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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L17301, doi:10.1029/2005GL023473, 2005

Modeling seismically induced deformation and fluid flow in the Nankai subduction zone

S. Ge

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


E. Screaton

Department of Geology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA


Abstract

Fluid pressure changes induced by seismic strains in the Nankai subduction zone were investigated through numerical modeling. Seismic strains resulting from dislocations along fault surfaces were coupled to pore pressure generation, and subsequent transient fluid flow was simulated. This study is distinct from previous efforts that modeled homogeneous systems. Effects of variable mechanical and hydrologic properties were investigated by assigning different mechanical and hydrological properties to marine sediments, the decollement zone, and the upper oceanic crust. Model sensitivity studies suggest that for a reasonable range of parameter scenarios, transient pressure head signals caused by discrete dislocations of a few meters in the updip region of the seismogenic zone can be observed over large areas of the margin from within shallow depths of the sediment wedge to the oceanic crust below the decollement.

Received 11 May 2005; accepted 19 July 2005; published 3 September 2005.

Index Terms: 3613 Mineralogy and Petrology: Subduction zone processes (1031, 3060, 8170, 8413); 3653 Mineralogy and Petrology: Fluid flow; 7209 Seismology: Earthquake dynamics (1242); 4532 Oceanography: Physical: General circulation (1218, 1222).


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Citation: Ge, S., and E. Screaton (2005), Modeling seismically induced deformation and fluid flow in the Nankai subduction zone, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L17301, doi:10.1029/2005GL023473.