[1] We show that the morphology and the deformation of a fast spreading ridge constrain shallow upper mantle viscosity. A fast spreading center is simulated in a numerical model that couples tectonic deformation due to plate spreading and periodic dike emplacements. The amount of magma intruded into dikes or extruded is enough to make a 7 km thick crust and the axial lithosphere is fixed at ∼2 ...

[1] Basement-cored uplift provinces are often characterized by high-angle reverse faulting along preexisting crustal heterogeneities, which may greatly affect the mechanics of deformation and the coupling between erosion and orogenic structure. Herein we construct a coupled deformation-erosion model to understand the mechanics and erosion of mountain belts in which the spatial distribution of d...

[1] Large, clockwise, vertical axis tectonic rotations of the Hikurangi margin, East Coast, New Zealand, have been inferred over both geological and contemporary timescales, from paleomagnetic and geodetic data, respectively. Previous interpretations of paleomagnetic data have laterally divided the margin into independently rotating domains; this is not a feature of the short-term velocity fiel...

Geophysical and geochemical investigations concerning deformation events of tectonic interest at the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso have been carried out and possible correlations with local seismicity are also investigated. We have planned and realized an automatic multiparametric equipment (water temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, Rn) and from the May 1996 we performs automatic m...

In recent years, the nature of the complex interactions between the solid earth and the overlying atmosphere has been the subject of much debate (England and Molnar 1990; Whipple et al. 1999; Braun et al. 1999). Does erosion play an important role in the dynamics of mountain building? Is there a strong feedback into the balance of forces at the crustal scale from mass transport by erosional and...

Of the many fields of science in which increased numerical simulations and information technology have accelerated recent developments, perhaps none holds more promise than computational earth system science, a field of research within the new science of GeoComplexity. In the past, researchers observed physical and chemical processes to clarify the physics of such natural systems as earthquake ...

For the past 80 years, the energy released in great strike-slip and thrust earthquakes has occurred in alternating cycles of 20 to 30 years. This pattern suggests that a global transfer mechanism from poloidal to toroidal components of tectonic plate motions is operating on time scales of several decades. The increase in seismic activity in California in recent years may be related to an accele...