Depths to density discontinuities beneath the Adamawa Plateau region, Central Africa, from spectral analyses of new and existing gravity data     

J.M. Nnange  V. Ngako  J.D. Fairhead  C.J. Ebinger   《Journal of African Earth Sciences》2000,30(4):1061

New gravity data from the Adamawa Uplift region of Cameroon have been integrated with existing gravity data from central and western Africa to examine variations in crustal structure throughout the region. The new data reveal steep northeast-trending gradients in the Bouguer gravity anomalies that coincide with the Sanaga Fault Zone and the Foumban Shear Zone, both part of the Central African Shear Zone lying between the Adamawa Plateau and the Congo Craton. Four major density discontinuities in the lithosphere have been determined within the lithosphere beneath the Adamawa Uplift in central Cameroon using spectral analysis of gravity data: (1) 7–13 km; (2) 19–25 km; (3) 30–37 km; and (4) 75–149 km. The deepest density discontinuities determined at 75–149 km depth range agree with the presence of an anomalous low velocity upper mantle structure at these depths deduced from earlier teleseismic delay time studies and gravity forward modelling. The 30–37 km depths agree with the Moho depth of 33 km obtained from a seismic refraction experiment in the region. The intermediate depth of 20 km obtained within region D may correspond to shallower Moho depth beneath parts of the Benue and Yola Rifts where seismic refraction data indicate a crustal thickness of 23 km. The 19–20 km depths and 8–12 km depths estimated in boxes encompassing the Adamawa Plateau and Cameroon Volcanic Line may may correspond to mid-crustal density contrasts associated with volcanic intrusions, as these depths are less than depths of 25 and 13 km, respectively, in the stable Congo Craton to the south.  相似文献   

Disaster prevention,disaster preparedness and local community resilience within the context of disaster risk management in Cameroon     

Aka  Festus Tongwa  Buh  Gaston Wung  Fantong  Wilson Yatoh  Issa  Zouh  Isabella Tem  Djomou  Serges Laurent Bopda  Ghogomu  Richard Tanwi  Gibson  Terry  Marmol del  Mary-Ann  Sigha  Luc Nkamdjou  Ohba  Takeshi  Kusakabe  Minoru  Yoshida  Yutaka  Tanyileke  Gregory  Nnange  Joseph Metuk  Hell  Joseph Victor 《Natural Hazards》2017,87(1):57-81

This paper presents a simulation of three components of near-field ground shaking recorded during the main shock at three stations of the September 16, 1978, Tabas (M _w = 7.4), Iran, earthquake, close to the causative fault. A hybrid method composed of a discrete wavenumber method developed by Bouchon (Bouchon in Bull Seismol Soc Am 71:959–971, 1981; Cotton and Coutant in Geophys J Int 128:676–688, 1997) and a stochastic finite-fault modeling based on a dynamic corner frequency proposed by Motazedian and Atkinson (Bull Seismol Soc Am 95:995–1010, 2005), modified by Assatourians and Atkinson (Bull Seismol Soc Am 97:935–1949, 2007), is used for generating the seismograms at low (0.1–1.0 Hz) and high frequencies (1.0–20.0 Hz), respectively. The results are validated by comparing the simulated peak acceleration, peak velocity, peak displacement, Arias intensity, the integral of velocity squared, Fourier spectrum and acceleration response spectrum on a frequency-by-frequency basis, the shape of the normalized integrals of acceleration and velocity squared, and the cross-correlation with the observed time-series data. Each characteristic is compared on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being perfect agreement. Also, the results are validated by comparing the simulated ground motions with the modified Mercalli intensity observations reported by reconnaissance teams and showed reasonable agreement. The results of the present study imply that the damage distribution pattern of the 1978 Tabas earthquake can be explained by the source directivity effect.  相似文献   

U-series dating of Lake Nyos maar basalts,Cameroon (West Africa): Implications for potential hazards on the Lake Nyos dam     

Festus T. Aka  Tetsuya Yokoyama  Minoru Kusakabe  Eizo Nakamura  Gregory Tanyileke  Bekoa Ateba  Vincent Ngako  Joseph Nnange  Joseph Hell 《Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research》2008

From previously published ¹⁴C and K–Ar data, the age of formation of Lake Nyos maar in Cameroon is still in dispute. Lake Nyos exploded in 1986, releasing CO₂ that killed 1750 people and over 3000 cattle. Here we report results of the first measurements of major elements, trace elements and U-series disequilibria in ten basanites/trachy-basalts and two olivine tholeiites from Lake Nyos. It is the first time tholeiites are described in Lake Nyos. But for the tholeiites which are in ²³⁸U–²³⁰Th equilibrium, all the other samples possess ²³⁸U–²³⁰Th disequilibrium with 15 to 28% enrichment of ²³⁰Th over ²³⁸U. The (²²⁶Ra/²³⁰Th) activity ratios of these samples indicate small (2 to 4%) but significant ²²⁶Ra excesses. U–Th systematics and evidence from oxygen isotopes of the basalts and Lake Nyos granitic quartz separates show that the U-series disequilibria in these samples are source-based and not due to crustal contamination or post-eruptive alteration. Enrichment of ²³⁰Th is strong prima facie evidence that Lake Nyos is younger than 350 ka. The ²³⁰Th–²²⁶Ra age of Nyos samples calculated with the (²²⁶Ra/²³⁰Th) ratio for zero-age Mt. Cameroon samples is 3.7 ± 0.5 ka, although this is a lower limit as the actual age is estimated to be older than 5 ka, based on the measured mean ²³⁰Th/²³⁸U activity ratio. The general stability of the Lake Nyos pyroclastic dam is a cause for concern, but judging from its ²³⁰Th–²²⁶Ra formation age, we do not think that in the absence of a big rock fall or landslide into the lake, a big earthquake or volcanic eruption close to the lake, collapse of the dam from erosion alone is as imminent and alarming as has been suggested.  相似文献