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Stress fields in the Iberian-Maghrebi region

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Abstract

This study concerns the present stressfield between the Eurasian and Africanplates in the Iberian-Maghrebi region(Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria andTunisia). In addition to an up-to-datecatalogue of earthquakes in this area, acatalogue of the focal mechanisms composedof 486 solutions of fault planes,standardized in terms of notation andinformation type, was used. These data wereused applying the right-dihedron method ofAngelier and Mechler (1977), to obtaindifferent zones with homogeneous stress.The results obtained for shallowearthquakes (h < 30 km) coincide, in themajority of cases, with the general stressfields proposed by numerous authors forthis region, according to which there isNW-SE compression. However, the stressorientation appears to vary in certainareas, perhaps perturbed by the opening ofthe Atlantic Ocean, the approach of Iberiaand Africa, or the extension of the AlboranSea.For the intermediate earthquakes (30 < h< 150 km) no general pattern was found,and the P and T axes seem to be randomlyoriented for the depth intervalsconsidered. For the very deep earthquakes(h > 600 km), however, the P axis lies ina NNW-SSE direction, dipping towards theSSE, while the T axis is subhorizontal in aNE-SW direction.The determinations from the focalmechanisms highlight the existence of aregional stress field with a subhorizontalcompression axis trending NW-SE. Superimposed are others that specificallyaffect particular sectors; these arerelated to the opening of the AtlanticOcean, the extension of the BeticCordillera and the Alboran Sea, and eventhe present compression between the Iberianand European plates.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpto. Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    J. Henares & C. López Casado

  2. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-Univ. Granada), Facultad de Ciencias, 18071, Granada, Spain

    C. Sanz de Galdeano

  3. Dpto. Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Alicante, Ap. Correos 99, 03080, Alicante, Spain, tel

    J. Delgado

  4. Dpto. Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Jaén, 23071, Jaén, Spain

    J.A. Peláez

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  1. J. Henares
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  4. J. Delgado
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Henares, J., López Casado, C., Sanz de Galdeano, C. et al. Stress fields in the Iberian-Maghrebi region. Journal of Seismology 7, 65–78 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021294015027

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