Earthquake Geology

Class three
Brittle, ductile, and earthquake cycles

March 12, 2019

Answers of the last homework

HW Q1: Erosion and deposition

So now you know why Central Range is still high, even
though the erosion rate of Taiwan is very high.
So now you know why in the Western Foothills the
Mio-Pliocene sedimentary strata are so thick.
Answers of the last homework

HW Q2: neutral buoyancy

So now you know why the continental lithosphere
is very difficult to subduct.
Answers of the last homework

HW Q3: Derive simple functions of

lithospheric strength versus depth
Answers of the last homework

HW Q4: Use brittle and ductile

condition equations to draw
lithospheric strength plots, and
answer questions
What will happen if we use
different density for different crust?

What will happen if there are

different materials within the crust?

Different geothermal gradient in the

crust or mantle?
So what does this imply for some
famous tectonic models, e.g., Tibet?

We will discuss this later in the

semester……
This is called the “brittle-
ductile transition”.

That is, in the crust, the

upper part behaves in the
brittle way, and the
deeper part behaves in
the ductile way.

This is why, in general,

the shallow part of a fault
is locked, and the deeper
part is creeping.
The strain accumulation and release patterns in a seismic
cycle
The width of the arctangent curve is related to the locking
depth
Records from the 1946 M=8 Nankai Trough
earthquake
The shape of the
curve is related to
the relative rigidity
between the fault and
the surrounding
crust.

Therefore, if the
fault is very weak, it
may creep to the
surface (no locking,
and probably no
strain accumulated).
Therefore, the
comparison of geodetic
measurements between
“near-field” and “far-
field” is very important.
N. California S. California

What does the difference mean?

How about dip-slip faults?
 island

lock
e d

The earthquake cycle

Courtesy of James Jackson
 rupt
ulroe
c ke d

fault is loaded…. ready for earthquake

after the earthquake
May 05 Strain relieved!

Jan 05 Strain still accumulating

Courtesy of Kerry Sieh

Records from the 1946 M=8 Nankai Trough
earthquake
The actual situation, of course, is much more
complicated.
What would be the difference
between a subduction zone and
an onland thrust fault?
 island

lock
e d

The earthquake cycle

Courtesy of James Jackson
 rupt
ulroe
c ke d

fault is loaded…. ready for earthquake

after the earthquake
 island
River terrace

lock
e d

The earthquake cycle

Courtesy of James Jackson
 rupt
ulroe
c ke d

fault is loaded…. ready for earthquake

after the earthquake
The actual situation, again, is much more complicated.
Different models of seismic
cycles
Periodic model is also called “characteristic earthquake”
model.

Time-predictable vs. slip-predictable models

Why do time-predictable or slip-predictable models
exist?

Asperity dominant: time-predictable

Barrier dominant: slip-predictable
Another issue of the “characteristic earthquake” model
Fortunately, it looks like the “characteristic
earthquake” model is still reasonable…
Co-seismic and long-
term deformation
patterns of a reverse
fault.
Similar pattern of a
normal fault.

Notice the co-seismic

and long-term
footwall uplift.
GPS velocity field of the
Tibetan Plateau region
Can you tell if there are
the active faults, and
where? Why or why
not?
Finally, the GPS rate does
NOT necessarily need to be
the same as the geologic
rate.
In fact, we have seen many
cases that they are very
different…