Rupture Process of Subduction-Zone Earthquakes

Kanamori, Hiroo

doi:10.1146/annurev.ea.14.050186.001453

Cited by 169 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Subduction zones have been classified between two end-member groups, Chilean type and Mariana type (34), and large-scale interarc differences in seismogenic behavior are usually attributed to variations in age and convergence rate of the subducting plate (35) and normal tractions on the plate interface (36). However, our observed correlations between smaller scale intra-arc variations in TPGA and TPTA and seismogenic behavior suggest that variations in normal tractions within a given subduction zone are probably not the dominant factor.…”

mentioning

confidence: 74%

Large Trench-Parallel Gravity Variations Predict Seismogenic Behavior in Subduction Zones

Song

Simons

2003

Science

269

281

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We demonstrate that great earthquakes occur predominantly in regions with a strongly negative trench-parallel gravity anomaly (TPGA), whereas regions with strongly positive TPGA are relatively aseismic. These observations suggest that, over time scales up to at least 1 million years, spatial variations of seismogenic behavior within a given subduction zone are stationary and linked to the geological structure of the fore-arc. The correlations we observe are consistent with a model in which spatial variations in frictional properties on the plate interface control trench-parellel variations in fore-arc topography, gravity, and seismogenic behavior.

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mentioning

confidence: 74%

Large Trench-Parallel Gravity Variations Predict Seismogenic Behavior in Subduction Zones

Song

Simons

2003

Science

269

281

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“…Important parameters include the age of subducting seafloor, plate convergence rate (Ruff and Kanamori, 1980;Kanamori, 1986), sediments (Ruff, 1989), and back-arc spreading (Uyeda and Kanamori, 1979). The great earthquakes tend to occur in subduction zones with faster convergence, younger lithosphere, and excess trench sediments; while the relative aseismic subduction zones are characterized by slower convergence and older lithosphere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plate coupling along the Manila subduction zone between Taiwan and northern Luzon

Hsu

Song

et al. 2012

Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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“…Earthquakes with large thrust displacement at shallow depths beneath the seafloor tend to produce tsunamis larger than expected from their moment magnitude (Kanamori, 1986;Polet and Kanamori, 2009). Series of earthquakes extending from the Tohoku earthquake rupture zone to the northeast along the Japan and Kurile Trenches have produced substantial tsunamis (Fig.…”

Section: Distribution Of Pelagic Clay and Seamounts Relative To Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment provenance and controls on slip propagation: Lessons learned from the 2011 Tohoku and other great earthquakes of the subducting northwest Pacific plate

et al. 2015

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The ~50 m slip of the Tohoku earthquake occurred along a very fine grained red-brown smectitic clay horizon subducting in the Japan Trench. This clay, cored in the plate boundary fault at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 345, Site C0019, correlates with similar pelagic clay recovered seaward of the trench at Deep Sea Drilling Project Sites 436 and 1149. Comparable clays occur throughout the northwest Pacific Basin. Backtracking of ocean drilling Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 indicates that they formed during the Early Cretaceous at the Kula-Pacific Ridge. These sites traveled northwestward through the equatorial zone, accumulating siliceous and calcareous oozes until ca. 100-85 Ma. Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 then entered the realm of pelagic clay deposition where they remained until ca. 15 Ma. From ca. 15 Ma to the present, Sites 436, C0019, and 1149 accumulated clays and silty clays with variable amounts of siliceous microfossils and volcanic ash, representing the transition from deep-sea conditions to a continental margin sedimentary environment. The predicted backtracked vertical sequence of sediments fits well with the cores at Sites 436, 1149, and C0019, after accounting for structural complications in the latter.Pelagic clay occurs in numerous boreholes penetrating the relatively smooth ocean floor of the Pacific plate north and northeast of the Tohoku earthquake. Here the widespread pelagic clay apparently fosters tsunami and tsunamigenic earthquakes. Seamounts rising above the normal oceanic crust accumulated sequences of calcareous sediments as their crests remained above the calcite compensation depth for most of their history. A seafloor including pelagic clay and carbonate-covered seamounts occurs south and southeast of the southern extent of the Tohoku earthquake rupture zone. This area has no historic tsunami or tsunamigenic earthquakes along the Japan and Izu-Bonin Trenches with the possible exception of the poorly located Enpo earthquake of A.D. 1677. We believe that the seamounts incoming on the oceanic plate to the south and southeast of the Tohoku rupture zone interfere with long-distance propagation of slip in the pelagic clay, limiting earthquake magnitude, shallow slip, and tsunami generation.

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Rupture Process of Subduction-Zone Earthquakes

Cited by 169 publications

References 70 publications

Large Trench-Parallel Gravity Variations Predict Seismogenic Behavior in Subduction Zones

Large Trench-Parallel Gravity Variations Predict Seismogenic Behavior in Subduction Zones

Plate coupling along the Manila subduction zone between Taiwan and northern Luzon

Sediment provenance and controls on slip propagation: Lessons learned from the 2011 Tohoku and other great earthquakes of the subducting northwest Pacific plate

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