subduction zone environment, for which the results of this study provide a reliable basis.