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Mechanics Problems in Geodynamics Part I pp 537–559Cite as

Coupling of Tectonic Loading and Earthquake Fault Slips at Subduction Zones

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Abstract

Because of the viscoelastic behaviour of the earth, accumulation of elastic strain energy by tectonic loading and release of such energy by earthquake fault slips at subduction zones may take place on different spatial scales. If the lithospheric plate is acted upon by distant tectonic forces, strain accumulation must occur in a broad region. However, an earthquake releases strain only in a region comparable to the size of the rupture area. A two-dimensional finite-element model of a subduction zone with viscoelastic rheology has been used to investigate the coupling of tectonic loading and earthquake fault slips. A fault lock-and-unlock technique is employed so that the amount of fault slip in an earthquake is not prescribed, but determined by the accumulated stress. The amount of earthquake fault slip as a fraction of the total relative plate motion depends on the relative sizes of the earthquake rupture area and the region of tectonic strain accumulation, as well as the rheology of the rock material. The larger the region of strain accumulation is compared to the earthquake rupture, the smaller is the earthquake fault slip. The reason for the limited earthquake fault slip is that the elastic shear stress in the asthenosphere induced by the earthquake resists the elastic rebound of the overlying plate. Since rapid permanent plate shortening is not observed at subduction zones, there must be either strain release over a large region or strain accumulation over a small region over earthquake cycles. The former can be achieved only by significant aseismic fault slip between large subduction earthquakes. The most likely mechanism for the latter is the accumulation of elastic strain around isolated locked asperities of the fault, which requires significant aseismic fault slip between asperities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Geoscience Centre, Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, V8L

    Kelin Wang

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  1. Kelin Wang
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanics, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China

    Ren Wang

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 90089-0740, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Keiiti Aki

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© 1995 Birkhäuser Verlag

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Wang, K. (1995). Coupling of Tectonic Loading and Earthquake Fault Slips at Subduction Zones. In: Wang, R., Aki, K. (eds) Mechanics Problems in Geodynamics Part I. Pageoph Topical Volumes. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-9065-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-9065-6_9

  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7643-5104-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-9065-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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