Massive earthquake swarm driven by magmatic intrusion at the Bransfield Strait, 
Antarctica

Cesca, Simone; Sugan, Monica; Rudzinski, Łukasz; Vajedian, Sanaz; Niemz, P.; Plank, Simon; Petersen, G.; Deng, Z.; Rivalta, E.; Vuan, Alessandro; Plasencia Linares, Milton Percy; Heimann, Sebastian; Dahm, T.

doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00418-5

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

Massive earthquake swarm driven by magmatic intrusion at the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica

Authors

/persons/resource/cesca

Cesca, Simone
2.1 Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 2.0 Geophysics, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Sugan, Monica
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Rudzinski, Łukasz
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Vajedian, Sanaz
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/pniemz

Niemz, P.
2.1 Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 2.0 Geophysics, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Plank, Simon
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/gesap

Petersen, G.
2.1 Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 2.0 Geophysics, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/deng

Deng, Z.
1.1 Space Geodetic Techniques, 1.0 Geodesy, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/rivalta

Rivalta, E.
2.1 Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 2.0 Geophysics, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Vuan, Alessandro
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Plasencia Linares, Milton Percy
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Heimann, Sebastian
External Organizations;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

/persons/resource/dahm

Dahm, T.
2.1 Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, 2.0 Geophysics, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;
Publikationen aller GIPP-unterstützten Projekte, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

External Ressource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (public)

5010958.pdf
(Publisher version), 5MB

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Cesca, S., Sugan, M., Rudzinski, Ł., Vajedian, S., Niemz, P., Plank, S., Petersen, G., Deng, Z., Rivalta, E., Vuan, A., Plasencia Linares, M. P., Heimann, S., Dahm, T. (2022): Massive earthquake swarm driven by magmatic intrusion at the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. - Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 89.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00418-5

Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5010958

Abstract

An earthquake swarm affected the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica, a unique rift basin in transition from intra-arc rifting to ocean spreading. The swarm, counting ~85,000 volcano-tectonic earthquakes since August 2020, is located close to the Orca submarine volcano, previously considered inactive. Simultaneously, geodetic data reported up to ~11 cm northwestward displacement over King George Island. We use a broad variety of geophysical data and methods to reveal the complex migration of seismicity, accompanying the intrusion of 0.26–0.56 km3 of magma. Strike-slip earthquakes mark the intrusion at depth, while shallower normal faulting the ~20 km long lateral growth of a dike. Seismicity abruptly decreased after a Mw 6.0 earthquake, suggesting the magmatic dike lost pressure with the slipping of a large fault. A seafloor eruption is likely, but not confirmed by sea surface temperature anomalies. The unrest documents episodic magmatic intrusion in the Bransfield Strait, providing unique insights into active continental rifting.