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Morphotectonic and fault–earthquake relationships along the northern Ligurian margin (western Mediterranean) based on high resolution, multibeam bathymetry and multichannel seismic-reflection profiles

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Abstract

We present here new data from the MALISAR surveys that focus on two areas of the northern Ligurian margin where we reveal recent and active deformation. A set of N60°E scarps that are oblique to the margin is seen at the foot of the continental slope. These correspond to cumulated reverse-strike slip faulting that is consistent with the present-day kinematics of earthquakes. At the north-western margin, the Marcel Fault appears at the surface as a 10-km-long scarp trending N60°E. Several earthquakes of moderate magnitude (3.8 < ML < 4.6) have focal mechanisms consistent with the geometry and the kinematics of, and have been located around, the Marcel Fault. At the north-eastern margin, offshore of Imperia, the major feature is a large promontory that is bound by a network of N60°E faults on its southern side. The structures and the deflection of the drainage network are consistent with a recent uplift of the Imperia Promontory. No surface ruptures have been identified in the epicentre area of the 1887 Ligurian earthquake (the major historical regional event: MW ~6.5–6.7), although the Imperia Fault network has the necessary characteristics to account for this earthquake. Therefore, from the present study, we propose that the rupture, as a reverse-strike slip faulting of a few or all of the segments belonging to the Imperia Fault network, was the source of the 1887 event. These MALISAR data have allowed identification of an 80-km-long transpressive system of Plio-Quaternary faults. The question of the potential activation of all of these faults during a single event is now of major concern, which has led to reappraisal of the regional seismic hazard as moderate to high.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the captain and the crew of the R/V Le Suroît for their cooperation during the MALISAR surveys, and all the scientific participants to the MALISAR project F. Courboulex for providing the focal mechanism of the 21 April 2009, earthquake, and N. Béthoux for discussion about the Ligurian earthquakes. We are also greatly indebted to the three anonymous reviewers who provided us a lot of interesting comments and suggestions. This study was funded by the Commission Nationale Flotte et Engins (CNFE-IFREMER), by the research program “Relief de la Terre”, the GDR “marges”, and the programme “Action Marges” of the CNRS/INSU.

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  1. UMR GéoAzur, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, OCA, 250 Rue A. Einstein, 06560, Valbonne, France

    Christophe Larroque & Bernard Mercier de Lépinay

  2. UMR GéoAzur, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, OCA, Port de la darse, 06235, Villefranche/Mer, France

    Sébastien Migeon

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  1. Christophe Larroque
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Larroque, C., de Lépinay, B.M. & Migeon, S. Morphotectonic and fault–earthquake relationships along the northern Ligurian margin (western Mediterranean) based on high resolution, multibeam bathymetry and multichannel seismic-reflection profiles. Mar Geophys Res 32, 163–179 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-010-9108-7

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