Presentation by Pr. Folarin Kolawole

New Insights on the Establishment of Plate Boundary Faults and How they Evolve Over Multiple Earthquake Cycles

Abstract:

For many decades, regions of active crustal stretching in continental interiors, i.e. continental rifts, have provided insights into the geological evolution of divergent plate boundaries, their geodynamic processes, and the associated natural hazards. In these settings, the mantle-rooting principal plate boundary fault(s), referred to as ‘border fault(s)’, accommodate the larger proportion of the tectonic strain budget, yet there is limited understanding of how these principal faults establish themselves or how their temporal evolution modulates the way they release pent-up elastic strain.

In my talk, I will present exciting new results from the research efforts of my group and collaborators that are revealing how the inherited crustal rheology may dictate where border faults localize, and how repeated earthquake damage and fluid-rock interactions control the evolution of their slip zones over multiple earthquake cycles. Finally, I will show how the emergent fault zone structure and rheology implicate strain migration patterns and the seismic versus aseismic modes of strain release.

Zoom link:

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/97967916037?pwd=kAzaXXkgjErjRGaEdlY1YdDAnAhknb.1