3D anisotropic structure of the Japan subduction zone.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33523923.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abc9620 and PMC identifier 7817110.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
How mantle materials flow and how intraslab fabrics align in subduction zones are two essential issues for clarifying material recycling between Earth's interior and surface. Investigating seismic anisotropy is one of a few viable technologies that can directly answer these questions. However, the detailed anisotropic structure of subduction zones is still unclear. Under a general hexagonal symmetry anisotropy assumption, we develop a tomographic method to determine a high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) <i>P</i> wave anisotropic model of the Japan subduction zone by inverting 1,184,018 travel time data of local and teleseismic events. As a result, the 3D anisotropic structure in and around the dipping Pacific slab is firstly revealed. Our results show that slab deformation plays an important role in both mantle flow and intraslab fabric, and the widely observed trench-parallel anisotropy in the forearc is related to the intraslab deformation during the outer-rise yielding of the subducting plate.