Description: During the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake, extremely extensive coseismic slip ruptured shallow parts of the Japan Trench subduction zone and breached the sea floor^1, 2. This part of the subduction zone also hosts slow slip events (SSE)^3, 4. The fault thus seems to have a propensity for slip instability or quasi-instability that is unexpected on the shallow portions of important fault zones. Here we use laboratory experiments to slowly shear samples of rock recovered from the Tohoku-oki earthquake fault zone as part of the Japan Trench Fast Drilling Project. We find that infrequent perturbations in rock strength appear spontaneously as long-term SSE when the samples are sheared at a constant rate of about 8.5 cm yr^-1, equivalent to the plate-convergence rate. The shear strength of the rock drops by 3 to 6%, or 50 kPa to 120 kPa, over about 2 to 4 h. Slip during these events reaches peak velocities of up to 25 cm yr^-1, similar to SSE observed in several circum-Pacific subduction zones. Furthermore, the sheared samples exhibit the full spectrum of fault-slip behaviours, from fast unstable slip to slow steady creep, which can explain the wide range of slip styles observed in the Japan Trench. We suggest that the occurrence of SSE at shallow depths may help identify fault segments that are frictionally unstable and susceptible to large coseismic slip propagation.

Description: The location of the seaward tip of a subduction thrust controls material transfer at convergent plate margins, and hence global mass balances. At approximately half of those margins, the material of the subducting plate is completely underthrust so that no accretion or even subduction erosion takes place. Along the remaining margins, material is scraped off the subducting plate and added to the upper plate by frontal accretion. We here examine the physical properties of subducting sediments off Costa Rica and Nankai, type examples for an erosional and an accretionary margin, to investigate which parameters control the level where the frontal thrust cuts into the incoming sediment pile. A series of rotary-shear experiments to measure the frictional strength of the various lithologies entering the two subduction zones were carried out. Results include the following findings: (1) At Costa Rica, clay-rich strata at the top of the incoming succession have the lowest strength (µres = 0.19) while underlying calcareous ooze, chalk and diatomite are strong (up to µres = 0.43; µpeak = 0.56). Hence the entire sediment package is underthrust. (2) Off Japan, clay-rich deposits within the lower Shikoku Basin inventory are weakest (µres = 0.13–0.19) and favour the frontal proto-thrust to migrate into one particular horizon between sandy, competent turbidites below and ash-bearing mud above. (3) Taking in situ data and earlier geotechnical testing into account, it is suggested that mineralogical composition rather than pore-pressure defines the position of the frontal thrust, which locates in the weakest, clay mineral-rich (up to 85 wt.%) materials. (4) Smectite, the dominant clay mineral phase at either margin, shows rate strengthening and stable sliding in the frontal 50 km of the subduction thrust (0.0001–0.1 mm/s, 0.5–25 MPa effective normal stress). (5) Progressive illitization of smectite cannot explain seismogenesis, because illite-rich samples also show velocity strengthening at the conditions tested.

Description: The 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake demonstrated that the shallowest reaches of plate boundary subduction megathrusts can host substantial coseismic slip that generates large and destructive tsunamis, contrary to the common assumption that the frictional properties of unconsolidated clay-rich sediments at depths less than View the MathML source should inhibit rupture. We report on laboratory shearing experiments at low sliding velocities (View the MathML source) using borehole samples recovered during IODP Expedition 343 (JFAST), spanning the plate-boundary décollement within the region of large coseismic slip during the Tohoku earthquake. We show that at sub-seismic slip rates the fault is weak (sliding friction µs=0.2-0.26), in contrast to the much stronger wall rocks (µs〉~0.5). The fault is weak due to elevated smectite clay content and is frictionally similar to a pelagic clay layer of similar composition. The higher cohesion of intact wall rock samples coupled with their higher amorphous silica content suggests that the wall rock is stronger due to diagenetic cementation and low clay content. Our measurements also show that the strongly developed in-situ fabric in the fault zone does not contribute to its frictional weakness, but does lead to a near-cohesionless fault zone, which may facilitate rupture propagation by reducing shear strength and surface energy at the tip of the rupture front. We suggest that the shallow rupture and large coseismic slip during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake was facilitated by a weak and cohesionless fault combined with strong wall rocks that drive localized deformation within a narrow zone.