Tectonics articles within Nature

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  • Letter |

    Three-dimensional numerical models of the interaction of a mantle plume with a rheologically realistic lithosphere predict complex surface evolution very different from the smooth, radially symmetric patterns usually assumed to be the signature of a mantle upwelling, with strongly asymmetric small-scale three-dimensional features such as rifts and linear fault structures.

    • Evgueni Burov
    •  & Taras Gerya

  • Letter |

    The 2014 Iquique event was not the earthquake that had been expected to fill the regional seismic gap; given that significant sections of the northern Chile subduction zone have not ruptured in almost 150 years, it is likely that future megathrust earthquakes will occur south and potentially north of the 2014 Iquique sequence.

    • Gavin P. Hayes
    • , Matthew W. Herman
    •  & Sergey Samsonov

  • Letter |

    Seismic data from subduction zones that exhibit slow earthquakes reveal that the ratio of compressional-wave to shear-wave velocity of the overriding forearc crust is linearly related to the average recurrence time of slow earthquakes and that this may be associated with quartz enrichment within the forearc crust.

    • Pascal Audet
    •  & Roland Bürgmann

  • Letter |

    The transition between ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’ friction in a model system is found to be quantitatively captured by the same theoretical framework as is used to describe brittle fracture, but deviations from this correspondence are observed as the rupture velocity approaches the speed at which sound waves propagate along the interface.

    • Ilya Svetlizky
    •  & Jay Fineberg

  • Letter |

    Lithospheric damage, combined with transient mantle flow and migrating proto-subduction, is proposed to explain the apparent emergence of plate tectonics three billion years ago; modelling confirms that tectonic plate boundaries and fully formed tectonic plates can arise under conditions characteristic of Earth but not of Venus.

    • David Bercovici
    •  & Yanick Ricard

  • Letter |

    Three-dimensional dynamic computer models show how accretionary tectonic margins evolve from the initial plate-collision state, through a period of plate margin instability, and then re-establish a stable convergent margin; the models illustrate how significant curvature of the orogenic system develops, as well as the mechanism for tectonic escape of the back-arc region.

    • L. Moresi
    • , P. G. Betts
    •  & R. A. Cayley

  • Article |

    Using electron backscattering diffraction maps of deformed olivine to resolve the disclinations at grain boundaries, combined with a disclination-based model of a high-angle tilt boundary in olivine, reveals the missing mechanism for describing plastic flow in polycrystalline olivine: an applied shear induces grain-boundary migration through disclination motion.

    • Patrick Cordier
    • , Sylvie Demouchy
    •  & Claude Fressengeas

  • Letter |

    The study of gas emission rates, chemistry and isotopic analyses show that the rate of helium-4 emission from the crust at Yellowstone is orders of magnitude greater than any conceivable rate of generation within the crust; this implies that helium has accumulated for hundreds of millions of years in deeper Archaean cratonic rocks, only to be liberated over the past two million years by crustal metamorphism induced by the Yellowstone hotspot.

    • J. B. Lowenstern
    • , W. C. Evans
    •  & A. G. Hunt

  • Article |

    A heat-pipe model of Earth, whereby interior heat is brought to the surface through localized channels, yields predictions that agree with craton data and the detrital zircon record, and offers a global geodynamic framework in which to explore Earth’s evolution before the onset of plate tectonics.

    • William B. Moore
    •  & A. Alexander G. Webb

  • Letter |

    Large volumes of molten rock break through the Earth’s crust during continental breakup, and here it is shown that the cause is primarily very high mantle temperatures (under a thick plate), rather than plate thinning.

    • D. J. Ferguson
    • , J. Maclennan
    •  & G. Yirgu

  • Letter |

    Global-scale mantle flow patterns can be deduced from the net behaviour (convergence and divergence) of surface plate motions; persistent quadrupole divergence in central Africa and the central Pacific suggest sustained stationary upwelling beneath these locations in the mantle.

    • Clinton P. Conrad
    • , Bernhard Steinberger
    •  & Trond H. Torsvik

  • Article |

    A new explanation for the origin of the accreted terranes that form the mountainous Cordillera of western North America is proposed and tested: stationary, intra-oceanic subduction deposited massive slab walls in the mantle and grew volcanic archipelagos at the surface, which were overridden by and accreted to North America during Cretaceous times.

    • Karin Sigloch
    •  & Mitchell G. Mihalynuk

  • Letter |

    Sea-floor magnetotelluric data are used to image the electrical conductivity of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary offshore of Nicaragua; a high-conductivity layer confined to depths of 45–70 kilometres is found, interpreted to be a partially molten channel of low viscosity.

    • S. Naif
    • , K. Key
    •  & R. L. Evans

  • News & Views |

    Analyses of two recent earthquakes of great magnitude show how complex the breaking of the oceanic lithosphere can be, how it is linked to earlier great events and how it triggers seismicity worldwide. See Letters p.240, p.245 & p.250

    • Jean-Yves Royer

  • Letter |

    The two earthquakes of respective magnitudes 8.6 and 8.2 that occurred off the coast of the Sumatra subduction zone on 11 April 2012 are shown to be part of a continuing boost of the intraplate deformation between India and Australia that followed the Aceh 2004 and Nias 2005 megathrust earthquakes.

    • Matthias Delescluse
    • , Nicolas Chamot-Rooke
    •  & Christophe Vigny

  • Letter |

    Although strong remote aftershocks are exceedingly rare, their rate increased fivefold during the six days following the 2012 east Indian Ocean earthquake, perhaps as a result of the strike-slip nature of the 2012 event or a build up of close-to-failure nucleation sites.

    • Fred F. Pollitz
    • , Ross S. Stein
    •  & Roland Bürgmann

  • Letter |

    The magnitude 8.7 earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Sumatra subduction zone on 11 April 2012 is shown to have had an extraordinarily complex four-fault rupture; these great ruptures represent large lithospheric deformation that may eventually lead to a localized boundary between the Indian and Australian plates.

    • Han Yue
    • , Thorne Lay
    •  & Keith D. Koper

  • Letter |

    A laboratory study of the frictional properties of the igneous rock gabbro at seismically relevant slip rates suggests that the initial weakening of a fault surface during earthquake rupture may be associated with hotspots and macroscopic streaks of melt, which partially unload the rest of the slip interface.

    • Kevin M. Brown
    •  & Yuri Fialko

  • News Feature |

    The US government says that a huge earthquake risk lurks in the heart of the country, where a series of large shocks hit 200 years ago. Seth Stein says that kind of warning is dead wrong.

    • Richard Monastersky

  • News |

    Despite the massive release of seismic stress two months ago, another large earthquake could strike the region.

    • Sid Perkins

  • Letter |

    This study shows that the contrast in tectonic regime between primarily strike-slip faulting in northern Tibet and dominantly normal faulting in southern Tibet requires mechanical coupling between the upper crust of southern Tibet and the underthrusting Indian crust. Such coupling is inconsistent with the presence of active ‘channel flow’ beneath southern Tibet, and indicates that the Indian crust retains its strength as it underthrusts the plateau.

    • Alex Copley
    • , Jean-Philippe Avouac
    •  & Brian P. Wernicke

  • News & Views |

    An approach integrating different data sets has been used to map out seismic-velocity ratios in the crust of western North America. High inferred quartz content correlates with tectonic deformation zones. See Letter p.353

    • Roland Bürgmann
    •  & Pascal Audet

  • News & Views |

    The Eastern Lau spreading centre in the Pacific Ocean is the subject of especial interest. The influence of the neighbouring subduction zone is considerable, but evidently has unexpected limits. See Letter p.198

    • Peter Michael

  • News & Views |

    Glaciers frozen to bedrock may have protected the southernmost Andes from erosion, providing an explanation for the mountains' topography and fresh constraints on possible links between climate and tectonics.

    • Jean Braun

  • Letter |

    These authors show evidence for a high coherence between the slip distribution inferred from the 2010 Maule earthquake, Chile, and the patchwork of interseismic locking distribution derived from global positioning system observations during the previous decade. Their work suggests that coseismic slip heterogeneity at the scale of single asperities should indicate the seismic potential of future earthquakes, which thus might be anticipated by geodetic observations.

    • Marcos Moreno
    • , Matthias Rosenau
    •  & Onno Oncken

  • Letter |

    Cratons, the ancient cores of continents, extend laterally for hundreds of kilometres, and are underlain to depths of 180–250 km by mantle roots that are chemically and physically distinct from surrounding mantle. But how can these roots stay so isolated from mantle convection? Here it is shown that olivine in peridotite xenoliths from the lithosphere–athenosphere boundary region of the Kaapvaal craton mantle root is water-poor, providing sufficient viscosity contrast with the underlying asthenosphere to explain the root's stability.

    • Anne H. Peslier
    • , Alan B. Woodland
    •  & Marina Lazarov

  • Editorial |

    Earth scientists have explained why Canada and South Africa are still here.

  • News |

    Experts debate how much emergency-response planners should rely on tsunami forecasts.

    • Quirin Schiermeier

  • Letter |

    Despite extensive study of the San Andreas fault, its physical character and deformation mode beneath the relatively shallow earthquake-generating portion remain largely unconstrained. Here, continuous seismic data from mid-2001 to 2008 is examined, using an approach that allows differentiation between activities from nearby patches of the deep fault and begins to unveil rich and complex patterns of tremor occurrence, in particular, constant motion of the tremor source.

    • David R. Shelly

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