Earthquake mechanics and deformation in the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone from fault plane orientations of intermediate- And deep-focus earthquakes

Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth

Volumn 112, Issue 5, 2007, Pages

  Warren, Linda M ^a,b   Hughes, Amanda N ^c,d   Silver, Paul G ^a  

^a GEOPHYSICAL LABORATORY   (United States)

^b University of Arizona   (United States)

^c WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEFORMATION; DETECTION METHOD; EARTHQUAKE; FAULT PLANE; SEISMICITY; SUBDUCTION ZONE;

KERMADEC ARC; PACIFIC ISLANDS; PACIFIC OCEAN; POLYNESIA; TONGA;

EID: 65349182376     PISSN: 21699313     EISSN: 21699356     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1029/2006JB004677     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Anderson, E. M. (1905), The dynamics of faulting, Trans. Edinburgh Geol. Soc., 8, 340-387.
2. Andrews, D. J., and Y. Ben-Zion (1997), Wrinkle-like slip pulse on a fault between different materials, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 553-571.
3. Antolik, M., D. Dreger, and B. Romanowicz (1999), Rupture processes of large deep-focus earthquakes from inversion of moment rate functions, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 863-894.
4. Bevis, M., et al. (1995), Geodetic observations of very rapid convergence and back-arc extension at the Tonga arc, Nature, 374, 249-251.
5. Bilek, S. L., C. P. Conrad, and C. Lithgow-Bertelloni (2005), Slab pull, slab weakening, and their relation to deep intra-slab seismicity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L14305, doi:10.1029/2005GL022922.
6. Billen, M. I., M. Gurnis, and M. Simons (2003), Multiscale dynamics of the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone, Geophys. J. Int., 153, 359-388.
7. Chen, P.-F., C. R. Bina, and E. A. Okal (2004), A global survey of stress orientations in subducting slabs as revealed by intermediate-depth earthquakes, Geophys. J. Int., 159, 721-733.
8. Christensen, D. H., and T. Lay (1988), Large earthquakes in the Tonga region associated with subduction of the Louisville Ridge, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 13,367-13,389.
9. Christova, C., and C. H. Scholz (2003), Stresses in the Vanuatu subducting slab: A test of two hypotheses, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(15), 1790, doi:10.1029/2003GL017701.
10. Conrad, C. P., S. Bilek, and C. Lithgow-Bertelloni (2004), Great earthquakes and slab pull: interaction between seismic coupling and plate-slab coupling, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 218, 109-122.
11. Dobson, D. P., P. G. Meredith, and S. A. Boon (2002), Simulation of subduction zone seismicity by dehydration of serpentine, Science, 298, 1407-1410.
12. Fischer, K. M., and T. J. Jordan (1991), Seismic strain rate and deep slab deformation in Tonga, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 14,429-14,444.
13. Frohlich, C. (1989), The nature of deep-focus earthquakes, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 17, 227-254.
14. Giardini, D., and J. H. Woodhouse (1984), Deep seismicity and modes of deformation in Tonga subduction zone, Nature, 307, 505-509.
15. Giardini, D., and J. H. Woodhouse (1986), Horizontal shear flow in the mantle beneath the Tonga arc, Nature, 319, 551-555.
16. Green, H. W., II, and P. C. Burnley (1989), A new self-organizing for deep-focus earthquakes, Nature, 341, 733-737.
17. Gudmundsson, O., and M. Sambridge (1998), A regionalized upper mantle (RUM) seismic model, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 7121-7136.
18. Gurnis, M., and B. H. Hager (1988), Controls on the structure of subducted slabs, Nature, 335,317-312.
19. Hacker, B. R., S. M. Peacock, G. A. Abers, and S. D. Holloway (2003), Subduction factory: 2. Are intermediate-depth earthquakes in subducting slabs linked to metamorphic dehydration reactions?, J. Geophys. Res., 108(B1), 2030, doi:10.1029/2001JB001129.
20. Hobbs, B. E., and A. Ord (1988), Plastic instabilities: Implications for the origin of intermediate and deep focus earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 10,521-10,540.
21. Holt, W. E. (1995), Flow fields within the Tonga slab determined from the moment tensors of deep earthquakes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 989- 992.
22. Houseman, G. A., and D. Gubbins (1997), Deformation of subducted oceanic lithosphere, Geophys. J. Int., 131, 535-551.
23. Houston, H., and J. E. Vidale (1994), The temporal distribution of seismic radiation during deep earthquake rupture, Science, 265, 771-774.,
24. Houston, H., H. M. Benz, and J. E. Vidale (1998), Time functions of deep earthquakes from broadband and short-period stacks, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 29,895-29,913.
25. Ide, S., and M. Takeo (1996), The dynamic rupture process of the 1993 Kushiro-oki earthquake, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 5661-5675.
26. Isacks, B., and P. Molnar (1969), Mantle earthquake mechanisms and the sinking of the lithosphere, Nature, 223, 1121-1124.
27. Isacks, B., and P. Molnar (1971), Distribution of stress in descending lithosphere from a global survey of focal-mechanism solutions of mantle earthquakes, Rev. Geophys., 9, 103-174.
28. Jiao, W., P. G. Silver, Y. Fei, and C. T. Prewitt (2000), Do intermediate- and deep-focus earthquakes occur on preexisting weak zones? An examination of the Tonga subduction zone, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 18,13828,125.
29. Jung, H., H. W. Green II, and L. F. Dobrzhinetskaya (2004), Intermediatedepth earthquake faulting by dehydration embrittlement with negative volume change, Nature, 428, 545-549.
30. Kanamori, H., D. L. Anderson, and T. H. Heaton ( 1998), Frictional melting during the rupture of the 1994 Bolivian earthquake, Science, 279, 839-842.
31. Karato, S., M. R. Riedel, and D. A. Yuen (2001), Theological structurea nd deformation of subducted slab in the mantle transition zone: implications for mantle circulation and deep earthquakes, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 83-108.
32. Kawakatsu, H. (1986), Downdip tensional earthquakes beneath the Tonga arc: A double seismic zone?, J. Geophys. Res., 91, 6432-6440.
33. Kirby, S. H. (1987), Localized polymorphic phase transformations in high-pressure faults and applications to the physical mechanism of deep earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 13,789-13,800.
34. Kirby, S. H., W. B. Durham, and L. A. Stern (1991), Mantle phase changes and deep-earthquake faulting in subducting lithosphere, Science, 252, 216-225.
35. Lundgren, P. R., and E. A. Okal (1988), Slab decoupling in the Tonga arc: The June 22, 1977, earthquake, J. Geophys. Res., 93, 13,55513,366.
36. Masson, D. G. (1991), Fault patterns at outer trench walls, Mar. Geophys. Res., 13, 209-225.
37. W7.6), deep Tonga earthquake: Rupture outside the seismically active slab, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 15,163-15,182.
38. McGuire, J. J., L. Zhao, and T. H. Jordan (2002), Prodominance of unilateral rupture for a global catalog of large earthquakes, Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 92, 3309-3317.
39. Meade, C., and R. Jeanloz (1991), Deep-focus earthquakes and recycling of water into the Earth's mantle, Science, 252, 68-72.
40. Ogawa, M. (1987), Shear instability in a viscoelastic material as the cause of deep focus earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 92, 13,801-13,810.
41. Ozel, N., and T. Moriya (1999), Different stress directions in the aftershock focal mechanisms of the Kushiro-Oki earthquake of Jan. 15, 1993, SE Hokkaido, Japan, and horizontal rupture in the double seismic zone, Tectonophysics, 313, 307-327.
42. Peacock, S. M. (2001), Are the lower planes of double seismic zones caused by serpentine dehydration in subducting oceanic mantle?, Geology, 29, 299-302.
43. Peacock, S. M. (2003), Thermal structure and metamorphic evolution of subducting slabs, in Inside the Subduction Factory, Geopys. Monogr. Ser., vol. 128, edited by J. Eiler, pp. 7- 22, AGU,Washington, D. C.
44. Persh, S. E., and H. Houston (2004a), Deep earthquake rupture histories determined by global stacking of broadband P waveforms, J. Geophys. Res., 109, B04311, doi:10.1029/2003JB002762.
45. Persh, S. E., and H. Houston (2004b), Strongly depth-dependent aftershock production in deep earthquakes, Bull. Seismol. Soc Am., 94, 1808-1816.
46. Raleigh, C. B., and M. S. Paterson (1965), Experimental deformation of serpentinite and its tectonic implications, J. Geophys. Res., 70, 3965-3985.
47. Ranero, C. R., J. Phipps Morgan, K. McIntosh, and C. Reichert (2003), Bending-related faulting and mantle sepentinization at the Middle America trench, Nature, 425, 367-373.
48. Ranero, C. R., A. Villaseñor, J. Phipps Morgan, and W. Weinrebe (2005), Relationship between bend-faulting at trenches and intermediate-depth seismicity, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst, 6, Q12002, doi: 10.1029/ 2005GC000997.
49. Savage, J. C. (1969), The mechanics of deep-focus faulting, Tectonophysics, 8, 115-127.
50. Silver, P. G., and T. H. Jordan (1983), Total moment spectra of fourteen large earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 3273-3293.
51. Silver, P. G., S. L. Beck, T. C. Wallace, C. Meade, S. C. Myers, D. E. James, and R. Kuehnel (1995), Rupture characterisitics of the deep Bolivian earthquake of 9 June 1994 and the mechanism of deep-focus earthquakes, Science, 268, 69-73.
52. Tackley, P. J. (1997), Effects of phasee transitions on three-demensional mantle convection, in Earth's Deep Interior, edited by D. J. Crossley, pp. 273-335, Gordon and Breach, New York.
53. Tibi, R., G. Bock, and E. H. Estabrook (2002), Seismic body wave constraints on mechanisms of intermediate-depth earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 107(B3), 2047, doi:10.1029/2001JB000361.
54. Tibi, R., G. Bock, and D. A. Wiens (2003a), Source characteristics of large deep earthquakes: Constraint on the faulting mechanism at great depths, J. Geophys. Res., 108(B2), 2091, doi: 10.1029/2002JBOO1948.
55. Tibi, R., D. A. Wiens, and H. Inoue (2003b), Remote triggering of deep earthquakes in the 2002 Tonga sequences, Nature, 424, 921-925.
56. van der Hilst, R. D., S. Widiyantoro, and E. R. Engdahl (1997), Evidence for deep mantle circulation from global tomography, Nature, 386, 578-584.
57. Warren, L. M., and P. G. Silver (2006), Measurement of differential rapture durations as constraints on the source finiteness of deep earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 111, B06304, doi:10.1029/2005JB004001.
58. Weertman, J. (1980), Unstable slippage across a fault that separates elastic media of different elastic constants, J. Geophys. Res., 85, 1455-1461.
59. Wiens, D. A. (2001), Seismological constraints on the mechanism of deep earthquakes: temperature dependence of deep earthquake source properties, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 127, 145-163.
60. Wiens, D. A., and N. O. Snider (2001), Repeating deep earthquakes: Evidence for fault reactivation at great depth., Science, 293, 1463-1466.
61. Wiens, D. A., J. J. McGuire, P. J. Shore, M. G. Bevis, K. Draunidalo, G. Prasad, and S. P. Helu (1994), A deep earthquake aftershock sequence and implications for the rapture mechanism of deep earthquakes, Nature, 372, 540-543.
62. Wright, D. J., S. H. Bloomer, C. J. MacLeod, B. Taylor, and A. M. Goodlife (2000), Bathymetry of the Tonga trench and forearc: A map series, Mar. Geophys. Res., 21, 489-511.
63. Zhang, J., H. W. Green n, K. Bozhilov, and Z. Jim (2004), Faulting induced by precipitation of water at grain boundaries in hot subducting oceanic crust, Nature, 428, 633-636.