Characterization of fracture systems using precise array locations of earthquake multiplets: An example at Deception Island volcano, Antarctica

Abstract

Volcano-tectonic earthquakes are common seismic events in active volcanic areas. The stress produced by volcanic processes is released through fracturing of the shallow crust. Very often, these earthquakes occur in multiplets with similar waveforms, a fact which indicates common source characteristics. In this work, we introduce a method that uses array techniques to calculate precise relative locations of earthquake multiplets. We use the relative slowness estimate method to determine accurately the apparent slownesses and propagation azimuths of the earthquakes relative to a selected master event. We also obtain precise estimates of the S-P delays. This information is used to calculate precise relative locations by ray tracing in an Earth model. We applied this method to determine the characteristics of the fractures activated during the 1999 seismic series at the Deception Island volcano, Antarctica. We selected a set of 17 earthquake multiplets, initially located in a small (4 x 4 km) region a few km NE of the array site. We estimated precise locations for 14 of the clusters. In most cases, hypocenters were distributed in well-defined planar geometries. We found the best fitting planes, which we interpreted as fractures in the medium. For two clusters, the method spatially separated the earthquakes into two subgroups. Thus, we obtained two planes for each of these clusters, resulting in a total of 16 fracture planes. This is the first time that the orientations of fracture planes related to a seismic series have been obtained using a seismic array. We performed several tests to check various aspects in relation to the stability of the method and concluded that the results were robust. The dip angles indicate that the planes are mostly subvertical, while the strike angles clearly show a NW-SE trend for most of the planes and a few planes with NE–SW trends. The geometry and position of these planes suggest that the 1999 seismic series was influenced by regional tectonics, although the origin of the destabilization of the system may be related to the reactivation of a shallow magma chamber.