MODEL OF DEEP FAULTS IN THE GEOMECHANICS OF THE ACTIVE OCEAN-CONTINENT TRANSITION ZONE

Abstract

In this paper the authors develop further the approach of modeling of geomechanical processes in the active transition zone from the ocean to the continents that we proposed earlier. It is assume that the principal mechanism governing structure and geophysical fields is slow seismotectonic movements along a deep fault associated with a present-day seismic focus zone. Changes in the stress-strain state that are superposed on regional compression during the process are analyzed. In contrast to the model of subduction of oceanic lithosphere, the faulting movements are assumed to dampen out with depth, enabling a formal description of the problem in terms of the mechanics of bodies with cuts in them and of the stress-strain state of the transition zone as a whole. The persistence of the structures along their strike enables the authors to analyze general patterns appearing in cross section.