Based on analysis of data from a trans‐Mexico temporary broadband seismic network centered on Mexico City, we report that the subducting Cocos Plate beneath central Mexico is horizontal, and tectonically underplates the base of the crust for a distance of 250 km from the trench. It is decoupled from the crust by a very thin low viscosity zone. The plate plunges into the mantle near Mexico City but is truncated at a depth of 500 km, probably due to an E‐W propagating tear in the Cocos slab. Unlike the shallow slab subduction in Peru and Chile, there is active volcanism along the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) that lies much further inland than regions to either side where subduction dip is not horizontal. Geodynamical modeling indicates that a thin weak layer such as imaged by the seismic experiment can explain the flat subduction geometry.

Studies of low‐frequency earthquakes (LFEs) have focused on detecting events within previously identified tectonic tremor. However, the principal LFE detection tools of matched‐filter searches are intrinsically incapable of detecting events that have not already been characterized previously as a template event. In this study, we therefore focus on generating the largest number possible of LFE templates by uniformly applying a recently developed LFE template detection method to a 2.5 yearlong data set in Guerrero, Mexico. Using each of the detected templates in a matched‐filter search, we then form event families that each represents a single source. We finally develop simple, empirical statistics to select the event families that represent LFEs. Our resulting catalog contains 1120 unique LFE sources and a total of 1,849,486 detected LFEs over the 2.5 yearlong data set. The locations of the LFE sources are then divided into subcatalogs based on their distance from the subduction trench. Considering each LFE as a small unit of slip along the subduction interface, we observe discrete episodes of LFE activity in the region associated with large slow‐slip events; this is in direct contrast to the near‐continuous activity observed 35 km farther downdip within the previously identified LFE/tremor sweet spot.

Slow transient slip that releases stress along the deep roots of plate interfaces is most often observed on regional GPS networks installed at the surface. The detection of slow slip is not trivial if the dislocation along the fault at depth does not generate a geodetic signal greater than the observational noise level. Instead of the typical workflow of comparing independently gathered seismic and geodetic observations to study slow slip, we use repeating low‐frequency earthquakes to reveal a previously unobserved slow slip event. By aligning GPS time series with episodes of low‐frequency earthquake activity and stacking, we identify a repeating transient slip event that generates a displacement at the surface that is hidden under noise prior to stacking. Our results suggest that the geodetic investigation of transient slip guided by seismological information is essential in exploring the spectrum of fault slip.

International audienceThe last decade featured an explosive sequence of discoveries of slow slip events (SSE) and nonvolcanic tremor (NVT) in different subduction zones and continental faults. Many observations show that SSE is usually associated with an increased NVT activity but it is not clear yet if those events are the result of the same process or are independent expressions of a common underlying seismotectonic source. A large SSE in Central Mexico occurred in 2006 during the Meso-American Subduction Experiment (MASE) which provided continuous observations of the NVT for the years 2005-2007. GPS and abundant seismic data show that although the NVT energy increased notably during the 2006 SSE, the two phenomena were separated spatially and not completely synchronized in time. Significant NVT episodes occur during the period between SSEs, suggesting again that large slow slip events and NVT observed in the Mexican subduction zone are of different origins. The results presented here contribute to uncovering the nature of these two separate phenomena that have been indistinguishable in some other regions

[1] Epicentral locations of non-volcanic tremors (NVT) in the Mexican subduction zone are determined from the peak of the energy spatial distribution and examined over time. NVT is found to occur persistently at a distance of $215 km from the trench, which we term the "Sweet Spot" because this region probably has the proper conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, and fluid content) for the NVT to occur with minimum shear slip. High-energy NVT episodes are also observed every few months, extending $190 km to $220 km from the trench with durations of a few weeks. During the 2006 slow slip event (SSE) the duration and the recurrence rate of the NVT episodes increased. Low-energy episodes were also observed, independent from the high-energy episodes, $150 km to $190 km from the trench during the 2006 SSE. Both the high and low energy episodes were made up of many individual NVT's that had a range of energy-release-rates. However, the highest energy-release-rates of the high-energy episodes were consistently double those of the low-energy episodes and the persistent activity at the Sweet Spot. We suggest that all of the high-energy episodes are evidence of small, short repeat interval SSE. Given this model, the increased recurrence rate of the high-energy NVT episodes during the 2006 long-term SSE implies that short-term SSE's also increase during the SSE and are therefore triggered by the SSE.Components: 6100 words, 7 figures.