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Pre-existing structures control the orientation of strike-slip faulting during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall dike intrusion
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  • Esme Olivia Glastonbury-Southern,
  • Tom Winder,
  • Nicholas Rawlinson,
  • Robert Stephen White,
  • Tim Greenfield,
  • Conor Bacon,
  • Thorbjörg Agustdottir,
  • Bryndís Brandsdóttir,
  • Egill Árni Gudnason,
  • Gylfi Pall Hersir,
  • Tomas Fischer,
  • Jana Doubravová,
  • Pavla Hrubcová,
  • Eva Eibl
Esme Olivia Glastonbury-Southern
Bullard Laboratories, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Tom Winder
University of Iceland
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Nicholas Rawlinson
University of Cambridge
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Robert Stephen White
Bullard Laboratories
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Tim Greenfield
University of Cambridge
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Conor Bacon
Columbia University
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Thorbjörg Agustdottir
Islenskar orkurannsoknir
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Bryndís Brandsdóttir
University of Iceland
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Egill Árni Gudnason
ISOR Iceland GeoSurvey
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Gylfi Pall Hersir
retired
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Tomas Fischer
Charles University in Prague
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Jana Doubravová
Institute of Geophysics (ASCR)
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Pavla Hrubcová
Institute of Geophysics (ASCR)
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Eva Eibl
University of Potsdam , Potsdam, Germany
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Abstract

The 2021 Fagradalsfjall dike intrusion marked the initiation of a new era of volcanism on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. In this study, we present a large automatic catalog consisting of more than 80,000 earthquake hypocenters spanning the full period of the dike intrusion, which were derived from seismic data recorded by a dense network of seismic stations. The 9 – 10 km long dike exhibits a two-segment geometry of similar lengths. Linear regression on a relatively relocated subset of over 12,000 earthquakes revealed a strike of 029° with a standard deviation of 2° in the southern segment, and 046° with a standard deviation of 1° in the northern segment of the dike. A total of 97 detailed fault plane solutions from relative relocations of selected subsets of events provide new insight into the controls on faulting, showing almost exclusively right-lateral strike-slip/oblique-slip faulting associated with the dike intrusion, and a lack of left-lateral strike-slip fault motion. The alignment of fault planes is consistent with the orientation of pre-existing fractures, within uncertainty estimates. In light of these observations, we conclude that the likelihood of faulting being related to classical dike tip fracture of new rock ahead of the dike tip is low. Instead, our preferred explanation for the dominant controlling factor on the orientation of dike-related faulting is the extensive network of pre-existing fractures formed by the active transtensional plate boundary along the Reykjanes Peninsula.
11 Sep 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
12 Sep 2024Published in ESS Open Archive