Figure - available from: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Fault gouge zone core sample (NFD‐1‐S1‐②) with International GeoSample Number (IGSN) IENOJ0001 from the Nojima fault retrieved from 506 to 507 m showing a fresh gouge formation and the intercalated breccia and cataclasite fault material (modified from Lin & Nishiwaki, 2019). Codes (G‐XX, GB‐XX, BR‐XX, and CAT‐XX) represent subsamples collected for luminescence dating, corresponding to the layering structures. G, gouge; BG, breccia and gouge; BR, breccia; CAT, cataclasite.
Source publication
This study is the first part of a comprehensive paleoseismic study in the Nojima Fault Zone (NFZ), the seismogenic fault of the 1995 Mw 6.9 Kobe (Japan) earthquake, which explores the use of the luminescence dating method for understanding past faulting time and assessing the activity of faults developed in basement rocks. Our approach is focused o...
Citations
... The method has been applied as a geothermometer by Rink et al. (1999) using the sensitization effect of quartz to study the signal resetting related to shear heating during earthquakes. Studies targeting active structures show that the signal has been at least partially reset in fault gouges at the surface and at depth conditions (e.g., Tsakalos et al. 2020). Spencer et al. (2012) studied drill core gouge samples (2604 m depth) from the San Andreas Fault zone, using infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and thermoluminescence signals on poly-mineral and feldspar aliquots. ...
... However, for older samples (i.e., close to saturation) the fading correction factor for the IR 50 signal is larger than for the pIRIR 225 signal, meaning that the corrected D e are less reliable than those obtained for the pIRIR 225 signal. In general, other studies dealing with OSL faulting of fault gouge have identified a reset of the system associated with fault activity (e.g., Spencer et al. 2012;Tsakalos et al. 2020). However, these studies have been conducted at depth, under higher ambient temperatures and confining pressure, where the material is more likely to be effectively reset during coseismic slip. ...
... (2) Earthquake ages obtained with trapped charge dating methods are generally older than the last earthquake triggered on active faults (e.g., Fukuchi et al. 1986;Buhay et al. 1988;Tsakalos et al. 2020). They do not necessarily reflect the last coseismic slip along the structures but can still be used to assess whether a structure has been active during the Quaternary. ...
The Periadriatic Fault system (PAF) ranks among the largest post-collisional structures of the European Alps. Recent geodetic data suggest that a fraction of the Adria–Europe convergence is still being accommodated in the Eastern Alps. However, the historical seismicity records along the easternmost segment of the PAF are ambiguous, and instrumental records indicate that seismotectonic deformation is mostly concentrated in the adjacent Southern Alps and Dinarides. Both electron spin resonance (ESR) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods can be used to date coseismic slip (with a combined range covering a few decades to a couple of million years) in slowly deforming fault zones, such as the PAF. Since the saturation doses of the quartz ESR signals are larger than quartz and feldspar OSL, ESR enables establishing a maximum age of the last resetting event of the system, while OSL allows constraining their minimum age when the signal is in saturation. We collected fault gouge samples from three localities along the easternmost segment of the PAF. For ESR, we measured the signals from the Al center in quartz comparing the results from the single aliquot additive dose (SAAD) and single aliquot regenerative (SAR) dose protocols. For OSL, we recorded the infrared stimulated luminescence signal at 50°C (IR 50 ) and post-infrared infrared-stimulated luminescence signal at 225 °C (pIRIR 225 ). Our dating results indicate that the studied segment of the PAF system accommodated seismotectonic deformation during the Quaternary, with a maximum age for the last resetting event of the system ranging from 1075 ± 48 to 552 ± 26 ka (ESR SAR) and minimum ages in the range from 196 ± 12 to 281 ± 16 ka (saturation of pIRIR 225 ). The obtained ages suggest that the studied segment of the PAF could be considered at least as a potentially active fault.
Graphical abstract
... A palaeoseismicity research project, "Drilling into Active Fault Damage Zone" (DAFD), managed by Kyoto University, commenced in 2015, aimed at assessing the recent past activity of faults. During the project, a number of boreholes were drilled at the Nojima Fault Zone (NFZ), penetrating the main fault-damage zone at various depths from ~260 m to ~900 m, from which cataclastic rock material such as cataclasite, breccia, and fault gouge have been obtained [15,16]. Intrinsically, geochronological research on these cataclastic rocks, which are directly linked to past faulting events, have been introduced [15,16]. ...
... During the project, a number of boreholes were drilled at the Nojima Fault Zone (NFZ), penetrating the main fault-damage zone at various depths from ~260 m to ~900 m, from which cataclastic rock material such as cataclasite, breccia, and fault gouge have been obtained [15,16]. Intrinsically, geochronological research on these cataclastic rocks, which are directly linked to past faulting events, have been introduced [15,16]. To this end, luminescence dating results using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique on the fault-gouge layers of the NFZ have recently been published [16], indicating that the NFZ at a depth of ~506 m developed from recurring seismic faulting events during the past 62.8 ± 4.3 ka to 18.5 ± 1.3 ka, with ages signifying the upper age boundary of formation (or OSL signal resetting) of the individual gouge layers. ...
... Intrinsically, geochronological research on these cataclastic rocks, which are directly linked to past faulting events, have been introduced [15,16]. To this end, luminescence dating results using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique on the fault-gouge layers of the NFZ have recently been published [16], indicating that the NFZ at a depth of ~506 m developed from recurring seismic faulting events during the past 62.8 ± 4.3 ka to 18.5 ± 1.3 ka, with ages signifying the upper age boundary of formation (or OSL signal resetting) of the individual gouge layers. In the present study, fault-gouge ages are obtained using the ITL dating technique on the same set of fault-gouge samples acquired from the NFZ drill core at a depth of ~506 m, and the dating results are cross-checked for consistency with the recently published SAR-OSL dating results by Tsakalos et al. (2020) [16]. ...
Establishing the absolute age of palaeoearthquakes is of great significance for the assessment of the seismicity and seismic hazards of a region. As such, several different geochronological techniques to date earthquake-related material have been developed to provide answers on the time of past earthquakes. The present study is part of a wider palaeoseismic research project conducted in the Nojima Fault Zone (NFZ), where the 1995 Mw 6.9 Kobe (Japan) earthquake was triggered, to assess the suitability of the isothermal thermoluminescence (ITL) dating technique on fine-grained quartz and medium-grained feldspar and to provide a sequence of ages for fault-rock samples separated from a drilled core that was retrieved from a depth of ~506 m. Our analysis reveals that ITL can produce consistent dating results and can be considered a reliable luminescence technique for the absolute dating of fault-gouge material. The produced ITL ages signified the existence of repeated seismic events within the NFZ that took place through the late Pleistocene period, with gouge ages spanning from 78.6 ± 4.2 to 13.4 ± 1.4 ka; however, overestimation of the produced ITL dating results may be apparent. Nonetheless, even though some degree of overestimation is considered, ITL dating results denote the oldest possible age boundary of formation (or luminescence signal resetting) of the collected fault-gouge layers.
... 1986;Buhay et al., 1988;Tsakalos et al., 2020), and do not necessarily re ect the last time of seismic slip.(3) The Eastern PAF is still geometrically compatible with the present-day stress regime(Fig. ...
The Periadriatic Fault System (PAF) ranks among the largest post-collisional structures of the European Alps. Recent Global Satellite Navigation Systems data suggest that a fraction of the Adria-Europe convergence is still being accommodated in the Eastern Alps. However, the historical seismicity records along the easternmost segment of the PAF are ambiguous and instrumental records indicate that seismotectonic deformation is mostly concentrated in the adjacent Southern Alps and adjacent Dinarides. Both Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating methods can be used as ultra-low temperature thermochronometers. Due to their dating range (a few decades to ~ 2 Ma) and low closure temperature (below 100°C), the methods have the potential for dating shear heating during earthquakes in slowly deforming fault zones, such as the PAF. Since the saturation dose of the quartz ESR signals is larger than quartz and feldspar OSL, ESR enables establishing a maximum age of the events (assuming the resetting during seismic events was at least partial), while OSL allows finding their minimum age when the signal is in saturation. We collected fault gouge samples from 3 localities along the easternmost segment of the PAF. For ESR, we measured the signals from the Al center in quartz comparing the results from the single aliquot additive dose (SAAD) and single aliquot regenerative (SAR) protocols. For OSL, we measured the Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) signal at 50°C (IR 50 ) and the post-IR IRSL signal at 225°C (pIRIR 225 ) on potassium feldspar aliquots. Our dating results indicate that the studied segment of the PAF system accommodated seismotectonic deformation within a maximum age ranging from 1075 ± 48 to 541 ± 28 ka (ESR SAR) and minimum ages in the range from 196 ± 12 to 281 ± 16 ka (pIRIR 225 ). The obtained ages and the current configuration of the structure suggest that the studied segment of the PAF could be considered at least as a potentially active fault.
... Previous luminescence studies have constrained the timing of past seismic events accommodated in fault gouge (Singhvi et al., 1994;Spencer et al., 2012;Ganzawa et al., 2013;Tsakalos et al., 2020) and shown reduction in OSL and TL signals in experimentally sheared samples (Toyoda et al., 2000;Kim et al., 2019;Yang et al., 2019;Oohashi et al., 2020). Laboratory experiments explored the relationships between slip rates and signal loss, and attribute OSL and TL signal loss to friction-generated heat (Yang et al., 2019;Oohashi et al., 2020). ...
Quantitative constraints on the timing and temperatures associated with Quaternary fault slip inform earthquake mechanics and seismic hazard analyses. Optically stimulated luminesce (OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL) are tools that can provide these constraints from fault gouge and localized slip surfaces. This study investigates the quartz luminescence properties of five 2-mm-thick slices of rock as a function of distance perpendicularly from a discrete, m-scale mirrored fault surface that cuts quartz-rich conglomerate along the Hurricane fault, UT, USA. We use pulsed annealing linearly modulated OSL experiments to determine the response of OSL signals to annealing temperatures. Results were used to estimate trap depths (eV) and trap lifetimes (Myr). We also calculated changes in OSL and TL sensitivity across the fault-perpendicular transect. All five subsamples show a strong initial fast component peak following annealing steps of 200–300 °C, which is absent following higher pre-heat steps of 320–420 °C. The fast component trap lifetimes and depths indicate they are stable over the Quaternary and suitable for OSL dating. Data exhibit increasing trap depth, trap lifetime, and sensitivity with distance from the fault surface. We suggest mechanical processes, fluids, and/or elevated temperatures during seismicity work constructively to transform fault materials and affect the quartz luminescence properties at a mm-scale from this fault surface. Results highlight the importance of assessing the scale of fault-related impacts on host rock and luminescence properties when applying trapped-charge techniques to recover fault-slip chronologies and/or paleotemperature information.
... Local temperatures can also be raised a few hundred degrees by frictional heating associated with formation of fault gouges during tectonic movement, or dike injec tion due to earthquakes, completely resetting OSL [146][147][148] . Lightning strikes can cause localized melting in dry sand, creating fulgurites and resetting nearby grains 149 . ...
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from quartz can be used to determine when sedimentary archives were deposited. OSL dating uses the accumulation of energy stored in a crystal structure to measure time. This stored energy is absorbed from ionizing radiation, and is released (reset) by heat or daylight. The total specific energy (dose) absorbed since the last resetting is measured using OSL, and divided by the rate of storage (dose rate) to give the time elapsed from the last heating or daylight exposure. In this Primer, quartz OSL dating is introduced and the signal resetting processes outlined. We describe the origins and quantification of the dose rate and the daylight-sensitive OSL signal most appropriate to dose estimation. The most widely used dose measurement method is then discussed, together with quality-control procedures. A broad set of geological and archaeological studies are used to illustrate the wide range of potential applications, and we describe the challenges arising from different deposition environments and summarize evidence for the precision and accuracy of published ages. Uncertainties and minimum reporting are discussed together with methodological limitations, particularly when applied to young and old sediments. Finally, we highlight the anticipated future developments in the field. Optically stimulated luminescence dating uses the amount of energy stored in a crystal to measure time. Applying this technique to quartz enables sedimentary deposition processes to be derived. In this Primer, the technique of optically stimulated luminescence dating with quartz is introduced, including commonly used methods, limitations and applications.
... The liquefied sand sediment was deposited during short time period, which might do not have enough time to expose to sunlight. The quartz grains within the sediment might be partially bleached and result age overestimation (Porat et al., 2007;Fattahi et al., 2010;Yang et al., 2012;Tsakalos et al., 2020). The distribution and micro-characteristics of soft sediment deformation can be effectively used to speculate the magnitude and frequency of paleo-seismic events (Becker et al., 2005;Bowman et al., 2004;Karlin and Abella, 1992). ...
Late Quaternary river blockage events in the mountainous regions of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, characterized by steep topographies and deeply-incised valleys, have commonly been triggered by tectonic and glacial activity. In this study, we described the geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics of a fluvial-lacustrine sedimentary sequence belonging to a dammed paleolake that formed along the Dongjiu River at the terminus of the Lulang Fault, on the western boundary of the Namche Barwa Syntaxis. Eight main lithofacies associations are proposed that represent four main paleoenvironments: a distal lacustrine environment, i.e. representing a lake distal environment; a lake margin environment; an ice-contact lacustrine environment; and a fluvial environment. ¹⁴C and OSL dating results indicate that the paleolake formed at least between ~7.1–3.6 ka. The paleolake covered ~2.27 km² and contained a water volume of ~0.09 km³, with the water surface lying at an altitude of 2590 m above sea level (asl). The soft-sediment deformations induced by a paleoseismic event in the environs of the Lulang River nearby during the early Holocene, synchronous with the rock avalanche which dammed the Dongjiu River. We would therefore suggest that such a damming event might have been triggered by a paleoearthquake. Steepness index analysis of longitudinal profiles indicates that the paleodam caused by a landslide across the Dongjiu River was unable to preserve the stability of knickpoint, a migration that can potentially be related to a high river erosion rate.
... Recent applications demonstrate the suitability of OSL RSD for dating glacial moraines (e.g. Jenkins et al., 2018;Rades et al., 2018), marine and fluvial deposits (Brill et al., 2020;Lüthgens et al., 2017;Narama et al., 2007;Souza et al., 2019), rock-falls and mass-movements (Brill et al., 2020;Chapot et al., 2012;Sohbati et al., 2012b;Tsakalos et al., 2020), archaeological artefacts (Ageby et al., 2021;al Khasawneh et al., 2019;Gliganic et al., 2018;Liritzis, 1994;Liritzis et al., 2019;2010;Liritzis and Galloway, 1998;Rhodes et al., 2006) and rock art (Chapot et al., 2012). However, whilst several exciting applications are emerging in literature, OSL RSD measurement techniques are cumbersome and time consuming. ...
Recent developments in luminescence dating offer new ways to date exposure and burial durations of rocks. The new rock surface dating methods ideally require high-resolution data, faster sample preparation and measurement times, and field screening methods to select samples with appropriate luminescence characteristics and bleaching histories. Presented here is a demonstration of an EMCCD (electron multiplying charge coupled device) based system capable of imaging high-resolution Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and Infrared-photoluminescence (IRPL) from rock samples. The IRPL can be detected at both 880 nm and 955 nm. Using this instrument, the entire luminescence-depth profile can be reconstructed by imaging a single surface cut perpendicular to the exposed rock face. We demonstrate the possibility of reconstructing luminescence-depth profiles suitable for rock surface dating from large (cm-scale) rock samples, without using a regeneration dose for normalisation of the natural luminescence signals. Based on the different bleaching characteristics of the IRSL and IRPL emissions at 880 nm and 955 nm, we show that it is possible to gain reliable estimates of bleaching depths from measurement of as few as two images of the IRPL signal (one for each emission), or from measurement of the IRSL decay curve. We thus by-pass laborious sample preparations and the need for a gamma source to estimate the bleaching depth, thereby extending the 2D luminescence-depth profile imaging technique to other laboratories that lack access to ionising radiation facilities. This study also makes a significant progression towards development of a field instrument for in-situ relative exposure dating, and sample screening for rock surface burial dating.
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating utilises the detection of trapped charge in minerals, and have ultralow closure temperatures. There is the potential for direct dating of fault movement using this method, because frictional heating caused by large earthquakes can reduce the signal intensity. In this study, we conducted quartz OSL dating on four fault gouge and breccia samples from a surface outcrop of the Atotsugawa Fault, one of the most active dextral strike-slip faults in central Japan, where the last large earthquake occurred in AD1858, with an estimated magnitude of 7. The natural OSL signal intensity of fine-grained quartz was clearly below the signal saturation level, with the fraction of saturation ( n/N ) between 0.34 ± 0.04 and 0.42 ± 0.07. Quartz OSL ages range from 21 ± 2 to 70 ± 3 ka, two orders of magnitude older than the age of the last earthquake, suggesting that the past earthquakes only partially reset the OSL signal. We calculate the mean storage temperature of the samples to be 53 ± 2°C, which reflects past fault activity. Using the known recurrence interval of faulting to be 2.5 ka, the OSL ages, and the thermal stability parameters of the signal, we deduce partial resetting conditions.
Accurate determination of the Principal Slip Zone (PSZ) of earthquake fault zones is a key task of earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling for future earthquake control. The fault zone structure of Wenchuan earthquake is complex, and there are many strong earthquakes recorded on the fault zone, which make determining the PSZ in the Wenchuan earthquake Fault Scientific Drilling project-hole 1 (WFSD-1) difficult. At present, core analysis of whole coring is the decisive method for determining PSZ depth, and the fresh fault gouge at 589.2 m is the PSZ in WFSD-1. Abundant and comprehensive logging data can only be used as evidence to judge the PSZ. Based on the discrimination function and hyperplane equation in Bayesian discriminant classification, we derive a new algorithm for computing the PSZ possibility using a Bayesian Discrimination function (PSZP-BDF) based on the simplified model, and set up a mode to determine the PSZ directly using machine learning of well logging. For the verification of WFSD-1, the fault gouges are successfully identified and the PSZ depth is accurately located. The algorithm objectively learns the sample data, which is naturally adaptive to the region. The calculation procedure is simple and does not require expensive coring data or heavy core tests in the well. The calculation speed is fast, using multiple physical data types. The PSZP-BDF algorithm is suitable for processing and interpreting earthquake fault scientific drilling data.
