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Author: Tanner, David C. × Subject: fault zone ×

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    Structural analysis of S-wave seismics around an urban sinkhole: evidence of enhanced dissolution in a strike-slip fault zone
    (Katlenburg-Lindau : European Geophysical Society, 2017-12-19) Wadas, Sonja H.; Tanner, David C.; Polom, Ulrich; Krawczyk, Charlotte M.
    In November 2010, a large sinkhole opened up in the urban area of Schmalkalden, Germany. To determine the key factors which benefited the development of this collapse structure and therefore the dissolution, we carried out several shear-wave reflection-seismic profiles around the sinkhole. In the seismic sections we see evidence of the Mesozoic tectonic movement in the form of a NW–SE striking, dextral strike-slip fault, known as the Heßleser Fault, which faulted and fractured the subsurface below the town. The strike-slip faulting created a zone of small blocks ( < 100 m in size), around which steep-dipping normal faults, reverse faults and a dense fracture network serve as fluid pathways for the artesian-confined groundwater. The faults also acted as barriers for horizontal groundwater flow perpendicular to the fault planes. Instead groundwater flows along the faults which serve as conduits and forms cavities in the Permian deposits below ca. 60 m depth. Mass movements and the resulting cavities lead to the formation of sinkholes and dissolution-induced depressions. Since the processes are still ongoing, the occurrence of a new sinkhole cannot be ruled out. This case study demonstrates how S-wave seismics can characterize a sinkhole and, together with geological information, can be used to study the processes that result in sinkhole formation, such as a near-surface fault zone located in soluble rocks. The more complex the fault geometry and interaction between faults, the more prone an area is to sinkhole occurrence.
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    Evaluation of deep crustal earthquakes in northern Germany - Possible tectonic causes
    (Oxford [u.a.] : Wiley-Blackwell, 2019) Brandes, Christian; Plenefisch, Thomas; Tanner, David C.; Gestermann, Nicolai; Steffen, Holger
    We present new evidence for seven deep crustal, intraplate earthquakes in northern Germany, a region regarded as an area of low seismicity. From 2000 to 2018, seven earthquakes with magnitudes of ML 1.3–3.1, were detected at depths of 17.0–31.4 km. By placing the earthquake hypocentres in a geological three-dimensional model, we can correlate two of the earthquakes with the Thor Suture, a major fault zone in this area. Five of the earthquakes group in the lower crust near the Moho, which implies that parts of the lower crust and the crust/mantle boundary in northern Germany act as a structural discontinuity on which deformation localizes. Numerical simulation implies that stress changes due to glacial isostatic adjustment most likely triggered these deep crustal earthquakes.