[1] Climate change indirectly alters the distribution of tectonic uplift at active orogens by modifying the action of surface processes, which in turn alters mountain topography. The impact of alpine glaciation on tectonic activity is explored here. The predictions of previous analytical, critical wedge models are compared with the output of a numerical model that explicitly couples rock uplift...

Mantle oxygen fugacity exerts a primary control on mass exchange between Earth's surface and interior at subduction zones, but the major factors controlling mantle oxygen fugacity (such as volatiles and phase assemblages) and how tectonic cycles drive its secular evolution are still debated. We present integrated measurements of redox-sensitive ratios of oxidized iron to total iron (Fe3+/SigmaF...

The Spraberry Formation in west-central Texas is a highly fractured formation with both extension and shear fractures. At least two sets of natural fractures exist in two reservoir intervals. We have considered two possible origins for the fracturing: (i) high fluid pressure plus tectonic stress and (ii) tectonic stress at near-hydrostatic fluid pressure. Reconstruction of geologic, thermal and...

This paper uses two-dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) numerical modeling to analyze the orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress of the Barapukuria coal basin in Bangladesh. An elastic plane stress model incorporating elastic rock physical properties for the coal basin area was used consisting of 2916 elements with a network of 1540 nodes. The stress field at any point of the mo...

Volcanism on Earth is known to occur in three tectonic settings: divergent plate boundaries (such as mid-ocean ridges), convergent plate boundaries (such as island arcs), and hot spots. We report volcanism on the 135 million-year-old Pacific Plate not belonging to any of these categories. Small alkalic volcanoes form from small percent melts and originate in the asthenosphere, as implied by the...

Continental intraplate seismicity seems often episodic, clustered, and migrating. The observed seismicity shows both spatial clustering in seismic zones and scattering across large plate interiors, temporal clustering followed by long periods of quiescence, and migration of seismicity from one seismic zone to another. Here, we explore the complex spatiotemporal patterns of intraplate seismicity...

We carried out geochemical and mineralogical analyses on fault-zone rocks from the Anko section of the Median Tectonic Line in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, to investigate coseismic physicochemical processes in the fault zone. The latest fault zone in the Anko section contains cataclasite, fault breccia, and fault gouge of granitic composition, and brecciated basic schist. Protoliths of the graniti...

[1] The key geological observations and structural interpretations associated with the current plume hypothesis for Venusian crustal plateau formation are that (1) shortwavelength, spatially periodic tectonic structures originated as mechanical instabilities in a regionally extensive surface brittle layer whose basal boundary was thermally generated and controlled; (2) characteristic wavelength...