Active Deformation of the Corinth Rift, Greece: Results from Repeated Global Positioning System Surveys Between 1990 and 1995 Pierre Briole, Alexis Rigo, H
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Active deformation of the Corinth rift, Greece: Results from repeated Global Positioning System surveys between 1990 and 1995 Pierre Briole, Alexis Rigo, H. Lyon-Caen, Jean Claude Ruegg, K. Papazissi, C. Mitsakaki, A. Balodimou, G. Veis, D. Hatzfeld, Anne Deschamps To cite this version: Pierre Briole, Alexis Rigo, H. Lyon-Caen, Jean Claude Ruegg, K. Papazissi, et al.. Active deformation of the Corinth rift, Greece: Results from repeated Global Positioning System surveys between 1990 and 1995. Journal of Geophysical Research : Solid Earth, American Geophysical Union, 2000, 105 (B11), pp.25605 - 25625. 10.1029/2000JB900148. hal-01416924 HAL Id: hal-01416924 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01416924 Submitted on 26 May 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 105, NO. Bll, PAGES 25,605-25,625, NOVEMBER 10, 2000 Active deformation of the Corinth rift Greece' Results from repeated Global Positioning System surveys between 1990 and 1995 P. Briole,1 A. Rigo,e H. Lyon-Caen,3 J. C. Ruegg,1 K. Papazissi,4 C. Mitsakaki,4 A. Balodimou,4 (3. Veis,4 D. Hatzfeld,• and A. Deschamps• Abstract. Between 1990 and 1995, we carried out seven Global Positioning System(GPS) c•mp•ignsin the Corinth rift •re• in order to constrainthe spatial •nd temporal crustal deformation of this •ctive zone. The network, 193 points over--10,000 km e, s•mplesmost of the •ctive f•ults. In order to estimatethe deformationover • longer period, 159 of those points •re •lso Greek triangulation pillars previouslymeasured between 1966 •nd 1972. Two e•rthqu•kes of m•gnitude 6.2 •nd 5.9 h•ve occurred in the network since it w•s inst•lled. The extension rate deducedfrom the analysisof the different GPS data sets is 14 4- 2 mm/yr orientedN9øE in the west, 13 4- 3 mm/yr orientedS-N in the center, and 10 4- 4 mm/yr orientedN19øW in the east of the gulf. The comparisonbetween GPS and triangulationgives higher rates and lessangular divergence (25 4- 7 mm/yr, N4øE; 22 4- 7 mm/yr, S-N; 20 4- 7 mm/yr, N15øW, respectively).Both setsof data indicate that the deformingzone is very narrow(10-15 kin) in the west,might be widerin the center(15-20 kin), and is morediffuse in the east. The analysisof the displacements observedafter the M•-6.2, June 15, 1995, and the M•=5.9, November 18, 1992, earthquakes,both located in the west of the gulf, together with seismologicaland tectonicobservations shows that thesetwo earthquakesoccurred on low-angle(_< 35ø) north dippingnormal faults locatedbetween 4.5 and 10 km depth in the inner part of the rift. Assumingthat the deformationis concentratedin relatively narrow deformingzones, we use a simple model of a dislocationin an elastic half-space to study the implication of the localization. Using the geometry of the known seismogenicfaults, our observationsimply continuousaseismic deformation in the uppermostcrust of the inner rift. This model predicts geodeticstrain rates closeto seismicstrain rates in oppositionto previousestimates. This is becauseour model takes into accountthe activity on low-angle normal faults in the inner rift and an effectiveseismogenic layer of 6-7 kin, about half that usually assumed. 1. Introduction the world. [e.g., Mercier et al., 1977; McKenzie, 1978; Le Pichon and Angelier, 1981; Jackson and McKen- The Aegeanis the most seismicallyactive part of Eu- zie, 1988; Le Pichon et al., 1995]. In northern Greece rope and one of the most rapidly extending provincesof the deformation is accommodated across a series of ex- tendinggrabens (North Aegeantrough, Evvia graben, •D6partementde Sismologie,UMR-CNRS 7580, Institut Corinthrift) delimitedby activenormal faults oriented de Physique du Globe, Paris, France. NW-SE to E-W. These grabens connect the western 2Groupede Rechercheen G6od•sieSpatiale, Observatoire part of the North Anatolian fault to the Hellenic Arc Midi Pyrenees, Toulouse, France. [Armijo et al., 1996]. The Corinth rift (Figure 1) is 3Laboratoirede G•ologie,Ecole Normale Sup•rieure,Paris, France. the most active of these grabens and the most acces- 4HigherGeodesy Laboratory, National TechnicalUniver- sible one to observations because only its central part sity, Athens, Greece. is presently under sea level. It thus provides a very SLaboratoirede G6ophysiqueInterne et Tectonophysique, good opportunity to study in detail crustal deforma- Observatoire de Grenoble, Grenoble, France. tion processesinvolved in suchactive rifting. The work 6Laboratoire de G•odynamique, CNRS Sophia-Antipolis, presentedin this paper is part of a European multidisci- Valbonne, France. plinary effort aimed at a better understandingof these processesin that area. Results from seven Global Po- Copyright 2000 by the American GeophysicalUnion. sitioningSystem (GPS) campaignmeasurements of a Paper number 2000JB900148. densenetwork first installedin 1990 and now covering 0148-0227/00/2000JB900148509.00 the entire gulf are given. Besidesproviding accurate in- 25,605 25,606 BRIOLE ET AL.- DEFORMATION OF THE CORINTH RIFT & Livadia 1981t03/05 1981/03/04 1ø, . 24Alklom 'des • ..... 1981•3/0 1981t0•2 Corinth 22 00' 22 30' 23 00' Figure 1. Seismotectonicmap of the Corinth rift showing topography, active faults, and fault plane solutionsof earthquakes > Me = 5.5 for the period 1965 to present. Adapted fi'om Armtie nigo .t solution parameters are listed in Table 3. Ps, -He, and Xi refer to the Psatopirgos, Hclike, and Xilokastro faults, respectively. stantaneous extension rates acrossthe rift, the density ßthe seismicity of the Corinth rift included six events of of observationsboth in spaceand time allows us to give magnitude ]1.I• _> 6 (Eratini, 1965, M•-6.4; Antikira, new insightson the localizationof the deformation, the 1970, M•=6.2; Corinth 1981, M•=6.7, ;lL=6.4, and effective thickness of the brittle crustal layer, and the M•=6.2; Aigion, 1995, M•=6.2). The focal mechanisms relation between the continuouspart of the deformation of all these earthquakes represent almost pure normal (loadingprocess) and the discontinuouspart associated faulting with a N-S to NNW-SSE extension direction with earthquakes. For this purpose, we use available [e.g., Baker et al., 1997] (Figure 1). Althoughthe two geodetic, tectonic, and seismologicalobservations out- main events of the 1981 sequence ruptured known 45- lined below. 500 north dipping faults outcropping on the southern The Corinth rift is an asymmetric Quaternary rift. coast of the gulf [Jacksonet al., 1982; Hubert et al., The most active normal faults are located on the south- 1996],the 1995 Aigionearthquake ruptured a fairly low ern coastof the gulf whichis subjectto uplift [$Sbricr, angle(33 ø) north dippingoff shorenormal fault not out- 1977;Armijo et al., 1996].The typical length of the E- croppingon land [Bernard et al., 1997a]. This earth- W striking en •chelonfault segmentsalong the southern quake, together with the 1992 M,:5.9 Galaxidi earth- coastof the gulf (fromXilokastro to Psathopirgos)is 15 quake[Hatzfeld et al., 1996],demonstrated that inner- + 5 kin. Tectonic studies based on deformation model- rift normal faults could play an important role in the ing of marine terracesin the footwall of the Xilokastro deformation of the rift and that these faults may have fault, a major fault on the central part of the south coast somewhat lower dips than the on shore ones. In addi- (Figure1), indicatethat the overalllong-term morphol- tion, a 2-month microseismicstudy conducted in 1991 ogy of the southerncoast of the gulf can be explainedby in the westernpart of the gulf [Rigo et al., 1996], and the repetition of earthquakeson 400-600 north dipping covering the Aigion 1995 earthquake epicentral area, faults, slippingat 11 + 3 mm/yr [Armijo et al., 1996]. revealed a strong clustering of micro earthquakes. A This would correspond to an extension rate of 6 + 1 significantnumber of theseindicate north dipping, low- mm/yr. The level of historicaland instrumentalseis- angle, normal-faulting focal mechanismsat 7-11 kin micity is quite high [Papazachosand Papazachos,1989; depth beneath the northern coast of the gulf. This re- Ambraseys and Jackson, 1990; Rigo et al., 1996; Am- sult suggestedthat the steeply north dipping normal braseysand Jackson,1997]. During the last 40 years faults seen at the surface root at these depths on a low- BRIOLE ET AL.' DEFORMATION OF THE CORINTH RIFT 25,607 21 ø 22 ø 23 ø 24 ø 40300 . 40 ø 0 o [] o 39 ø 39 ø 38 ø 37 ø 37 ø SLRpoints Aegean seanetwork Central Greece network Corinth & Central networks 36 ø 36: 20 ø 21ø 22ø 23ø 24ø Figure 2. Geodeticnetworks in centralGreece. Triangles are the satellitelaser ranging (SLR) points.The SLR pad of Dionysosis usedas referencefor all GPS campaignsin centralGreece. Shadedsquares indicate the Ioniansea network [Kahle et al., 1995]. Circlesare the 6(3points of the centralGreece network [Den!Is et al., 1994]installed in 1989. The eight solid circles, displayedwith their code, are the central Greecepoints commonwith the Corinth rift network. Correspondingcentral Greece code can be foundin TableA1 (availableas electronic supporting material). The box indicatesthe locationof Figure3. angledipping (150 4- 10ø) detachmentzone [Rigo et al., rate observed. According to Ambraseys and Jackson 1996;Rietbrock et al., 1996]. [1997]the frequencyof large earthquakesin the eastern Using the comparisonbetween old triangulationob- gulf during the period 1690-1890has been higher than servationsand a GPS survey,Billiris et al. [1991]gave during this century, and they suggestthat the deficit of the first large-scaledetermination of geodeticdeforma- seismic strain release in the western Corinth rift could tion rate (10 mm/yr) and extensionorientation (N-S) be met by severalsuch earthquakes in the medium term.