The geological setting of the Darfield and Christchurch earthquakes.

Autor: Browne, GH, Field, BD, Barrell, DJA, Jongens, R, Bassett, KN, Wood, RA
Předmět:
Zdroj: New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics; Sep2012, Vol. 55 Issue 3, p193-197, 5p, 1 Map
Abstrakt: The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence occurred near the southeastern margin of Neogene deformation associated with the Australia–Pacific plate boundary. Basement comprises indurated rocks of the Torlesse Composite Terrane, of Permian to Early Cretaceous age, overlain by 1–2 km of less-indurated Cretaceous–Neogene rocks and unconsolidated Quaternary sediments. Proximity to the subduction interface between Gondwana and the paleo-Pacific Ocean produced a Mesozoic-age structural grain in the basement rocks, aligned broadly east–west in the Canterbury to Chatham Rise areas. These structures provided an inherited weakness that was likely reactivated by present-day stress. Mid- to Late Cretaceous extension, marked by localised fault-bounded grabens, was followed by deposition of a Late Cretaceous to Paleogene passive-margin transgressive sedimentary sheet and minor intraplate basaltic volcanics. Mid-Cenozoic inception of the modern Australia–Pacific plate boundary heralded deposition of a regressive succession of Neogene sediments and further episodes of volcanism, most notably constructing the Late Miocene Banks Peninsula intraplate volcanoes. The east- to northeast-striking faults associated with the Darfield and Christchurch earthquakes are probably aligned with the Mesozoic structural grain within the Torlesse basement rocks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
Databáze: Complementary Index