Search

In the last decades, the slow-spreading Red Sea rift has been the objective of several geophysical investigations to study the extension of the oceanic crust, the thickness of the sedimentary cover, and the formation of transform faults. However, local seismology datasets are still lacking despite their potential to contribute to the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the Red Sea. The Zabargad Fracture Zone is located in the Northern Red Sea and significantly offsets the rift axis to the East. Thus, it is considered a key tectonic element to understand better the formation of the Red Sea rift. To fill the gap in the dataset availability, we deployed the first passive seismic network in the Red Sea, within the Zabargad Fracture Zone. This network included 12 Lobster OBSs from the DEPAS pool, 2 OBS developed and deployed by Fugro, and 4 portable seismic land stations deployed on islands and onshore on the Saudi Arabian coast. Our data-quality analysis confirms that the head-buoy cable free to strum, as well as other additional elements of the DEPAS OBSs, generate seismic noise at frequencies $>$ 10 Hz. However, the Fugro OBSs show high-frequency disturbances even if they lack vibrating elements. Comparison between land and OBS stations reveals that noise between 1 and 10 Hz is due to ocean-generated seismic noise, and not due to resonance of the OBS elements. We also found that waveforms of teleseismic earthquakes recorded by the Fugro OBSs, islands, and onshore stations have comparable signal-to-noise ratios. Instead, differences in signal-to-noise ratio for local earthquakes are affected more by site and path effects than instrument settings.

In magma‐rich rifts, normal faulting is commonly thought to be induced by dike intrusions. However, whether fault slip occurs purely tectonically is unclear. An earthquake sequence starting with a Mw 5.5 earthquake occurred in December 2022 in northern Afar, a continental rift near breakup. InSAR measurements show that seismicity was caused by normal faulting alone, without involvement of magma movements. Our best‐fit InSAR models show that conjugate faults ruptured during the seismic sequence with mainly normal dip‐slip and total deformation corresponding to a Mw 5.7 event, in agreement with local seismic recordings. Our models show that tectonic faulting accommodates 26 cm of extension corresponding to ∼30 years of plate spreading without any link to magma. Our observations point toward significant along‐rift variation in the proportion of extension from faulting, potentially caused by along‐rift variations in rate of extension and/or from a spatially and temporally segmented supply of magma. Plain Language Summary: The Earth's continents move away from each other forming a rift valley between the two separating tectonic plates. In mature stages of the continental rupture process, it is commonly accepted that plate separation occurs from the migration of molten rock (magma) toward the Earth's surface in narrow zones beneath the rift valley. Brittle faulting of the plate was thought to be less important. In this study we analyze the recent earthquake sequence of 26–28 December 2022 in the volcanically active northern Afar rift of Ethiopia. We show that, while the sequence occurred within the rift valley, it was caused by pure faulting without any involvement of magma migrations. These observations are unexpected and show that faults alone can assist plate separation even in mature and magma‐rich rift valleys. Key Points: A seismic sequence with a Mw 5.5 mainshock occurred in the Bada region of northern Afar rift between 26 and 28 December 2022InSAR models and seismicity revealed co‐seismic deformation along conjugate faults with no involvement of magma motionsOur observations show that extension can be achieved through purely tectonic processes in magma‐rich continental rifts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract During the evolution of continental rift systems, extension is thought to progressively focus in‐rift to the future breakup boundary while faults along the rift margins progressively deactivate. However, observational constraints on how strain is partitioned between rift axis and rift margins are still lacking. The Afar rift records the latest stages of rifting and incipient continental breakup. Here, we analyzed the recent MW 5.2 earthquake on the Western Afar Margin on March 24, 2018 and the associated seismic sequence of >500 earthquakes using 24 temporary seismic stations deployed during 2017–2018. We show seismicity occurring at lower crustal depths, from ∼15 to ∼30 km, with focal mechanisms and relocated earthquakes highlighting both west‐dipping and east‐dipping normal faults. We tested earthquake depth using InSAR by processing six independent interferograms using Sentinel‐1 data acquired from both ascending and descending tracks. None of them shows evidence of surface deformation. We tested possible ranges of depth by producing forward models for a fault located at progressively increasing depths. Models show that surface deformation is not significant for fault slip at depths greater than 15 km, in agreement with the hypocentral depth of 19 km derived from seismic data for the largest earthquake. Due to the localized nature of deep earthquakes near hot springs coupled with subsurface evidence for magmatism, we favor an interpretation of seismicity induced by migrating fluids such as magma or CO2. We suggest that deep fluid migration can occur at the rifted‐margin influencing seismicity during incipient continental rupture.

During the evolution of continental rift systems, extension is thought to progressively focus in‐rift to the future breakup boundary while faults along the rift margins progressively deactivate. However, observational constraints on how strain is partitioned between rift axis and rift margins are still lacking. The Afar rift records the latest stages of rifting and incipient continental breakup. Here, we analyzed the recent MW 5.2 earthquake on the Western Afar Margin on March 24, 2018 and the associated seismic sequence of >500 earthquakes using 24 temporary seismic stations deployed during 2017–2018. We show seismicity occurring at lower crustal depths, from ∼15 to ∼30 km, with focal mechanisms and relocated earthquakes highlighting both west‐dipping and east‐dipping normal faults. We tested earthquake depth using InSAR by processing six independent interferograms using Sentinel‐1 data acquired from both ascending and descending tracks. None of them shows evidence of surface deformation. We tested possible ranges of depth by producing forward models for a fault located at progressively increasing depths. Models show that surface deformation is not significant for fault slip at depths greater than 15 km, in agreement with the hypocentral depth of 19 km derived from seismic data for the largest earthquake. Due to the localized nature of deep earthquakes near hot springs coupled with subsurface evidence for magmatism, we favor an interpretation of seismicity induced by migrating fluids such as magma or CO2. We suggest that deep fluid migration can occur at the rifted‐margin influencing seismicity during incipient continental rupture. Plain Language Summary: The Earth's continents are thinned and broken by extensional forces along rift valleys. Rift valleys are bounded by big fractures (called border faults) that form at the inception of extension and that slip causing earthquakes. As thinning proceeds, molten rock (magma) can rise making its way through the crust. It is not well understood where and how the molten rocks migrate through the crust, and whether, e.g., the large border faults are exploited as pathways. The migration of magma, and the gasses and fluids it releases, can fracture rock causing earthquakes. In this study, we analyzed earthquakes occurring along border faults of the Afar rift of Ethiopia. We found that they occur deep in the crust where previous studies indicate the presence of magma. Our results could suggest that border faults could keep slipping and causing earthquakes as a result of the migration of magma into the deep parts of the crust. Key Points: We studied fault activity and kinematics at the Western Afar Margin using seismicity and InSARWe observed a seismic sequence occurring in the lower crust along both west‐dipping and east‐dipping faultsDeep seismicity could be caused by fluid migration in the lower crust [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key aspect on the evolution of rifted terranes and the prospectivity of the overlying sedimentary basins is heat. Temperature determines the deformation regime of crustal and mantle rocks and, thus, the style of rifting and geometry of rift basins. The generation of hydrocarbons from organic-rich rocks and reservoir conditions depend primarily on temperature. In this study, we model the thermal–burial history of the southern Vøring Basin (Mid-Norway Margin) along a regional transect (2-D), integrating basin- and lithospheric-scale processes. A model that accounts for the main extensional pulses that shaped the Mid-Norway Margin is in good general agreement with the present–past geothermal gradients inferred from borehole temperature and maturity data and the surface heat flux measurements in the proximal and intermediate margin. This supports a near steady-state, post-rift margin setting, following the break-up in the early Eocene. Significant discrepancies are, however, observed in the distal margin, where the borehole temperatures suggest (much) higher thermal gradients than model predicted and implied by the average surface heat flux. We speculate that the higher thermal gradients may result from deep-seated (mantle dynamics) thermal anomalies and/or recurrent hydrothermalism during periods of greater tectonic stress (regional compression and glacial loading rebound) and test the implications for the maturity of the Vøring Basin. The modelling results show, for example, that, depending on the thermal model assumptions, the depth and age of the optimal mid-Late Cretaceous source-rock horizons may vary by more than 2 km and 10 Ma, respectively.

The Lower Galilee and the Yizre''el Valley, northern Israel, are an extensional domain that has been developing since the Miocene, prior and contemporaneously to the development of the Dead Sea Fault (DSF). It is a fan-shaped region bounded in the east by the N–S trending main trace of the DSF, in the north by the Bet-Kerem Fault system, and in the south by the NW–SE trending Carmel Fault. The study area is characterized by high relief topography that follows fault-bounded blocks and flexures at a wavelength of tens of km. A synthesis of the morphologic–structural relations across the entire Galilee region suggests the following characteristics: (1) Blocks within the Lower Galilee tilt toward both the southern and northern boundaries, forming two asymmetrical half-graben structures, opposite facing, and oblique to one another. (2) The Lower Galilee''s neighboring blocks, which are the Upper Galilee in the north and the Carmel block in the southwest, are topographically and structurally uplifted and tilted away from the Lower Galilee. (3) The southern half-graben, along the Carmel Fault, is topographically and structurally lower than the northern one. Combining structural and geological data with topographic analysis enables us to distinguish several stages of structural and morphological development in the region. Using a semi-quantitative evolutionary model, we explain the morpho-structural evolution of the region. Our results indicate that the Galilee developed as a set of two isostatically supported opposite facing half-grabens under varying stress fields. The southern one had started developing as early as the early Miocene prior to the formation of the DSF. The northern and younger one has been developing since the middle Pliocene as part of the extension process in the Galilee. Elevation differences between the two half-grabens and their bounding blocks are explained by differences in isostatic subsidence due to sedimentary loading and uplift of the northern half-graben due to differential influences of the regional folding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A key aspect on the evolution of rifted terranes and the prospectivity of the overlying sedimentary basins is heat. Temperature determines the deformation regime of crustal and mantle rocks and, thus, the style of rifting and geometry of rift basins. The generation of hydrocarbons from organic-rich rocks and reservoir conditions depend primarily on temperature. In this study, we model the thermal–burial history of the southern Vøring Basin (Mid-Norway Margin) along a regional transect (2-D), integrating basin- and lithospheric-scale processes. A model that accounts for the main extensional pulses that shaped the Mid-Norway Margin is in good general agreement with the present–past geothermal gradients inferred from borehole temperature and maturity data and the surface heat flux measurements in the proximal and intermediate margin. This supports a near steady-state, post-rift margin setting, following the break-up in the early Eocene. Significant discrepancies are, however, observed in the distal margin, where the borehole temperatures suggest (much) higher thermal gradients than model predicted and implied by the average surface heat flux. We speculate that the higher thermal gradients may result from deep-seated (mantle dynamics) thermal anomalies and/or recurrent hydrothermalism during periods of greater tectonic stress (regional compression and glacial loading rebound) and test the implications for the maturity of the Vøring Basin. The modelling results show, for example, that, depending on the thermal model assumptions, the depth and age of the optimal mid-Late Cretaceous source-rock horizons may vary by more than 2 km and 10 Ma, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]