Full Waveform Inversion Reveals Trans-Tensional-Regime at the Romanche Oceanic Transform Fault in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Clicks: 1
ID: 315965
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #160 of 219 articles by views in geophysical journal international

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 219 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Summary Oceanic transform faults (TFs) are fundamental elements of plate tectonics and have traditionally been viewed as conservative strike-slip boundaries. Seafloor observations and numerical modelling suggest the existence of extensional stress, however how it manifest at depth remains unknown. Moreover, slow-slipping TFs are often associated with thin crust and possible exposures of serpentinised peridotite near the seafloor. Here we apply full waveform inversion (FWI) to a 12-km offset seismic dataset across the Romanche TF, the largest TF on the Earth. We use source-receiver reciprocity and downward continuation to emulate a split-spread ocean bottom cable survey geometry from one-sided surface streamer data, bringing the refracted waves ahead of reflections while accounting for rough seafloor topography. We then perform travel time tomography followed by FWI to the downward-continued data to derive a high-resolution crustal model. The resolution is about 0.7 km horizontally and 0.4 km vertically, down to 3.5–4 km depth from the seafloor. Our results reveal low P-wave velocity in the upper 3 km, suggestive of basaltic origin, and no evidence for high velocities characteristic of serpentinised peridotite on the valley floor. Moreover, we image inward dipping normal faults extending to ∼4 km depth, forming a flower-like structure. Regional earthquake data reveal strike-slip mechanisms along the transform and normal-faulting near the RTI, with strike-slip hypocenters aligning with interpreted faults. These features suggest that the Romanche TF resembles a trans-tensional regime with a deep-rooted strike-slip fault in the middle, accommodating local strain deformation.
Reference Key
openalex_W7163686618 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors P. Guo, Satish C Singh
Journal geophysical journal international
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/gji/ggag208
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggag208
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.