| Title | A comparison of seismicity to the crustal deformation predicted by a glacial isostatic adjustment model in northern Canada and western Greenland |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | James, T S ;
Schamehorn, T D |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8106, 2016, 24 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/299098  Open Access |
| Year | 2016 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | readme
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| File format | pdf; txt; rtf |
| Province | Nunavut; Northern offshore region; Quebec; Newfoundland and Labrador; Ontario |
| NTS | 14; 15; 16; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 54; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 64; 65; 66; 67; 68; 69; 120; 340; 560 |
| Area | Baffin Island; Foxe Basin; Davis Strait; Hudson Bay; Canada; Greenland |
| Lat/Long WENS | -100.0000 -40.0000 85.0000 55.0000 |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; geophysics; earthquake catalogues; earthquakes; seismicity; modelling; stress analyses; isostatic compensation; Bell Arch; Boothia Uplift |
| Illustrations | location maps; plots; tables |
| Program | Public Safety Geoscience Western Canada Geohazards Project |
| Released | 2016 11 08 |
| Abstract | The horizontal crustal strain-rates induced by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in northern Canada and western Greenland region are compared to the spatial pattern of seismicity to determine whether
earthquakes occur where GIA-predicted crustal strain-rates are high. For the comparison, an updated seismicity catalogue was created from the 2010 version of the NRCan Seismic Hazard Earthquake Epicentre File (SHEEF2010) catalogue and the Greenland
Ice Sheet Monitoring Network (GLISN) catalogue of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). Crustal motion rates were computed using the Innu/Laur16 ice-sheet history and the VM5a viscosity profile. This GIA model optimizes the fit to
relative sea-level and vertical crustal motion measurements around Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). A region in Baffin Bay where predicted GIA strain-rates are high also features historically high seismicity, including the 1933 M
7.4 and the 1934 and 1945 M 6.5 earthquakes. Elsewhere, agreement is not strong, with zones of seismicity occurring where predicted horizontal crustal strain-rates are small and large crustal strain-rates occurring where earthquake occurrence is
muted. Further investigations could include calculation of crustal stress-rates so that failure criteria may be assessed for Baffin Bay events. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The stretching and squeezing induced by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in northern Canada and western Greenland is compared to the spatial pattern of
earthquakes to determine whether earthquakes occur where GIA-predicted crustal strain-rates are high. For the comparison, an updated seismicity catalogue was created from two previously-existing catalogs. Crustal motion rates were computed for a
recently published GIA model that simulates the Earth¿s response to the last Ice Age. This GIA model fits sea-level and vertical crustal motion observations better than previous models. A region in Baffin Bay where predicted GIA strain-rates are
high also features historically high seismicity, including the 1933 M 7.4 and the 1934 and 1945 M 6.5 earthquakes. Elsewhere, agreement is not strong. Suggestions are made for further investigations. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 299098 |
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