Thermal Monitoring of the Lithosphere by the Interaction of Deep Low-Frequency and Ordinary High-Frequency Earthquakes in Northeastern Japan

Abstract

Deep low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) are known to occur in dehydration phenomena from the subducting hydrous slab and in magmatic phenomena beneath Quaternary volcanoes in Japan. To realize the spatial and temporal characteristics of the magmatic deep low-frequency earthquakes, their hypocenters along with those of ordinary overhead high-frequency earthquakes are analyzed beneath six volcanic fields in northeastern Japan. This trial clarifies the rising basaltic magma conduits and rheological profiles of the lithosphere. Deep low-frequency earthquakes tend to form three vertical clusters corresponding to the rheological strength peak of the peridotite upper mantle, gabbroic lower crust, and granitic upper crust. Interactive aseismic gaps between low- and high-frequency earthquakes reveal the brittle–plastic transition as an isothermal indicator in the lithosphere. This relationship provides a tool to monitor the thermal evolution of the lithosphere and to explore sustainable geothermal resources with basaltic magma replenishment systems.

Keywords

• deep low-frequency earthquake
• high-frequency earthquake
• aseismic gap
• brittle–plastic transition
• seismicity
• lithosphere