A giant submarine slope failure on the insular slope north of Puerto Rico: A response of Arecibo basin strata to tectonic stress
Conference
·
· AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)
OSTI ID:6163815
- Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA (USA)
An amphitheater-shaped scarp, approximately 55 km across in water depths from about 3,000 m to 6,700 m was imaged on the northern insular slope of Puerto Rico (southern slope of the Puerto Rico Trench) using the GLORIA side-scan sonar system. This scarp represents the removal of more than 1,500 m{sup 3} of Tertiary Arecibo basin strata. The head of the scarp coincides with the location of a fault zone observed on nearby seismic-reflection profiles. Interpretation of the GLORIA imagery, and a review of available bathymetric, geophysical, and stratigraphic data and tectonic-framework models suggest that the scarp formed as a consequence of slope failure induced by tectonic oversteepening of the insular slope. The oversteepening may be a result of the most recent episode of convergence of the Caribbean and North American plates, which began approximately 4 million years ago. The Arecibo basin strata have been tilted approximately 4{degree} to the north and are apparently gravitationally unstable under the present seismic regime. The volume of material involved in this slope failure is comparable to the material displaced in tsunamogenic submarine landslides along the Peru Trench and Hawaiian Ridge. Therefore, if the slope failure north of Puerto Rico was catastrophic, it was large enough to have generated a tsunami that would have flooded the low ground of northern Puerto Rico.
- OSTI ID:
- 6163815
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-900702--
- Conference Information:
- Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Journal Volume: 74:6
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CENOZOIC ERA
FEDERAL REGION II
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
GREATER ANTILLES
ISLANDS
NORTH AMERICA
OFFSHORE SITES
PUERTO RICO
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEISMIC SURVEYS
SURVEYS
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
WEST INDIES
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CENOZOIC ERA
FEDERAL REGION II
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
GREATER ANTILLES
ISLANDS
NORTH AMERICA
OFFSHORE SITES
PUERTO RICO
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEISMIC SURVEYS
SURVEYS
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
WEST INDIES