Uncovering the hidden mechanics of “slow slip” earthquakes – ScienceDaily

Slow-slip earthquakes, a type of slow-moving earthquake, have been detected in many of the world’s earthquake hotspots, including those around the Pacific Ring of Fire, but it is unclear how they relate to the devastating earthquakes that occur there. Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have unveiled the inner workings of earthquakes using computerized seismic tomography and supercomputers to examine an area off the coast of New Zealand known to produce.

The ideas will help scientists determine why tectonic energy is released into subduction zones such as the New Zealand Hikurangi subduction zone, a seismically active region where the Pacific tectonic plate sinks – or descends – under the country’s North Island, and is sometimes gently released in the form of a slow slide, times Others, such as damaging and high-strength earthquakes.

The research was recently published in Nature Geoscience as part of a special issue focusing on subduction zones.

“Subduction zones are the largest earthquake and tsunami factories on the planet,” said co-author Laura Wallace, a research scientist at UT Austin Geophysics (UTIG) and GNS Science in New Zealand. “With more research like this one, we can really begin to understand the origin of the different types of [earthquake] Behavior in subduction zones. “

The research used new image processing techniques and computer modeling to test many of the proposed mechanisms around how slow-slip earthquakes occurred, and to uncover which mechanisms worked best.

The study’s lead author, Adrien Arnulf, UTIG Research Scientist, said this type of research is important because understanding where and when a large subduction zone earthquake could happen can only happen by solving the slow slip puzzle first.

“If you ignore the slow slide, you will miscalculate the amount of energy stored and released when the tectonic plates move around the planet,” he said.

Scientists know that slow slip events are an important part of the earthquake cycle because they occur in similar locations and can release as much pent-up tectonic energy as a strong earthquake, but without causing a sudden seismic shock. In fact, the events are so slow, unfolding over the course of weeks, that they are only 20 years away from being discovered.

The Hikurangi subduction zone in New Zealand is an ideal location for studying slow-slip earthquakes because they occur at depths shallow enough to be photographed with high resolution, either by listening to the Earth’s internal vibrations, or by sending artificial seismic waves into the Earth’s interior and recording. echo.

Converting seismic data into a detailed image is a daunting task, but by using techniques similar to those used in medical imaging, geoscientists can determine the length, shape, and strength of the seismic echo to find out what is happening underground.

In the current study, Arnulf was able to extract more information by programming algorithms on Lonestar5, a supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, to look for patterns in the data. The results told Arnulf how weak the fault had reached and where the pressure felt within the ground joints.

He worked with James Bemiller, a graduate student at UT Jackson School of Geosciences, who used Arnulf’s parameters in a detailed simulation he developed to model how faults move.

The simulations showed that tectonic forces build up in the crust and then set off through a series of slow jolts, just like the slow-sliding earthquakes that have been detected at Hikurangi over the past two decades.

According to the scientists, the real success of the research was not that the model worked, but rather that it showed them where the gaps in physics were.

“We don’t necessarily have a nail in the coffin that shows exactly how the slow, shallow slip happens,” Biemiller said, but we tested one of the standard pins (modifier case friction) and found it didn’t work as well as you’d expect. This means that we can probably assume that there are other processes involved in slow slip modulation, such as fluid pressure and release cycles. “

Finding those other processes is exactly what the team hopes their method will help facilitate.

The seismic data for the study were provided by GNS Science and the New Zealand Department of Economic Development. The research was funded by UTIG and the MBIE Endeavor Fund for GNS Science. UTIG is a unit of the Jackson School of Geosciences.

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