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Variations of young oceanic intraplate seismic energy released with relation to lithosphere age. Implications in the East Pacific Rise and its convergence with the Rivera subduction zone

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Abstract

We have estimated empirical relationships that associate the age of the Pacific oceanic lithosphere with the seismic energy released on both flanks of the East Pacific Rise. The equations found were tested by comparing other empirical equations based on lithospheric age, heat flow, and bathymetric depth published by other authors. The results of this study are consistent for seafloor ages ranging between 1 and 4 Ma throughout three perpendicular cross-sections. These cross-sections are located between the diverging plate boundary of the northern Pacific Ocean up to the subduction zone of western Mexico. Our results allow us to infer the depth of the 1200 °C isotherm underneath the analyzed plates, from the mid-oceanic ridges up to the subduction zones. The distribution of seismic energy released within the limits of the Rivera and Pacific plates shows a gradual decrease from the ridge axis to the oceanic trench. However, an increase of seismic activity is recorded near the Mesoamerican Trench, where the Rivera Plate subducts under the North American Plate at an angle of ~ 46°. This anomaly is a consequence of the convergence, thrust and deepening of the oceanic plate. Due to the homogeneity of this plate, it is possible to infer the projection of isochrones in the subduction zone. Although the thickening of the thermal boundary layer may be estimated from the square root function of the seismic energy, this brittle–ductile transition in the subduction zone deepens exponentially with relation to the computed energy.

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Modified from Auer et al. (2015)

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Data availability

Earthquake data of the northern Pacific Ocean was downloaded using the GeoMapApp web application (accessed for the last time in March 2018). This tool linked databases provided by the United States Geological Survey, and the Advanced National Seismic System, which are also available respectively at https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/andhttp://www.ncedc.org/anss/catalog-search.html. Heat flow data was downloaded from the Global Heat Flow Compilation Group, 2013. PANGAEA was searched at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.810104. We used the digital model of age, asymmetry and propagation rates of the oceanic crust carried out by Müller et al. (2008) available at https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/ocean_age/ocean_age_2008.html. Finally, the bathymetry data was downloaded from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), available at https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/bathymetry/ (last accessed on August 2018).

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Geophysical Research Group of the Department of Geosciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia at Bogotá, for supporting this work. We express our gratitude to USGS, ANSS, NOAA, and Global Heat Flow Group for providing datasets used in this paper. Advice, and useful comments were provided by Mario Andres Gutierrez.

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  1. Department of Geosciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    Nicolás Pinzón & Carlos A. Vargas

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  1. Nicolás Pinzón
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  2. Carlos A. Vargas
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Correspondence to Nicolás Pinzón.

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Pinzón, N., Vargas, C.A. Variations of young oceanic intraplate seismic energy released with relation to lithosphere age. Implications in the East Pacific Rise and its convergence with the Rivera subduction zone. Mar Geophys Res 40, 643–654 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-019-09395-5

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