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Mendocino Triple Junction

All articles tagged with #mendocino triple junction

science1 day ago•6 min saved

Hidden fault puzzle revealed by whisper-quiet quakes off Northern California

Scientists using a dense seismometer network tracked ultra-small, low-frequency earthquakes offshore to map a five-piece fault system where the San Andreas fault meets the Cascadia subduction zone, including a deep Pioneer fragment from the Farallon plate, which helps explain the unusually shallow 1992 quake and challenges prior boundary models; the work, published in Science, improves understanding of seismic hazards in this complex region.

via ScienceDaily|

#cascadia-subduction-zone #earthquakes #mendocino-triple-junction

science2 days ago•5 min saved

Tiny Quakes Reveal a Five-Piece Tectonic Puzzle Under Northern California

Scientists report in Science (Jan 15, 2026) that undetectable low-frequency earthquakes beneath the Mendocino Triple Junction reveal a far more complex tectonic system than previously thought: five moving pieces instead of three, including a Pioneer Fragment dragged beneath the North American Plate and a subducting segment with the Gorda Plate. Using dense seismometer data and tidal triggering by the Sun and Moon, researchers formed a new five-piece model of plate interactions off Northern California, with implications for understanding seismic hazards and where fault boundaries actually lie.

via Indian Defence Review|

#farallon-plate #low-frequency-earthquakes #mendocino-triple-junction

science3 days ago•7 min saved

Tiny Quakes Reveal a Hidden Five-Piece Subduction Puzzle Under Northern California

Scientists using a dense array of seismometers tracked tiny, often imperceptible earthquakes to map five moving tectonic pieces beneath Northern California, including hidden fragments of the North American and Pioneer/Farallon blocks. The study refines the subduction-zone model around the Mendocino Triple Junction, explains a shallower-than-expected 1992 earthquake, and has implications for seismic hazard assessment along the Cascadia and San Andreas regions.

via SciTechDaily|

#cascadia-subduction-zone #low-frequency-earthquakes #mendocino-triple-junction

planet-earth3 days ago•55 min saved

Hidden plate fragment shifts quake risk at Mendocino junction

A long-lost oceanic plate fragment called the Pioneer Fragment is now stuck to the Pacific Plate at the Mendocino triple junction, moving northwest under North America and interacting with the Gorda Plate, increasing contact with the Cascadia subduction zone and potentially adding a previously unmodeled fault to regional earthquake risk models.

via Live Science|

#cascadia-subduction-zone #earthquake-risk #mendocino-triple-junction