Seismic hazard in Takamatsu Japan from fault trenching and paleo-liquefaction studies

Takamatsu is a harbor city of 330,000 people on the northern shore of Shikoku Island, southwest Japan. Earthquakes in the Nankai Trough, typically of magnitude M 8+, have been considered the primary source of seismic hazard for the island and Takamatsu. A major active fault system, the Median Tectonic Line, runs across the Shikoku from east to west near the north shore. There is no documented historical seismicity associated with this major fault system in Shikoku or with associated faults such as the 20 km Nagao Fault near Takamatsu. Therefore the trenches were cut across some of the more important faults to expose the record of past seismicity. Additional data on past seismicity is derived from paleo-liquefaction studies in the Takamatsu plain. This paper describes the trenching and paleo-seismic studies and discusses the implications of the findings for seismic hazard in Takamatsu.     

Tectonics and sedimentation around Kashinosaki Knoll: A subducting basement high in the eastern Nankai Trough

Abstract   When seamounts and other topographic highs on an oceanic plate are subducted, they cause significant deformation of the overriding plate and may act as asperities deeper in the seismogenic zone. Kashinosaki Knoll (KK) is an isolated basement high of volcanic origin on the subducting Philippine Sea Plate that will soon be subducted at the eastern Nankai Trough. Seismic reflection imaging reveals a thick accumulation of sediments (∼1200 m) over and around the knoll. The lower portion of the sedimentary section has a package of high-amplitude, continuous reflections, interpreted as turbidites, that lap onto steep basement slopes but are parallel to the gentler basement slopes. Total sediment thickness on the western and northern slopes is approximately 40–50% more than on the summit and southeastern slopes of KK. These characteristics imply that the basal sedimentary section northwest of KK was deposited by infrequent high-energy turbidity currents, whereas the area southeast of KK was dominated by hemipelagic sedimentation over asymmetric basement relief. From the sediment structure and magnetic anomalies, we estimate that the knoll likely formed near the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin in the early Miocene. Its origin differs from that of nearby Zenisu Ridge, which is a piece of the Shikoku Basin crust uplifted along a thrust fault related to the collision of the Izu–Bonin arc and Honshu. KK has been carried into the margin of the Nankai Trough, and its high topography is deflecting Quaternary trench turbidites to the south. When KK collides with the accretionary prism in about 1 My, the associated variations in sediment type and thickness around the knoll will likely result in complex local variations in prism deformation.     

Altitude variation of the plasmapause signature in the main ionospheric trough

The projection of the plasmapause magnetic-field lines to low altitudes, where the light-ion chemistry is dominated by O⁺, tends to occur near the minimum electron density in the main (midlatitude) electron density trough at night. With increasing altitude in the trough, where H⁺ emerges as the dominant ion on the low-latitude boundary, we have found cases where the plasmapause field lines are located on the sharp low-latitude side of the trough as expected if this topside ionosphere H⁺ distribution varies in step with the plasmapause gradient in the distant plasmasphere. These conclusions are based on near-equatorial crossings of the plasmapause (corresponding to the steep gradient in the dominant species H⁺) by the Explorer-45 satellite as determined from electric-field measurements by Maynard and Cauffman in the early 1970s and ISIS-2 ionospheric topside-sounder measurements. The former data have now been converted to digital form and made available at http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov. The latter provide samples of nearly coincident observations of ionospheric main trough crossings near the same magnetic-field lines of the Explorer 45-determined equatorial plasmapause. The ISIS-2 vertical electron density profiles are used to infer where the F-region transitions from an O⁺ to a H⁺ dominated plasma through the main trough boundaries.     

南海西沙海槽S14站位的地球化学异常特征及其意义

西沙海槽具备良好的天然气水合物的形成条件,并已发现与其有关的地球物理标志--模拟海底反射层（BSR）。通过对西沙海槽S14大型活塞站位的孔隙水和沉积物样品进行化学组分、酸解烃和热释光等方面的分析测试,结果发现在海底之下4～5 m区间存在着较明显的高盐高烃异常,其中酸解烃中的甲烷、乙烷、丙烷含量及其热释光值均有所增高,孔隙水中的绝大部分离子及其盐度也存在着明显的升高,这一高盐高烃异常可能是下部与天然气水合物有关的孔隙流体沿着断层向上迁移所致。这些地球化学异常以及模拟海底反射层等地球物理标志显示该站位之下可能存在天然气水合物。     

The sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough during the Late Quaternary

On the basis of accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon （AMS ^14C） dating, sedimentation rates of 11 cores collected from the northern to southern Okinawa Trough are discussed. The sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough roughly range from 11 to 39cm/ka, and the average is 23.0cm/ka. China＇s continental matter is the main sediment source of the middle Okinawa Trough and has important contribution to the northern and southern Okinawa Trough. The sedimentation rates during the marine oxygen isotope （MIS） 2 are uniformly higher than those during MIS 1 in the northern and middle Okinawa Trough while they are on the contrary in the southern Okinawa Trough. Sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough can be one of the proxies of sediment source and an indicator of cooling events.     

南海西沙海槽典型地震相识别与分析

西沙海槽区作为气水合物的可能聚集地越来越受到关注。浅析地震相分析方法,通过地震相标志的识别,归纳出自中中新世以来,西沙海槽发育有8种地震相：S形前积地震相、斜交前积地震相、下超型前积地震相、丘状地震相、杂乱地震相、空白地震相、透镜状地震相和席状地震相。较细致地描述了各种地震相的反射特征,并结合研究区的沉积背景,对不同地震相的沉积学特征做出了合理解释。     

冲绳海槽中部表层沉积物的地球化学特征和物原判识

研究样品由“向阳红16”号于1992年6～7月间取自冲绳海槽中部.对表层沉积物的地球化学数据的因子分析和典型化学组分的相关分析结果表明,冲绳海槽中部表层沉积物主要包括陆架来源、生物源和火山热液源组分,且以陆源组分为主;运用修正的富集团子(EF)分析结果表明,沉积物中陆源、生物源、火山热液源组分在不同区域的相对分布是显着不同的.     

东海陆架前缘斜坡(冲绳海槽西坡)北部的断块隆脊地貌

东海陆架前缘斜坡(冲绳海槽西坡)北部的断块隆脊,是呈长条形的脊状台式隆起,位于29°30′N-31°10′N;128°00′E-128°20′E之间。其由NNE向链状排列的断块山地组成,且与NNE向的断裂构造相一致,其顶部水深约300m～400m左右。从实测单道地震剖面看,隆脊的东西两侧均有断层出现。隆脊西坡倾向陆架一侧,坡度大,有的地方坡度超过10°;而东侧坡度较缓,仅1°左右,缓倾至海槽西坡坡底,并以沟坎式与冲绳海槽槽底相连。冲绳海槽地区的构造运动,使隆脊地区受到断裂构造的作用。NNE向的大断裂使该隆脊位置的东西两侧断裂下降而中间抬起,加之下部岩浆上侵,显现出链式排列的断块山地,表现为一条长形的断块隆脊构造地貌体。推测该地貌体形成的时期较晚,它是与断层的发生同时期形成的。     

Thermal and rheological structures of the Xisha Trough, South China Sea

The Xisha Trough, located in the northwest of the South China Sea (SCS) mainly rifted 30 Ma ago, has been a failed rift since the cessation of the seafloor spreading of the NW subbasin. Based on the velocity–depth model along Profile OBH-4 across the Xisha Trough, a seven-layer density–depth model is used to estimate density structure for the profile. The relationship between seismic velocity and radiogenic heat production is used to estimate the vertical distribution of heat sources in the lower crust. The 2-D temperature field is calculated by applying a 2-D numerical solution of the heat conduction equation and the thermal lithosphere thickness is obtained from the basalt dry solidus (BDS). The rheology of the profile is estimated on the basis of frictional failure in the brittle regime and power-law steady-state creep in the ductile regime. Rheological model is constructed for a three-layer model involving a granitic upper crust, a quartz diorite lower crust and an olivine upper mantle. Gravity modeling supports basically the velocity–depth model. The Moho along Profile OBH-4 is of relatively high heat flow ranging from 46 to 60 mW/m² and the Moho heat flow is higher in the trough than on the flanks. The depth of the “thermal” lithospheric lower boundary is about 54 km in the center, deepens toward two sides, and is about 75 km at the northern slope area and about 70 km at the southern Xisha–Zhongsha Block. Rheological calculation indicates that the two thinnest ductile layers in the crust and the thickest brittle layer in the uppermost mantle lie in the central region, showing that the Xisha Trough has been rheologically strengthened, which are mainly due to later thermal relaxation. In addition, the strengthening in rheology during rifting was not the main factor in hampering the breakup of the Xisha Trough.     

南冲绳海槽沉积物中淡水硅藻的发现及1000年以来台风降雨的重建

利用主成分分析法对冲绳海槽南部MD05-2908孔近1000年来沉积物硅藻数据进行研究发现,MD05-2908孔各样品在主成分一上的得分情况与该于孔淡水硅藻含量、夏季海水表层盐度变化以及台湾近1000年来的降水异常有良好的相关性,因此,各样品在主成分一上的得分可作为台湾东北部台风降雨指标,用来指示台风强降雨事件对南冲绳海槽海洋环境的影响情况.近1000年来台湾东北部台风强降雨事件波动增加,在1500～1800A.D.期间达到峰值;此外,5次典型的强台风降雨记录,分别发生于1040A.D.、1310A.D.、1530A.D.、1690A.D.和1900A.D.,其平均重现周期为215年(160～270年).利用MD05-2908孔各样品在主成分一上的得分重建的台风记录与广东、台湾等地已有的台风记录有较好的对应关系,进一步验证了硅藻作为研究工具重建古台风记录的可行性.