CaltechAUTHORS
Published April 16, 2019 | Version Supplemental Material + Published
Journal Article Open

Intermediate depth earthquakes controlled by incoming plate hydration along bending-related faults

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Brown University
  • 2. ROR icon Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  • 3. ROR icon Boston University
  • 4. ROR icon Southern Methodist University
  • 5. ROR icon ETH Zurich
  • 6. ROR icon The University of Texas at Austin
  • 7. ROR icon Washington University in St. Louis
  • 8. ROR icon Australian National University
  • 9. ROR icon University of Melbourne
  • 10. ROR icon University of Delaware
  • 11. ROR icon University of California, Davis
  • 12. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

Intermediate‐depth earthquakes (focal depths 70–300 km) are enigmatic with respect to their nucleation and rupture mechanism and the properties controlling their spatial distribution. Several recent studies have shown a link between intermediate‐depth earthquakes and the thermal‐petrological path of subducting slabs in relation to the stability field of hydrous minerals. Here we investigate whether the structural characteristics of incoming plates can be correlated with the intermediate‐depth seismicity rate. We quantify the structural characteristics of 17 incoming plates by estimating the maximum fault throw of bending‐related faults. Maximum fault throw exhibits a statistically significant correlation with the seismicity rate. We suggest that the correlation between fault throw and intermediate‐depth seismicity rate indicates the role of hydration of the incoming plate, with larger faults reflecting increased damage, greater fluid circulation, and thus more extensive slab hydration.

Additional Information

© 2019 American Geophysical Union. Received 4 DEC 2018; Accepted 19 MAR 2019; Accepted article online 22 MAR 2019; Published online 4 APR 2019. This research project was initiated at the 2017 Cooperative Institute for Dynamic Earth Research (CIDER) summer program "Subduction Zone Dynamics" at the University of California, Berkeley. We wish to thank the other organizers B. Romanowicz, P. van Keken, E. Hauri, and C. Till. CIDER‐II is funded as a "Synthesis Center" by the Frontiers of Earth Systems Dynamics (FESD) program of NSF under grant number EAR‐1135452. We also wish to thank Geoffrey Abers and an anonymous reviewer for constructive comments and gratefully acknowledge Yi Hu, Wang‐Ping Chen, Samer Naif, and Hannah Rabinowitz for valuable discussions. Bathymetry profiles from GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org/) were used in this study and are included in the supporting information. A bathymetry profile from the Mariana trench (center) was collected by R/V Langseth cruise, MGL1204, and is available from NOAA at http://www.marine‐geo.org/link/entry.php?id=MGL1204. Seismic data for the Japan trench were collected by JAMSTEC (KR13‐11). Seismicity data used to quantify the intermediate‐depth seismicity rate were taken from the International Seismological Centre (ISC) Bulletin earthquake catalog (http://www.isc.ac.uk).

Attached Files

Published - Boneh_et_al-2019-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0001-2018gl081585-s01.docx

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0002-2018gl081585-s02.jpg

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0003-2018gl081585-s03.jpg

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0004-2018gl081585-s04.jpg

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0005-2018gl081585-s05.jpg

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0006-2018gl081585-s06.jpg

Supplemental Material - grl58793-sup-0007-2018gl081585-s07.jpg

Files

Boneh_et_al-2019-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf

Files (4.7 MB)

Name Size
md5:7b563a730181b7835f558f7c99140d5b
1.3 MB Preview Download
md5:52fb276c834373b032b4b7694991889b
2.1 MB Download
md5:669712eb7b4b7b299c615853cf8eea96
382.8 kB Preview Download
md5:40a00c8cd5178929db7b9905f8451ea8
266.2 kB Preview Download
md5:36eec99dc178a1567144e4b28799e14b
95.5 kB Preview Download
md5:33ed8e660a3cbf0634525f8f42152a56
171.0 kB Preview Download
md5:98ac7d752e67fcdb1d7b7d93763d2193
186.6 kB Preview Download
md5:e89388fa62753b1a32ce753cc47de39c
113.2 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
94118
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20190325-105341604

Funding

NSF
EAR-1135452

Dates

Created
2019-03-25
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-16
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Seismological Laboratory , Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)