An explanation of episodic tremor and slow slip constrained by crack-seal veins and viscous shear in subduction mélange

Ujiie, Kohtaro, Saishu, Hanae, Fagereng, Åke ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6335-8534, Nishiyama, Naoki, Otsubo, Makoto, Masuyama, Haruna and Kagi, Hiroyuki 2018. An explanation of episodic tremor and slow slip constrained by crack-seal veins and viscous shear in subduction mélange. Geophysical Research Letters 45 (11) , pp. 5371-5379. 10.1029/2018GL078374

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Abstract

Episodic tremor and slow slip (ETS) occurs in the transition zone between the locked seismogenic zone and the deeper, stably sliding zone. Actual mechanisms of ETS are enigmatic, caused by lack of geological observations and limited spatial resolution of geophysical information from the ETS source. We report that quartz‐filled, crack‐seal shear and extension veins in subduction mélange record repeated low‐angle thrust‐sense frictional sliding and tensile fracturing at near‐lithostatic fluid pressures. Crack‐seal veins were coeval with viscous shear zones that accommodated deformation by pressure solution creep. The minimum time interval between thrusting events, determined from a kinetic model of quartz precipitation in shear veins, was less than a few years. This short recurrence time of low‐angle brittle thrusting at near‐lithostatic fluid overpressures within viscous shear zones may be explained by frequent release of accumulated strain by ETS.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	American Geophysical Union (AGU)
ISSN:	0094-8276
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 August 2018
Date of Acceptance:	22 May 2018
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2024 15:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/114134

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