New thermal data from 18–24 Ma lithosphere on the Cocos Plate delineate contrasting subsurface thermal conditions in adjacent sections of crust. Heat flow through seafloor created at the East Pacific Rise is generally suppressed by ∼70% relative to conductive lithospheric cooling models, whereas heat flow through adjacent, similarly‐aged lithosphere generated at the Cocos‐Nazca Spreading Center is consistent with these models. The transition between thermal regimes is remarkably abrupt, only 2–5 km wide, indicating a shallow hydrothermal origin. The transition is more closely associated with differences in the distribution of basement outcrops than with tectonic boundaries, demonstrating the importance of the former in extracting heat from the lithosphere on a regional basis.
During the 2011 magnitude 9 Tohoku-oki earthquake, very large slip occurred on the shallowest part of the subduction megathrust. Quantitative information on the shallow slip is of critical importance to distinguishing between different rupture mechanics and understanding the generation of the ensuing devastating tsunami. However, the magnitude and distribution of the shallow slip are essentially unknown due primarily to the lack of near-trench constraints, as demonstrated by a compilation of 45 rupture models derived from a large range of data sets. To quantify the shallow slip, here we model high-resolution bathymetry differences before and after the earthquake across the trench axis. The slip is determined to be about 62 m over the most near-trench 40 km of the fault with a gentle increase towards the trench. This slip distribution indicates that dramatic net weakening or strengthening of the shallow fault did not occur during the Tohoku-oki earthquake.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.