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| Open AccessHot Cordilleran hinterland promoted lower crust mobility and decoupling of Laramide deformation
Researchers test geodynamic models for far-field continental deformation during the Laramide orogeny. New and existing thermal data show that the hot hinterland crust promoted lower crust mobility and crust-mantle decoupling during flat-slab traction.
- Dominik R. Vlaha
- , Andrew V. Zuza
- & Matthieu Harlaux
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Article
| Open AccessMagmatism controls global oceanic transform fault topography
Spreading-rate dependent magmatism plays a central role in controlling the global systematics of oceanic transform fault topography, according to geodynamic modelling.
- Xiaochuan Tian
- , Mark D. Behn
- & Anton A. Popov
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| Open AccessOnset of double subduction controls plate motion reorganisation
In face-to-face double subduction, the development of subduction in the younger system restrains subduction in the older system and results in plate motion reorganisation, according to geodynamic modelling.
- Kuidi Zhang
- , Jie Liao
- & Taras Gerya
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Article
| Open AccessArchaean continental crust formed from mafic cumulates
Earth’s early continental crust formed by the melting of plagioclase-cumulates. Melting of these rocks, and subsequent crustal delamination and remelting, can explain the growth and differentiation of the continental crust during the Archaean.
- Matthijs A. Smit
- , Kira A. Musiyachenko
- & Jeroen Goumans
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| Open AccessChange of deep subduction seismicity after a large megathrust earthquake
In this study, the authors analyze the spatio-temporal variations of the seismicity in Japan due to the Tohoku-Oki earthquake. They show that a megathrust earthquake can affect the stress state of the slab over large lateral and depth ranges.
- Blandine Gardonio
- , David Marsan
- & Alexandre Schubnel
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| Open AccessReconciling patterns of long-term topographic growth with coseismic uplift by synchronous duplex thrusting
Deciphering the relationship between prolonged topographic growth and temporary earthquake uplift is challenging due to the mismatch in their deformation patterns. Zhang et al. introduce a novel model to address this highly hotly-debated discrepancy.
- Yuqing Zhang
- , Hanlin Chen
- & Xiu Hu
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| Open AccessChanges in orogenic style and surface environment recorded in Paleoproterozoic foreland successions
Two different styles of orogenesis during the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic are recorded in the depositional-to-deformational evolution of the orogenic foreland of the North China Craton, and would have differently changed the surface environment.
- Bo Huang
- , Man Liu
- & Qunye Qian
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| Open AccessVertical tearing of subducting plates controlled by geometry and rheology of oceanic plates
Vertical tearing promotes continuous segmentation of subducting plates, but its dynamics and physical controls remain debated. This work indicates that trench geometry and plate rheology control the self-sustained process of vertical tearing.
- Yaguang Chen
- , Hanlin Chen
- & Taras Gerya
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| Open AccessMonths-long seismicity transients preceding the 2023 MW 7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake, Türkiye
Unique seismic transients since 2014 were detected during 8 months before the 2023 MW 7.8 Kahramanmaraş earthquake on the East Anatolian Fault. They are consistent with experiments and models of heterogeneous rupture affecting multiple fault segments.
- G. Kwiatek
- , P. Martínez-Garzón
- & M. Bohnhoff
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| Open AccessPaleogene India-Eurasia collision constrained by observed plate rotation
Dynamic 3D modelling of counterclockwise rotation of the Indian plate, which peaked at 52-44 and 33-20 Ma, reveals the diachronous India-Eurasia collision from western-centre to east since 55 ± 5 Ma and complete collision since 40 ± 5 Ma.
- Xiaoyue Wu
- , Jiashun Hu
- & Lijun Liu
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| Open AccessGarnet microstructures suggest ultra-fast decompression of ultrahigh-pressure rocks
Radial cracks observed in minerals formed at ultrahigh pressure and now found at the Earth’s surface are explained by ultrafast decompression, which challenges the idea of fast and significant displacement of rocks during their exhumation.
- Cindy Luisier
- , Lucie Tajčmanová
- & Thibault Duretz
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| Open AccessComplex multi-fault rupture and triggering during the 2023 earthquake doublet in southeastern Türkiye
Kinematic models for the two major earthquakes on February 6, 2023 along the East Anatolian Fault Zone reveal complex multi-fault rupture and the plausible triggering of the doublet aftershock by the first event. (*couldn’t find author-written summary)
- Chengli Liu
- , Thorne Lay
- & Ceyhun Erman
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Article
| Open AccessBasin record of a Miocene lithosphere drip beneath the Colorado Plateau
He & Kapp link an ancient basin high on the Colorado Plateau to lithospheric dripping deep beneath it. They show that this ephemeral process is visible not only via geophysical snapshots in the present, but also leaves imprints in the geologic record.
- John J. Y. He
- & Paul Kapp
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| Open AccessFluid-assisted grain size reduction leads to strain localization in oceanic transform faults
Deformed mantle rocks exhumed by oceanic transform faults recorded fluid-assisted ductile deformation at high temperatures and pressures, corresponding to the root of the fault. This deformation mechanism controls deep faulting at plate boundaries.
- Manon Bickert
- , Mary-Alix Kaczmarek
- & Susanna E. Sichel
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence for compositionally distinct upper mantle plumelets since the early history of the Tristan-Gough hotspot
Geochemical zonation of the Tristan-Gough hotspot track has been demonstrated for the conjugate Rio Grande Rise on the South American Plate, suggesting geochemically distinct Tristan and Gough plumelets existed since the plume head/tail transition.
- Stephan Homrighausen
- , Kaj Hoernle
- & Jörg Geldmacher
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| Open AccessMagmatic surge requires two-stage model for the Laramide orogeny
New and existing age data show active arc processes in Southern California during the beginning of the Laramide orogeny, which require a two-stage process and challenge the oceanic plateau collision paradigm.
- Joshua J. Schwartz
- , Jade Star Lackey
- & Jonathan D. Bixler
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| Open AccessDueling dynamics of low-angle normal fault rupture with splay faulting and off-fault damage
Tectonic plates slide past each other along faults in the Earth’s crust. Here, the authors develop physics-based computer simulations of these earthquakes to study how, where and by which processes the crust moves during such events.
- J. Biemiller
- , A.-A. Gabriel
- & T. Ulrich
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| Open Access2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest earthquake slip distribution controlled by fault geometry inherited from Independence dike swarm
Faults responsible for the 2019 M7.1 Ridgecrest, California earthquake likely evolved through reactivation of pre-existing Independence dike swarm structures. The inherited rupture geometry strongly controlled the earthquake slip distribution.
- Johanna M. Nevitt
- , Benjamin A. Brooks
- & Brad T. Aagaard
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| Open AccessNext-generation seismic model of the Australian crust from synchronous and asynchronous ambient noise imaging
This study constructs a new high-resolution 3D shear velocity model of the Australian continent using an extensive seismic dataset and a new imaging workflow, revealing detailed crustal structures that shed light on undercover mineral exploration.
- Yunfeng Chen
- , Erdinc Saygin
- & Mike Sandiford
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Article
| Open AccessEoarchean and Hadean melts reveal arc-like trace element and isotopic signatures
Geochemical analysis indicates a formational regime for Jack Hills zircons that is lithologically diverse and chemically similar to modern arcs. This depicts complicated geodynamics of the early Earth, which is currently proposed by many as stagnant-lid.
- Wriju Chowdhury
- , Dustin Trail
- & Paul Savage
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| Open AccessMicroseismicity and lithosphere thickness at a nearly-amagmatic oceanic detachment fault system
Oceanic detachment faults play a central role in accommodating the plate divergence at mid-oceanic ridges. Here, the authors show micro-seismicity of a nearly-amagmatic flip-flop detachment fault system at the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge.
- Jie Chen
- , Wayne C. Crawford
- & Mathilde Cannat
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Article
| Open AccessMilankovitch-paced erosion in the southern Central Andes
Fisher et al. combine sediment geochemistry and climate modelling to reveal long-term synchrony between erosion rates and orbitally-driven climate oscillations in the tectonically-active southern Central Andes.
- G. Burch Fisher
- , Lisa V. Luna
- & Lucas J. Lourens
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| Open AccessConstraints on the martian crust away from the InSight landing site
The authors show that the Martian crust, ~4300 km from the InSight landing site, has a subsurface interface similar to that beneath the lander, suggesting it is a regional or global feature that may be related to the closure of pore spaces at depth.
- Jiaqi Li
- , Caroline Beghein
- & W. Bruce Banerdt
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| Open AccessGreenstone burial–exhumation cycles at the late Archean transition to plate tectonics
Supracrustal rocks of the Yilgarn orogen underwent deep burial, and later syn-shortening exhumation. Archean exhumation processes were likely less efficient that today, so that complete exhumation of high-pressure rocks was rare and accidental.
- Zibra Ivan
- , Kemp Anthony I S
- & Romano Sandra S
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Article
| Open AccessPassive margins in accreting Archaean archipelagos signal continental stability promoting early atmospheric oxygen rise
This research reports a 2.5-billion year-old passive margin formed in accreting archipelagos, highlighting the contribution of early continent formation and the relationship between continental stabilization and early atmospheric oxygen rise.
- Yaying Peng
- , Timothy Kusky
- & Noreen J. Evans
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| Open AccessSeismic evidence for uniform crustal accretion along slow-spreading ridges in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean
Uniform magmatic crust formed at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean reveals a two-dimensional mantle upwelling facilitated by the large transform faults and the high concentration of volatiles in the primitive melt in the mantle.
- Zhikai Wang
- & Satish C. Singh
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| Open AccessSurface faulting earthquake clustering controlled by fault and shear-zone interactions
The mechanisms responsible for clustering of surface fault earthquakes are often unclear. Here the authors find that differential stress fluctuates during fault/shear-zone interactions which can produce changes in strain-rate and slip-rate changes leading to earthquake clustering.
- Zoë K. Mildon
- , Gerald P. Roberts
- & Eutizio Vittori
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| Open AccessPhysics-informed deep learning approach for modeling crustal deformation
Modeling crustal deformation is critical for understanding of tectonic processes and earthquake potentials. Here, the authors propose a deep learning approach that can be extended in a straightforward manner to complex crustal structures and inverse problems.
- Tomohisa Okazaki
- , Takeo Ito
- & Naonori Ueda
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| Open AccessCycles of Andean mountain building archived in the Amazon Fan
South American cordilleran orogenic systems have repeated complex magmatic and deformation histories. Here the authors analyze detrital zircons found in the Amazon deep-sea fan that record mountain-building events and reveal cycles of orogenesis with periods of ~60–90 Myr since the Phanerozoic.
- Cody C. Mason
- , Brian W. Romans
- & Andrea Fildani
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| Open AccessCoexisting divergent and convergent plate boundary assemblages indicate plate tectonics in the Neoarchean
This study reports coexisting Neoarchean divergent and convergent plate boundary rock assemblages, providing new evidence for the operation of plate tectonics 2.55–2.51 billion years ago; and also suggests the subduction zone was warm then.
- Bo Huang
- , Tim E. Johnson
- & Timothy Kusky
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| Open AccessExhumation and tectonic history of inaccessible subglacial interior East Antarctica from thermochronology on glacial erratics
Glacially transported igneous rocks eroded from the deep interior of ice-covered East Antarctica constrain a remarkable episodic cooling and exhumation history that helps unravel its mysterious tectonic evolution over the last 500 million years.
- Paul G. Fitzgerald
- & John W. Goodge
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| Open AccessSeismic events miss important kinematically governed grain scale mechanisms during shear failure of porous rock
Sound and Vision: In-situ synchrotron x-ray imaging with simultaneous acoustic monitoring captures grain scale damage mechanisms and unlocks the relationship between seismic and aseismic processes during catastrophic failure of porous rock.
- Alexis Cartwright-Taylor
- , Maria-Daphne Mangriotis
- & Oxana V. Magdysyuk
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Article
| Open AccessGenetic model of the El Laco magnetite-apatite deposits by extrusion of iron-rich melt
Can volcanoes erupt ore deposits? This study combines observations, experiments, and simulations to show that iron ore deposits on El Laco volcano formed by eruption of melt sourced from separation of Fe-rich melt from a silicate magma body beneath.
- Tobias Keller
- , Fernando Tornos
- & Jenny Suckale
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of gravitational body forces in the development of metamorphic core complexes
A long-standing controversy surrounds low-angle nature of observed detachment faults within metamorphic core complexes. Here, the authors show that post-orogenic collapse of mountain belts can create a low-angle detachment, resolving the controversy.
- Alireza Bahadori
- , William E. Holt
- & Lucy M. Flesch
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| Open AccessRock and fault rheology explain differences between on fault and distributed seismicity
A new study sheds light on earthquake physics, showing that lithological and rheological heterogeneities in the rocks composing the seismogenic layer strongly influence seismicity distributions and earthquake scaling laws.
- C. Collettini
- , M. R. Barchi
- & E. Tinti
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence for a developing plate boundary in the western Mediterranean
Conventional models propose multiple fault systems across a diffuse deformation zone absorbing plate convergence in the western Mediterranean. Here the authors show new data supporting the active development of a single plate boundary fault system, representing an underappreciated seismic and tsunami hazard.
- Laura Gómez de la Peña
- , César R. Ranero
- & Abdelkarim Yelles-Chaouche
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| Open AccessCoupled influence of tectonics, climate, and surface processes on landscape evolution in southwestern North America
Cenozoic landscape evolution of southwestern North America remains debated. Here, the authors reconstruct landscape using 4-D numerical models, which can explain extensional collapse and superficial geological record for the Basin and Range Province
- Alireza Bahadori
- , William E. Holt
- & Catherine Badgley
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| Open AccessMegathrust reflectivity reveals the updip limit of the 2014 Iquique earthquake rupture
The rupture area of the 2014 Iquique earthquake offshore northern Chile was spatially limited to a region where the plate boundary is non-reflective in seismic images, indicative of low fluid pressure. In contrast, north and updip of the rupture area, a coherent highly reflective plate boundary indicates excess fluid pressure, which may inhibit strain accumulation, while strain release in the non-reflective rupture area occurs during large earthquakes.
- Bo Ma
- , Jacob Geersen
- & Heidrun Kopp
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| Open AccessIntracontinental deformation of the Tianshan Orogen in response to India-Asia collision
This study presents seismic images across the central Tianshan. The results show that Tianshan’s crust was extensively deformed according to its inherited properties, but was limitedly underthrusted by surrounding blocks
- Wei Li
- , Yun Chen
- & Brian F. Windley
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| Open AccessDuctile deformation during carbonation of serpentinized peridotite
Mantle rocks can efficiently bind carbon by reaction with CO2 if fluid pathways remain open. This study of samples from Oman demonstrates that coupling of synchronous reaction and deformation facilitates fluid flow and massive carbon sequestration.
- Manuel D. Menzel
- , Janos L. Urai
- & Peter B. Kelemen
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Article
| Open AccessHydrological control of river and seawater lithium isotopes
From modern seasonal to the deep time, global data show that continental hydrology has a direct and consistent effect on river and marine Li isotope compositions, highlighting a crucial role of climate on Earth’s weathering and the carbon cycle.
- Fei Zhang
- , Mathieu Dellinger
- & Zhangdong Jin
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Article
| Open AccessActive construction of southernmost Tibet revealed by deep seismic imaging
Mechanism driving continental growth on modern Earth has long been debated. By interpreting the long deep seismic reflection data across the ongoing India-Eurasia collision zone, the authors report crustal-scale magma accretion onto the south of central Lhasa terrane produced net continental growth.
- Zhanwu Lu
- , Xiaoyu Guo
- & Bo Xiang
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Article
| Open AccessTrans-crustal structural control of CO2-rich extensional magmatic systems revealed at Mount Erebus Antarctica
Episodic magma eruption and CO2 release to the atmosphere are controlled where two structural trends meet to cause dilatancy.
- G. J. Hill
- , P. E. Wannamaker
- & P. Kyle
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Article
| Open AccessA strength inversion origin for non-volcanic tremor
Subduction plate boundaries have enigmatic seismic tremor that is often associated with surges in creep across these boundaries. Here, the authors use multiple approaches to show how blocks of weak rocks in a stronger matrix can explain both the occurrence and characteristics of tremor events.
- Paola Vannucchi
- , Alexander Clarke
- & Jason P. Morgan
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Article
| Open AccessPace of passive margin tectonism revealed by U-Pb dating of fracture-filling calcite
It is thought that Atlantic style passive margins have experienced episodes of uplift and volcanism in response to changes in mantle circulation. The authors here employ U-Pb dating of calcite in faults and fractures along the eastern North American margin and find a 40 Myr long period of fracturing and faulting from 115 to 75 Ma.
- William H. Amidon
- , Andrew R. C. Kylander-Clark
- & David P. West Jr.
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| Open AccessProbing the seismic cycle timing with coseismic twisting of subduction margins
Satellite geodesy and downscaled laboratory experiments reveal that great subduction earthquakes trigger step changes in kinematics of neighboring segments. This signal is potentially informative of the timing of the seismic cycle.
- F. Corbi
- , J. Bedford
- & Z. Deng
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Article
| Open AccessMantle exhumation at magma-poor rifted margins controlled by frictional shear zones
The development of offset normal faults in the conjugate Flemish Cap and Galicia magma-poor rifted margins is explored. The authors propose alternating opposite dipping detachments to be the underlying cause.
- Thomas Theunissen
- & Ritske S. Huismans
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Article
| Open AccessGrowth of Neogene Andes linked to changes in plate convergence using high-resolution kinematic models
A high-resolution model of the motion between Nazca and South American plates is presented. The work shows rapid changes that help explaining tectono-magmatic events via a balance between kinematic energy and gravitational potential energy stored in the roots of the Andes.
- Felipe Quiero
- , Andrés Tassara
- & Osvaldo Rabbia
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Article
| Open AccessEarthquake breakdown energy scaling despite constant fracture energy
Earthquake breakdown energy is commonly interpreted as a proxy for fracture energy but is observed to scale with magnitude. Here the authors show that a scale-independent stress overshoot, as seen in the 3D dynamic earthquake rupture simulations, leads to comparable scaling despite constant fault fracture energy.
- Chun-Yu Ke
- , Gregory C. McLaskey
- & David S. Kammer