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Slow slip and frictional transition at low temperature at the Hikurangi subduction zone

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 316–320 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Shallow portions of faults exhibit brittle, stick–slip behaviour that gives way to more stable sliding with increasing depth, limiting the depths to which earthquake-inducing slip can occur. The increase of temperature with depth is often assumed to transform friction in the fault from velocity-weakening (unstable) to velocity-strengthening (stable), and to change conditions from brittle to ductile1,2,3,4,5. A temperature of 350 ∘C has been suggested to mark the base of the frictionally unstable portion of the fault, which becomes free slipping at depth where temperatures rise above 450 ∘C (refs 2, 4, 6). Here, we show that both slow-slip events and the geodetically observed transition from fault locking to free slip at the Hikurangi subduction zone east of the North Island, New Zealand occur at temperatures as low as 100 ∘C, suggesting that temperature is not a primary control on either slow-slip or fault-locking processes at the Hikurangi margin. Although globally shallow slow-slip events are rare, five out of seven events observed so far at the Hikurangi margin are less than 15 km deep.

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Figure 1: Tectonic and physiographic map of the New Zealand region.
Figure 2: Depth contours, locking distribution, temperatures and slow-slip regions.
Figure 3: Comparisons of estimated and observed heat-flow values from the Hikurangi margin.

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Acknowledgements

R. Sutherland, M. Reyners and Y. Liu provided helpful comments on the manuscript. Funding for this work was provided by the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC), the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and GNS Science.

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  1. GNS Science, Lower Hutt, PO Box 30368, New Zealand

    Robert McCaffrey, Laura M. Wallace & John Beavan

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  1. Robert McCaffrey
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Correspondence to Robert McCaffrey.

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McCaffrey, R., Wallace, L. & Beavan, J. Slow slip and frictional transition at low temperature at the Hikurangi subduction zone. Nature Geosci 1, 316–320 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo178

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