Deep ocean hydrographic variability estimated from distributed geodetic sensor arrays off northern Chile.

Observations of spatio-temporal variability of the deep ocean are rare and little is known about occurrence of deep ocean mesoscale dynamics. Here, we make use of 2.5 years of time series data from three distributed sensor arrays, which acquired high-resolution temperature, pressure and sound speed data of the bottom layer offshore northern Chile. Estimating salinity and density from the direct observations enable access to the full spectrum of hydrographic variability from a multi-hourly to annual time scale and with average inter-station distances of less than 1 km. Analyses revealed interannual warming over the continental slope of 0.002 °C yr-1-0.003 °C yr-1, and could trace periodic hydrographic anomalies, likely related to coastal-trapped waves, as far as to the lower continental slope. A concurrent change in the shape of the warm anomalies and the rate of deep-sea warming that occurs with the crossing of the deep-sea trench suggests that the abyssal part of the eastern boundary current system off Chile does not extend past the deep sea trench. Furthermore, the comparison of anomaly timing and shape in between stations implies southwards flow over the mid to lower continental slope, centred closer to the trench.

Megathrust reflectivity reveals the updip limit of the 2014 Iquique earthquake rupture.

The updip limit of seismic rupture during a megathrust earthquake exerts a major control on the size of the resulting tsunami. Offshore Northern Chile, the 2014 Mw 8.1 Iquique earthquake ruptured the plate boundary between 19.5° and 21°S. Rupture terminated under the mid-continental slope and did not propagate updip to the trench. Here, we use state-of-the-art seismic reflection data to investigate the tectonic setting associated with the apparent updip arrest of rupture propagation at 15 km depth during the Iquique earthquake. We document a spatial correspondence between the rupture area and the seismic reflectivity of the plate boundary. North and updip of the rupture area, a coherent, highly reflective plate boundary indicates excess fluid pressure, which may prevent the accumulation of elastic strain. In contrast, the rupture area is characterized by the absence of plate boundary reflectivity, which suggests low fluid pressure that results in stress accumulation and thus controls the extent of earthquake rupture. Generalizing these results, seismic reflection data can provide insights into the physical state of the shallow plate boundary and help to assess the potential for future shallow rupture in the absence of direct measurements of interplate deformation from most outermost forearc slopes.

Interseismic strain build-up on the submarine North Anatolian Fault offshore Istanbul.

Using offshore geodetic observations, we show that a segment of the North Anatolian Fault in the central Sea of Marmara is locked and therefore accumulating strain. The strain accumulation along this fault segment was previously extrapolated from onshore observations or inferred from the absence of seismicity, but both methods could not distinguish between fully locked or fully creeping fault behavior. A network of acoustic transponders measured crustal deformation with mm-precision on the seafloor for 2.5 years and did not detect any significant fault displacement. Absence of deformation together with sparse seismicity monitored by ocean bottom seismometers indicates complete fault locking to at least 3 km depth and presumably into the crystalline basement. The slip-deficit of at least 4 m since the last known rupture in 1766 is equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 to 7.4 in the Sea of Marmara offshore metropolitan Istanbul.

Strike-slip 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 Gulf of Alaska rare intraplate earthquake: Complex rupture of a fracture zone system.

Large intraplate earthquakes in oceanic lithosphere are rare and usually related to regions of diffuse deformation within the oceanic plate. The 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 strike-slip Gulf of Alaska earthquake ruptured an oceanic fracture zone system offshore Kodiak Island. Bathymetric compilations show a muted topographic expression of the fracture zone due to the thick sediment that covers oceanic basement but the fracture zone system can be identified by offset N-S magnetic anomalies and E-W linear zones in the vertical gravity gradient. Back-projection from global seismic stations reveals that the initial rupture at first propagated from the epicenter to the north, likely rupturing along a weak zone parallel to the ocean crustal fabric. The rupture then changed direction to eastward directed with most energy emitted on Aka fracture zone resulting in an unusual multi-fault earthquake. Similarly, the aftershocks show complex behavior and are related to two different tectonic structures: (1) events along N-S trending oceanic fabric, which ruptured mainly strike-slip and additionally, in normal and oblique slip mechanisms and (2) strike-slip events along E-W oriented fracture zones. To explain the complex faulting behavior we adopt the classical stress and strain partitioning concept and propose a generalized model for large intra-oceanic strike-slip earthquakes of trench-oblique oriented fracture zones/ocean plate fabric near subduction zones. Taking the Kodiak asperity position of 1964 maximum afterslip and outer-rise Coulomb stress distribution into account, we propose that the unusual 2018 Gulf of Alaska moment release was stress transferred to the incoming oceanic plate from co- and post-processes of the nearby great 1964 MW 9.2 megathrust earthquake.

Gravitational collapse of Mount Etna's southeastern flank.

The southeastern flank of Etna volcano slides into the Ionian Sea at rates of centimeters per year. The prevailing understanding is that pressurization of the magmatic system, and not gravitational forces, controls flank movement, although this has also been proposed. So far, it has not been possible to separate between these processes, because no data on offshore deformation were available until we conducted the first long-term seafloor displacement monitoring campaign from April 2016 until July 2017. Unprecedented seafloor geodetic data reveal a >4-cm slip along the offshore extension of a fault related to flank kinematics during one 8-day-long event in May 2017, while displacement on land peaked at ~4 cm at the coast. As deformation increases away from the magmatic system, the bulk of Mount Etna's present continuous deformation must be driven by gravity while being further destabilized by magma dynamics. We cannot exclude flank movement to evolve into catastrophic collapse, implying that Etna's flank movement poses a much greater hazard than previously thought. The hazard of flank collapse might be underestimated at other coastal and ocean island volcanoes, where the dynamics of submerged flanks are unknown.