The RIDGE2000 program (R2K) is designed to further understanding of the geophysical, geochemical and geobiological causes and consequences of energy and material transfer, from the Earth’s mantle to the hydrosphere and biosphere, along the globe-encircling mid-ocean ridge system. Three sites on the ridge are the focus of detailed R2K studies that will integrate information at various scales to ...

The Izu-Bonin arc (IBA) has been colliding with the Honshu arc since the middle Miocene, which together form the active Izu arc-arc collision zone (ICZ) in central Japan. To understand the entire collisional system, we have used refraction/wide-angle reflection data to model velocity structures of the Honshu arc, northwest of the ICZ. The seismic data indicate that the upper 4-km crust of the H...

We investigate temporal variations in teleseismic receiver functions using 11 yr of data at station PKD near Parkfield, California, by stacking power spectral density (PSD) functions within 12-month windows. We find that PSD levels for both radial and transverse components drop by ∼5 dB following the 2003 San Simeon (M 6.5) earthquake, with a persistent reduction in background levels of ∼2 dB, ...

We derive expressions for computing the gravitational field (potential and its radial derivative) generated by an arbitrary homogeneous or laterally varying density contrast layer with a variable depth and thickness based on methods for a spherical harmonic analysis and synthesis of gravity field. The newly derived expressions are utilised in the gravimetric forward modelling of major known den...

To examine microbe-mineral interactions in subsurface oceanic crust, we evaluated microbial colonization on crustal minerals that were incubated in borehole fluids for 1 year at the seafloor wellhead of a crustal borehole observatory (IODP Hole U1301A, Juan de Fuca Ridge flank) as compared to an experiment that was not exposed to subsurface crustal fluids (at nearby IODP Hole U1301B). In compar...

We analyze a large amount of receiver function data recorded by regional seismic networks of the China Earthquake Administration to estimate crustal structure and deformation beneath the southeast margin of the Tibetan plateau and its surrounding areas. We develop a comprehensive analysis method that facilitates robust extraction of azimuthal seismic anisotropy from receiver function data. The ...

We use a strain-rate-dependent visco-plastic rheology in a finite element model to investigate the effects of crustal rheology and thermal structure on the development of normal faults in 2-D extending lithosphere. Strain-rate softening in the brittle regime is used to simulate the rate-dependence of frictional strength observed in laboratory studies. Results of numerical experiments show that ...

Although the Andes are believed to have resulted mainly from crustal shortening, the shortening history remains debated and appears to require lateral (along-strike) crustal flow. Three-dimensional viscous flow modeling shows that, within geological uncertainties, the Andes may have been produced by either Neogene shortening alone or with significant preNeogene shortening. These scenarios requi...

To expand investigations into the phylogenetic diversity of microorganisms inhabiting the subseafloor biosphere, basalt-hosted crustal fluids were sampled from Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kits (CORKs) affixed to Holes 1025C and 1026B along the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR) flank using a clean fluid pumping system. These boreholes penetrate the crustal aquifer of young ocean crust (1.24 and 3.51 ...