EarthRef.org Reference Database (ERR)
Development and Maintenance by the EarthRef.org Database Team

Detailed Reference Information
Kao et al. 2006
Kao, H., Shan, S., Dragert, H., Rogers, G., Cassidy, J.F., Wang, K., James, T.S. and Ramachandran, K. (2006). Spatial-temporal patterns of seismic tremors in northern Cascadia. Journal of Geophysical Research 111: doi: 10.1029/2005JB003727. issn: 0148-0227.

We study in detail the two consecutive episodic tremor-and-slip (ETS) events that occurred in the northern Cascadia subduction zone during 2003 and 2004. For both sequences, the newly developed Source-Scanning Algorithm (SSA) is applied to seismic waveform data from a dense regional seismograph array to determine the precise locations and origin times of seismic tremors. In map view, the majority of the tremors occurred in a limited band bounded approximately by the surface projections of the 30-km and 50-km depth contours of the plate interface. The horizontal migration of tremor occurrence is from southeast to northwest with an average speed of 5 km/d. In cross section, tremors in both sequences span a depth range of over 40 km across the interface, with the majority occurring in the overriding continental crust. In particular, 50--55% of them are located within 2.5 km from the strong seismic reflector bands above the plate interface. The lack of vertical migration implies that a slow diffusion process in the vertical direction cannot be responsible for tremor occurrences. The source spectra of tremors clearly lack high-frequency content (>5 Hz) relative to local earthquakes. We propose two possible models to explain the relationship between slip and tremors. The first one regards ETS tremors as the manifestation of hydroseismogenic processes in response to the temporal strain variation associated with the episodic slip along the lower portion of the plate interface downdip from the locked zone. In the second model, tremors and slip are associated with the same process along the same structure in a distributed deformation zone across the plate interface. Neither model can be dismissed conclusively at this stage.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Geodesy and Gravity, Seismic cycle related deformations (6924, 7209, 7223, 7230), Tectonophysics, Stresses, crust and lithosphere, Tectonophysics, Subduction zone processes (1031, 3060, 3613, 8413), Seismology, Subduction zones (1207, 1219, 1240), Geographic Location, North America
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20009-1277
USA
1-202-462-6900
1-202-328-0566
service@agu.org
Click to clear formClick to return to previous pageClick to submit