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Research project

Fault zone properties and fluids at subduction zones: Drivers of seismogenic behaviour

Project overview

Existing data on fault zones and sediment properties at subduction zones are inherently heterogeneous and cannot be fully understood using borehole data from single transects alone. Large volumes of geophysical data, samples and borehole logs have been obtained, but to date, synthesis of results from different margins, and often even different locations within a single margin, is lacking. This project integrates core, log and seismic datasets, and compares margins with known differences in seismogenic behaviour, sediment input properties (thickness, lithology, rheology), and other subduction parameters (e.g., convergence rate, obliquity, topography and age of subducting oceanic basement). Results will indicate what controls variability in fault properties between margins and how these properties vary with scale. These approaches tackle the key fact that no simple model explains the wide variety of seismogenesis at convergent margins.

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor Lisa Mcneill

Professor of Tectonics
Research interests
  • Active tectonics
  • Geohazards
  • Marine geophysics
Connect with Lisa

Email: lcmn@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Tim Henstock

Professor of Geophysics
Research interests
  • Applying Physics to understand processes within the Earth system
  • Imaging Earth structure on scales of 0.1m to 1000km
  • Active tectonic processes
Connect with Tim

Email: T.J.Henstock@soton.ac.uk

Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Downgoing plate topography stopped rupture in the A.D. 2005 Sumatra earthquake
Timothy Henstock, Lisa McNeill, Jonathan Bull, Becky Cook, Sean Gulick, James Austin, Haryadi Permana & Yusuf Djajadihardja, 2016, Geology, 44(1), 71-74
DOI: 10.1130/G37258.1
Type: article
Pervasive deformation of an oceanic plate and relationship to large >Mw 8 intraplate earthquakes: The northern Wharton Basin, Indian Ocean
Jacob Geersen, Jonathan M. Bull, Lisa C. McNeill, Timothy J. Henstock, Christoph Gaedicke, Nicolas Chamot-Rooke & Matthias Delescluse, 2015, Geology, 43(4), 359-362
DOI: 10.1130/G36446.1
Type: article
Forearc structure and morphology along the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone
Lisa C. McNeill & Timothy J. Henstock, 2014, Tectonics, 33(2), 112-134
DOI: 10.1002/2012TC003264
Type: article
The 2004 Aceh-Andaman Earthquake: early clay dehydration controls shallow seismic rupture
Jacob Geersen, Lisa C. McNeill, Timothy J. Henstock & Christoph Gaedicke, 2013, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 14(9), 3315-3323
DOI: 10.1002/ggge.20193
Type: article
Thermal structure and megathrust seismogenic potential of the Makran subduction zone
Gemma L. Smith, Lisa C. McNeill, Kelin Wang, Jiangheng He & Timothy J. Henstock, 2013, Geophysical Research Letters, 40(8), 1528-1533
DOI: 10.1002/grl.50374
Type: article
Updip rupture of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake extended by thick indurated sediments
Sean P.S. Gulick, James A. Austin, Lisa C. McNeill, Nathan L.B. Bangs, Kylara M. Martin, Timothy J. Henstock, Jonathan M. Bull, Yusuf S. Djajadihardja & Haryadi Permana, 2011, Nature Geoscience, 4, 453-456
DOI: 10.1038/Ngeo1176
Type: article
Contrasting Decollement and Prism Properties over the Sumatra 2004-2005 Earthquake Rupture Boundary
Simon M. Dean, Lisa C. McNeill, Timothy J. Henstock, Jonathan M. Bull, Sean P.S. Gulick, James A. Austin, Nathan L.B. Bangs, Yusuf S. Djajadihardja & Haryadi Permana, 2010, Science, 329(5988), 207-210
DOI: 10.1126/science.1189373
Type: article