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Active sediment creep deformation on a deep-sea terrace in the Japan Trench

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2018

Sayaka Nitta ,
Takafumi Kasaya Open the ORCID record for Takafumi Kasaya [Opens in a new window]  and
Kiichiro Kawamura Open the ORCID record for Kiichiro Kawamura [Opens in a new window]
Sayaka Nitta
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi753-8512, Japan
Takafumi Kasaya
Affiliation:
Japan Agency for Marine Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima, Yokosuka, Kanagawa237-0046, Japan
Kiichiro Kawamura*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi753-8512, Japan
*
Author for correspondence: Kiichiro Kawamura, Email: kiichirokawamura@gmail.com
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Abstract

Eighty-six new acoustic survey lines along and across the Japan Trench revealed active sediment creep deformation on a deep-sea terrace at water depths of 400–1200 m in an area of arcuate-shaped depressions that are probably associated with tectonic erosion. The most active region of creep is located on the top at the surface of the depression south of 38° N. The area of creep deformation is characterized by arcuate-shaped topographic lineaments with active folds and active normal faults stepping down trenchward. In contrast to the southern region, normal faults at the top of the depression north of 38° N cut a sedimentary sequence (Unit 1) that is acoustically transparent with continuous weak reflectors, and this is covered by the undeformed layered sediment sequence of Unit 2. Unit 2 corresponds to the period of rising sea level that extended from the latest Pleistocene to the early Holocene (14–6 ka). Thus, creep is ongoing at the top of the depression south of 38° N in the surface layer, whereas it stopped north of the depression between 14 and 6 ka. These observations might indicate that the active region jumped from north to south due to probably retrogressive sliding.

Keywords

Japan Trenchsub-bottom profilersubmarine slidetectonic erosion2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 158 , Special Issue 1: Subduction zone processes and crustal growth mechanisms at Pacific-Rim continental margins: modern and ancient analogues , January 2021 , pp. 39 - 46
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

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