TY - JOUR
T1 - Geodetic and Sconstraints on Some Seismogenic Zone Processes in Costa Rica
AU - Norabuena, Edmundo
AU - Dixon, Timothy H.
AU - Schwartz, Susan
AU - DeShon, Heather
AU - Newman, Andrew
AU - Protti, Marino
AU - Gonzalez, Victor
AU - Dorman, LeRoy
AU - Flueh, Ernst R.
AU - Lundgren, Paul
AU - Pollitz, Fred
AU - Sampson, Dan
PY - 2004/11/1
Y1 - 2004/11/1
N2 - New seismic and geodetic data from Costa Rica provide insight into seismogenic zone processes in Central America, where the Cocos and Caribbean plates converge. Seismic data are from combined land and ocean bottom deployments in the Nicoya peninsula in northern Costa Rica and near the Osa peninsula in southern Costa Rica. In Nicoya, inversion of GPS data suggests two locked patches centered at 14 ± 2 and 39 ± 6 km depth. Interplate microseismicity is concentrated in the more freely slipping intermediate zone, suggesting that small interseismic earthquakes may not accurately outline the updip limit of the seismogenic zone, the rupture zone for future large earthquakes, at least over the short (∼1 year) observation period. We also estimate northwest motion of a coastal “sliver block” at 8 ± 3 mm/yr, probably related to oblique convergence. In the Osa region to the south, convergence is orthogonal to the trench. Cocos‐Caribbean relative motion is partitioned here, with ∼8 cm/yr on the Cocos‐Panama block boundary (including a component of permanent shortening across the Fila Costeña fold and thrust belt) and ∼1 cm/yr on the Panama block–Caribbean boundary. The GPS data suggest that the Cocos plate–Panama block boundary is completely locked from ∼10–50 km depth. This large locked zone, as well as associated forearc and back‐arc deformation, may be related to subduction of the shallow Cocos Ridge and/or younger lithosphere compared to Nicoya, with consequent higher coupling and compressive stress in the direction of plate convergence.
AB - New seismic and geodetic data from Costa Rica provide insight into seismogenic zone processes in Central America, where the Cocos and Caribbean plates converge. Seismic data are from combined land and ocean bottom deployments in the Nicoya peninsula in northern Costa Rica and near the Osa peninsula in southern Costa Rica. In Nicoya, inversion of GPS data suggests two locked patches centered at 14 ± 2 and 39 ± 6 km depth. Interplate microseismicity is concentrated in the more freely slipping intermediate zone, suggesting that small interseismic earthquakes may not accurately outline the updip limit of the seismogenic zone, the rupture zone for future large earthquakes, at least over the short (∼1 year) observation period. We also estimate northwest motion of a coastal “sliver block” at 8 ± 3 mm/yr, probably related to oblique convergence. In the Osa region to the south, convergence is orthogonal to the trench. Cocos‐Caribbean relative motion is partitioned here, with ∼8 cm/yr on the Cocos‐Panama block boundary (including a component of permanent shortening across the Fila Costeña fold and thrust belt) and ∼1 cm/yr on the Panama block–Caribbean boundary. The GPS data suggest that the Cocos plate–Panama block boundary is completely locked from ∼10–50 km depth. This large locked zone, as well as associated forearc and back‐arc deformation, may be related to subduction of the shallow Cocos Ridge and/or younger lithosphere compared to Nicoya, with consequent higher coupling and compressive stress in the direction of plate convergence.
KW - seismogenic zone
KW - Costa Rica
KW - geodetic and seismic
UR - https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/461
U2 - 10.1029/2003JB002931
DO - 10.1029/2003JB002931
M3 - Article
VL - 109
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research
ER -