Skip to main content

Advertisement

Earth, Planets and Space
Earth, Planets and Space Cover Image

Diffusion of crustal deformation from disturbances arising at plate boundaries—a case of the detachment beneath the Izu Peninsula, central Honshu, Japan—

Earth, Planets and Space volume 57, pages935–941(2005)Cite this article

Article metrics

  • 234 Accesses

  • 7 Citations

Abstract

We carry out numerical simulation of disturbance propagation within a plate floating over a viscous layer based on the 2-dimensional equations of Lehner et al. (1981). We apply the results to the anomalous crustal movements in central Honshu that followed the dike intrusion event between Miyakejima and Kozushima in the mid of 2000. We assume that the anomalous crustal movements represent diffusive transfer of a slip on the detachment beneath the Izu Peninsula, that occurred at the time of the dike intrusion event, over thin viscous layers such as the fault gouge of nearby great interplate earthquakes (Seno, 2005). From the arrival times of the disturbance in the Tokai district, the diffusion coefficient is determined to be 50–150 m2/s, and the viscosity of the fault gouge to be 1013–1015 Pa s. This value of viscosity is significantly smaller than that of the asthenosphere, and would probably be caused by the elevation of pore fluid pressure close to the lithostatic in the rupture zones of nearby great earthquakes. The serpentinized wedge mantle landward of the rupture zones may also constitute part of the thin viscous layers.

References

  1. Anderson, D. L., Accelerated plate tectonics, Science, 187, 1077–1079, 1975.

  2. Bott, M. H. P. and D. S. Dean, Stress diffusion from plate boundaries, Nature, 243, 339–341, 1973.

  3. Elsasser, W. M., Convection and stress propagation in the upper mantle, in The Application of Modern Physics to the Earth and Planetary Interiors, edited by S. K. Runcorn, John Wiley, New York, 223–246, 1967.

  4. Geographical Survey Institute, Crustal movements in the Tokai district, Rep. Corrd. Comm. Earthquake Predict., 69, 303–393, 2003.

  5. Hickman, S., R. Sibson, and R. Bruhn, Introduction to special section: mechanical involvement of fluids in faulting, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 12831–12840, 1995.

  6. Heki, K., G. R. Foulger, B. R. Julian, and C.-H. Jahn, Plate dynamics near divergent boundaries: Geophysical implications of post-tectonic crustal deformation in NE Iceland, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 14279–14297, 1993.

  7. Honda, S. and I. Nakanishi, Seismic tomography of the uppermost mantle beneath southwestern Japan: seismological constraints on modelling subduction and magmatism for the Philippine Sea slab, Earth Planets Space, 55, 443–462, 2003.

  8. Ida, Y., Slow-moving deformation pulses along tectonic faults, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 9, 328–337, 1974.

  9. Ienaga, M., The early stages of formation and evolution of the Nankai accretionary prism inferred from quantitative analysis of logging-while-drilling and the core data, ODP Leg 196, Ph. D. thesis, Univ. of Tokyo, 2003.

  10. Ishibashi, K., Specification of a soon-to-occur seismic faulting in the Tokai district, central Japan, based upon seismotectonics, Earthquake Prediction-An International Review, Maurice Ewing Series, 4, 297–332, 1981.

  11. Ishii, H. et al., Characteristics of Strain Migration in the Northeastern Japan Arc (II), J. Geod. Soc. Jpn., 26, 17–25, 1980.

  12. Ito, T. and S. Yoshioka, A dike intrusion model in and around Miyakejima, Niijima and Kozushima in 2000, Tectonophysics, 359, 171–187, 2002.

  13. Kamiya, S. and Y. Kobayashi, Seismological evidence for the existence of serpentinized wedge mantle, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 819–822, 2000.

  14. Kamiya, S. and Y. Kobayashi, Seismological evidence for the existence of serpentinized wedge mantle in the Tokai district, 2005 (to be submitted).

  15. Kasahara, K., Migration of crustal deformation, Tectonophysics, 52, 329–341, 1979.

  16. Kasahara, K., J. Yamada, and M. Ando, Crustal movements in the southern Kanto district, and a related working hypothesis, Publications for the 50th anniversary of the Great Kanto earthquake, 1923, Earthq. Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo, 103–116, 1973 (in Japanese).

  17. Kobayashi, A., T. Yamamoto, H. Takayama, and A. Yoshida, Crustal deformation in the Chubu-Kanto region at and after the 2000 seismic and volcanic activity around the Northern Izu Islands, J. Geod. Soc. Jpn., 49, 121–133, 2003 (in Japanese).

  18. Kodaira, S., T. Iidaka, A. Kato, J.-O. Park, T. Iwasaki, and Y. Kaneda, High pore fluid pressure may cause silent slip in the Nankai trough, Science, 304, 1295–1298, 2004.

  19. Lehner, F. K., V. C. Li, and J. R. Rice, Stress diffusion along rupturing plate boundaries, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 6155–6169, 1981.

  20. Matsumura, S., Focal zone of a future Tokai earthquake inferred from the seismicity pattern around the plate interface, Tectonophysics, 273, 271–291, 1997.

  21. Mogi, K., Migration of seismic activity, Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst., 46, 53–74, 1968.

  22. Nakada, M. and K. Lambeck, Glacial rebound and relative sea-level variations: a new appraisal, Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc., 90, 171–224, 1987.

  23. Nishimura, T., S. Ozawa, M. Murakami, T. Sagiya, T. Tada, M. Kaidzu, and M. Ukawa, Crustal deformation caused by magma migration in the northern Izu Islands, Japan, Geophys. Res. Lett., 19, 3745–3748, 2001.

  24. Noguchi, S. and S. Sekiguchi, Subduction and deformation of the Philippine Sea and Pacific plates beneath the Kanto region, Earth Monthly, 23, 733–741, 2001 (in Japanese).

  25. Obara, K., Nonvolcanic deep tremor associated with subduction in southwest Japan, Science, 296, 1679–1681, 2002.

  26. Ozawa S., M. Murakami, M. Kaidzu, T. Tada, T. Sagiya, Y. Hatanaka, H. Yarai, and T. Nishimura, Detection and monitoring of ongoing aseismic slip in the Tokai region, central Japan, Science, 298, 1009–1021, 2002.

  27. Ozawa, S., S. Miyazaki, Y. Hatanaka, T. Imakiire, M. Kaidzu, and M. Murakami, Characteristic silent earthquakes in the eastern part of the Boso peninsula, Central Japan, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, doi:10.1029/2002GL016665, 2003.

  28. Raleigh, C. B. and M. S. Paterson, Experimental deformation of serpentinite and its tectonic implications, J. Geophys. Res., 70, 3965–3985, 1965.

  29. Rydelek, P. A. and I. S. Sacks, Asthenospheric viscosity and stress diffusion: a mechanism to explain correlated earthquakes and surface deformations in NE Japan, Geophys. J. Inter., 100, 39–58, 1990.

  30. Sakai, S., T. Yamada, S. Ide, M. Mochizuki, H. Shiobara, T. Urabe, N. Hirata, M. Shinohara, T. Kanazawa, A. Nishizawa, G. Fujie, and H. Mikada, Magma migration from the point of view of seismic activity in the volcanism of Miyake-jima island in 2000, J. Geogr., 110, 145–155, 2001 (in Japanese).

  31. Sato, K., Numerical experiments on strain migration, J. Geod. Soc. Jpn., 35, 27–36, 1989 (in Japanese).

  32. Seno, T., Fractal asperities, invasion of barriers, and interplate earthquakes, Earth Planets Space, 55, 649–665, 2003.

  33. Seno, T., Intermediate-term precursors of great subduction zone earthquakes: An application for predicting the Tokai earthquake, Earth Planets Space, 56, 621–633, 2004.

  34. Seno, T., Izu detachment hypothesis: A proposal of a unified cause for the Miyake-Kozu event and the Tokai slow event, Earth Planets Space, 57, this issue, 925–934, 2005.

  35. Seno. T., S. Stein, and A. E. Gripp, A model for the motion of the Philippine Sea plate consistent with NUVEL-1 and geological data, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 17941–17948, 1993.

  36. Seno, T., T. Sakurai, and S. Stein, Can the Okhotsk plate be discriminated from the North American plate?, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 11305–11315, 1996.

  37. Suito, H. and K. Hirahara, Simulation of postseismic deformations caused by the 1896 Riku-u earthquake, northeast Japan: Re-evaluation of the viscosity in the upper mantle, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 2561–2564, 1999.

  38. Tanaka, Y., S. Otsuka, and L. Lazo, Migrating crustal deformations in Peru, Abstr. Seism. Soc. Jpn., no. 2, 1977 (in Japanese).

  39. Thatcher, W., J. B. Rundle, T. Matsuda, and T. Kato, Lithospheric loading by the 1896 Riku-u earthquake, northern Japan: Implications for plate flexure and asthenospheric rheology, J. Geophys. Res., 85, 6429–6435, 1980.

  40. Toksoz, M. N., A. F. Shakal, and A. J. Micael, Space-time migration of earthquakes along the North Anatolian fault zone and seismic gaps, PAGEOPH, 117, 1258–1270, 1979.

  41. Ueda, H., M. Ohtake, and H. Sato, Postseismic crustal deformation following the 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-oki earthquake, northern Japan: Evidence for a low-viscosity zone in the uppermost mantle, J. Geophys. Res., 108(B3), doi:10.1029/2002JB002067, 2003.

  42. Yamada, J., A water-tube tiltmeter and its application to crustal movement studies, Spec. Bull. Earthq. Res. Inst., 10, 1–147, 1973 (in Japanese).

  43. Yamaoka, K., What are occurring beneath the Miyake and Kozu islands?, Kagaku, 70, 926–935, 2000 (in Japanese).

  44. Yamaoka, K., T. Kudo, M. Kawamura, F. Kimata, and N. Fujii, Long-lastisng dike intrusion in the 2000 eruption of Miyakejima volcano—Where did the magma come from?, Bull. Volcanol., 67, 231–242, 2005.

  45. Yamasaki, T. and T. Seno, High strain rate zone in Central Honshu resulting from the viscosity heterogeneities in the crust and mantle, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 232, 13–27, 2005.

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Japan

    • Kana Takahashi
    •  & Tetsuzo Seno

Authors

  1. Search for Kana Takahashi in:

  2. Search for Tetsuzo Seno in:

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kana Takahashi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Takahashi, K., Seno, T. Diffusion of crustal deformation from disturbances arising at plate boundaries—a case of the detachment beneath the Izu Peninsula, central Honshu, Japan—. Earth Planet Sp 57, 935–941 (2005) doi:10.1186/BF03351873

Download citation

Key words

  • Stress diffusion
  • detachment
  • dike intrusion
  • Izu Peninsula
  • viscosity
  • Tokai