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Fracture activity: A possible triggering mechanism for slope instabilities in the Eastern Atlantic?

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Abstract

The largest known submarine slope instabilities occur on gently inclined slopes or in the deep sea. The sedimentation rates are mostly too low to induce an excess pore-water pressure sufficient to create failure. A possible triggering mechanism for these instabilities is additional horizontal ground acceleration caused by earthquakes. Old zones of weakness, represented by fracture zones, can be reactivated by isostatic movements and induce seismic activity. The distribution of some major slope instabilities and the trend of fracture zones in the Eastern Atlantic are compared and Fracture activity is suggested as the main triggering mechanism for these slope instabilities.

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  1. Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut und Museum der Universität Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40/60, D-2300, Kiel, Germany

    Peter Holler

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  1. Peter Holler
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Holler, P. Fracture activity: A possible triggering mechanism for slope instabilities in the Eastern Atlantic?. Geo-Marine Letters 5, 211–216 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02233805

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02233805

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