Tectonic evolution of the Nootka fault zone and deformation of the shallow subducted Explorer plate in northern Cascadia as revealed by earthquake distributions and seismic tomography.

ABSTRACT: At the northern Cascadia subduction zone, the subducting Explorer and Juan de Fuca plates interact across a transform deformation zone, known as the Nootka fault zone (NFZ). This study continues the Seafloor Earthquake Array Japan Canada Cascadia Experiment to a second phase (SeaJade II) consisting of nine months of recording of earthquakes using ocean-bottom and land-based seismometers. In addition to mapping the distribution of seismicity, including an M_W 6.4 earthquake and aftershocks along the previously unknown Nootka Sequence Fault, we also conducted seismic tomography, which delineates the geometry of the shallow subducting Explorer plate (ExP). We derived hundreds of high-quality focal mechanism solutions from the SeaJade II data. The mechanisms manifest a complex region

SUBMITTER: Hutchinson J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10185695 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature