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Bergman, E. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Bergman, E. A..

6 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Thermoelastic stress - How important as a cause of earthquakes in young oceanic lithosphere?

Thermoelastic or thermal stress is a potentially important contributor to the state of stress in the oceanic lithosphere. The present paper provides several simple models for the state of thermoelastic stress in a young oceanic lithosphere, taking into account a comparison of the predictions of these models with the characteristics of near-ridge earthquakes. Attention is given to the characteristics of near-ridge earthquakes, sources of stress in an oceanic lithosphere, previous models of thermal stress, the calculation of thermal stress, and thermal stress models. A test is conducted of the hypothesis that thermoelastic stress is a significant component of the stress field in a young oceanic lithosphere. The considered models support the hypothesis that thermoelastic stress is a significant component of the stress field in a young oceanic lithosphere.

Bratt, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Earthquake source mechanisms from body-waveform inversion and intraplate tectonics in the northern Indian Ocean

Double-couple point-source parameters for 11 of the largest intraplate earthquakes in the northern Indian Ocean during the last 20 years were determined from a formal inversion of the long-period P and SH waveforms. Two major intraplate tectonic provinces are distinguished in the northern Indian Ocean. The plate-wide stress pattern found and the high level of intraplate seismicity are probably the results of substantial resistance, along the Himalayan continental collision zone, to the continued northward motion of the western portion of the Indian plate.

Bergman, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Source mechanisms of earthquakes near mid-ocean ridges from body waveform inversion - Implications for the early evolution of oceanic lithosphere

An evaluation is presented of the tectonics of the near-ridge environment based on the source mechanisms of earthquakes in young oceanic lithosphere. A catalog of near-ridge earthquakes is presented, and source parameters are determined from body waveform inversions. Source parameter-age relations are examined, and the near-ridge seismicity of the Indian Ocean is discussed. Deep normal faulting in young oceanic lithosphere is addressed, as is the relationship between thermoelastic stress and near-ridge earthquakes. The possibility of secondary convection beneath young oceanic lithosphere is considered. Finally, the broader tectonic implications of these results for the evolution of young oceanic lithosphere are discussed.

Bergman, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

An extensive region of off-ridge normal-faulting earthquakes in the southern Indian Ocean

A verified prediction of the theory of plate tectonics is that the focal mechanisms of earthquakes on the mid-ocean ridge system indicate either normal faulting on ridge segments or strike-slip faulting on transform faults. A broad region in the southern Indian Ocean which differs from typical ridge and intraplate regimes has been identified. In this region a number of large off-ridge earthquakes have occurred in the last 20 years. The mechanisms for these events, where known, all involve normal faulting. Nine of these earthquakes have been studied in detail using a formal inversion technique based on matching synthetic body waves to observed seismograms.

Bergman, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Tectonic stress - Models and magnitudes

It is shown that global data on directions of principal stresses in plate interiors can serve as a test of possible plate tectonic force models. Such tests performed to date favor force models in which ridge pushing forces play a significant role. For such models the general magnitude of regional deviatoric stresses is comparable to the 200-300 bar compressive stress exerted by spreading ridges. An alternative approach to estimating magnitudes of regional deviatoric stresses from stress orientations is to seek regions of local stress either demonstrably smaller than or larger than the regional stresses. The regional stresses in oceanic intraplate regions are larger than the 100-bar compression exerted by the Ninetyeast Ridge and less than the bending stresses (not less than 1 kbar) beneath Hawaii.

Solomon, S. C.↗