Search

Abstract: Hypocenter relocations of earthquakes in the Pacific slab have shown an anomalous deepening of a seismic belt in the upper-plane of the double seismic zone at depths of 80–120km beneath the Hokkaido corner, while it is located at depths of 70–90km in the surrounding Tohoku and eastern Hokkaido areas. Seismic tomographic inversions performed beneath the Hokkaido corner have shown that a low-velocity zone having seismic velocities of crust materials exists in the mantle wedge just above the Pacific slab and makes direct contact with the upper surface of the Pacific slab. These observations suggest that: 1) the low-velocity zone just above the Pacific slab is part of the subducted Kuril forearc sliver. 2) The contact with the subducted, and so relatively cold, sliver materials prevents the mantle wedge from heating the Pacific slab and causes a lower temperature condition in the Pacific slab crust beneath the Hokkaido corner than in the surrounding areas. 3) As a result, a delay of eclogite-forming phase transformations occurs and enhances the local deepening of the seismic belt in the slab crust there. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We estimate detailed three-dimensional seismic velocity structures in the subducting Pacific slab beneath Hokkaido, Japan, using a large number of arrival-time data from 6902 local earthquakes. A remarkable low-velocity layer with a thickness of ~10 km is imaged at the uppermost part of the slab and is interpreted as hydrated oceanic crust. The layer gradually disappears at depths of 70–80 km, suggesting the breakdown of hydrous minerals there. We find prominent low-velocity anomalies along the lower plane of the double seismic zone and above the aftershock area of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake (M7.8). Since seismic velocities of unmetamorphosed peridotite are much higher than the observations, hydrous minerals are expected to exist in the lower plane as well as the hypocentral area of the 1993 earthquake. On the other hand, regions between the upper and lower planes, where seismic activity is not so high compared to the both planes, show relatively high velocities comparable to those of unmetamorphosed peridotite. Our observations suggest that intermediate-depth earthquakes occur mainly in regions with hydrous minerals, which support dehydration embrittlement hypothesis as a cause of earthquake in the subducting slab. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]