CHEN QiFu,
WANG Xin,
JIANG JinZhong et al
.2021.The Northwest Pacific subduction zone and its deep earthquake activity Chinese Journal of Geophysics(in Chinese),64(12): 4394-4405,doi: 10.6038/cjg2021P0038
The Northwest Pacific subduction zone and its deep earthquake activity
CHEN QiFu1,2,3, WANG Xin1,2, JIANG JinZhong4, LI TianJue5
1. Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China 2. Heilongjiang Mohe Observatory of Geophysics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China 3. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 4. Yunnan Earthquake Agency, Kunming 650224, China 5. School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore
Abstract：The subduction process drives the material cycling and energy exchange between Earth's surface and its deep interior, and thus the subduction zones are pivotal for understanding the evolution of continental lithosphere, the subduction-related earthquakes, volcanos, ore deposits, etc. This paper focuses on the Northwest Pacific subduction zone and summarizes our present understandings of the subducting slab from the Japan Trench to Northeast China based on multiple seismic investigations. Stress inversion shows that the principal compressive stress axis of the slab is subparallel to the subducting direction, indicating a close relationship for the shallow and deep strong earthquakes associated with the subducting slab. A metastable olivine wedge (MOW) does exist within the subducting slab at the mantle transition zone (MTZ) depth, with most deep earthquakes occurred within and in the vicinity of the MOW, favoring the dual-mechanism hypothesis as the initiation mechanism of deep earthquakes. Seismic observations show the upper and lower boundaries of the subducting high-velocity slab at MTZ depths (410 to 660 km), suggesting a compositionally layered slab and high water contents beneath the slab. A better understanding of the slab structures and the dynamic processes of the Pacific subduction zone, which is a very rare region with intense deep seismicity beneath continents, requires the efforts of interdisciplinary teams to carry out joint sea-land geophysical investigations, high-pressure/high-temperature experiments, and geodynamic simulations for the Northwest Pacific subduction zone.
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