Wolfson-Schwehr Monica

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Wolfson-Schwehr
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Monica
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  • Article
    The relationship between seismicity and fault structure on the Discovery transform fault, East Pacific Rise
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2014-09-29) Wolfson-Schwehr, Monica ; Boettcher, Margaret S. ; McGuire, Jeffrey J. ; Collins, John A.
    There is a global seismic moment deficit on mid-ocean ridge transform faults, and the largest earthquakes on these faults do not rupture the full fault area. We explore the influence of physical fault structure, including step-overs in the fault trace, on the seismic behavior of the Discovery transform fault, 4S on the East Pacific Rise. One year of microseismicity recorded during a 2008 ocean bottom seismograph deployment (24,377 0 inline image ML inline image 4.6 earthquakes) and 24 years of Mw inline image 5.4 earthquakes obtained from the Global Centroid Moment Tensor catalog, are correlated with surface fault structure delineated from high-resolution multibeam bathymetry. Each of the 15 5.4 inline image Mw inline image 6.0 earthquakes that occurred on Discovery between 1 January 1990 and 1 April 2014 was relocated into one of five distinct rupture patches using a teleseismic surface wave cross-correlation technique. Microseismicity was relocated using the HypoDD relocation algorithm. The western fault segment of Discovery (DW) is composed of three zones of varying structure and seismic behavior: a zone with no large events and abundant microseismicity, a fully coupled zone with large earthquakes, and a complex zone with multiple fault strands and abundant seismicity. In general, microseismicity is reduced within the patches defined by the large, repeating earthquakes. While the extent of the large rupture patches on DW correlates with physical features in the bathymetry, step-overs in the primary fault trace are not observed at patch boundaries, suggesting along-strike heterogeneity in fault zone properties controls the size and location of the large events.
  • Article
    Thermal segmentation of mid-ocean ridge-transform faults
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2017-09-13) Wolfson-Schwehr, Monica ; Boettcher, Margaret S. ; Behn, Mark D.
    3-D finite element simulations are used to calculate thermal structures and mantle flow fields underlying mid-ocean ridge-transform faults (RTFs) composed of two fault segments separated by an orthogonal step over. Using fault lengths and slip rates, we derive an empirical scaling relation for the critical step over length ( inline image), which marks the transition from predominantly horizontal to predominantly vertical mantle flow at the base of the lithosphere under a step over. Using the ratio of step over length (LS) to inline image, we define three degrees of segmentation: first-degree, corresponding to type I step overs ( inline image ≥ 3); second-degree, corresponding to type II step overs (1 ≤  inline image < 3); and third-degree, corresponding to type III step overs ( inline image <1). In first-degree segmentation, thermal structures and mantle upwelling patterns under a step over are similar to those of mature ridges, where normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) form. The seismogenic area under first-degree segmentation is characteristic of two, isolated faults. Second-degree segmentation creates pull-apart basins with subdued melt generation, and intratransform spreading centers with enriched MORBs. The seismogenic area of RTFs under second-degree segmentation is greater than that of two isolated faults, but less than that of an unsegmented RTF. Under third-degree segmentation, mantle flow is predominantly horizontal, resulting in little lithospheric thinning and little to no melt generation. The total seismogenic area under third-degree segmentation approaches that of an unsegmented RTF. Our scaling relations characterize the degree of segmentation due to step overs along transform faults and provide insight into RTF frictional processes, seismogenic behavior, and melt transport.