Intraslab earthquakes: dehydration of the Cascadia slab

Preston LA, Creager KC, Crosson RS, Brocher TM, Trehu AM. 2003. Intraslab earthquakes: dehydration of the Cascadia slab. Science. 302(5648):1197-1200

From the Abstract: "We simultaneously invert travel times of refracted and wide-angle reflected waves for three-dimensional compressional-wave velocity structure, earthquake locations, and reflector geometry in northwest Washington state. The reflector, interpreted to be the crust-mantle boundary (Moho) of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate, separates intraslab earthquakes into two groups, permitting a new understanding of the origins of intraslab earthquakes in Cascadia. Earthquakes up-dip of the Moho's 45-kilometer depth contour occur below the reflector, in the subducted oceanic mantle, consistent with serpentinite dehydration; earthquakes located down-dip occur primarily within the subducted crust, consistent with the basalt-to-eclogite transformation."

Type
Journal Article
Authors
Preston, Leiph; Creager, Kenneth; Crosson, Robert; Brocher, Thomas; Trehu, Anne
Units
OLYM
Keywords
Cascadia subduction zone, Earthquake, Geology

Series

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