Drilling into bending fault in the incoming plate of off-Tohoku region

Abstract

It has been generally accepted that hydration due to plate bending-induced normal faults (bend-faults) occurs in the region between trench and outer rise. The northwest Pacific (NW Pacific) region is one of the oldest, thus coldest, and most studied oceanic plates. Geophysical data suggest that hydration has extensively progressed to deeper section of the oceanic plate since the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. In-situ physical properties and lithofacies will be best obtained by ocean drilling.