Earthquake Patterns in the Flinders Ranges
Temporary Network 2003-2006 - Preliminary Results
The Flinders Ranges region of South Australia is an area of high topographic relief and high seismicity. This combined with the fact that several faults identified in the Flinders and Mt. Lofty Ranges region have relatively high Quaternary slip rates indicates this is a region of pronounced neotectonic activity. However, we have a very poor understanding of what relationship exists, if any, between the earthquakes and faults. Similarly, because the tectonic stress field in this part of Australia is poorly determined, we do not have a clear understanding of the relationship between the stress field and active faults.
The Flinders Ranges region also exhibits high heat flow, which would suggest a shallow seismogenic crust, and yet earthquake hypocentres, albeit often highly uncertain, indicate that seismicity extends to lower crustal depths. Finally, this high heat flow and the unique crustal structure of the Adelaide Fold Belt may lead to propagation characteristics of earthquake waves that differ from other parts of Australia.
During the period September 2003 - June 2005, Geoscience Australia and Primary Industry and Resources, South Australia (PIRSA) collaborated in a temporary seismograph deployment in the Flinders Ranges region. This deployment consisted of about 18 stations spaced at roughly 30 km intervals. Among the questions about the Flinders Ranges region which this deployment was intended to address were:
Over 500 locatable earthquakes were recorded within the network and surrounding areas. This 3D model displays these earthquakes at their true three dimensional location. These data are currently being analysed to determine what their relationship may be to faults, what constraint they place on the crustal stress field, and how earthquake waves propagate in the geologic environment of the Adelaide Fold Belt.
Coordinates
Lambert Conformal Conic
False Easting: 0.00
False Northing: 0.00
Central Meridian: 134.00
Standard Parallel 1: -18.00
Standard Parallel 2: -36.00
Latitude of Origin: 0.00
World Geodetic System (WGS84)
This translation has been applied to enhance graphics performance within this model.
Data Source
The data used to create the Coastline, Cities & Towns and Major Lakes layers used in this model are publicly available from the Geoscience Australia website and extracted from the seamless Australia wide and beyond mosaic created from the 1:1 million scale Digital Chart of the World (DCW). The data used to create the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Image Overlays used in this model have been sourced from these datasets;
Product Information
For a complete metadata reference, please see the ANZLIC metadata record 9630.
For product information, please see Geocat record 65092.