Discovering an underwater reserve capable of cushioning earthquakes in New Zealand
This discovery was presented in A Press release from the Texas Geophysical Institute And published in the magazine Advancement of science.
Water reserves are able to mitigate earthquakes
As stated in I reported From the Texas Institute of Geophysics These water reserves formed about 125 million years ago when water-rich sediments became trapped in faults. Today, this type of formation has the effect of releasing tectonic stress in slow motion, over several days or even weeks and producing quieter and generally harmless earthquakes, called “quakes.”Slow sliding eventsSpecialists believe that many “slow-slip” earthquakes are linked to these groundwater reserves.
However, the New Zealand Rift has special characteristics because it contains only a few of these oceanic deposits. according to Andrew GasThe researcher at Western Washington University said that marine movements during previous eruptions led to the erosion of volcanoes and their transformation into porous rocks, capable of absorbing large amounts of water. Over the years, these rocks turned into clay, creating a real groundwater reservoir.
The Hikurangi Plateau is the result of a series of volcanic eruptions that began 125 million years ago in the Pacific Ocean. The University of Texas Institute of Geophysics imaged the plateau as it subducted into the Hikurangi subduction zone in New Zealand (red line). Credit: Andrew Gas
Towards deeper digging to better understand the workings of these water reserves
Andrew Gas believes that deeper drilling will be necessary to better understand this phenomenon: “ We can’t yet see deep enough to know exactly the impact on the fault, but we can see that the amount of water flowing here is actually much higher than normal. […] Normal oceanic crust, which is about 7 or 10 million years old, should contain less water “Did he announce. According to him, this additional research could lead to”More accurate understanding of large earthquakes“.
according to Damian Sfeirdirector of UTIG, co-author of the study and co-chief scientist of the scientific drilling mission, preliminary results indicate that “Other earthquake faults around the world could be in similar situations“.
>> Read also: Will France suffer from more earthquakes in the future?
“Reader. Travel maven. Student. Passionate tv junkie. Internet ninja. Twitter advocate. Web nerd. Bacon buff.”