Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting
Many of the world’s largest volcanic eruptions are associated with geological rifting where major fractures open at the Earth’s surface, yet fundamental controls on the near-surface response to the rifting process are lacking. New high resolution observations gleaned from seismometer data during the...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/ https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/1/Thun_Lokmer_Bean_Eibl_Bergsson_Braiden_2016_Micrometer-scale%20deformation%20observations%20reveal%20fundamental%20controls%20on%20geological%20rifting.pdf |
id |
ftdublininstadvs:oai:dair.dias.ie:383 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdublininstadvs:oai:dair.dias.ie:383 2023-05-15T16:49:34+02:00 Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting Thun, Johannes Lokmer, Ivan Bean, Christopher J. Eibl, Eva P. S. Bergsson, Bergur H. Braiden, Aoife 2016 text https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/ https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/1/Thun_Lokmer_Bean_Eibl_Bergsson_Braiden_2016_Micrometer-scale%20deformation%20observations%20reveal%20fundamental%20controls%20on%20geological%20rifting.pdf en eng https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/1/Thun_Lokmer_Bean_Eibl_Bergsson_Braiden_2016_Micrometer-scale%20deformation%20observations%20reveal%20fundamental%20controls%20on%20geological%20rifting.pdf Thun, Johannes and Lokmer, Ivan and Bean, Christopher J. and Eibl, Eva P. S. and Bergsson, Bergur H. and Braiden, Aoife (2016) Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting. Scientific Reports, 6. Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftdublininstadvs 2022-12-15T23:59:45Z Many of the world’s largest volcanic eruptions are associated with geological rifting where major fractures open at the Earth’s surface, yet fundamental controls on the near-surface response to the rifting process are lacking. New high resolution observations gleaned from seismometer data during the 2014 Bárðarbunga basaltic dyke intrusion in Iceland allow us unprecedented access to the associated graben formation process on both sub-second and micrometre scales. We find that what appears as quasi steady-state near-surface rifting on lower resolution GPS observation comprises discrete staccatolike deformation steps as the upper crust unzips through repetitive low magnitude (MW < 0) failures on fracture patches estimated between 300 m2 and 1200 m2 in size. Stress drops for these events are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than expected for tectonic earthquakes, demonstrating that the uppermost crust in the rift zone is exceptionally weak. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies: DIAS Institutional Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies: DIAS Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftdublininstadvs |
language |
English |
description |
Many of the world’s largest volcanic eruptions are associated with geological rifting where major fractures open at the Earth’s surface, yet fundamental controls on the near-surface response to the rifting process are lacking. New high resolution observations gleaned from seismometer data during the 2014 Bárðarbunga basaltic dyke intrusion in Iceland allow us unprecedented access to the associated graben formation process on both sub-second and micrometre scales. We find that what appears as quasi steady-state near-surface rifting on lower resolution GPS observation comprises discrete staccatolike deformation steps as the upper crust unzips through repetitive low magnitude (MW < 0) failures on fracture patches estimated between 300 m2 and 1200 m2 in size. Stress drops for these events are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than expected for tectonic earthquakes, demonstrating that the uppermost crust in the rift zone is exceptionally weak. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thun, Johannes Lokmer, Ivan Bean, Christopher J. Eibl, Eva P. S. Bergsson, Bergur H. Braiden, Aoife |
spellingShingle |
Thun, Johannes Lokmer, Ivan Bean, Christopher J. Eibl, Eva P. S. Bergsson, Bergur H. Braiden, Aoife Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
author_facet |
Thun, Johannes Lokmer, Ivan Bean, Christopher J. Eibl, Eva P. S. Bergsson, Bergur H. Braiden, Aoife |
author_sort |
Thun, Johannes |
title |
Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
title_short |
Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
title_full |
Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
title_fullStr |
Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
title_full_unstemmed |
Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
title_sort |
micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/ https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/1/Thun_Lokmer_Bean_Eibl_Bergsson_Braiden_2016_Micrometer-scale%20deformation%20observations%20reveal%20fundamental%20controls%20on%20geological%20rifting.pdf |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
https://dair.dias.ie/id/eprint/383/1/Thun_Lokmer_Bean_Eibl_Bergsson_Braiden_2016_Micrometer-scale%20deformation%20observations%20reveal%20fundamental%20controls%20on%20geological%20rifting.pdf Thun, Johannes and Lokmer, Ivan and Bean, Christopher J. and Eibl, Eva P. S. and Bergsson, Bergur H. and Braiden, Aoife (2016) Micrometre-scale deformation observations reveal fundamental controls on geological rifting. Scientific Reports, 6. |
_version_ |
1766039700426981376 |