The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution

Jack Nicholas Williams; Luke NJ Wedmore; Christopher A Scholz; Folarin Kolawole; Lachlan JM Wright; Donna Shillington; Ake Fagereng; Juliet Biggs; Hassan Mdala; Zuze Dulanya; Felix Mphepo; Patrick R. N Chindandali; Maximilian J. Werner

doi:10.1002/essoar.10507158.1

The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution

Jack Nicholas Williams^*, Luke NJ Wedmore, Christopher A Scholz, Folarin Kolawole, Lachlan JM Wright, Donna Shillington, Ake Fagereng, Juliet Biggs, Hassan Mdala, Zuze Dulanya, Felix Mphepo, Patrick R. N Chindandali, Maximilian J. Werner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

We present the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD), an open-access (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5507190) geospatial database of 113 fault traces in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique. Malawi is located within the East African Rift's (EAR) Western Branch where active fault identification is challenging because chronostratigraphic data are rare, and/or faults are buried and so do not have a surface expression. The MAFD therefore includes any fault that has evidence for displacement during Cenozoic East African rifting or is buried beneath the rift valley and is favorably oriented to the regional stresses. To identify such faults, we consider a multidisciplinary data set: high-resolution digital elevation models, previous geological mapping, field observations, seismic reflection surveys from offshore Lake Malawi, and aeromagnetic and gravity data. The MAFD includes faults throughout Malawi, where seismic risk is increasing because of population growth and its seismically vulnerable building stock. We also investigate the database as a sample of the normal fault population in an incipient continental rift. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that the distribution of fault lengths in the MAFD is described by a power law, which is consistent with Malawi's relatively thick seismogenic layer (30–40 km), low (<8%) regional extensional strain, and regional deformation localization (50%–75%) across relatively long hard-linked border faults. Cumulatively, we highlight the importance of integrating onshore and offshore geological and geophysical data to develop active fault databases along the EAR and similar continental settings both to understand the regional seismic hazard and tectonic evolution.

Original language	English
Article number	e2022GC010425
Number of pages	25
Journal	Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Volume	23
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10507158.1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010425
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is supported by the EPSRC-Global Challenges Research Fund PREPARE (EP/P028233/1) and SAFER-PREPARED (part of the “Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa” grant; EP/T015462/1) projects. The authors thank the editor, associate editor, Damien Delvaux, and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The Geological Survey Department of Malawi kindly gave us access to the 2013 aeromagnetic data across Malawi.

Funding Information:
This work is supported by the EPSRC‐Global Challenges Research Fund PREPARE (EP/P028233/1) and SAFER‐PREPARED (part of the “Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa” grant; EP/T015462/1) projects. The authors thank the editor, associate editor, Damien Delvaux, and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The Geological Survey Department of Malawi kindly gave us access to the 2013 aeromagnetic data across Malawi.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. The Authors.

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23 Citations
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The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution
Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N., Scholz, C. A., Kolawole, F., Wright, L. J., Shillington, D., Fagereng, A., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P. R. N. & Werner, M. J., 1 Apr 2022, In: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 23, 5, 25 p., e2022GC010425.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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23 Citations (Scopus)

87 Downloads (Pure)
Malawi Active Fault Database
Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. N. J., Scholz, C. H., Kolawole, F., Wright, L. J., Shillington, D., Fagereng, Å., Biggs, J. J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P. & Werner, M., 14 Sept 2021, Zenodo.
Research output: Other contribution

Open Access

2 Finished

PREPARE: Enhancing PREParedness for East African Countries through Seismic Resilience Engineering
Biggs, J. J. (Principal Investigator) & Macdonald, J. H. G. (Principal Investigator)
1/05/17 → 31/03/22
Project: Research, Parent
SAFER Seismic safety and resilience of schools in Nepal
Sextos, A. (Principal Investigator), De Luca, F. (Co-Investigator), Vardanega, P. J. (Co-Investigator), Agarwal, J. (Co-Investigator), Alexander, N. A. (Co-Investigator) & Werner, M. (Co-Investigator)
1/05/17 → 30/06/21
Project: Research, Parent

Cite this

Williams, J. N., Wedmore, L. NJ., Scholz, C. A., Kolawole, F., Wright, L. JM., Shillington, D., Fagereng, A., Biggs, J., Mdala, H., Dulanya, Z., Mphepo, F., Chindandali, P. R. N., & Werner, M. J. (2022). The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23(5), Article e2022GC010425. https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10507158.1, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010425

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title = "The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution",

abstract = "We present the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD), an open-access (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5507190) geospatial database of 113 fault traces in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique. Malawi is located within the East African Rift's (EAR) Western Branch where active fault identification is challenging because chronostratigraphic data are rare, and/or faults are buried and so do not have a surface expression. The MAFD therefore includes any fault that has evidence for displacement during Cenozoic East African rifting or is buried beneath the rift valley and is favorably oriented to the regional stresses. To identify such faults, we consider a multidisciplinary data set: high-resolution digital elevation models, previous geological mapping, field observations, seismic reflection surveys from offshore Lake Malawi, and aeromagnetic and gravity data. The MAFD includes faults throughout Malawi, where seismic risk is increasing because of population growth and its seismically vulnerable building stock. We also investigate the database as a sample of the normal fault population in an incipient continental rift. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that the distribution of fault lengths in the MAFD is described by a power law, which is consistent with Malawi's relatively thick seismogenic layer (30–40 km), low (<8%) regional extensional strain, and regional deformation localization (50%–75%) across relatively long hard-linked border faults. Cumulatively, we highlight the importance of integrating onshore and offshore geological and geophysical data to develop active fault databases along the EAR and similar continental settings both to understand the regional seismic hazard and tectonic evolution.",

author = "Williams, {Jack Nicholas} and Wedmore, {Luke NJ} and Scholz, {Christopher A} and Folarin Kolawole and Wright, {Lachlan JM} and Donna Shillington and Ake Fagereng and Juliet Biggs and Hassan Mdala and Zuze Dulanya and Felix Mphepo and Chindandali, {Patrick R. N} and Werner, {Maximilian J.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work is supported by the EPSRC-Global Challenges Research Fund PREPARE (EP/P028233/1) and SAFER-PREPARED (part of the “Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa” grant; EP/T015462/1) projects. The authors thank the editor, associate editor, Damien Delvaux, and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The Geological Survey Department of Malawi kindly gave us access to the 2013 aeromagnetic data across Malawi. Funding Information: This work is supported by the EPSRC‐Global Challenges Research Fund PREPARE (EP/P028233/1) and SAFER‐PREPARED (part of the “Innovative data services for aquaculture, seismic resilience and drought adaptation in East Africa” grant; EP/T015462/1) projects. The authors thank the editor, associate editor, Damien Delvaux, and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The Geological Survey Department of Malawi kindly gave us access to the 2013 aeromagnetic data across Malawi. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. The Authors.",

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Williams, JN, Wedmore, LNJ, Scholz, CA, Kolawole, F, Wright, LJM, Shillington, D, Fagereng, A, Biggs, J, Mdala, H, Dulanya, Z, Mphepo, F, Chindandali, PRN & Werner, MJ 2022, 'The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution', Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, vol. 23, no. 5, e2022GC010425. https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10507158.1, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010425

The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution. / Williams, Jack Nicholas; Wedmore, Luke NJ; Scholz, Christopher A et al.
In: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 23, No. 5, e2022GC010425, 01.04.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Malawi Active Fault Database

T2 - An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution

AU - Williams, Jack Nicholas

AU - Wedmore, Luke NJ

AU - Scholz, Christopher A

AU - Kolawole, Folarin

AU - Wright, Lachlan JM

AU - Shillington, Donna

AU - Fagereng, Ake

AU - Biggs, Juliet

AU - Mdala, Hassan

AU - Dulanya, Zuze

AU - Mphepo, Felix

AU - Chindandali, Patrick R. N

AU - Werner, Maximilian J.

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PY - 2022/4/1

Y1 - 2022/4/1

N2 - We present the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD), an open-access (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5507190) geospatial database of 113 fault traces in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique. Malawi is located within the East African Rift's (EAR) Western Branch where active fault identification is challenging because chronostratigraphic data are rare, and/or faults are buried and so do not have a surface expression. The MAFD therefore includes any fault that has evidence for displacement during Cenozoic East African rifting or is buried beneath the rift valley and is favorably oriented to the regional stresses. To identify such faults, we consider a multidisciplinary data set: high-resolution digital elevation models, previous geological mapping, field observations, seismic reflection surveys from offshore Lake Malawi, and aeromagnetic and gravity data. The MAFD includes faults throughout Malawi, where seismic risk is increasing because of population growth and its seismically vulnerable building stock. We also investigate the database as a sample of the normal fault population in an incipient continental rift. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that the distribution of fault lengths in the MAFD is described by a power law, which is consistent with Malawi's relatively thick seismogenic layer (30–40 km), low (<8%) regional extensional strain, and regional deformation localization (50%–75%) across relatively long hard-linked border faults. Cumulatively, we highlight the importance of integrating onshore and offshore geological and geophysical data to develop active fault databases along the EAR and similar continental settings both to understand the regional seismic hazard and tectonic evolution.

AB - We present the Malawi Active Fault Database (MAFD), an open-access (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5507190) geospatial database of 113 fault traces in Malawi and neighboring Tanzania and Mozambique. Malawi is located within the East African Rift's (EAR) Western Branch where active fault identification is challenging because chronostratigraphic data are rare, and/or faults are buried and so do not have a surface expression. The MAFD therefore includes any fault that has evidence for displacement during Cenozoic East African rifting or is buried beneath the rift valley and is favorably oriented to the regional stresses. To identify such faults, we consider a multidisciplinary data set: high-resolution digital elevation models, previous geological mapping, field observations, seismic reflection surveys from offshore Lake Malawi, and aeromagnetic and gravity data. The MAFD includes faults throughout Malawi, where seismic risk is increasing because of population growth and its seismically vulnerable building stock. We also investigate the database as a sample of the normal fault population in an incipient continental rift. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that the distribution of fault lengths in the MAFD is described by a power law, which is consistent with Malawi's relatively thick seismogenic layer (30–40 km), low (<8%) regional extensional strain, and regional deformation localization (50%–75%) across relatively long hard-linked border faults. Cumulatively, we highlight the importance of integrating onshore and offshore geological and geophysical data to develop active fault databases along the EAR and similar continental settings both to understand the regional seismic hazard and tectonic evolution.

U2 - 10.1002/essoar.10507158.1

DO - 10.1002/essoar.10507158.1

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 1525-2027

VL - 23

JO - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

JF - Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems

IS - 5

M1 - e2022GC010425

ER -

The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution

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The Malawi Active Fault Database: An Onshore-Offshore Database for Regional Assessment of Seismic Hazard and Tectonic Evolution

Malawi Active Fault Database

Projects

PREPARE: Enhancing PREParedness for East African Countries through Seismic Resilience Engineering

SAFER Seismic safety and resilience of schools in Nepal

Cite this