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Title: Thermal environment of the Southern Washington region of the Cascadia subduction zone

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  2. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
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Eleven recently collected multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles from the Cascadia Open–Access Seismic Transects experiment offshore Washington State are used to characterize the distribution of bottom–simulating reflectors (BSRs) from seaward of the deformation front onto the continental shelf of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The 11 MCS lines consisted of nine lines perpendicular and two lines parallel to the Cascadia margin covering a 100 km along–strike region of the accretionary wedge. From these MCS profiles we generated a 3–D view of the Cascadia margin thermal structure by interpreting 40,232 individual BSR picks in terms of temperature and heat flow. Overall BSR–derived heat flow values decrease from approximately 95 mW m–2 10 km east of the deformation front to approximately 60 mW m–2 located 60 km landward of the deformation front. Anomalously low heat flow values near 25 mW m–2 on a prominent midmargin terrace indicate recent sediment failure within the accretionary prism. Localized differences between BSR heat flow and numerical models reflect an estimated regional mean vertical fluid flow of +0.53 cm yr–1 for the survey area, with localized fluid flow approaching a maximum of +3.8 cm yr–1. Distinct finite element models for the nine MCS profiles perpendicular to the deformation front reproduce BSR heat flow values, producing an overall root–mean–square misfit of 10.2 mW m–2. In conclusion, at the deformation front, the incoming oceanic sediment/crust interface temperatures vary from 164°C to 179°C, indicating the updip limit of the Cascadia seismogenic zone.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
FE0013998; 1458211; 1339635
OSTI ID:
1474277
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1374206
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Vol. 122, Issue 8; ISSN 2169-9313
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 12 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Anomalous Concentration of Methane Emissions at the Continental Shelf Edge of the Northern Cascadia Margin journal March 2019
A Lack of Dynamic Triggering of Slow Slip and Tremor Indicates That the Shallow Cascadia Megathrust Offshore Vancouver Island Is Likely Locked journal October 2018
A High Wave Speed Basal Sedimentary Layer Identified From Seismic Imaging of the Plate Boundary in Central Cascadia journal July 2019

Figures / Tables (10)

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58 GEOSCIENCES
BSR
heat flow
thermal model
subduction zone