Neotectonic evolution of Northeastern Venezuela . Geomorphological and seismic analysis in the Monagas Fold and Thrust Belt

Fajardo, A.; Aubourg, Charles; Nivière, Bertrand; Regard, Vincent; Uzcátegui, Redescal

doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102867

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…This results in a high seismic activity in the region. The influence of tectonic processes is reflected in a variety of topographic forms, geological structures, and geomorphic settings of Venezuela, as discussed earlier [54][55][56][57]. The geodynamic heterogeneity of the upper mantle has resulted in a specific mountain geomorphology with notable features, such as the extent of the Tobago Trough, the Lara-Falcón Basin, and the crustal structure of the Cordillera de Mérida in southwestern Venezuela, which are important segments of the Andean orogeny [58].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

Seismotectonics of Shallow-Focus Earthquakes in Venezuela with Links to Gravity Anomalies and Geologic Heterogeneity Mapped by a GMT Scripting Language

Lemenkova

Debeir

2022

Sustainability

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This paper presents a cartographic framework based on algorithms of GMT codes for mapping seismically active areas in Venezuela. The data included raster grids from GEBCO, EGM-2008, and vector geological layers from the USGS. The data were iteratively processed in the console of GMT, converted by GDAL, formatted, and mapped for geophysical data visualisation; the QGIS was applied for geological mapping. We analyzed 2000 samples of the earthquake events obtained from the IRIS seismic database with a 25-year time span (1997–2021) in order to map the seismicity. The approach to linking geological, topographic, and geophysical data using GMT scripts aimed to map correlations among the geophysical phenomena, tectonic processes, geological setting, seismicity, and earthquakes. The practical application of the GMT scripts consists in automated mapping for the visualization of geological risks and hazards in the mountainous region of the Venezuelan Andes. The proposed method integrates the approach of GMT scripts with state-of-the-art GIS techniques, which demonstrated its effectiveness as a tool for mapping spatial datasets and rapid data processing in an iterative regime. In this context, using GMT and GIS to find similarities between the regional earthquake distribution and the geological and topographic setting is essential for hazard risk assessment. This study can serve as a basis for predictive seismic analysis in geologically vulnerable regions of Venezuela. In addition to a technical demonstration of GMT algorithms, this study also contributes to geological and geophysical mapping and seismic hazard assessments in South America. We present the full scripts used for mapping in a GitHub repository.

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