Seismic activity associated with the subducting motion of the Philippine Sea plate beneath the Kanto district, Japan

The Pacific plate and the Philippine Sea plate overlap and subduct underneath the Kanto region, central Japan, causing complex seismic activities in the upper mantle. In this research, we used a map selection tool with a graphic display to create a data set for earthquakes caused by the subducting motion of the Philippine Sea plate that are easily determined. As a result, we determined that there are at least four earthquake groups present in the upper mantle above the Pacific plate. Major seismic activity (Group 1) has been observed throughout the Kanto region and is considered to originate in the uppermost part of mantle in the subducted Philippine Sea plate, judging from the formation of the focal region and comparison with the 3D structure of seismic velocity. The focal mechanism of these earthquakes is characterized by the down-dip compression. A second earthquake layer characterized by down-dip extension (Group 2), below the earthquakes in this group, is also noted. The focal region for those earthquakes is considered to be located at the lower part of the slab mantle, and the Pacific plate located directly below is considered to influence the activity. Earthquakes located at the shallowest part (Group 3) form a few clusters distributed directly above the Group 1 focal region. Judging from the characteristics of later phases in these earthquakes and comparing against the 3D structure of seismic velocity, the focal regions for the earthquakes are considered to be located near the upper surface of the slab. Another earthquake group (Group 4) originates further below Group 2; it is difficult to consider these earthquakes within a single slab. The seismic activities representing the upper area of the Philippine Sea plate are Group 3. This paper proposes a slab geometry model that is substantially different from conventional models by strictly differentiating the groups.     

Upper mantle anisotropy inferred from shear wave splitting beneath the Eastern Indian Shield region

We estimate the shear wave splitting parameters vis-à-vis the thicknesses of the continental lithosphere beneath the two permanent seismic broadband stations located at Dhanbad (DHN) and Bokaro (BOKR) in the Eastern Indian Shield region. Broadband seismic data of 146 and 131 teleseismic earthquake events recorded at DHN and BOKR stations during 2007–2014 were analyzed for the present measurements. The study is carried out using rotation-correlation and transverse component minimization methods. We retain our “Good”, “Fair” and “Null” measurements, and estimate the splitting parameters using 13 “Good” results for DHN and 10 “Good” results for BOKR stations. The average splitting parameters (ϕ, δt) for DHN and BOKR stations are found to be 50.76°±5.46° and 0.82 ± 0.2 s and 56.30°±5.07° and 0.95 ± 0.17 s, and the estimated average thicknesses of the anisotropic layers beneath these two stations are ∼ 94 and ∼109 km, respectively. The measured deviation of azimuth of the fast axis direction (ϕ) from the absolute motion of the Indian plate ranges from ∼8° to 14°. The measured deviation of azimuth of the fast axis direction (ϕ) from the absolute motion of the Indian plate ranges from ∼8° to 14°. The eastward deviation of the fast axis azimuths from absolute plate motion direction is interpreted to be caused by induced outflow from the asthenosphere. Further, the delay time found in the present analysis is close to the global average for continental shield areas, and also coherent with other studies for Indian shield regions. The five “Null” results and the lower delay time of ∼0.5–0.6 s might be indicating multilayer anisotropy existing in the mantle lithosphere beneath the study area.     

Seismic anisotropy structure beneath the southeastern Mediterranean from shear-wave splitting

Analysis of seismic anisotropy in the crust and the uppermost mantle gives lots of information about the ambient mantle flow, stress state, and the dynamic processes inside the Earth. Thus, seismic anisotropy and its main distinctive features beneath the southeastern Mediterranean region are studied through the analysis of teleseismic shear-wave splitting observed at six broadband seismic stations belonging to the GEOFON and the MedNet. Although the number of the recording stations is small; a total of 495 splitting parameters are obtained, which revealed significant variations in the observed fast polarization directions beneath the study area. The stations in northern Egypt and Cyprus show fast velocity directions oriented roughly N–S to NNE–SSW, coincident with many previous results. A slightly different splitting pattern comprising NE–SW fast polarization directions is observed in the stations located along the Dead Sea fault in the southeastern Mediterranean; which are consistent with the current strike-slip motion between Africa and Arabia. In addition, NW–SE fast polarization directions are recognized in the latter group. The observed delay times vary greatly but their averages lie between 0.35 and 1 s. Although large-scale mechanisms, such as the absolute plate motion of Africa and Arabia towards Eurasia and the differential motion between Arabia and Africa can be invoked to predominantly explain the origin of anisotropic features, we suggest that density-driven flow in the asthenosphere is a possible additional cause of the wide range of the splitting pattern observed beneath some stations.     

P wave attenuation structure beneath the Kanto district and surrounding area, Japan

Spectral ratios of teleseismic P waves for 15 deep (>200 km) earthquakes recorded at 146 High-Sensitivity Seismographic Network stations in the Kanto district and its surrounding area, eastern Japan, were inverted for attenuation parameter $ t_P^{ * } $ . The dataset consisted of good-quality vertical-component seismograms, whose P phases were handpicked. The P wave spectral ratios with high signal-to-noise ratios were calculated up to 1 Hz for all the station pairs, linear regressed, and then inverted for $ t_P^{ * } $ using the technique of least squares . The result showed that the active volcanic areas were clearly characterized by high $ t_P^{ * } $ . In contrast, $ t_P^{ * } $ varied in the nonvolcanic areas. The present result on the $ t_P^{ * } $ distribution was roughly consistent with the shallow part (<30 km) of an attenuation structure, which has been previously obtained based on 3-D tomography by using records of high-frequency (around 5 Hz) P waves from local earthquakes. This suggested that the present method of $ t_P^{ * } $ estimation is valid. The advantage and possible application to other areas were also discussed.     

Seismic wave propagation beneath the Molucca Sea arc-arc collision zone, Indonesia

Seismograms of earthquakes from the Molucca Sea arc-arc collision zone, recorded at local stations, show a wide variety of coda envelope shapes and frequency contents. Some shallow (depth less than 20 km) events display large amplitude codas (relative to primary body waves) and lower frequency (2–4 cps) than deeper events which contain frequencies up to 12 cps. The shallowest events probably originate within the accretionary wedge of the collision zone and their signal characters at local stations indicate intense scattering within the highly deformed accretionary material. The scattering/attenuation for travel paths within the crust is high, but must decrease with depth starting in the upper mantle resulting in a more efficient path between intermediate depth events and the stations. A wide variation in the efficiency of S-wave propagation from intermediate depth events suggests the presence of considerable heterogeneity in deeper structure of the collision zone.     

南北构造带北段S波分裂研究及其动力学意义

南北构造带北段位于青藏高原东北缘及其向北东方向扩展的区域,其岩石圈变形特征对于探讨青藏高原东北缘变形机制及其扩展范围具有非常关键的意义。地震波各向异性能很好地反映上地幔的变形特征。因此,本文对布设在南北构造带北段的流动地震台站记录的远震波形资料进行S波分裂研究,获得了研究区上地幔各向异性图像以及该区岩石圈地幔的变形特征信息。S波分裂研究结果表明,研究区地震波各向异性来自于上地幔,区内不同构造单元上地幔各向异性方向不尽相同。快波方向分布显示,青藏高原东北缘,鄂尔多斯西缘以及贺兰构造带北段的快波方向主要表现为NW-SE向,与前人在银川地堑和贺兰构造带中、北部得到的NW-SE向的上地幔各向异性方向一致,显示这些地区岩石圈地幔变形一致,该结果表明青藏高原东北缘向北东方向扩展的影响范围已到达贺兰构造带北段。阿拉善地块内部快波方向显示为NE-SW向,与阿拉善地块北部存在的北东向展布的晚古生代岩浆岩方向一致,表明该NE-SW向的快波方向可能代表地是“化石”各向异性,是晚古生代阿拉善地块受到古亚洲洋闭合作用的结果。此外,鄂尔多斯地块内也存在NE-SW向的各向异性方向,与区内中-晚侏罗世存在的NE-SW向逆冲推覆构造方向一致,因此该各向异性方向也代表了“化石”各向异性,是鄂尔多斯地块受到古特提斯构造域的块体碰撞、古太平洋板块北西向俯冲以及西伯利亚板块向南俯冲共同作用的结果。     

Crustal anisotropy from Moho converted Ps wave splitting analysis and geodynamic implications beneath the eastern margin of Tibet and surrounding regions

In addition to crustal thickening, distinctly different mechanisms have been suggested to accommodate the huge convergences caused by the continental collision between India and Eurasia. As the transition zone between the two grand tectonic domains of Asia, the Tethys and the Pacific, east Tibet and its surrounding regions are the ideal places to study continental deformation. Pervasive rock deformation may produce anisotropy on the scale of seismic wavelengths; thus, seismic anisotropy provides insight into the deformation of the crust and mantle beneath tectonically active domains. In this study, we calculated receiver function pairs of radial- and transverse-components at 98 stations located in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, China. We selected 7423 pairs with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and unambiguous Moho converted Ps phases (Pms) to measure the Pms splitting owing to the crustal anisotropy. Both the crustal thickness and the average crustal Vp/Vs ratio were calculated simultaneously by the H–k stacking method. The geodynamic implications were also investigated in relation to surface geological features, GPS velocities, absolute plate motion (APM), SKS/SKKS splitting, and other seismological observations. In addition to the fast polarization directions (FPDs) of the crustal anisotropy, we observed a conspicuous sharper clockwise rotation around the eastern Himalayan syntaxis than was revealed by GPS velocities. The distributed FPDs within and near the main active fault zones also favored the directions parallel to the faults. This implied that the deformation of a continuous medium revealed by GPS motions is a proxy for the deformation of the brittle shallow crust only, while the main active faults and the deep crustal interiors both play important roles in the deep deformation. Our results suggest that the deformation between the crust and upper mantle within the northernmost section of the Indochina block is decoupled due to the large difference in the directions between the observations related to the crust (GPS and crustal anisotropy) and mantle (APM and mantle anisotropy). Focusing on the transition zone between the plateau and the South China and Indochina blocks, we suggest that the motion of the Central Yunnan sub-block is a southeastward extrusion by way of tectonic escape. There is less deformation in the deep crust and the motion is controlled by the active boundary faults of the Ailaoshan–Red River shear zone to the west and the Xianshuihe–Xiaojiang fault to the east; the lower crustal flow within the plateau southeastward reached the Lijiang–Xiaojinhe fault, but further south it was obstructed by the Central Yunnan sub-block.     

Seismic velocity discontinuities in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Kanto district, central Japan, identified from receiver function imaging and repeating earthquake activity

We constructed vertical cross-sections of depth-converted receiver function images to estimate the seismic velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Kanto district, central Japan. Repeating earthquake data for the plate boundary were also used to estimate geometries of the subducting Philippine Sea plate and the subducting Pacific plate. As a result, we present images of some major seismic discontinuities. The upper boundary of the Pacific plate dips to the northwest in northern Kanto and to the west–southwest in southern Kanto with some undulations. On the other hand, the upper boundary of the Philippine Sea plate as a whole dips to the northwest. However, it is concave to the northeast in the southern Boso peninsula. We suggest that the low-velocity mantle wedge may be indicated on the top of both subducting plates. Plate thickness gradually decreases to the northeast. The northeastern end of the Philippine Sea plate is interpreted to be at depths of 45–90 km. The Moho discontinuity in the overriding plate is deeper than 25 km in the northern Kanto. It contacts the subducting Philippine Sea plate in the southwestern part near 35.8°N.     

Aseismic deep subduction of the Philippine Sea plate and slab window

We have made great efforts to collect and combine a large number of high-quality data from local earthquakes and teleseismic events recorded by the dense seismic networks in both South Korea and West Japan. This is the first time that a large number of Korean and Japanese seismic data sets are analyzed jointly. As a result, a high-resolution 3-D P-wave velocity model down to 700-km depth is determined, which clearly shows that the Philippine Sea (PHS) plate has subducted aseismically down to ∼460 km depth under the Japan Sea, Tsushima Strait and East China Sea. The aseismic PHS slab is visible in two areas: one is under the Japan Sea off western Honshu, and the other is under East China Sea off western Kyushu. However, the aseismic PHS slab is not visible between the two areas, where a slab window has formed. The slab window is located beneath the center of the present study region where many teleseismic rays crisscross. Detailed synthetic tests were conducted, which indicate that both the aseismic PHS slab and the slab window are robust features. Using the teleseismic data recorded by the Japanese stations alone, the aseismic PHS slab and the slab window were also revealed (Zhao et al., 2012), though the ray paths in the Japanese data set crisscross less well offshore. The slab window may be caused by the subducted Kyushu-Palau Ridge and Kinan Seamount Chain where the PHS slab may be segmented. Hot mantle upwelling is revealed in the big mantle wedge above the Pacific slab under the present study region, which may have facilitated the formation of the PHS slab window. These novel findings may shed new light on the subduction history of the PHS plate and the dynamic evolution of the Japan subduction zone.     

Configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea slab in the eastern part of southwestern Japan with seismic array and Hi-net data

It is important to know the shape of a subducting slab in order to understand the mechanisms of inter-plate earthquakes and the process of subduction. Seismicity data and converted phases have been used to detect plate boundaries. The configuration of the Philippine Sea slab has been obtained at the western part of southwestern Japan. At the eastern part of southwestern Japan, however, the configuration of the Philippine Sea slab has not yet been confirmed. A spatially high-density seismic network makes it possible to detect the boundaries of the Philippine Sea slab. We used a spatially high-density temporal seismic array in the area. The configuration of the Philippine Sea plate is obtained at the eastern part of southwestern Japan using the temporal seismic array and permanent seismic network data and comparing the seismic structure obtained from the results of refraction surveys. The configuration of the Philippine Sea plate obtained by this study does not bend sharply compared to previous models obtained from receiver function analyses. We delineated the upper boundary of the slab to a depth of about 45 km. The weak image of the boundary, which corresponds to the upper mantle reflector beneath the source area of the 2000 Western Tottori earthquake, was detected using the spatially dense array.     

日本列岛下太平洋俯冲板块的精细结构

尽管许多学者对日本列岛下的太平洋俯冲板块做了大量的研究,但板块内部的结构(比如板块厚度,板块内地震波速度随深度的变化以及洋壳的俯冲情况等)仍然不太清楚。利用日本地区密集台网收集到的中深和深发地震到时数据来探讨上述问题。采用三维射线追踪正演模拟法,首先利用333个远震计算得到了日本地区太平洋板块的厚度为85km;然后利用3283个地震(震源深度大于40km)的130227条P波到时进一步研究板块内部的精细结构。结果显示,沿深度方向6个地层段(间隔100km)内的速度扰动值分别为5.5%,4.0%,3.5%,2.5%,2.0%和6.0%,在40～500km范围内速度扰动随深度的增加而减小,这与温度随深度的变化情况相一致。当深度大于500km时,速度扰动突然增大到6.0%,分析认为该异常可能由发生在东亚大陆边缘下方的深发地震无法精确定位导致的。最后利用40～500km深度范围内的近震测试得到日本东北和北海道地区下方洋壳俯冲的深度均为110km,平均厚度分别为7.5km和5km,相对于一维模型的速度扰动分别为1%和-3%。这说明洋壳在俯冲到110km以深时,由于受温度和压力的影响,逐渐脱水、变质,直至与板块融合。通过分析震源与洋壳的位置关系,本研究认为北海道地区比东北地区下方的俯冲洋壳可能含有更多的流体(比如水),导致两地区洋壳内的速度相差如此之大。此外,因为日本南部与洋壳对应的区域多为海洋,观测台站较少,所以本研究无法测试得到该区域内的洋壳俯冲情况。     

Distinct variations of crustal shear wave velocity structure and radial anisotropy beneath the North China Craton and tectonic implications

This study presents the crustal shear wave velocity structure and radial anisotropy along two linear seismic arrays across the North China Craton (NCC) from ambient noise tomography. About a half to one year long ambient noise data from 87 stations were used for obtaining the inter-station surface wave empirical Green's functions (EGFs) from cross-correlation. Rayleigh and Love dispersion curves within the period band 5–30 s were measured from the EGFs of the vertical and transverse components, respectively. These dispersion data were then used to determine the crustal shear wave velocity structure (V_SV and V_SH) and radial anisotropy (2(V_SH ? V_SV) / (V_SH + V_SV)) from point-wise linear inversion with constraints from receiver function analysis. Our results reveal substantial structural variations among different parts of the NCC. The Bohai Bay Basin in the eastern NCC is underlain by a thin crust (~ 30 km) with relatively low velocities (particularly V_SV) and large positive radial anisotropy in the middle to lower crust. Such a crustal structure is no longer of a cratonic type and may have resulted from the widespread tectonic extension and intensive magmatism in this region since late Mesozoic. Beneath the Ordos Basin in the western NCC, the crust is relatively thicker (≥ 40 km) and well stratified, and presents a large-scale low velocity zone in the middle to lower crust and overall weak radial anisotropy except for a localized lower crust anomaly. The overall structural features of this region resemble those of typical Precambrian shields, in agreement with the long-term stability of the region. The crustal structure under the Trans North China Orogen (TNCO, central NCC) is more complicated and characterized by smaller scale velocity variations, strong positive radial anisotropy in the middle crust and rapid change to weak-to-negative anisotropy in the lower crust. These features may reflect complex deformations and crust–mantle interactions, probably associated with tectonic extension and magmatic underplating during the Mesozoic to Cenozoic evolution of the region. Our structural images in combination with previous seismic, geological and geochemical observations suggest that the Phanerozoic lithospheric reactivation and destruction processes may have affected the crust (especially the middle and lower crust) of the eastern NCC, and the effect probably extended to the TNCO, but may have minor influence on the crust of the western part of the craton.     

Tidal triggering of earthquakes in the subducting Philippine Sea plate beneath the locked zone of the plate interface in the Tokai region, Japan

We found a characteristic space–time pattern of the tidal triggering effect on earthquake occurrence in the subducting Philippine Sea plate beneath the locked zone of the plate interface in the Tokai region, central Japan, where a large interplate earthquake may be impending. We measured the correlation between the Earth tide and earthquake occurrence using microearthquakes that took place in the Philippine Sea plate for about two decades. For each event, we assigned the tidal phase angle at the origin time by theoretically calculating the tidal shear stress on the fault plane. Based on the distribution of the tidal phase angles, we statistically tested whether they concentrate near some particular angle or not by using Schuster's test. In this test, the result is evaluated by p-value, which represents the significance level to reject the null hypothesis that earthquakes occur randomly irrespective of the tidal phase angle. As a result of analysis, no correlation was found for the data set including all the earthquakes. However, we found a systematic pattern in the temporal variation of the tidal effect; the p-value significantly decreased preceding the occurrence of M ≥ 4.5 earthquakes, and it recovered a high level afterwards. We note that those M ≥ 4.5 earthquakes were considerably larger than the normal background seismicity in the study area. The frequency distribution of tidal phase angles in the pre-event period exhibited a peak at the phase angle where the tidal shear stress is at its maximum to accelerate the fault slip. This indicates that the observed small p-value is a physical consequence of the tidal effect. We also found a distinctive feature in the spatial distribution of p-values. The small p-values appeared just beneath the strongly coupled portion of the plate interface, as inferred from the seismicity rate change in the past few years.     

Repeating earthquake activities associated with the Philippine Sea plate subduction in the Kanto district, central Japan: A new plate configuration revealed by interplate aseismic slips

We detect repeating earthquakes associated with the Philippine Sea plate subduction to reveal the plate configuration. In the Kanto district, we find 140 repeating earthquake groups with 428 events by waveform similarity analysis. Most repeating earthquakes in the eastern part of the Kanto district occur with a regular time interval. They have thrust-type focal mechanisms and are distributed near the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate. These observations indicate that the repeating earthquakes there occur as a repetition of ruptures on the isolated patches distributed on the plate boundary owing to the concentration of stress caused by aseismic slips in the surrounding areas. This shows that the distributions of repeating earthquakes suggest the aseismic slips in the surrounding areas of small patches. We determine spatial distributions of repeating earthquakes in the eastern part of the Kanto district and find that they correspond to the upper boundary of the Philippine Sea plate, that is, the upper boundary of the oceanic crust layer of the Philippine Sea plate. The plate geometry around Choshi is newly constrained by repeating earthquake data and a rather flat geometry in the eastern part of the Kanto district is revealed. The obtained geometry suggests uplift of the Philippine Sea plate due to the collision with the Pacific plate beneath Choshi.Repeating earthquakes in the western part of the Kanto district have extremely shorter recurrence times, and their focal mechanisms are not of the thrust types. These repeating earthquakes are classified as “burst type” activity and likely to occur on the preexistent fault planes which are distributed around the “collision zone” between the Philippine Sea plate and the inland plate. The variation among the repeating earthquake activities in the Kanto district indicates that regular repetition of repeating earthquakes is possible only on the plate boundary with a smooth and simple geometry.     

Mapping upper mantle anisotropy beneath SE France by SKS splitting indicates Neogene asthenospheric flow induced by Apenninic slab roll-back and deflected by the deep Alpine roots

The presence of two regional seismic networks in southeastern France provides us high-quality data to investigate upper mantle flow by measuring the splitting of teleseismic shear waves induced by seismic anisotropy. The 10 three-component and broadband stations installed in Corsica, Provence, and western Alps efficiently complete the geographic coverage of anisotropy measurements performed in southern France using temporary experiments deployed on geodynamic targets such as the Pyrenees and the Massif Central. Teleseismic shear waves (mainly SKS and SKKS) are used to determine the splitting parameters: the fast polarization direction and the delay time. Delay times ranging between 1.0 and 1.5 s have been observed at most sites, but some larger delay times, above 2.0 s, have been observed at some stations, such as in northern Alps or Corsica, suggesting the presence of high strain zones in the upper mantle. The azimuths of the fast split shear waves define a simple and smooth pattern, trending homogeneously WNW–ESE in the Nice area and progressively rotating to NW–SE and to NS for stations located further North in the Alps. This pattern is in continuity with the measurements performed in the southern Massif Central and could be related to a large asthenospheric flow induced by the rotation of the Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block and the retreat of the Apenninic slab. We show that seismic anisotropy nicely maps the route of the slab from the initial rifting phase along the Gulf of Lion (30–22 Ma) to the drifting of the Corsica–Sardinia lithospheric block accompanied by the creation of new oceanic lithosphere in the Liguro–Provençal basin (22–17 Ma). In the external and internal Alps, the pattern of the azimuth of the fast split waves follows the bend of the alpine arc. We propose that the mantle flow beneath this area could be influenced or perhaps controlled by the Alpine deep penetrative structures and that the Alpine lithospheric roots may have deflected part of the horizontal asthenospheric flow around its southernmost tip.     

Seismic wave velocity and anisotropy of serpentinized peridotite in the Oman ophiolite

Shallow seismic measurements in harzburgite from the Oman ophiolite performed in a zone where the maximum horizontal anisotropy is expected (vertical foliation and horizontal lineation) point to a dominant dependence of seismic properties on fracturing.

Optical microscopy studies show that microcracks are guided by the serpentine (lizardite) penetrative network oriented subparallel to the harzburgite foliation and subperpendicular to the mineral lineation, and that serpentine (lizardite) vein filling has a maximum concentration of (001) planes parallel to the veins walls. The calculated elastic properties of the oriented alteration veins filled with serpentine in an anisotropic matrix formed by oriented crystals of olivine and orthopyroxene are compared with seismic velocities measured on hand specimens.

Laboratory ultrasonic data indicate that open microcracks are closed at 100 MPa pressure, e.g. (J. Geophys. Res. 65, (1960) 1083) and (Proc. ODP Sci. Results Leg 118, (1990) 227). Above this pressure, laboratory measurements and modeling show that P-compressional and S-shear wave velocities are mainly controlled by the mineral preferred orientation. Veins sealed with serpentine are effective in slightly lowering P and S velocities and increasing anisotropy. The penetrative lizardite network does not affect directly the geometry of seismic anisotropy, but contributes indirectly in the fact that this network controls the microcrack orientations.

Comparison between seismic measurements of peridotite and gabbro in the same conditions suggest that P- and S-waves anisotropies are a possible discriminating factor between the two lithologies in the suboceanic lithosphere.     

Evolution of carbon dioxide-bearing saline fluids in the mantle wedge beneath the Northeast Japan arc

Lherzolite xenoliths containing fluid inclusions from the Ichinomegata volcano, located on the rear-arc side of the Northeast Japan arc, may be considered as samples of the uppermost mantle above the melting region in the mantle wedge. Thus, these fluid inclusions provide valuable information on the nature of fluids present in the sub-arc mantle. The inclusions in the Ichinomegata amphibole-bearing spinel–plagioclase lherzolite xenoliths were found to be composed mainly of CO₂–H₂O–Cl–S fluids. At equilibrium temperature of 920 °C, the fluid inclusions preserve pressures of 0.66–0.78 GPa, which correspond to depths of 23–28 km. The molar fraction of H₂O and the salinity of fluid inclusions are 0.18–0.35 and 3.71 ± 0.78 wt% NaCl equivalent, respectively. These fluid inclusions are not believed to be fluids derived directly from the subducting slab, but rather fluids exsolved from sub-arc basaltic magmas that are formed through partial melting of mantle wedge triggered by slab-derived fluids.     

Configuration of subducting Philippine Sea plate and crustal structure in the central Japan region

A seismic experiment with six explosive sources and 391 seismic stations was conducted in August 2001 in the central Japan region. The crustal velocity structure for the central part of Japan and configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea plate were revealed. A large lateral variation of the thickness of the sedimentary layer was observed, and the P-wave velocity values below the sedimentary layer obtained were 5.3–5.8 km/s. P-wave velocity values for the lower part of upper crust and lower crust were estimated to be 6.0–6.4 and 6.6–6.8 km/s, respectively. The reflected wave from the upper boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate was observed on the record sections of several shots. The configuration of the subducting Philippine Sea slab was revealed for depths of 20–35 km. The dip angle of the Philippine Sea plate was estimated to be 26° for a depth range of about 20–26 km. Below this depth, the upper boundary of the subducting Philippine Sea plate is distorted over a depth range of 26–33 km. A large variation of the reflected-wave amplitude with depth along the subducting plate was observed. At a depth of about 20–26 km, the amplitude of the reflected wave is not large, and is explained by the reflected wave at the upper boundary of the subducting oceanic crust. However, the reflected wave from reflection points deeper than 26 km showed a large amplitude that cannot be explained by several reliable velocity models. Some unique seismic structures have to be considered to explain the observed data. Such unique structures will provide important information to know the mechanism of inter-plate earthquakes.     

Thicknesses and types of the crust beneath the Sea of Japan inferred from marine and satellite gravimetric investigations

The combined gravimetric, altimetric, and seismic data used for calculating the crust thickness beneath the Sea of Japan revealed its different types in this region: oceanic and continental with different degrees of destruction. It is shown that the crust thickness derived from satellite altimetry is well consistent with that calculated from the data obtained by on-board gravimetric observations.     

Alkaline basaltic volcanism of the Sea of Japan and the Philippine Sea: Similar and distinct geochemical and genetic features

The results of study of the deep sources of volcanic rocks from the Sea of Japan and the Philippine Sea with continental and oceanic basements, respectively, are presented. This problem is considered with the example of alkaline volcanic rocks of the Middle Miocene to Pliocene complex of the Sea of Japan and the Eocene–Oligocene Urdaneta Plateau of the Philippine Sea. The rocks have a similar geochemistry typical of OIBs, which indicates their deep (plume) origin. The presence of the Oligocene calc-alkaline volcanic rocks, which were formed prior to the marginal sea volcanism in the Sea of Japan, however, is the main difference in volcanism of the Sea of Japan from that of the Urdaneta Plateau, and this is explained by the different basements of these seas.