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The 1912 Iceland earthquake rupture: Growth and development of a nascent transform system

The 1912 Iceland earthquake rupture: Growth and development of a nascent transform system


Title: The 1912 Iceland earthquake rupture: Growth and development of a nascent transform system
Author: Bjarnason, Ingi Þorleifur   orcid.org/0000-0001-5716-7053
Cowie, Patience
Anders, Mark H.
Seeber, Leonardo
Scholz, Christopher H.
Date: 1993
Language: English
Scope: 416-435
University/Institute: Háskóli Íslands
University of Iceland
School: Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ)
School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI)
Department: Raunvísindastofnun (HÍ)
Science Institute (UI)
Series: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America;83(2)
ISSN: 0037-1106
1943-3573 (eISSN)
Subject: Jarðskjálftar; Jarðskjálftarannsóknir
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/502

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Citation:

Ingi Th. Bjarnason, Patience Cowie, Mark H. Anders, Leonardo Seeber, Christopher H. Scholz; The 1912 Iceland earthquake rupture: Growth and development of a nascent transform system. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America ; 83 (2): 416–435.

Abstract:

We have mapped in detail surface ruptures of the 1912 magnitude 7.0 strike-slip earthquake in south Iceland. This earthquake ruptured fresh basalt flows that had covered the pre-existing fault. The observed style of surface fracturing closely matches both theoretical predictions of the first stages of shear fracture development and microscopic-scale observations from laboratory experiments. The shear offset distributed across the zone of surface fractures produced by this earthquake is right-lateral and is in the range of 1 to 3 m. Total mapped rupture length is 9 km, but total rupture length is probably at least ∼ 20 km. This interplate earthquake had an exceptionally high ratio of slip to fault length and, by inference, stress drop. The north-south trending rupture of the 1912 earthquake is part of the “bookshelf” faulting in the east-west trending South Iceland Seismic Zone. We ascribe the “bookshelf” faulting in the South Iceland Seismic Zone to a combination of the early development stage of the transform and regional strength anisotropy of the crust.

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