A moderate level of heat flux (20-120mW/m) has been observed from the subducting Pacific plate across the Japan Trench (between 142[degrees]E and 146[degrees]E) due to upward heat transfer from the plate.
For example, a few months after the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake near the Japan Trench (38[degrees]N, 143[degrees]E), significant re-suspension of bottom sediment and deep fluid venting along the earthquake faults were recognized as anomalies of light transmission (turbidity), (24) chemical components such as [sup.13]C-enriched methane, (24) and [sup.3]He-enriched helium (25) in the bottom waters.
The latter plate bends and plunges deep into the earth, forming the
Japan Trench.
Japan is now working to build such a network on the seafloor near the
Japan Trench.
The Cascadia Trench, however, lacks the instrumental network the Japanese have installed in the
Japan Trench. In February 2012, McGuire and several colleagues received funding from the W.
Monitoring seismic and aseismic deformations over an extended period of time will enable scientists to understand how and when strain is released at the
Japan Trench, the team said.
(13) Although the epicenter of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake is located in relatively shallow area, a large seafloor deformation is developed near the
Japan Trench, where the epicenters of historical tsunami-generating earthquakes are located.
The researchers built a high-resolution model that incorporated the known geologic features of the
Japan Trench and used CEES simulations to identify possible earthquake rupture histories compatible with the available data.
Since 1986, Yoshi Nozaki (University of Tokyo) has deployed time-series sediment trap moorings in the
Japan Trench where the bottom depth exceeds 9 kilometers.
Since then, the research team has sent their underwater robot to the bottom of the
Japan Trench which is approximately 9 km deep, and later this year they are planning a dive in the world's second deepest trench, the 10.8 kilometers deep Kermadec-Tonga Trench near Fiji in the Pacific.
The Sendai quake occurred at the
Japan Trench, the junction of the westward-moving Pacific plate and the plate beneath northern Japan.
Japanese researchers have especially contributed to drilling activities in the
Japan Trench, the Nankai Trough, and the Shikoku, West Philippine, and Japan Sea back-arc basins.