Fault interaction and stresses along broad oceanic transform zone: Tjornes Fracture Zone, north Iceland

Transform motion along oceanic transforms generally occurs along narrow faults zones. Another class of oceanic transforms exists where the plate boundary is quite large (similar to 100 km) and includes several subparallel faults. Using a 2-D numerical modeling, we simulate the slip distribution and the crustal stress field geometry within such broad oceanic transforms (BOTs). We examine the possible configurations and evolution of such BOTs, where the plate boundary includes one, two, or three faults. Our experiments show that at any time during the development of the plate boundary, the plate motion is not distributed along each of the plate boundary faults but mainly occurs along a single master fault. The finite width of a BOT results from slip transfer through time with locking of early faults, not from a permanent distribution of deformation over a wide area. Because of fault interaction, the stress field geometry within the BOTs is more complex than that along classical oceanic transforms and includes stress deflections close to but also away from the major faults. Application of this modeling to the 100 km wide Tjornes Fracture Zone (TFZ) in North Iceland, a major BOT of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that includes three main faults, suggests that the Dalvik Fault and the Husavik-Flatey Fault developed first, the Grismsey Fault being the latest active structure. Since initiation of the TFZ, the Husavik-Flatey Fault accommodated most of the plate motion and probably persists until now as the main plate structure. Citation: Homberg, C., F. Bergerat, J. Angelier, and S. Garcia (2010), Fault interaction and stresses along broad oceanic transform zone: Tjornes Fracture Zone, north Iceland, Tectonics, 29, TC1002, doi:10.1029/2008TC002415.