Description: The continental shelf and slope of southern Central Chile have been subject to a number of international as well as Chilean research campaigns over the last 30 years. This work summarizes the geologic setting of the southern Central Chilean Continental shelf (33°S–43°S) using recently published geophysical, seismological, sedimentological and bio-geochemical data. Additionally, unpublished data such as reflection seismic profiles, swath bathymetry and observations on biota that allow further insights into the evolution of this continental platform are integrated. The outcome is an overview of the current knowledge about the geology of the southern Central Chilean shelf and upper slope. We observe both patches of reduced as well as high recent sedimentation on the shelf and upper slope, due to local redistribution of fluvial input, mainly governed by bottom currents and submarine canyons and highly productive upwelling zones. Shelf basins show highly variable thickness of Oligocene-Quaternary sedimentary units that are dissected by the marine continuations of upper plate faults known from land. Seismic velocity studies indicate that a paleo-accretionary complex that is sandwiched between the present, relatively small active accretionary prism and the continental crust forms the bulk of the continental margin of southern Central Chile.

Description: Most of the recent published geodetic models of the 2010 Maule, Chile mega-thrust earthquake (Mw=8.8) show a pronounced slip maximum of 15-20 m offshore Iloca (similar to 35 degrees S), indicating that co-seismic slip was largest north of the epicenter of the earthquake rupture area. A secondary slip maximum 8-10 m appears south of the epicenter west of the Arauco Peninsula. During the first weeks following the main shock and seaward of the main slip maximum, an outer rise seismic cluster of 〉450 events, mainly extensional, with magnitudes Mw=4-6 was formed. In contrast, the outer rise located seaward of the secondary slip maximum presents little seismicity. This observation suggests that outer rise seismicity following the Maule earthquake is strongly correlated with the heterogeneous coseismic slip distribution of the main megathrust event. In particular, the formation of the outer-rise seismic cluster in the north, which spatially correlates with the main maximum slip, is likely linked to strong extensional stresses transfered from the large slip of the subducting oceanic plate. In addition, high resolution bathymetric data reveals that bending-related faulting is more intense seaward of the main maximum slip, where well developed extensional faults strike parallel to the trench axis. Also published seismic constraints reveal reduced P-wave velocities in the uppermost mantle at the trench-outer rise region (7.5-7.8 km/s), which suggest serpentinization of the uppermost mantle. Seawater percolation up to mantle depths is likely driven by bending related-faulting at the outer rise. Water percolation into the upper mantle is expected to be more efficient during the co-seismic and early post-seismic periods of large megathrust earthquakes when intense extensional faulting of the oceanic lithosphere