Project description
Research could upend understanding of oceanic transform faults
The Plate Tectonic Revolution gave birth to three types of plate boundaries: mid-ocean ridges, subduction zones and oceanic transform faults (OTFs). OTFs have only been studied to a limited extent, but recent observations suggest they exhibit complex behaviours. OTF morphology and numerical modelling indicate they may evolve from a strike-slip fault at the surface to extensional features below. These strike-slip plate boundaries can generate valleys up to 18 km wide and 7 km deep, challenging our understanding of plate tectonics. The ERC-funded TRANSFORMERS project aims to explore these phenomena through extensive seismological, geodetic and geological surveys of the ocean floor. Project results could enable researchers to reclassify OTFs as two-stage accretion features, transforming our understanding of plate tectonics.
Objective
The plate tectonic revolution gave birth to three types of plate boundaries; two got most of the interest, i.e. the mid-ocean ridges where new ocean floor is formed and subduction zones where the lithosphere is recycled back into the Earth’s interior. In the oceans, the third type, the “simple” strike-slip conservative plate boundary or oceanic transform fault (OTF), was treated like an orphan in a Charles Dickens novel. However, recent observations challenge plate tectonics, revealing that OTFs show unexpected complex behaviour. The morphology of oceanic transform systems and numerical modelling suggests that OTFs are extensional below their strike-slip faults at the surface. Later in their evolution, before converting from an active fault into an inactive fracture zone at the ridge-transform intersection, OTFs may turn into accretionary features. Yet, how can a strike-slip plate boundary, generating magnitude >7 earthquakes, promote extension forming up to 18 km wide and 7 km deep valleys? Furthermore, a fault zone grading from a strike slip fault into an extensional feature at depth would be a unique geological feature and may control their major seismic slip deficit. TRANSFORMERS will reveal: (i) if OTFs are indeed wrongly classified in plate tectonics and are not conservative plate boundaries, but instead have to be re-classified as features where accretion occurs in two-stages, separated by a period of transform extension, revealing a process fundamentally different from predictions of plate tectonics, suggesting that fracture zones are structurally different from OTFs; (ii) how OTFs operate from top to bottom and why their seismic moment release is too low. The project will require major sea-going efforts, issuing seismological, geodetic and geological surveys on the ocean floor, mimicking a multiple year’s land campaign. The outcome will revolutionize our understanding of oceanic transform faults, adding a new chapter to plate tectonics.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- social sciences political sciences political transitions revolutions
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology seismology plate tectonics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG
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24148 Kiel
Germany
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