Abstract
DOUBLE seismic zones, planes or earthquakes parallel to the dip of a subducting slab and separated by 20–40 km, provide important clues about the earthquake generating mechanisms and strain distribution inside subducting slabs. Double seismic zones have been found at intermediate depths (70–200 km) in many subduction zones1–6 but have not been previously reported in deep slabs. Here, by relocating earthquakes with a hypocentroidal decomposition technique7 and visualizing the earthquake positions and uncertainties in three dimensions, we identify a double seismic zone at depths of 350–460 km in the Tonga subduction zone. Source parameters of the earthquakes determined by waveform analysis suggest different stress orientations for the two zones, with in-plane compression in the lower zone and in-plane tension in the upper zone. The double zone may be due to transformational faulting, as olivine along the edges of a metastable olivine wedge becomes warmer and transforms to spinel8–11.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Umino, N. & Hasegawa, A. J. Selsmol. Soc. Jap. Ser. 2 28, 125–139 (1975).
Isacks, B. L. & Barazangi, M. Geometry of the Beniof Zones: Lateral Segmentation and Downwards Bending of the Subjected Lithosphere Vol. 1, 99–114 (Am. Geophys. Un., Washington DC, 1977).
Hasegawa, A., Umino, N. & Takagi, A. Tectonophysics 47, 43–58 (1978).
Fujita, K. & Kanamori, H. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 66, 131–156 (1981).
Kawakatsu, H. Nature 316, 53–55 (1985).
Abers, G. A. Geophys. Res. Lett. 19, 2019–2022 (1992).
Jordan, T. H. & Sverdrup, K. A. Bull. seism. Soc. Am. 71, 1105–1130 (1981).
Kirby, S. H. J. geophys. Res. 92, 13789–13800 (1987).
Kirby, S. H., Durham, W. B. & Stern, L. A. Science 252, 216–225 (1991).
Green, H. W. & Burnley, P. C. Nature 341, 733–737 (1989).
Green, H. W., Young, T. E., Walker, D. & Scholz, C. H. Nature 348, 720–722 (1990).
Fuchs, K. & Muller, G. Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc. 23, 417–433 (1971).
Kennett, B. L. N. Seismic Wave Propagation in Stratified Media 1–339 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983).
Kawakatsu, H. J. geophys. Res. 91, 6432–6440 (1986).
Giardini, D. & Woodhouse, J. H. Nature 307, 505–509 (1984).
Yoshii, T. Tectonophysics 55, 349–360 (1979).
Sleep, N. H. J. geophys. Res. 84, 4565–4571 (1979).
Kawakatsu, H. J. geophys. Res. 91, 4811–4825 (1986).
Schubert, G., Yuen, D. A. & Turcotte, D. L. Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc. 42, 705–735 (1975).
Vidale, J. E. & Benz, H. M. Nature 356, 678–683 (1992).
Sung, C. & Burns, R. G. Tectonophysics 31, 1–32 (1976).
Rubie, D. C. & Ross, C. R. EOS 73, 378 (1992).
Frohlich, C. A. Rev. Earth planet. Sci. 17, 227–255 (1991).
Helffrich, G. & Brodholt, J. Nature 352, 252–255 (1991).
Houston, H. & Williams, Q. Nature 352, 520–522 (1991).
Toksoz, M. N., Sleep, N. H. & Smith, A. T. Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc. 35, 285–310 (1973).
Bina, C. R. & Wood, B. J. J. geophys. Res. 92, 4853–4866 (1987).
Akaogi, M., Ito, E. & Navrotsky, A. J. geophys. Res. 94, 15671–15685 (1989).
Goto, K., Suzuki, Z. & Hamaguchi, H. J. geophys. Res. 92, 13811–13820 (1987).
Bevis, M. et al. EOS 72, 115 (1991).
Richter, F. M. J. geophys. Res. 84, 6783–6795 (1979).
Dziewonski, A. M., Chou, T. & Woodhouse, J. H. J. geophys. Res. 86, 2825–2852 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wiens, D., McGuire, J. & Shore, P. Evidence for transformational faulting from a deep double seismic zone in Tonga. Nature 364, 790–793 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/364790a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/364790a0
This article is cited by
-
Detection of thin film phase transformations at high-pressure and high-temperature in a diamond anvil cell
Communications Earth & Environment (2024)
-
Unsupervised machine learning reveals slab hydration variations from deep earthquake distributions beneath the northwest Pacific
Communications Earth & Environment (2022)
-
In situ X-ray and acoustic observations of deep seismic faulting upon phase transitions in olivine
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Analytic Solution to the Moment Tensor—Anisotropy Inverse Problem
Pure and Applied Geophysics (2020)
-
Seismic anisotropy evidence for dehydration embrittlement triggering intermediate-depth earthquakes
Scientific Reports (2017)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
