The deepest chemosynthesis-based community yet discovered from the hadal zone, 7326 m deep, in the Japan Trench

Using baited camera landers, the first images of living fishes were recorded in the hadal zone (6000–11 000 m) in the Pacific Ocean. The widespread abyssal macrourid Coryphaenoides yaquinae was observed at a new depth record of approximately 7000 m in the Japan Trench. Two endemic species of liparid were observed at similar depths: Pseudoliparis amblystomopsis in the Japan Trench and Notoliparis kermadecensis in the Kermadec Trench. From these observations, we have documented swimming and feeding behaviour of these species and derived the first estimates of hadal fish abundance. The liparids intercepted bait within 100–200 min but were observed to preferentially feed on scavenging amphipods. Notoliparis kermadecensis act as top predators in the hadal food web, exhibiting up to nine suction-feeding events per minute. Both species showed distinctive swimming gaits: P. amblystomopsis (mean length 22.5 cm) displayed a mean tail-beat frequency of 0.47 Hz and mean caudal : pectoral frequency ratio of 0.76, whereas N. kermadecensis (mean length 31.5 cm) displayed respective values of 1.04 and 2.08 Hz. Despite living at extreme depths, these endemic liparids exhibit similar activity levels compared with shallow-water liparids.

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THE SEDIMENTARY AND ISOTOPIC SIGNATURE OF THE 2011 TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI AND PRIOR EARTHQUAKES, JAPAN TRENCH

10.1130/abs/2019ne-327862 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

McCain Moore ◽

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Cecilia M.G. McHugh ◽

Leonardo Seeber ◽

Kazuko Usami ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tohoku Earthquake ◽

Isotopic Signature ◽

2011 Tohoku Earthquake ◽

Japan Trench ◽

The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

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Mantle-derived helium released through the Japan trench bend-faults

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-91523-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jin-Oh Park ◽

Naoto Takahata ◽

Ehsan Jamali Hondori ◽

Asuka Yamaguchi ◽

Takanori Kagoshima ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Mantle ◽

Large Scale ◽

Japan Trench ◽

Helium Isotope ◽

Normal Faults ◽

Circulation System ◽

Deep Penetration ◽

Oceanic Plate ◽

Seismic Reflection Data ◽

Reflection Data

AbstractPlate bending-related normal faults (i.e. bend-faults) develop at the outer trench-slope of the oceanic plate incoming into the subduction zone. Numerous geophysical studies and numerical simulations suggest that bend-faults play a key role by providing pathways for seawater to flow into the oceanic crust and the upper mantle, thereby promoting hydration of the oceanic plate. However, deep penetration of seawater along bend-faults remains controversial because fluids that have percolated down into the mantle are difficult to detect. This report presents anomalously high helium isotope (3He/4He) ratios in sediment pore water and seismic reflection data which suggest fluid infiltration into the upper mantle and subsequent outflow through bend-faults across the outer slope of the Japan trench. The 3He/4He and 4He/20Ne ratios at sites near-trench bend-faults, which are close to the isotopic ratios of bottom seawater, are almost constant with depth, supporting local seawater inflow. Our findings provide the first reported evidence for a potentially large-scale active hydrothermal circulation system through bend-faults across the Moho (crust-mantle boundary) in and out of the oceanic lithospheric mantle.

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Full-Waveform Inversion for Imaging Faulted Structures: A Case Study from the Japan Trench Forearc Slope

Pure and Applied Geophysics ◽

10.1007/s00024-021-02727-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ehsan Jamali Hondori ◽

Chen Guo ◽

Hitoshi Mikada ◽

Jin-Oh Park

Keyword(s):

Seismic Data ◽

Initial Velocity ◽

Waveform Inversion ◽

Velocity Model ◽

Control Measures ◽

Japan Trench ◽

Full Waveform Inversion ◽

Full Waveform ◽

Time Migration ◽

Shallow Sediments

AbstractFull-waveform inversion (FWI) of limited-offset marine seismic data is a challenging task due to the lack of refracted energy and diving waves from the shallow sediments, which are fundamentally required to update the long-wavelength background velocity model in a tomographic fashion. When these events are absent, a reliable initial velocity model is necessary to ensure that the observed and simulated waveforms kinematically fit within an error of less than half a wavelength to protect the FWI iterative local optimization scheme from cycle skipping. We use a migration-based velocity analysis (MVA) method, including a combination of the layer-stripping approach and iterations of Kirchhoff prestack depth migration (KPSDM), to build an accurate initial velocity model for the FWI application on 2D seismic data with a maximum offset of 5.8 km. The data are acquired in the Japan Trench subduction zone, and we focus on the area where the shallow sediments overlying a highly reflective basement on top of the Cretaceous erosional unconformity are severely faulted and deformed. Despite the limited offsets available in the seismic data, our carefully designed workflow for data preconditioning, initial model building, and waveform inversion provides a velocity model that could improve the depth images down to almost 3.5 km. We present several quality control measures to assess the reliability of the resulting FWI model, including ray path illuminations, sensitivity kernels, reverse time migration (RTM) images, and KPSDM common image gathers. A direct comparison between the FWI and MVA velocity profiles reveals a sharp boundary at the Cretaceous basement interface, a feature that could not be observed in the MVA velocity model. The normal faults caused by the basal erosion of the upper plate in the study area reach the seafloor with evident subsidence of the shallow strata, implying that the faults are active.

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