TY  - JOUR
AU  - Homberg, C.
AU  - Bergerat, F.
AU  - Angelier, J.
AU  - Garcia, S.
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Fault interaction and stresses along broad oceanic transform zone: Tjrnes Fracture Zone, north Iceland
JO  - Tectonics
SP  - TC1002
VL  - 29
IS  - 1
PB  - AGU
KW  - oceanic transform
KW  - fault interaction
KW  - stresses
KW  - Iceland
KW  - slip transfer
KW  - 8150 Tectonophysics: Plate boundary: general
KW  - 8164 Tectonophysics: Stresses: crust and lithosphere
KW  - 8020 Structural Geology: Mechanics
KW  - theory
KW  - and modeling
N2  - Transform motion along oceanic transforms generally occurs along narrow faults zones. Another class of oceanic transforms exists where the plate boundary is quite large (∼100 km) and includes several subparallel faults. Using a 2-D numerical modeling, we simulate the slip distribution and the crustal stress field geometry within such broad oceanic transforms (BOTs). We examine the possible configurations and evolution of such BOTs, where the plate boundary includes one, two, or three faults. Our experiments show that at any time during the development of the plate boundary, the plate motion is not distributed along each of the plate boundary faults but mainly occurs along a single master fault. The finite width of a BOT results from slip transfer through time with locking of early faults, not from a permanent distribution of deformation over a wide area. Because of fault interaction, the stress field geometry within the BOTs is more complex than that along classical oceanic transforms and includes stress deflections close to but also away from the major faults. Application of this modeling to the 100 km wide Tjrnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in North Iceland, a major BOT of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that includes three main faults, suggests that the Dalvik Fault and the Husavik-Flatey Fault developed first, the Grismsey Fault being the latest active structure. Since initiation of the TFZ, the Husavik-Flatey Fault accommodated most of the plate motion and probably persists until now as the main plate structure.
SN  - 0278-7407
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2008TC002415
N1  - exported from refbase (http://publi.ipev.fr/polar_references/show.php?record=6062), last updated on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:46:51 +0200
ID  - Homberg_etal2010
ER  -