Researchers used the largest GPS data set yet to examine deformation of the crust across continental China and its implications for tectonic activity.
Tectonics
New Volcanic Complex Found Below the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea
Researchers have identified a previously unknown volcanic-intrusive complex that originated through the melting of mantle material at the northern edge of the Ionian slab.
Low-angle Normal Fault in Papua New Guinea is Rolling Along
Geologic and geomorphic observations of an active low-angle normal fault reveal a rolling-hinge mechanism accommodating the exhumation of a metamorphic core complex in Papua New Guinea.
The Blob Causing Earthquakes
Geophysicists discover that a “blob” of rock sinking into the mantle is the force triggering earthquakes in the Hindu Kush.
Resolving a Cordilleran Conundrum
A novel geophysical technique documents the existence of a “missing” fault, along which major displacement could have occurred during the Cretaceous on North America’s northwest margin.
Magnetic Anomalies on the Pacific Plate Reveal True Polar Wander
A new study rebuffs the standard approach to paleomagnetism and offers an updated methodology and new locations of paleomagnetic poles.
Constraining Central Washington’s Potential Seismic Hazard
Fault geometry and slip rate analyses show deformation in the Yakima Fold Province accelerated in the Pleistocene and has remained elevated, offering new insights into earthquake recurrence intervals.
Evidence for Gravity Tectonics After the Great Sumatra Quake
A new method that applies structural geology principles to aftershock analyses suggests that gravity-driven motion may occur during part of the seismic cycle.
An Improved Understanding of How Rift Margins Evolve
A new seismic reflection study of the mid-Norwegian margin examines the role that low-angle, high-displacement faults play in the evolution of continental rifts.
Tracking Deep-Earth Processes from Rapid Topographic Changes
Rapid elevation-rise in Turkey, tracked by marine sediments that now sit at 1.5 km in elevation, is linked to deep-Earth processes that can explain short-lived, extreme rates of topographic change.