Within the subseafloor, methane hydrates form within the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Two areas within the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) were investigated in this study: Keathley Canyon and Atwater Valley. The GOM contains an underlying petroleum system and deeply buried, yet dynamic salt deposits. Salt tectonics and fluid expulsion upward through the sediment column lead to the formation of fract...

[1] The tectonic evolution of Mars has been driven primarily by the interaction of Tharsisinduced loading stresses with a uniform contractional stress field, leading to global assemblages of graben and wrinkle ridges. Until recently, strike-slip faults have appeared to be largely absent from the tectonic record. We here present evidence for a new set of Noachian to Early Hesperian strike-slip f...

[1] Motivated by observations in the 2008Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, we study effects of systematic changes in the principal stress orientation along the fault strike on rupture dynamics and ground motion using a 3‐D finite‐element method. Based on Anderson’s theory of faulting, we set up the initial stress field with rotations in stress orientations along strike for a dynamic rupture model of ...

Strike-slip faults may be traced along thousands of kilometers, e.g., the San Andreas Fault (USA) or the North Anatolian Fault (Turkey). A closer look at such continental-scale strike faults reveals localized complexities in fault geometry, associated with fault segmentation, secondary faults and a change of related hazards. The North Anatolian Fault displays such complexities nearby the mega c...

[1] We present the results of a series of 3-D boundary element calculations to investigate the effects of oceanic transform faults on stress state and fault development at adjacent mid-ocean ridge spreading centers. We find that the time-averaged strength of transform faults is low, and that on time scales longer than a typical earthquake cycle transform faults behave as zones of significant we...

Kinematic data from two segments of the Coast Range fault are used to test the hypothesis that the Franciscan subduction complex was exhumed by extensional faulting. The data reveal a consistent geometry for the principal directions of brittle strain. The maximum extension direction has an east-west orientation and lies subperpendicular to the present attitude of the Coast Range fault, which di...

Although there is enough knowledge indicating on the influence of frequency content of input motion on the deformation demand of structures, state-of-the-practice seismic studies use the intensity measures such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) which are not frequency dependent. The ratio of strong ground motions can be used in seismic hazard studies as the representative of frequency content o...

Tests of two fault boundary conditions show that each converges with second order accuracy as the finite-difference grid is refined. The first method uses split nodes so that there are disjoint grids that interact via surface traction. The 3D version described here is a generalization of a method I have used extensively in 2D; it is as accurate as the 2D version. The second method represents fa...

Conflicting views of circum-Pacific tectonics have focused on the PhilippinesTaiwan region, where there has been neither convincing documentation nor general agreement on the importance of transcurrent (strike-slip) faulting or the possible sense of regional horizontal displacement. Structural and physiographic features of the 1200-km-long Philippine fault zone are fully as spectacular as those...