An overview of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction factory

Stern, Robert J.; Fouch, M. J.; Klemperer, S. L.

doi:10.1029/138gm10

Cited by 284 publications

(336 citation statements)

References 238 publications

(337 reference statements)

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“…This appears to have contributed to horizontal flattening of the deep Izu-Bonin slab at depths near 550 km to the north of 28 • N (Lundgren and Giardini, 1994;Okal, 2001), versus the near vertical extension of the Mariana slab to depths of ∼800 km to the south of 20 • N (Faccenna et al, 2009;Stern et al, 2003;van der Hilst and Seno, 1993). At present, the trench is actually advancing toward the upper Philippine Sea Plate along the entire IBM arc, with clockwise rotation of the upper plate producing backarc extension along the Marianas.…”

Section: The Isolated 2015 Deep Eventmentioning

confidence: 98%

The isolated ∼680 km deep 30 May 2015 MW 7.9 Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands earthquake

Lay

Zhan

et al. 2016

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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The isolated ~680 km deep 30 May 2015 MW 7.9 Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands earthquake Deep-focus earthquakes, located in very high-pressure conditions 300 to 700 km below the Earth's surface within sinking slabs of relatively cold oceanic lithosphere, are mysterious phenomena. The largest recorded deep-focus earthquake (M W 7.9) in the Izu-Bonin slab struck on 30 May 2015 beneath the Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands, isolated from prior seismicity by over 100 km in depth, and followed by only a few small aftershocks. Globally, this is the deepest (680 km centroid depth) event with M W ≥ 7.8 in the seismological record. Seismicity indicates along-strike contortion of the Izu-Bonin slab, with horizontal flattening near a depth of 550 km in the Izu region and rapid steepening to near-vertical toward the south above the location of the 2015 event. This event was exceptionally well-recorded by seismic stations around the world, allowing detailed constraints to be placed on the source process. Analyses of a large global data set of P, SH and pP seismic phases using short-period back-projection, subevent directivity, and broadband finite-fault inversion indicate that the mainshock ruptured a shallowly-dipping fault plane with patchy slip that spread over a distance of ∼40 km with a multi-stage expansion rate (∼5+ km/s down-dip initially, ∼3 km/s up-dip later). During the 17 s total rupture duration the radiated energy was ∼3.3 × 10 16 J and the stress drop was ∼38 MPa. The radiation efficiency is moderate (0.34), intermediate to that of the 1994 Bolivia and 2013 Sea of Okhotsk M W 8.3 deep earthquakes, indicating that source processes of very large deep earthquakes sample a wide range of behavior from dissipative, more viscous failure to very brittle failure. The isolated occurrence of the event, much deeper than the apparently thermally-bounded distribution of Bonin-slab seismicity above 600 km depth, suggests that localized stress concentration associated with the pronounced deformation of the Izu-Bonin slab and proximity to the 660-km phase transition likely played a dominant role in generating this major earthquake.

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Section: The Isolated 2015 Deep Eventmentioning

confidence: 98%

The isolated ∼680 km deep 30 May 2015 MW 7.9 Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands earthquake

Lay

Zhan

et al. 2016

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…This relatively young onset of subduction in the south approximately coincides with the opening of the Mariana Trough back arc basin with rifting beginning sometime after 10 Ma and seafloor spreading beginning about 3 -4 Ma [Stern et al, 2003]. Moreover, the wide and rapid opening in the south is coupled with lengthening of the Challenger Deep segment in the E-W direction.…”

Section: Recent Reorganization Of Subduction Near the Challenger Deepmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bathymetry of Mariana trench‐arc system and formation of the Challenger Deep as a consequence of weak plate coupling

Gvirtzman

Stern

2004

Tectonics

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The Challenger Deep in the southernmost Mariana Trench (western Pacific Ocean) is the deepest point on the Earth's surface (10,920 m below sea level). Its location within a subduction trench, where one plate bends and descends below another, is not surprising. However, why is it located in the southernmost Mariana Trench and not at its central part, where the rate of subduction is higher, where the lithosphere is the oldest (and densest) on the Earth, and where the subducted lithosphere pulling down is the longest in the Earth (∼1000 km or more according to seismic tomography)? We suggest that although subduction rate and slab age generally control trench depth, the width of the plate‐coupling zone is more important. Beneath the central Marianas the subducted slab is attached to the upper plate along a 150‐km‐wide surface that holds the shallow portion of the subducted plate nearly horizontal, in spite of its great load and, thus, counters trench deepening. In contrast, along the south Mariana Trench the subducted length of the lithosphere is much shorter, but its attachment to the upper plate is only along a relatively narrow, 50‐km‐wide, surface. In addition, a tear in the slab beneath this region helps it to sink rapidly through the mantle, and this combination of circumstances allows the slab to steepen and form the deepest trench on the Earth. In a wider perspective, the interrelations shown here between trench deepening, ridge shallowing, slab steepening, and forearc narrowing may shed light on other subduction zones located near edges of rapidly steepening slabs.

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“…25.1). The present hydrothermal activity in the Mariana Trough is estimated to have started about 7 million years ago (Ma) (Stern et al 2003) and some dating studies reported records of mineralization in this region since 12,000 years ago (Stüben et al 1994;Takamasa et al 2013;Ishibashi et al Chap. 23).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%