Seismicity of the South Sandwich Islands region

Abstract

South Sandwich Islands earthquakes have been relocated for the period 1964-mid 1974.Travel-times modified by station corrections, computed by applying the joint epicentre determination method (JED) to the major events, have been used.This results in the greatly improved definition of the active zone arising from the subduction of the South American plate beneath the young Sandwich plate.The detailed features of the seismicity are interpreted in terms of the tectonics of the area, and new evidence is presented which suggests that the penetration depth of the subducted slab may be greater than previously recognized.