Correlation between plate age and layer separation of double seismic zones

Global seismicity catalogs are sufficient for characterizing double seismic zones （DSZs） in subducting slab and facilitate to estimate layer separation without inconsistent uncertainties as local catalogs. Previous studies have shown the correlation between DSZs layer separation and plate age while correlation for those younger than -60 Ma is suspicious. The lacking of DSZs with layer separation less than 10 km further makes it difficult to precisely estimate such correlation. Thus, we incorporate eight DSZs data determined through local seismicity into globally-determined dataset and reexamine such correlation. The best fitting results show that both a linear model and a square root of plate age can mathematically fit the layer separation well. However, it is difficult to distinguish these two models when plate age is greater than -20 Ma since their difference is less than 2 km. However, if extrapolation is possible, both models should provide physical information that DSZs will not form if there is no subducting lithosphere. As a result, the DSZs cannot be produced until the oceanic lithospheric age becomes greater than 0.9 Ma in the square root model while the linear model gives a misleading result. As such the square root model demonstrates the relationship physically better than the linear one, it still needs further test in the future with more available data, nevertheless, our study might also provide evidence for the suggestion that the plate age is a primary control factor of the DSZs geometry as well as the subducting process which disregards any local tectonic stresses.

Lattice-Preferred orientations of olivine in subducting oceanic lithosphere derived from the observed seismic anisotropies in double seismic zones

Subduction zones can generally be classified into Mariana type and Chilean type depending on plate ages, plate thicknesses, subduction angles, back-arc deformation patterns, etc. The double seismic zones （DSZs） in sub- duction zones are mainly divided into type I and type II which, respectively, correspond to the Mariana type and Chilean type in most cases. Seismic anisotropy is an important parameter characterizing the geophysical fea- tures of the lithosphere, including the subduction zones, and can be described by the two parameters of delay time ~t and fast wave polarization direction ~b. We totally col- lected 524 seismic anisotropy data records from 24 DSZs and analyzed the statistical correlations between seismic anisotropy and the related physical parameters of DSZs. Our statistical analysis demonstrated that the fast wave polarization directions are parallel to the trench strike with no more than 30~ for most type I DSZs, while being nearlyperpendicular to the trench strike for type II DSZs. We also calculated roughly linear correlations that the delay time 6t increases with dip angles but decreases with subduction rates. A linear equation was summarized to describe the strong correlation between DSZ＇s subduction angle DSZ and seismic anisotropy in subduction zones. These results suggest that the anisotropic structure of the subducting lithosphere can be described as a possible equivalent crystal similar to the olivine crystal with three mutually orthogonal polarization axes, of which the longest and the second axes are nearly along the trench-perpendicular and trench-parallel directions, respectively.

Seismic imaging of the double seismic zone in the subducting slab in Northern Chile

Double seismic zones are commonly observed in the subducting slabs in a global scale,serving as ideal examples for studying the seismogenetic mechanism of the intermediate-depth earthquakes.In this study,we relocate earthquakes and determine seismic velocity models using the double-difference seismic tomography method in the northern Chile subduction zone where a double seismic zone exists.The results suggest that the double seismic zone in northern Chile is located at about 50-140 km depth,with an interval of approximately 20 km between the two zones.The upper seismic zone is characterized by relatively low Vp(~7.8-8.0 km/s),low Vs(~4.4-4.5 km/s)and high Vp/Vs(~1.85)above the depth of~90 km,while the region below~90 km is distinguished by relatively high Vp(~8.2 km/s),high Vs(~4.8 km/s)and slightly high Vp/Vs(~1.75),which may be related to a series of dehydration reactions of hydrous minerals in the subducted oceanic crust.In comparison,the lower seismic zone is featured by the anomaly of low Vp/Vs(~1.7),although some local areas may consist of relatively high Vp/Vs values(~1.8),possibly due to the dehydration reaction of serpentine.Based on the Vp,Vs,Vp/Vs anomalies combined with previous petrological experiments and thermodynamic models,it can be derived that intermediate-depth earthquakes are mainly related to the dehydration of various hydrous minerals in the subducting slab.The dehydration process of hydrous minerals releases water into the subducting slab and subsequently leads to the increase of pore fluid pressure and the decrease of effective normal stress,thus causing the occurrence of brittle failure and intermediate-depth earthquakes in subduction zones.The imaging results of the northern Chile subduction zone further indicate that the existence of the double seismic zone is related to the dehydration process of different hydrous minerals.

A Kinematic Thermal Model for Descending Slabs with Velocity Boundary Layers:A Case Study for the Tonga Subducting Slab

For the purpose of investigating the influence of metastable olivine（MO） phase transformations on both deep seismicity and stagnation of slabs,we constructed a 2-dimensional finite element thermal model for a 120 Ma-old 50°dipping oceanic lithosphere descending at 10 cm/yr with velocity boundary layers,which would mitigate the interference of constant velocity field for the slab. The resulting temperatures show that most of intermediate and deep earthquakes occurring within the Tonga slab are occurring inside the 800℃and 1200℃isotherm,respectively.The elevation of olivine transformation near～410 km and respective persistence of metastable olivine and spinel within the transition zone and beneath 660 km would thus result in bimodal positive,zonal,negative density anomalies,respectively.These results together with the resulting pressure anomalies may reflect the stress pattern of the Tonga slab：（i） slab pull force exerts above a depth of～230 km;（ii） MO existence changes the buoyancy force within the transition zone and facilitates slab stagnation at a depth of 660 km;（iii） as the subducting materials accumulated over 660 km,deepest earthquakes occur due to MO transformation;（iv） a flattened‘slab’ may penetrate into the lower mantle due to the density increment of Sp transformation.

Research on the Activity Characteristics of Small Earthquake Swarms in the Muli Area of Sichuan Province

In this article,we relocated the seismic source location of the earthquakes in the Muli area of Sichuan,inverted the focal mechanism of the larger earthquakes and analyzed the relationship between the water level of the Jinping reservoir and the frequency of the earthquake swarm. The results show that:( 1) The epicenters of the relocated small earthquake swarms are distributed in a seismic zone,and the earthquake focal depths were in the range of 0- 12 km.( 2) By analyzing the earthquake swarm spatial distribution,we found that the swarms were generated by one branch fault on the west of Xiaojinhe fault.( 3) The focal mechanism of the three earthquakes with magnitude greater than 4. 0 is significantly different,with the shallow source thrust events affected by vertical stress,and the strike-slip events are related to regional stress tectonic activity.