Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-1181-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-1181-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Complex fault system revealed by 3-D seismic reflection data with deep learning and fault network analysis
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Deutsche Erdwärme, Stephanienstraße 55, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Indranil Pan
Centre for Process Systems Engineering and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, SW7 1NE, London, UK
The Alan Turing Institute, British Library, NW1 2DB, London, UK
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, Newcastle, UK
Rebecca E. Bell
Basins Research Group (BRG), Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, UK
Christopher A.-L. Jackson
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PY, Manchester, UK
Robert L. Gawthorpe
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Haakon Fossen
Museum of Natural History, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Edoseghe E. Osagiede
Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Allégaten 41, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Sascha Brune
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam–Golm, Germany
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When in extension, the Earth's crust accommodates deformation by breaking. Through time, faults grow into an intricate network that can be detected by changes in topography, or through modelling (numerical or analogue). This study demonstrates how the Python library Fatbox, the fault analysis toolbox, can extract the network pattern automatically from said datasets and characterise the geometry and kinematics of the fault network.
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Rifting and the break-up of continents are key aspects of Earth’s plate tectonic system. A thorough understanding of the geological processes involved in rifting, and of the associated natural hazards and resources, is of great importance in the context of the energy transition. Here, we provide a coherent overview of rift processes and the links with hazards and resources, and we assess future challenges and opportunities for (collaboration between) researchers, government, and industry.
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Continental rifts form by linkage of individual rift segments and disturb the regional stress field. We use analog and numerical models of such rift segment interactions to investigate the linkage of deformation and stresses and subsequent stress deflections from the regional stress pattern. This local stress re-orientation eventually causes rift deflection when multiple rift segments compete for linkage with opposingly propagating segments and may explain rift deflection as observed in nature.
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Preprint archived
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Continental rifts can form when and where continents are stretched. Rifts are characterised by faults, sedimentary basins, earthquakes and/or volcanism. If rifting can continue, a rift may break a continent into conjugate margins such as along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In some cases, however, rifting fails, such as in the West African Rift. We discuss continental rifting from inception to break-up, focussing on the processes at play, and illustrate these with several natural examples.
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The former Piemont–Liguria Ocean, which separated Europe from Africa–Adria in the Jurassic, opened as an arm of the central Atlantic. Using plate reconstructions and geodynamic modeling, we show that the ocean reached only 250 km width between Europe and Adria. Moreover, at least 65 % of the lithosphere subducted into the mantle and/or incorporated into the Alps during convergence in Cretaceous and Cenozoic times comprised highly thinned continental crust, while only 35 % was truly oceanic.
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Short summary
We need to understand where faults are to do the following: (1) assess their seismic hazard, (2) explore for natural resources and (3) store CO2 safely in the subsurface. Currently, we still map subsurface faults primarily by hand using seismic reflection data, i.e. acoustic images of the Earth. Mapping faults this way is difficult and time-consuming. Here, we show how to use deep learning to accelerate fault mapping and how to use networks or graphs to simplify fault analyses.
We need to understand where faults are to do the following: (1) assess their seismic hazard, (2)...