Velocity properties of the lithosphere in the ocean-continent transition zone in the Kamchatka region from seismic tomography data

Arrival times of P and S waves from local earthquakes in the Kamchatka area of the Kurile-Kamchatka Island Arc are used for calculating a spatial model of the elastic wave velocity distribution to a depth of 200 km. The lithosphere is shown to be strongly stratified in its velocity properties and laterally heterogeneous within the mantle wedge and seismic focal zone. A lower velocity layer (an asthenospheric wedge) is identified at depths of 70–130 km beneath the Eastern Kamchatka volcanic belt. The morphology of the Moho interface and the velocity properties of the crust are studied. The main tectonic structures of the region are shown to be closely interrelated with deep velocity heterogeneities. Regular patterns in the statistics of the earthquakes are analyzed in relation to variations in the elastic wave velocities in the focal layer. A mechanism of lithospheric block displacements along weakened zones of the lower crust and upper mantle is proposed.     

利用双差层析成像方法反演阿拉斯加地区岩石圈速度结构

阿拉斯加地区由不同地质时期的地体向北增生而成,经历了漫长的构造演化,地质构造复杂。ANF （Array Network Facility）网站新近提供的来自USArray地震台网记录的地震台站观测数据填补了阿拉斯加地区西部和北部的观测空白,本文选取该区域中345个台站记录的5 638个地震事件的P波、S波到时数据,采用区域双差地震层析成像方法反演得到了该地区的岩石圈三维P波速度模型和地震重定位结果。研究结果显示:阿拉斯加西部太平洋板块的俯冲倾角较大,深部地幔楔表现为P波低速异常,推测由俯冲板块顶部脱水产生的流体释放到地幔楔并触发部分熔融所致,这些熔融物质上升到达地表形成阿留申火山岛链;中部亚库塔特（Yakutat）地体与太平洋板块发生耦合,俯冲倾角减小,一方面使地壳压应力增加,引起地壳增厚和楚加奇（Chugach）山脉隆升,另一方面导致该处地幔楔降温从而使产生的熔体减少,并随着地壳压应力的增加部分地壳裂隙闭合,阻断了熔体上升至地表,从而形成迪那利（Denali）火山空区;亚库塔特地体与东部兰格尔（Wrangell）火山区之间存在较明显的分界,兰格尔火山区下方的低速区（与岩浆活动对应）集中于西北侧,火山区的岩浆来源可能与环形地幔流沿太平洋—亚库塔特板块边缘的上升流相关。这些结果表明,阿拉斯加地区深部复杂的地球动力学过程导致了其地表复杂的地质构造。      

Implications from the seismic crustal structure of the northern Izu–Bonin arc

The results of a controlled source seismic reflection–refraction experiment carried out in 1992 reveal the following characteristics of the northern Izu–Bonin (Ogasawara) oceanic island arc–trench system. (1) The crust rapidly thickens from the Shikoku back-arc basin to the arc, is thickest beneath the active rifts, and then gradually thins to the forearc. The thickness of the crust beneath the arc rift zone and the back-arc basin are ∼ 20 km and 8 km, respectively. (2) The Moho vanishes beneath the forearc. Velocities rapidly decrease eastwards beneath the inner trench wall. (3) The velocity of the lower crust of the arc and the back-arc basin is 7.1–7.3 km/s. This velocity is higher than the typical oceanic lower crust whose velocity is ∼ 6.7 km/s. (4) The velocity of the middle crust of the arc is ∼ 6 km/s. This layer does not exist beneath the back-arc basin. (5) A slight difference in the velocity gradient of the middle crust exists between the arc rift zone and the forearc. Based on these findings and previous studies, it is inferred that: (i) the middle crust is probably granitic rock and formed in more than two episodes; (ii) the lower crust formed by igneous underplating which may also have affected part of the back-arc basin; and (iii) the root of the serpentinite diapir on the inner trench wall is a low-velocity mantle wedge that was probably caused by large amounts of water released from the subducting Pacific plate at depths shallower than 30 km.     

Dissecting large earthquakes in Japan: Role of arc magma and fluids

We synthesized information from recent high-resolution tomographic studies of large crustal earthquakes which occurred in the Japanese Islands during 1995–2008. Prominent anomalies of low-velocity and high Poisson's ratio are revealed in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the mainshock hypocenters, which may reflect arc magma and fluids that are produced by a combination of subducting slab dehydration and corner flow in the mantle wedge. Distribution of 164 crustal earthquakes ( M 5.7–8.0) that occurred in Japan during 1885–2008 also shows a correlation with the distribution of low-velocity zones in the crust and uppermost mantle. A qualitative model is proposed to explain the geophysical observations recorded so far in Japan. We consider that the nucleation of a large earthquake is not entirely a mechanical process, but is closely related to the subduction dynamics and physical and chemical properties of materials in the crust and upper mantle; in particular, the arc magma and fluids.     

腾冲火山及周边地区双差层析成像

利用云南腾冲火山地区15个固定台站记录到的7923次地震的P波到时资料,采用双差层析成像方法,反演得到腾冲火山及周边地区地壳及上地幔顶部三维P波速度结构和地震重定位结果.研究发现,腾冲火山区域地壳内存在明显的地震波低速区,P波速度低于整个区域地壳速度平均值超过15%,上地幔顶部存在规模较大的低速异常区.推测腾冲火山地区存在较大规模的地幔热物质上涌以及向地壳的侵入,热物质在地壳内以岩浆囊形式存储,并且壳内岩浆囊之间可能存在岩浆通道.通过联合反演获得的地震重定位结果显示,丛集地震位置更加集中,其展布特征与断裂构造具有显著的对应关系,表明研究区域断裂构造比较活跃.获得的高分辨率三维P波层析成像结果,为进一步认识火山地区岩浆存储特征以及地震分布与区域构造之间的关系提供了新的地震学依据.     

Magmatic response to early aseismic ridge subduction: the Ecuadorian margin case (South America)

A geochemical and isotopic study of lavas from Pichincha, Antisana and Sumaco volcanoes in the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ) in Ecuador shows their magma genesis to be strongly influenced by slab melts. Pichincha lavas (in fore arc position) display all the characteristics of adakites (or slab melts) and were found in association with magnesian andesites. In the main arc, adakite-like lavas from Antisana volcano could be produced by the destabilization of pargasite in a garnet-rich mantle. In the back arc, high-niobium basalts found at Sumaco volcano could be produced in a phlogopite-rich mantle. The strikingly homogeneous isotopic signatures of all the lavas suggest that continental crust assimilation is limited and confirm that magmas from the three volcanic centers are closely related. The following magma genesis model is proposed in the NVZ in Ecuador: in fore arc position beneath Pichincha volcano, oceanic crust is able to melt and produces adakites. En route to the surface, part of these magmas metasomatize the mantle wedge inducing the crystallization of pargasite, phlogopite and garnet. In counterpart, they are enriched in magnesium and are placed at the surface as magnesian andesites. Dragged down by convection, the modified mantle undergoes a first partial melting event by the destabilization of pargasite and produces the adakite-like lavas from Antisana volcano. Lastly, dragged down deeper beneath the Sumaco volcano, the mantle melts a second time by the destabilization of phlogopite and produces high-niobium basalts. The obvious variation in spatial distribution (and geochemical characteristics) of the volcanism in the NVZ between Colombia and Ecuador clearly indicates that the subduction of the Carnegie Ridge beneath the Ecuadorian margin strongly influences the subduction-related volcanism. It is proposed that the flattening of the subducted slab induced by the recent subduction (<5 Ma?) of the Carnegie Ridge has permitted the progressive warming of the oceanic crust and its partial melting since ca. 1.5 Ma. Since then, the production of adakites in fore arc position has deeply transformed the magma genesis in the overall arc changing from ‘typical’ calc-alkaline magmatism induced by hydrous fluid metasomatism, to the space- and time-associated lithology adakite/high-Mg andesite/adakite-like andesite/high-Nb basalts characteristic of slab melt metasomatism.     

Influence of fluids and magma on earthquakes: seismological evidence

In this paper, we present seismological evidence for the influence of fluids and magma on the generation of large earthquakes in the crust and the subducting oceanic slabs under the Japan Islands. The relationship between seismic tomography and large crustal earthquakes (M=5.7-8.0) in Japan during a period of 116 years from 1885 to 2000 is investigated and it is found that most of the large crustal earthquakes occurred in or around the areas of low seismic velocity. The low-velocity zones represent weak sections of the seismogenic crust. The crustal weakening is closely related to the subduction process in this region. Along the volcanic front and in back-arc areas, the crustal weakening is caused by active volcanoes and arc magma resulting from the convective circulation process in the mantle wedge and dehydration reactions in the subducting slab. In the forearc region of southwest Japan, fluids are suggested in the 1995 Kobe earthquake source zone, which have contributed to the rupture nucleation. The fluids originate from the dehydration of the subducting Philippine Sea slab. The recent 2001 Geiyo earthquake (M=6.8) occurred at 50 km depth within the subducting Philippine Sea slab, and it was also related to the slab dehydration process. A detailed 3D velocity structure is determined for the northeast Japan forearc region using data from 598 earthquakes that occurred under the Pacific Ocean with hypocenters well located with SP depth phases. The results show that strong lateral heterogeneities exist along the slab boundary, which represent asperities and results of slab dehydration and affect the degree and extent of the interplate seismic coupling. These results indicate that large earthquakes do not strike anywhere, but only anomalous areas which can be detected with geophysical methods. The generation of a large earthquake is not a pure mechanical process, but is closely related to physical and chemical properties of materials in the crust and upper mantle, such as magma, fluids, etc.     

The transport of water in subduction zones

The transport of water from subducting crust into the mantle is mainly dictated by the stability of hydrous minerals in subduction zones. The thermal structure of subduction zones is a key to dehydration of the subducting crust at different depths. Oceanic subduction zones show a large variation in the geotherm, but seismicity and arc volcanism are only prominent in cold subduction zones where geothermal gradients are low. In contrast, continental subduction zones have low geothermal gradients, resulting in metamorphism in cold subduction zones and the absence of arc volcanism during subduction. In very cold subduction zone where the geothermal gradient is very low(?5?C/km), lawsonite may carry water into great depths of ?300 km. In the hot subduction zone where the geothermal gradient is high(25?C/km), the subducting crust dehydrates significantly at shallow depths and may partially melt at depths of 80 km to form felsic melts, into which water is highly dissolved. In this case, only a minor amount of water can be transported into great depths. A number of intermediate modes are present between these two end-member dehydration modes, making subduction-zone dehydration various. Low-T/low-P hydrous minerals are not stable in warm subduction zones with increasing subduction depths and thus break down at forearc depths of ?60–80 km to release large amounts of water. In contrast, the low-T/low-P hydrous minerals are replaced by low-T/high-P hydrous minerals in cold subduction zones with increasing subduction depths, allowing the water to be transported to subarc depths of 80–160 km. In either case, dehydration reactions not only trigger seismicity in the subducting crust but also cause hydration of the mantle wedge. Nevertheless, there are still minor amounts of water to be transported by ultrahigh-pressure hydrous minerals and nominally anhydrous minerals into the deeper mantle. The mantle wedge overlying the subducting slab does not partially melt upon water influx for volcanic arc magmatism, but it is hydrated at first with the lowest temperature at the slab-mantle interface, several hundreds of degree lower than the wet solidus of hydrated peridotites. The hydrated peridotites may undergo partial melting upon heating at a later time. Therefore, the water flux from the subducting crust into the overlying mantle wedge does not trigger the volcanic arc magmatism immediately.     

Seismological study on the crustal structure of Tengchong volcanic-geothermal area

Introduction The Tengchong volcanic-geothermal area is located on the northeast edge of the collision zone between Indian and Eurasian plates, and belongs to Eurasian volcanic zone (the MediterraneanHimalayanSoutheast Asia volcanic zone). In Tengchong area, the Quaternary volcanic, geothermal and seismic activities are all intensive. These phenomena have been drawing the attention of many geoscientists in the world. Their studies are concerned with geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and cr…     

环渤海地区的地震层析成像与地壳上地幔结构

利用环渤海地区的天然地震P波到时资料,采用纬度和经度方向分别为05°×06°的网格划分,反演了该地区地壳上地幔的三维P波速度结构.初步结果表明,环渤海地区地壳上地幔的速度结构具有明显的横向不均匀性：京津唐地区地壳中上部的速度异常反映了浅表层的地质构造特征,造山带和隆起区对应于高速异常,坳陷区和沉积盆地对应于低速异常;地壳下部出现大规模的低速异常与华北地区广泛存在的高导层相对应,估计与壳内的滑脱层和局部熔融、岩浆活动有关;莫霍面附近的速度异常反映了地壳厚度的变化及壳幔边界附近热状态的差异;上地幔顶部大范围的低速异常可能是上地幔软流层热物质大规模上涌所致.     

Nishinoshima volcano in the Ogasawara Arc: New continent from the ocean?

Nishinoshima, a submarine volcano in the Ogasawara Arc, approximately 1 000 km south of Tokyo, Japan, suddenly erupted in November 2013, after 40 years of dormancy. Olivine‐bearing phenocryst‐poor andesites found in older submarine lavas from the flanks of the volcano have been used to develop a model for the genesis of andesitic lavas from Nishinoshima. In this model, primary andesite magmas originate directly from the mantle as a result of shallow and hydrous melting of plagioclase peridotites. Thus, it only operates beneath Nishinoshima and submarine volcanoes in the Ogasawara Arc and other oceanic arcs, where the crust is thin. The primary magma compositions have changed from basalt, produced at considerable depth, to andesite, produced beneath the existing thinner crust at this location in the arc. This reflects the thermal and mechanical evolution of the mantle wedge and the overlying lithosphere. It is suggested that continental crust‐like andesitic magma builds up beneath submarine volcanoes on thin arc lithosphere today, and has built up beneath such volcanoes in the past. Andesites produced by this shallow and hydrous melting of the mantle could accumulate through collisions of plates to generate continental crust.     

东北日本地震波速度、VP/VS和各向异性结构:对俯冲带水迁移过程的探讨

本文利用区域地震初至波到时数据,通过地震层析成像研究获得了东北日本俯冲带上地幔（深至约150 km）的P波速度（V_P）、S波速度（V_S）、V_P/V_S和P波各向异性结构.结果表明,低速及高V_P/V_S比异常体主要分布在火山下方的下地壳和地幔楔中,其与低频地震的分布吻合,该区域与俯冲板块脱水所释放的流体及其导致的部分熔融密切相关;俯冲的太平洋板块内可能由于脱水脆化导致的双层地震带区域则没有表现出整体的高V_P/V_S值,其可能与俯冲板块内部含水矿物含量有关;俯冲板块内双重地震带区域及上覆地幔楔薄层主要表现为与海沟平行的方位各向异性和正的径向各向异性,其可能是由于含水矿物的脱水使橄榄石晶格结构发生了从A型到B型的变化所引起的.我们研究表明,结合地震波速度和各向异性结构能够加深对俯冲带内水运移过程的认识.     

滇西地区壳幔解耦与腾冲火山区岩浆活动的深部构造研究

根据青藏东部边缘的深部地球物理资料,分析了滇西地区壳幔耦合和腾冲火山区岩浆活动的深部构造特征,确认了地幔各向异性与上地幔速度结构(包括P波速度和S波速度)的内在联系,指出产生这一结果的原因与以腾冲火山区为中心的地幔热物质上涌有关:上地幔顶部平均温度升高导致介质强度降低,在印支块体的侧向挤压或印缅块体的向东俯冲作用下发生韧性变形,造成滇西地区地幔各向异性的快波方向与青藏东部地壳块体的旋转方向不一致.此外,鉴于中下地壳低速层的横向非均匀性,估计韧性流动并非贯通青藏高原的东部边缘,而是被不同的构造块体和边界断裂限定在局部地区.总体而言,滇西地区下地壳的地震波速度和电阻率偏低,具备发生韧性变形的构造条件.作为地壳和上地幔之间的解耦层,它使得青藏东部地壳块体旋转产生的构造应力未能传输至上地幔.腾冲火山区的地壳结构与不同时期的岩浆活动有关,火山区东侧的高速结构代表了上新世时期火山通道内冷凝固结的岩浆侵入体或难以挥发的高密度残留物质,火山区西侧的低速结构反映了更新世以来持续至今的岩浆活动,壳内岩浆源主要分布在10～20km的深度范围内,横向尺度约为15～20km,有可能通过地壳深部的断裂与上地幔岩浆源区相连,估计腾冲火山区下方的岩浆活动将持续进行.     

Seismic structure of Iceland from Rayleigh wave inversions and geodynamic implications

We have constrained the shear-wave structure of crust and upper mantle beneath Iceland by analyzing fundamental mode Rayleigh waves recorded at the ICEMELT and HOTSPOT seismic stations in Iceland. The crust varies in thickness from 20 to 28 km in western and northern Iceland and from 26 to 34 km in eastern Iceland. The thickest crust of 34–40 km lies in central Iceland, roughly 100 km west to the current location of the Iceland hotspot. The crust at the hotspot is ∼32 km thick and is underlain by low shear-wave velocities of 4.0–4.1 km/s in the uppermost mantle, indicating that the Moho at the hotspot is probably a weak discontinuity. This low velocity anomaly beneath the hotspot could be associated with partial melting and hot temperature. The lithosphere in Iceland is confined above 60 km and a low velocity zone (LVZ) is imaged at depths of 60 to 120 km. Shear wave velocity in the LVZ is up to 10% lower than a global reference model, indicating the influence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the hotspot in Iceland. The lowest velocities in the LVZ are found beneath the rift zones, suggesting that plume material is channeled along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At depths of 100 to 200 km, low velocity anomalies appear at the Tjornes fracture zone to the north of Iceland and beneath the western volcanic zone in southwestern Iceland. Interestingly, a relatively fast anomaly is imaged beneath the hotspot with its center at ∼135 km depth, which could be due to radial anisotropy associated with the strong upwelling within the plume stem or an Mg-enriched mantle residual caused by the extensive extraction of melts.     

Adakitic magmas in the Ecuadorian Volcanic Front: Petrogenesis of the Iliniza Volcanic Complex (Ecuador)

The Iliniza Volcanic Complex (IVC) is a poorly known volcanic complex located 60 km SSW of Quito in the Western Cordillera of Ecuador. It comprises twin peaks, North Iliniza and South Iliniza, and two satellite domes, Pilongo and Tishigcuchi. The study of the IVC was undertaken in order to better constrain the role of adakitic magmas in the Ecuadorian arc evolution. The presence of volcanic rocks with an adakitic imprint or even pristine adakites in the Ecuadorian volcanic arc is known since the late 1990s. Adakitic magmas are produced by the partial melting of a basaltic source leaving a garnet rich residue. This process can be related to the melting of an overthickened crust or a subducting oceanic crust. For the last case a special geodynamic context is required, like the subduction of a young lithosphere or when the subduction angle is not very steep; both cases are possible in Ecuador. The products of the IVC, made up of medium-K basaltic andesites, andesites and dacites, have been divided in different geochemical series whose origin requires various interactions between the different magma sources involved in this subduction zone. North Iliniza is a classic calc-alkaline series that we interpret as resulting from the partial melting of the mantle wedge. For South Iliniza, a simple evolution with fractional crystallization of amphibole, plagioclase, clinopyroxene, magnetite, apatite and zircon from a parental magma, being itself the product of the mixing of 36% adakitic and 64% calc-alkaline magma, has been quantified. For the Santa Rosa rhyolites, a slab melting origin with little mantle interactions during the ascent of magmas has been established. The Pilongo series magma is the product of a moderate to high degree (26%) of partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust, which reached the surface without interaction with the mantle wedge. The Tishigcuchi series shows two stages of evolution: (1) metasomatism of the mantle wedge peridotite by slab melts, and (2) partial melting (10%) of this metasomatized source. Therefore, the relative ages of the edifices show a geochemical evolution from calc-alkaline to adakitic magmas, as is observed for several volcanoes of the Ecuadorian arc.     

俄罗斯贝加尔湖-日本仙台断面地震波速结构及其地质意义

本文以中俄、俄日学者合作所得到的地球物理资料为主,结合其它相关地质-地球物理数据,组构了俄罗斯贝加尔湖-日本仙台(BS)4000 km长断面,用于区域性大尺度地研究东北亚洲地壳结构和一系列地质构造问题.研究BS断面地震波速结果表明:(1)西伯利亚板块和黑龙江板块地壳结构变化较大,并可分为上、中、下部地壳,欧亚板块东部陆缘带地壳结构较简单,基本两分.贝加尔裂谷带下部地壳厚度比松辽盆地的薄约7 km,而上部地壳则相反,前者的比后者的厚约9 km.两个裂谷带在Moho界面之下的波速分布差异也较大.(2)结合前人认识,综合分析认为,贝加尔裂谷带属主动式裂谷,松辽盆地属于混合型裂谷.贝加尔裂谷形成动力主要来自地球构造圈B″层物质上涌所形成的地幔热柱的垂向作用,由BLV带佐证,松辽盆地形成动力主要来自太平洋板块斜向俯冲的中远程效应.(3)日本国所位于的西太平洋岛弧带是多地震带,除了太平洋板块俯冲产生的浅部效应、地壳中断裂与流体的直接作用等因素,本文指出仙台等速块的物性条件是岛弧带的主要不稳定因素.同时指出需要关注日本东海岸深约30~40 km的大级次地震的发生.     

Origin of Icelandic basalts: A review of their petrology and geochemistry

The petrology and geochemistry of Icelandic basalts have been studied for more than a century. The results reveal that the Holocene basalts belong to three magma series: two sub-alkaline series (tholeiitic and transitional alkaline) and an alkali one. The alkali and the transitional basalts, which occupy the off-rift volcanic zones, are enriched in incompatible trace elements compared to the tholeiites, and have more radiogenic Sr, Pb and He isotope compositions. Compared to the tholeiites, they are most likely formed by partial melting of a lithologically heterogeneous mantle with higher proportions of melts derived from recycled oceanic crust in the form of garnet pyroxenites compared to the tholeiites. The tholeiitic basalts characterise the mid-Atlantic rift zone that transects the island, and their most enriched compositions and highest primordial (least radiogenic) He isotope signature are observed close to the centre of the presumed mantle plume. High-MgO basalts are found scattered along the rift zone and probably represent partial melting of refractory mantle already depleted of initial water-rich melts. Higher mantle temperature in the centre of the Iceland mantle plume explains the combination of higher magma productivity and diluted signatures of garnet pyroxenites in basalts from Central Iceland. A crustal component, derived from altered basalts, is evident in evolved tholeiites and indeed in most basalts; however, distinguishing between contamination by the present hydrothermally altered crust, and melting of recycled oceanic crust, remains non-trivial. Constraints from radiogenic isotope ratios suggest the presence of three principal mantle components beneath Iceland: a depleted upper mantle source, enriched mantle plume, and recycled oceanic crust.The study of glass inclusions in primitive phenocrysts is still in its infancy but already shows results unattainable by other methods. Such studies reveal the existence of mantle melts with highly variable compositions, such as calcium-rich melts and a low-¹⁸O mantle component, probably recycled oceanic crust. Future high-resolution seismic studies may help to identify and reveal the relative proportions of different lithologies in the mantle.     

青藏高原东北缘地壳S波速度结构与泊松比及其意义

利用甘肃地震台网16个台站记录的远震资料,采用最大熵谱反褶积方法,得到了各个台站的接收函数. 采用接收函数扫描法和线性反演方法对研究区的壳幔结构进行了研究,这两种接收函数方法得出的结果具有很好的一致性. 青藏高原东北缘地壳厚度变化剧烈,祁连块体为50～55 km、柴达木块体和河西走廊为45 km左右（合作台除外）,由北向南,Moho界面呈中央下凹的准对称状. 研究区地壳VP/VS介于166～185（σ=0215～0294,均值0254）,其均值接近或略低于全球平均值;S波速度结构可见壳幔过渡带具有明显的突跳,结合其他地球物理学证据,推断该区可能不存在岩浆底侵作用和地壳部分熔融现象. 该区地壳VP/VS值与地壳厚度呈反相关关系,推断该区地壳的主要组成成分以中酸性岩石为主,其45～55 km厚的地壳可能主要是通过上地壳的叠置形成的.     

Simple 2-D models for melt extraction at mid-ocean ridges and island arcs

A general set of 2-D equations for the conservation of mass and momentum of a two-phase system of melt in a deformable matrix is used to derive analytic solutions for the corner flow of a constant porosity melt-saturated porous medium. This solution is used to model the melt extraction processes at mid-ocean ridges and island arcs. The models indicate that flow of melt is controlled by pressure gradients induced by the Laplacian of the matrix velocity field and by the dimensionless percolation velocity which measures the relative contributions of buoyancy-driven flow to advection by the matrix. The models can account for many features of ridge and arc volcanism. Matrix corner flow at ridges causes melt to be drawn to the ridge axis enabling the extraction of small melt fractions from a wide melting zone while showing a narrow zone of volcanism at the surface. At subduction zones melts do not percolate vertically but are drawn to the junction of the upper plate and subducting slab by corner flow in the mantle wedge. For subduction zones, if the dimensionless percolation velocity is below a critical value, slab-derived fluids will be carried down by the matrix and cannot interact with the mantle wedge. The geochemistry of island arcs will be controlled by the geometry of melt streamlines. This model is consistent with geophysical and geochemical data from the Aleutian arc.     

New advances of seismic tomography and its applications to subduction zones and earthquake fault zones: A review

Abstract There have been significant advances in the theory and applications of seismic tomography in the last decade. These include the refinements in the model parameterization, 3-D ray tracing, inversion algorithm, resolution and error analyses, joint use of local, regional and teleseismic data, and the addition of converted and reflected waves in the tomographic inversion. Applications of the new generation tomographic methods to subduction zones have resulted in unprecedentedly clear images of the subducting oceanic lithosphere and magma chambers in the mantle wedge beneath active arc volcanoes, indicating that geodynamic systems associated with the arc magmatism and back-arc spreading are related to deep processes, such as the convective circulation in the mantle wedge and deep dehydration reactions in the subducting slab. High-resolution tomographic imagings of earthquake fault zones in Japan and California show that rupture nucleation and earthquake generating processes are closely related to the heterogeneities of crustal materials and inelastic processes in the fault zones, such as the migration of fluids. Evidence also shows that arc magmatism and slab dehydration may also contribute to the generation of large crustal earthquakes in subduction regions.