芦山Mw6.6地震序列的震源机制及震源区应力场

为研究2013年4月20日芦山M_w6.6地震的发震构造及孕震机理, 基于4月20日—6月1日地震序列中114次M≥3.0余震震源机制解, 深入分析了余震震源机制及震源区应力场的时空分布特征, 获得的主要认识如下: (1)芦山M≥3.0余震以逆冲型为主, 走滑型次之, 正断型最少, 震源机制P轴方位一致性较好, 以近NWW-SEE为优势方向, 倾角分布在0~30°, 表明余震活动主要受龙门山断裂所在的区域应力场控制; (2)芦山余震区压应力S1方位存在明显的局部空间分区差异, 以主震震中为界, 余震区南边S1方向总体呈NWW方向, 而余震区北边S1方向表现出由NW经EW向NE的逆时针旋转, 可能反映了余震区北边发震断层错动以逆冲为主兼有一定的走滑分量; (3)压应力S1方位随时间的变化不明显, 呈近NWW方向, 但其倾角逐渐变水平, 应力张量方差逐渐变大, 震源机制错动类型始终以逆冲为主, 随时间变的相对紊乱, 反映了震源区应力场随时间的调整变化特性; (4)深度剖面结果显示压应力方位与发震断层走向的夹角在80°~120°, 即近乎垂直, 震源断层面向NW倾斜, 芦山余震活动受控于近垂直发震断裂的挤压作用, 属于典型的逆冲断层.      

Changes in strain trajectories in three different types of plate tectonic boundary deduced from earthquake focal mechanisms

Principal strain orientations (minimum horizontal compression—ex and maximum horizontal compression—ey) were established at three different types of plate tectonic boundary: two transform faults, an oceanic ridge located on the Southeast Indian Ridge and a trench located close to the South Sandwich Archipelago. To establish the strain patterns in each zone, 104 earthquake focal mechanisms (centroid-moment tensor solutions for earthquakes with mb≥4; Harvard seismology data, CMT) were examined by fault population analysis. Despite the existence of only one tectonic process that controlled deformation in these zones (divergence, convergence or passive displacement), and only one main strain tensor, several coeval strain ellipsoids were found. These differed from the main strain tensor in the location of the principal strains. In general, permutations were observed between the principal strains, i.e., interchanges between the location of the principal strain axes maintaining the strain ellipsoids in the same 3D orientation. Only in some cases were changes in the ellipsoid orientation associated with major structures.     

Transverse fold evolution in the External Sierra,southern Pyrenees,Spain

Fault-slip data are used to reconstruct varying tectonic regimes associated with transverse fold development along the eastern and southern margins of the Jaca basin, southern Pyrenees, Spain. The Spanish Pyrenean foreland consists of thrust sheets and leading-edge décollement folds which developed within piggyback basins. Guara Formation limestones on the margins of the Jaca basin were deposited synchronously with deformation and are exposed in the External Sierra. Within the transverse folds, principal shortening axes determined from P and T dihedra plots of fault-slip data show a shift from steep shortening in stratigraphically older beds to NNE–SSW horizontal shortening in younger beds. Older strata are characterized by extensional faults interpreted to result from halotectonic (salt tectonics) deformation, whereas younger strata are characterized by contraction and strike-slip faults interpreted to result from thrust sheet emplacement. The interpretation of the timing for the shortening axes in the younger strata is supported by the observation that these axes are parallel to shortening axes determined from finite strain analysis, calcite twins, and regional thrusting directions determined from fault-related folds and slickenlines. This study shows that fault population analysis in syntectonic strata provides an opportunity to constrain kinematic evolution during orogeny.     

Neotectonic transpressional intraplate deformation in eastern Eurasia: Insights from active fault systems in the southeastern Korean Peninsula

Transpression occurs in response to oblique convergence across a deformation zone in intraplate regions and plate boundaries. The Korean Peninsula is located at an intraplate region of the eastern Eurasian Plate and has been deformed under the ENE–WSW maximum horizontal compression since the late Pliocene. In this study, we analyzed short-term instrumental seismic (focal mechanism) and long-term paleoseismic (Quaternary fault outcrop) data to decipher the neotectonic crustal deformation pattern in the southeastern Korean Peninsula. Available (paleo-)seismic data acquired from an NNE–SSW trending deformation zone between the Yangsan and Ulleung fault zones indicate spatial partitioning of crustal deformation by NNW–SSE to NNE–SSW striking reverse faults and NNE–SSW striking strike-slip faults, supporting a strike-slip partitioned transpression model. The instantaneous and finite neotectonic strains, estimated from the focal mechanism and Quaternary outcrop data, respectively, show discrepancies in their axes, which can be attributed to the switching between extensional and intermediate axes of finite strain during the accumulation of wrench-dominated transpression. Notably, some major faults, including the Yangsan and Ulsan fault zones, are relatively misoriented to slip under the current stress condition but, paradoxically, have more (paleo-)seismic records indicating their role in accommodating the neotectonic transpressional strain. We propose that fluids, heat flow, and lithospheric structure are potential factors affecting the reactivation of the relatively misoriented major faults. Our findings provide insights into the accommodation pattern of strain associated with the neotectonic crustal extrusion in an intraplate region of the eastern Eurasian Plate in response to the collision of the Indian Plate and the subduction of the Pacific/Philippine Sea Plates.     

The contemporary state of stress and strain at the western pericline of the Greater Caucasus

We collected materials on geological indicators of paleostresses at the western pericline of the Greater Caucasus mega-anticlinorium and within the large transverse flexure-fault zone (Anapa and Dzhiginka zones) limiting this mega-anticlinorium. Based on the data, we reconstructed local stress states in different tectonic zones. The reconstructed local stresses showed a considerable variation of the orientations axes of principal stress near the two zones. In a site adjacent to the flexure-fault zone and located near the western pericline of the Greater Caucasus mega-anticlinorium, the detachment systems of northeastern (NE–SW) strike are determined. Additionally, field structural studies proved elongation in the northwestern (NW–SE) direction. This was also verified by the reconstruction of orientations of minimum compression stress axes (maximum deviatory tension) implemented by cataclastic analysis of structural–kinematic information on the movements of the fault planes (tectonic cracks and minor ruptures). We found a well-expressed multistage regime of the northwestern (NW–SE) tension within the limits of the Semisam anticline. Tension deformations (along the axis of the main folded structure) are manifested in structures of different scales; the values of relative elongation are defined for some of them. At the western pericline of the Greater Caucasus mega-anticlinorium, in the Miocene deposits, a north–south (NNW) compression regime with steep inclinations of axes of maximum compression stresses was identified. In the boundary zone between the Northwestern Caucasus and transverse Kerch–Taman trough, an alteration of the orientations of main axes of normal stresses was found. These changes led to the replacement of horizontal-compression and horizontalshear (with a NE-oriented compression) settings, which are predominant in the Caucasus, with settings of horizontal tension (with steep NNW-oriented compression axes).     

Balancing lateral orogenic float of the Eastern Alps

Oligocene to Miocene post-collisional shortening between the Adriatic and European plates was compensated by frontal thrusting onto the Molasse foreland basin and by contemporaneous lateral wedging of the Austroalpine upper plate. Balancing of the upper plate shortening by horizontal retrodeformation of lateral escaping and extruding wedges of the Austroalpine lid enables an evaluation of the total post-collisional deformation of the hangingwall plate. Quantification of the north–south shortening and east–west extension of the upper plate is derived from displacement data of major faults that dissect the Austroalpine wedges. Indentation of the South Alpine unit corresponds to 64 km north–south shortening and a minimum of 120 km of east–west extension. Lateral wedging affected the Eastern Alps east of the Giudicarie fault. West of the Giudicarie fault, north–south shortening was compensated by 50 to 80 km of backthrusting in the Lombardian thrust system of the Southern Alps. The main structures that bound the escaping wedges to the north are the Inntal fault system (ca. 50 km sinistral offset), the Königsee–Lammertal–Traunsee (KLT) fault (10 km) and the Salzach–Ennstal–Mariazell–Puchberg (SEMP) fault system (60 km). These faults, as well as a number of minor faults with displacements less than 10 km, root in the basal detachment of the Alps. The thin-skinned nature of lateral escape-related structures north of the SEMP line is documented by industry reflection seismic lines crossing the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) and the frontal thrust of the Eastern Alps. Complex triangle zones with passive roof backthrusts of Middle Miocene Molasse sediments formed in front of the laterally escaping wedges of the northern Eastern Alps. The aim of this paper is a semiquantitative reconstruction of the upper plate of the Eastern Alps. Most of the data is published elsewhere.     

European continuous active tectonic strain–stress map

This paper shows a new continuous strain–stress map for Europe obtained from the direct inversion of earthquake focal mechanisms calculated from the centroid tensor method. A total of 1608 focal mechanisms have been selected with several quality criteria from different catalogues (CMT Harvard, ETH, Med-Net, I.G.N. and I.A.G.) from 1973 to the present day. Values for the maximum horizontal shortening direction and brittle strain–stress regime defined by the k′ ratio (e_y/e_z, horizontal maximum/vertical strain) have been calculated following in Europe and Pannonian Basin the slip model of tri-axial deformation. The individual results including Dey and the shape of the active brittle strain ellipsoid have been interpolated to a final 15′ regular grid taking into account the relationship between the tectonic horizontal strain–stress value and the vertical load. Both continuous strain regime and maximum horizontal shortening (Dey) maps show a good correlation with the primary tectonic forces generated along the plate boundaries, plate kinematics and also some local perturbations related with main crustal heterogeneities and topography, as well as significant spatial variations in integrated crustal strength.     

Deformation conditions, kinematics, and displacement history of shallow crustal ductile shearing in the Norumbega fault system in the Northern Appalachians, eastern Maine

The Norumbega fault system in the Northern Appalachians in eastern Maine experienced complex post-Acadian ductile and brittle deformation from middle through late Paleozoic times. Well-preserved epizonal ductile shear zones in Fredericton belt metasedimentary rocks and granitic batholiths that intrude them provide valuable information on the nature, geometry, and evolution of orogen-parallel strike-slip Norumbega faulting. Metasedimentary rocks were ductilely sheared into phyllonite schistose mylonite, whereas granite into mylonite within the ductile shear zones. Ductile shearing took place at conditions of the lower greenschist facies with peak temperatures on the order of 300–350° based on comparison of plastic quartz and brittle feldspar microstructures, confirming a shallow crustal environment during faulting.Ductile shear strain was partitioned into two major shear zones in easternmost Maine—the Waite and Kellyland zones—but these zones converge toward the southwest. Megascopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic kinematic indicators confirm that fault motion in both zones was dominantly dextral strike-slip. Detailed mapping, especially in the plutonic rocks, reveals a complex ductile deformation history in the area where the Waite and Kellyland zones converge. Shear strain is broadly distributed in the rocks between Kellyland and Waite zones, and increases toward their junction. Multiple dextral high-strain zones oblique to both zones resemble megascopic synthetic c′ shear bands. Together with the Kellyland and Waite master shear zones, these define a megascopic S–C′ structure system produced in a regional-scale dextral strike-slip shear duplex that developed in the transition zone between the deeper (south-central Maine) and shallower (eastern Maine) segments of the Norumbega fault system.Granite plutons caught within the strike-slip shear duplex were intensely sheared and progressively smeared into long and narrow slivers identified by this study. The western lobe of the Deblois pluton and the Lucerne pluton have been recognized as the sources, respectively of the Third Lake Ridge and Morrison Ridge granite slivers. Restoration of both granite slivers to their presumed original positions yields approximately 25 km of dextral strike-slip displacement along only the Kellyland and synthetic ductile shear zones.     

Late Paleozoic faults of the Altai region, Central Asia: tectonic pattern and model of formation

The present kinematic and dynamic analysis of large-scale strike-slip faults, which enabled the formation of a collage of Altai terranes as a result of two collisional events. The Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous collision of the Gondwana-derived Altai-Mongolian terrane and the Siberian continent resulted in the formation of the Charysh–Terekta system of dextral strike-slip faults and later the Kurai and Kuznetsk–Teletsk–Bashkauss sinistral strike-slip faults. The Late Carboniferous–Permian collision of the Siberian and Kazakhstan continents resulted in the formation of the Chara, Irtysh and North-East sinistral strike-slip zones. The age of deformation of both collisional events becomes younger toward the inner areas of the Siberian continent. In the same direction the amount of displacement of strike-slip faulting decreases from several thousand to several hundred kilometers. The width of the Late Paleozoic zone of deformation reaches 1500 km. These events deformed the accretion-collision continental margins and their primary paleogeographic pattern.     

Kinematics of the Gondwana basins of peninsular India

The Gondwana successions (1–4 km thick) of peninsular India accumulated in a number of discrete basins during Permo-Triassic period. The basins are typically bounded by faults that developed along Precambrian lineaments during deposition, as well as affected by intrabasinal faults indicating fault-controlled synsedimentary subsidence. The patterns of the intrabasinal faults and their relationships with the respective basin-bounding faults represent both extensional and strike-slip regimes. Field evidence suggests that preferential subsidence in locales of differently oriented discontinuities in the Precambrian basement led to development of Gondwana basins with varying, but mutually compatible, kinematics during a bulk motion, grossly along the present-day E–W direction. The kinematic disparity of the individual basins resulted due to different relative orientations of the basement discontinuities and is illustrated with the help of a simple sandbox model. The regional E–W motion was accommodated by strike-slip motion on the transcontinental fault in the north.     

Transtensional deformation in the Lake Tahoe region, California and Nevada, USA

Dextral transtensional deformation is occurring along the Sierra Nevada–Great Basin boundary zone (SNGBBZ) at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada microplate. In the Lake Tahoe region of the SNGBBZ, transtension is partitioned spatially and temporally into domains of north–south striking normal faults and transitional domains with conjugate strike-slip faults. The normal fault domains, which have had large Holocene earthquakes but account only for background seismicity in the historic period, primarily accommodate east–west extension, while the transitional domains, which have had moderate Holocene and historic earthquakes and are currently seismically active, primarily record north–south shortening. Through partitioned slip, the upper crust in this region undergoes overall constrictional strain.Major fault zones within the Lake Tahoe basin include two normal fault zones: the northwest-trending Tahoe–Sierra frontal fault zone (TSFFZ) and the north-trending West Tahoe–Dollar Point fault zone. Most faults in these zones show eastside down displacements. Both of these fault zones show evidence of Holocene earthquakes but are relatively quiet seismically through the historic record. The northeast-trending North Tahoe–Incline Village fault zone is a major normal to sinistral-oblique fault zone. This fault zone shows evidence for large Holocene earthquakes and based on the historic record is seismically active at the microearthquake level. The zone forms the boundary between the Lake Tahoe normal fault domain to the south and the Truckee transition zone to the north.Several lines of evidence, including both geology and historic seismicity, indicate that the seismically active Truckee and Gardnerville transition zones, north and southeast of Lake Tahoe basin, respectively, are undergoing north–south shortening. In addition, the central Carson Range, a major north-trending range block between two large normal fault zones, shows internal fault patterns that suggest the range is undergoing north–south shortening in addition to east–west extension.A model capable of explaining the spatial and temporal partitioning of slip suggests that seismic behavior in the region alternates between two modes, one mode characterized by an east–west minimum principal stress and a north–south maximum principal stress as at present. In this mode, seismicity and small-scale faulting reflecting north–south shortening concentrate in mechanically weak transition zones with primarily strike-slip faulting in relatively small-magnitude events, and domains with major normal faults are relatively quiet. A second mode occurs after sufficient north–south shortening reduces the north–south S_hmax in magnitude until it is less than S_v, at which point S_v becomes the maximum principal stress. This second mode is then characterized by large earthquakes on major normal faults in the large normal fault domains, which dominate the overall moment release in the region, producing significant east–west extension.     

辽东鞍山齐大山韧性剪切带运动学解析及形成机制

关于太古宙早期地壳演化构造机制的争论已经持续了数十年,其焦点主要集中于水平构造还是垂向构造两大经典构造模式的探讨.对于早期地壳构造演化方面的研究,将会有助于我们更好地理解早前寒武纪的地球动力学机制.本文对华北克拉通东北部鞍山地区花岗-绿岩带内齐大山韧性剪切带的构造变形特征进行了详细的解析,揭示了该区新太古代垂向构造作用样式.研究结果表明,齐大山韧性剪切带内花岗质岩石长英质矿物塑性拉长特征明显,条带状构造发育,面理向NWW方向陡倾,不对称组构特征和矿物拉伸线理产状指示向NWW的陡倾正滑移剪切作用.变形岩石中的长英质矿物均发育中低温显微变形特征,石英C轴电子背散射衍射（EBSD）组构分析揭示石英以菱面＜a＞和底面＜a＞滑移系为主,岩石经历了中低温非共轴变形.根据矿物的变形行为以及石英的结晶优选方位推测变形温度约为400~500℃,岩石变形特征以位错蠕变为主.有限应变分析结果表明,靠近铁矿带方向,构造岩类型由L=S构造岩过渡为LS构造岩,岩石应变强度呈明显增强趋势.运动学涡度测量结果显示齐大山韧性剪切带内大多数岩石样品的W_k值大于0.75,岩石形成于以简单剪切作用为主的一般剪切作用.对比花岗-绿岩带西侧的白家坟韧性剪切带,显示二者均具有相向的陡倾正滑移运动学特征,表明新太古代时期鞍山地区地壳构造演化模式以垂向构造作用为主.      

河套地震带的震源机制类型时空分布特征

基于地质构造背景分析,收集2000年以来发生在河套地震带的M_L≥2.8级地震作为研究对象,综合运用基于P波初动的振幅比方法(APAS)和基于波形拟合的CAP反演方法求出256次地震事件的震源机制解。以断层节面滑动角作为判定指标,分区域给出了河套地震带的震源机制类型空间和时间分布图像,从断层滑动角度呈现河套地震带应力场时空变化过程。结果显示:临河盆地断层节面滑动角主要在水平±20°方向存在优势分布,走滑型特征显著;具体来讲,狼山-色尔腾山山前断裂带、临河断裂、乌拉山山前断裂等主要以纯走滑型地震为主,巴彦乌拉山断裂与磴口-本井断裂之间的区域多分布正走滑型地震。呼包盆地断层节面解虽然也呈现出走滑型为主的特征,但滑动角分布较为离散,优势分布方向不明显;呼包盆地西侧的包头至西山咀凸起一带表现出以走滑为主的小范围震源应力场特征,呼包盆地内部及东侧由于显著的区域垂直差异运动,正断层和逆冲型地震所占比例较大,震源机制类型整体呈现出与构造相依的分布特点。分析认为,2000年以来,河套地震带的应力场存在一定的时空非均匀性变化,研究结果更多表现了河套地震带的震源应力场变化过程,而研究资料时间不够长和震级不够大是引起这种应力场非均匀性暂态特征的主要因素。     

Tectonic stress regimes,rift extension and transform motion: the South Iceland Seismic Zone

Abstract

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is located at the junction of three rift segments in southwestern Iceland. The presence of different types of faulting and of differently orientated subgroups in Upper Pliocene to Holocene formations indicate polyphase tectonism. We measured 736 minor faults at 25 sites. Two types of relationships between stress regimes are represented. The first type, named IDS (inhomogeneous data set), is characterized by the presence of two types of fault mechanisms, normal and strike-slip, consistent with a single direction of extension. The second type, named OSR (opposite stress regimes), is characterized by the presence of perpendicular directions of extensions for a single type (normal or strike-slip) of faulting. Because of contradictory chronological criteria, we infer that the OSR alternated during the brittle tectonic activity of the SISZ. Two stress regimes, primary and secondary, are characterized by directions of extension NW-SE and NE-SW, respectively. The general fracture pattern characterized for the primary stress regime in the SISZ includes NNE-SSW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, conjugate ENE-WSW trending left-lateral faults and NE-SW normal faults. This distribution is quite consistent with a Riedel- type model of fault pattern in a left-lateral shear zone. The stress states characterized based on analysis of both the earthquake focal mechanisms and the recent faulting sow great similarity in terms of stress directions. The main difference is the larger ratio of strike-slip motions representing 71% of the total population in the case of earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas for the whole set of faults the proportion of strike-slip faulting was 50 %. We explain that a témpora evolution of the tectonic regime in the SISZ region, accompanied by a gradual change in stress field, starts with rift-type pure extension and progressively leads to development of preferentially strike-slip structures in the kinematic context of left- lateral transform motion. © Elsevier, Paris     

Tectonic stress regimes,rift extension and transform motion: The South Iceland Seismic Zone

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is located at the junction of three rift segments in southwestern Iceland. The presence of different types of faulting and of differently orientated subgroups in Upper Pliocene to Holocene formations indicate polyphase tectonism. We measured 736 minor faults at 25 sites. Two types of relationships between stress regimes are represented. The first type, named IDS (inhomogeneous data set), is characterized by the presence of two types of fault mechanisms, normal and strike-slip, consistent with a single direction of extension. The second type, named OSR (opposite stress regimes), is characterized by the presence of perpendicular directions of extensions for a single type (normal or strike-slip) of faulting. Because of contradictory chronological criteria, we infer that the OSR alternated during the brittle tectonic activity of the SISZ. Two stress regimes, primary and secondary, are characterized by directions of extension NW-SE and NE-SW, respectively. The general fracture pattern characterized for the primary stress regime in the SISZ includes NNE-SSW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, conjugate ENE-WSW trending left-lateral faults and NE-SW normal faults. This distribution is quite consistent with a Riedeltype model of fault pattern in a left-lateral shear zone. The stress states characterized based on analysis of both the earthquake focal mechanisms and the recent faulting show great similarity in terms of stress directions. The main difference is the larger ratio of strike-slip motions representing 71 % of the total population in the case of earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas for the whole set of faults the proportion of strike-slip faulting was 50 %. We explain that a temporal evolution of the tectonic regime in the SISZ region, accompanied by a gradual change in stress field, starts with rift-type pure extension and progressively leads to development of preferentially strike-slip structures in the kinematic context of leftlateral transform motion.     

Long-lived transpression in the Archean Bird River greenstone belt, western Superior Province, Southeastern Manitoba

The Archean Bird River greenstone belt (BRGB) is located on the southwestern edge of the Superior Province between the 3.2 Ga old Winnipeg River subprovince to the south and the metasedimentary belt of the English River subprovince (ERSP) to the north. This position between two major subprovinces makes the BRGB a primary target for investigating the geodynamic and kinematic evolution of a major structural boundary. New structural and geochronological data have allowed us to present an evolutionary framework for the southern boundary of the North Caribou superterrane. The BRGB underwent 3 main deformation phases. The D1 event took place ca. 2698 Ma and displays a north-side-up shearing. The D2 event, occurring at ca. 2684 Ma in a transpressive context, presents a complex structural pattern mixing vertical tectonics in the BRGB and strike-slip tectonics along the boundaries of the greenstone belt with other subprovinces. Between the BRGB and the ERSP, the 2832–2858 Ma old Maskwa batholith acted as a rigid passive block during the collision and marks the boundary between pure dextral strike-slip tectonics along his northern boundary with the ERSP and vertical south-side-up motion in the BRGB. The BRGB can be considered as a pop-up structure with anastomosed shear zones displaying different horizontal offset according to the orientation of the shear zones. The southern boundary with the Winnipeg River subprovince is represented by a sinistral south-side-up shear zone. The same pattern is found at the regional scale where major shear zones acted as a conjugate set in the horizontal plane. At ca. 2640 Ma, the D3 event occurred in a general dextral transpressive tectonic regime coeval with the emplacement of rare-elements pegmatitic plutons in a still hot (400–500 °C) country rock. The geodynamical and mechanical significance of the partitioning between pure strike-slip tectonics in the English River subprovince and vertical motion in the BRGB can be explained by the rheological behaviour of a hot and weak lithosphere undergoing transpressive strain. The structural framework of the BRGB is the result of strong interactions between hot and weak domains, coeval with widespread plutonism, and a rigid older domain (Maskwa batholith) during the D2 transpressive event.     

Stress field in the Northern Rhine area, Central Europe, from earthquake fault plane solutions

Fault plane solutions (FPS) from 110 earthquakes in the northern Rhine area with local magnitudes, ranging from 1.0 to 6.1, and occurring between 1976 and 2002 are determined. FPS are retrieved from P-wave first motions using a grid search approach allowing a detailed exploration of the parameter space. The influence of the 1D velocity model on take-off angles and resulting FPS is examined. All events were relocated with a recently developed minimum 1D model of the velocity structure [J. Geophys. Res. (2003)]. Rose diagrams of the orientation of P, T and B axes show a clear preference of trends of P and T axes at N292°E and N27°E, respectively. The majority of B axes trend in northerly directions. Plunges of P and T axes are mostly around 45° while most B axes are subhorizontal. The main direction of the maximum horizontal stress directly inferred from the fault plane solutions is N118°E.To calculate the orientations of the principal stress axes and the shape of the stress tensor, the inversion method of Gephard and Forsyth [J. Geophys. Res. 89 (1984) 9305] was applied to the whole data set and to several subsets of data. The subsets were formed by grouping events from various geological and tectonic areas and by grouping events into different depth ranges. The subset areas include the Lower Rhine Embayment, the Rhenish Massif, the middle Rhine area, the Neuwied Basin and the area known as the Stavelot–Venn Massif. Inversion of the entire data set shows some ambiguity between a strike-slip and extensional stress regime, with a vertical axis for the medium principal stress and a trend of N305°E and N35°E for the σ₁ and σ₃ axis, respectively, as the best fitting tensor. Earthquakes from the Lower Rhine Embayment and, to some degree, from the middle Rhine area indicate an extensional stress regime. In the Lower Rhine Embayment, plunge and trend of the σ₁ axis are 76° and N162°E and for the σ₃ axis 7° and N42°E. The best fitting solution for the area of the Stavelot–Venn Massif is a strike-slip regime with subhorizontal σ₁ and σ₃ axes with a trend of N316°E and N225°E, respectively. Stress orientations found here agree overall with the results from earlier studies based on smaller data sets. The directions of the maximum and minimum horizontal stresses inverted from focal mechanisms agree well with the stress field predicted by the European Stress Map. This confirms earlier interpretations that the stress field of the Rhine Graben system is controlled by plate driving forces acting on the plate boundaries. However, amplitudes of the stresses change on a local scale and with depth. Estimates of the absolute magnitude of principal stresses favor a normal faulting regime in the shallow crust (above 12-km depth) and a strike-slip regime in the lower crust.     

Stress state reconstruction and tectonic evolution of the northern slope of the Baikit anteclise,Siberian Craton,based on 3D seismic data

In this work, we consider application of an original method for determining the indicators of the tectonic stress fields in the northern Baikit anteclise based on 3D seismic data for further reconstruction of the stress state parameters when analyzing structural maps of seismic horizons and corresponded faults. The stress state parameters are determined by the orientations of the main stress axes and shape of the stress ellipsoid. To calculate the stress state parameters from data on the spatial orientations of faults and slip vectors, we used the algorithms from quasiprimary stress computation methods and cataclastic analysis, implemented in the software products FaultKinWin and StressGeol, respectively. The results of this work show that kinematic characteristics of faults regularly change toward the top of succession and that the stress state parameters are characterized by different values of the Lode–Nadai coefficient. Faults are presented as strike-slip faults with normal or reverse component of displacement. Three stages of formation of the faults are revealed: (1) partial inversion of ancient normal faults, (2) the most intense stage with the predominance of thrust and strike-slip faults at north-northeast orientation of an axis of the main compression, and (3) strike-slip faults at the west-northwest orientation of an axis of the main compression. The second and third stages are pre-Vendian in age and correlate to tectonic events that took place during the evolution of the active southwestern margin of the Siberian Craton.     

Stress orientation and tectonic regime in the northwestern Valencia Trough from borehole data

The orientation of the maximum horizontal stress S_H is obtained from the analysis of borehole breakouts, covering a depth range from 300 to 3415 m (below sea level) in twelve offshore exploration wells in the northwestern Valencia Trough. The orientation of S_H is roughly coincident with the strike of major extensional structures. From N to S it changes counterclockwise from a NE–SW orientation to a N–S orientation. Estimates of the tectonic regimes indicate that the area is characterised predominantly by normal-faulting with a strike-slip component. Both the stress orientations and the tectonic regimes are consistent with neotectonic studies in the nearby Catalan Coastal Ranges. An established method of estimating the tectonic regime by Moos and Zoback (1990) was modified by the inclusion of a nontrivial cohesion, but this changes the results insignificantly.     

全球应力场与构造分析

介绍了近年来全球构造应力研究方面的一些新进展并以“世界应力图”提供的资料为背景 ,结合一些最新的研究成果 ,阐述了全球构造应力场的分布特征及其与板块构造运动之间的联系。研究结果表明 :(1)全球存在大尺度的统一性构造应力场 ;(2 )全球大多数板块内部地区为挤压应力作用 ,其应力结构多为逆断型、走滑型或逆走滑型 ;(3)大陆板块内部的扩张区大多位于高海拔异常地区 ,其应力结构为正断型或正走滑型 ,如青藏高原、东非裂谷和贝加尔裂谷等 ;(4)全球大部分地区的地壳上部构造应力作用方向较为均一 ,存在区域统一应力场 ;(5 )全球大部分地区的最大水平主应力方向与板块绝对运动 (角速度 )迹线保持较好的一致性 ,反映出构造应力与板块运动的关系密切 ;(6 )板块汇聚、洋脊扩张可能是产生岩石圈上部构造应力的主要力源。