Precise relocation of low-frequency earthquakes in Northeast Japan: New insight into arc magma and fluids

Xiongwei Niu, Dapeng Zhao, Jiabiao Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High-resolution (~10-20 km) P- and S-wave velocity (Vp, Vs) tomography of the crust and uppermost mantle is determined to relocate precisely a large number of low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) which occurred in Hokkaido and Tohoku during 2002-2016. The LFEs and seismic tomography are combined to study the arc magma and fluids in the study region. We divide the 4036 LFEs in Hokkaido and 4946 LFEs in Tohoku into 43 groups. Most of the LFEs are located in or around low-Vp, low-Vs and high Poisson's ratio anomalies beneath active arc volcanoes, which indicate the existence of abundant fluids and magmatic activities in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the volcanoes. Our results also reveal the influence of large crustal earthquakes on the spatial and temporal distributions of the LFEs. Many of the LFEs occurred at edges of the low-Vp and low-Vs zones within ~15 km of the active volcanoes, indicating transportation and/or cooling of the arc magmas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1183-1200
Number of pages18
JournalGeophysical Journal International
Volume212
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 Feb 1

Keywords

  • Seismic tomography
  • Seismicity and tectonics
  • Subduction zone processes
  • Volcano seismology

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