Using large microseismicity catalogs to constrain subduction zone processes – examples from the Chilean margin

The use of machine-learning based tools for phase picking and association is in the process of revolutionizing the field of seismicity analysis, leading to the simplified creation of “deep” seismicity catalogs often containing 10s or 100s of thousands of events. Having such catalogs as an available resource opens the field for novel ways of combining seismicity information with other types of datasets. At the same time, the sheer amount of data poses challenges for the visualization as well as joint analysis with other constraints.

In this contribution, I want to explore different ways of using and visualizing large seismicity catalogs, using a range of different recently compiled earthquake catalogs from the Chilean margin as showcase examples. Moreover, I attempt to find efficient ways of cross-plotting seismicity data from “deep” catalogs with other datasets such as interplate coupling maps, seismic velocity distributions, temperature models or inferred mineralogy maps.