Abstract
Heat flow estimated from the gas hydrate layers on the landward slope of the Nankai Trough reveals that heat flow increases downslope toward the trench floor. This data plus six new heat flow values obtained by a conventional probe and two values available from DSDP drill holes give a fairly detailed heat flow distribution in the Nankai Trough area, when combined with the already existing data set. There appears to be a zonal pattern parallel to the trough axis, with a high heat flow zone on the floor of the trough that is quite anomalous for a subduction zone. It might be explained as a result of subduction of the hot portion of the Philippine Sea plate, i.e. the Shikoku Basin, and/or of more local effects such as heating due to intrusion of hot water from subducted sediments to shallow depth beneath the trough floor. Surface heat flow patterns landward of the trough were calculated for a simple thermal model of subduction. Perfect reproduction of the observed zonal pattern is difficult to achieve by the simple model, suggesting the necessity for further heat flow and other observations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, R. N.: 1980, ‘1980 Update of Heat Flow in the East and Southeast Asian Seas’, in Hayes, D. E. (ed.), The Tectonic and Geologic Evolution of Southeast Asian Seas and Islands, Amer. Geophys. Union, Geophys. Mono. Ser. 23, pp. 319–326.
AndersonR. N. and SkilbeckJ. N.: 1981, ‘Oceanic Heat Flow’, in EmilianiC. (ed.), The Sea Vol. 7, Wiley-Interscience, New York, pp. 489–523.
Anderson, R. N., Langseth, M. G., Hayes, D. E., Watanabe, T., and Yasui, M.: 1978, ‘Heat Flow, Thermal Conductivity, Thermal Gradient’, in Hayes, D. E. (ed.), Geophysical Atlas of the East and Southeast Asian Seas, Map and Chart Ser. Vol. MC-25, Geol. Soc. Amer.
Aoki, Y., Tamano, T., and Kato, S.: 1983, ‘Detail Structure of the Nankai Trough from Migrated Seismic Sections’, in Watkins, J. S. and Drake, C. L. (eds.), Studies in Continental Margin Geology, Amer. Assoc. Petr. Geol. Memoir 34, pp. 309–322.
BlackwellD. D., BowenR. G., HallD. A., RiccioJ., and SteeleJ. L.: 1982, ‘Heat Flow, Arc Volcanism, and Subduction in Northern Oregon’, J. Geophys. Res. 87, 8735–8754.
BullardE. C.: 1954, ‘The Flow of Heat through Floor of the Atlantic Ocean’, Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 222, 408–429.
BurchT. K. and LangsethM. G.: 1981, ‘Heat Flow Determination in Three DSDP Holes near the Japan Trench’, J. Geophys. Res. 86, 9411–9419.
HermanB. M., LangsethM. G., and HobartM. A.: 1977, ‘Heat Flow in the Oceanic Crust Bounding West Africa’, Tectonophysics 41, 61–78.
Honda, S.: 1984, ‘Thermal Structure beneath Tohoku, Northeastern Japan — A Case Study for Understanding the Detailed Thermal Structure of the Subduction Zones-’, submitted to Tectonophysics.
Kagami, H., Karig, D. E., Akiba, F., Bray, C. J., Cadet, J. P., Charvet, J., Coulbourn, W., Fujioka, K., Kinoshita, H., Lagoe, M., Lang, T. H., Leggett, J. K., Lombari, G. A., Lundberg, N., Machihara, T., Matsumoto, R., Mukhopadhyay, P., Niitsuma, N., Smith, A. J., Stein, C. L., and Taira, A.: 1982, ‘Results of Deep Sea Drilling in the Nankai Trough and the Japan Trench’, Programme and Abstracts, Seismol. Soc. Japan 1982, No. 2, 66 (in Japanese).
KagamiH., KarigD. E., AkibaF., BrayC. J., CadetJ. P., CharvetJ., LombariG. A., LundbergN., MachiharaT., MatsumotoR., MukhopadhyayP., NiitsumaN., SmithA. J., SteinC. L., and TairaA.: 1983, ‘In the Orient Leg 87 Drills off Honshu & SW Japan’, Geotimes 28 (1), 15–18.
KleinG. DeV. and KobayashiK.: 1980, ‘Geological Summary of the North Philippine Sea, Based on Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 58 Results’, in Initial Reports of Deep Sea Drilling Project 58, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., pp. 951–961.
KleinG. deV., KobayashiK., ChamleyH., CurtisD. M., DickH. J. B., EcholsD. J., FountainD. M., KinoshitaH., MarshN. G., MizunoA., NisterenkoG. V., OkadaH., SloanJ. R., WaplesD. M., and WhiteS. M.: 1978, ‘Off-ridge Volcanism and Seafloor Spreading in the Shikoku Basin’, Nature 273, 746–748.
KleinG. deV., KobayashiK., ChamleyH., CurtisD. M., DickH. J. B., EcholsD. J., FountainD. M., KinoshitaH., MarshN. G., MizunoA., NisterenkoG. V., OkadaH., SloanJ. R., WaplesD. M., and WhiteS. M.: 1980, Initial Reports of Deep Sea Drilling Project 58, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
KobayashiK. and NakadaM.: 1978, ‘Magnetic Anomalies and Tectonic Evolution of the Shikoku Inter-arc Basin’, J. Phys. Earth 26 Suppl., S391-S402.
KonoY. and YoshiiT.: 1975, ‘Numerical Experiments on the Thickening Plate Model’, J. Phys. Earth 23, 63–75.
KroganB. J., BodvarssonG., and MesecarR. S.: 1971, ‘Heat Flow through the Floor of the Cascadia Basin’, J. Geophys. Res. 76, 4758–4774.
LaBrecqueJ. L., KentD. V., and CandeS.C.: 1977, ‘Revised Magnetic Polarity Time Scale for Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Time’, Geology 5, 330–335.
LangsethM. G. and HermanB. M.: 1981, ‘Heat Transfer in the Oceanic Crust of the Brazil Basin’, J. Geophys. Res. 86, 10805–10819.
LangsethM. G., HobartM. A., and HoraiK.: 1980, ‘Heat Flow in the Bering Sea’, J. Geophys. Res. 85, 3740–3750.
ListerC. R. B.: 1977, ‘Estimates for Heat Flow and Deep Rock Properties Based on Boundary Layer Model’, Tectonophysics 41, 157–171.
MooreJ. C. and KarigD. E.: 1976, ‘Sedimentology, Structural Geology, and Tectonics of the Shikoku Subduction Zone, Southwestern Japan’, Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 87, 1259–1268.
NasuN., TomodaY., KobayashiK., KagamiH., UyedaS., NagumoS., KushiroI., OzimaM., NakazawaK., TakayanagiY., OkadaH., MurauchiS., ChujoJ., and IshiiY.: 1977, ‘Multichannel Seismic Reflection Data across the Shikoku Basin and the Daito Ridges, 1976, part 1’, IPOD-Japan Basic Data Series No. 1, 17 pp., Ocean Research Institute, Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
NasuN., TomodaY., KobayashiK., KagamiH., UyedaS., NagumoS., NakamuraK., KushiroI., OzimaM., NakazawaK., TakayanagiY., OkadaH., MurauchiS., KinoshitaH., IshiwadaY., TamanoT., TobaT., and AokiY.: 1982, ‘Multi-channel Seismic Reflection Data across the Nankai Trough’, IPOD-Japan Basic Data Series No. 4, 34 pp., Ocean Research Institute, Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
ParkerR. L. and OldenburgD. W.: 1973, ‘Thermal Model of Ocean Ridges’, Nature Phys. Sci. 65, 137–139.
ParsonsB. and SclaterJ. G.: 1977, ‘An Analysis of the Variation of Ocean Floor Bathymetry and Heat Flow with Age’, J. Geophy. Res. 82, 803–827.
RiddihoughR. P.: 1978, ‘The Juan de Fuca Plate’, EOS Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union 59, 836–842.
SclaterJ. G., JaupartC., and GalsonD.: 1980, ‘The Heat Flow through Oceanic and Continental Crust and the Heat Loss of the Earth’, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 18, 269–311.
SenoT.: 1977, ‘The Instantaneous Rotation Vector of the Philippine Sea Plate Relative to the Eurasian Plate’, Tectonophysics 42, 209–226.
ShihT. C.: 1980, ‘Magnetic Lineations in the Shikoku Basin’, in Initial Reports of Deep Sea Drilling Project 58, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 783–788.
ShionoK., SacksI. S., and LindeA. T.: 1980, ‘Preliminary Velocity Structure of Japanese Islands and Philippine Sea from Surface Wave Dispersion’, Carnegie Inst. Washington Year Book 79, 498–505.
Sugi, N. and Uyeda, S.: 1984, ‘Subduction of Young Oceanic Plates without Deep Focus Earthquake’, Bull. Soc. Géol. France (in press).
TatsumiY.: 1982, ‘Origin of High-magnesian Andesites in the Setouchi Volcanic Belt, Southwest Japan, II. Melting Phase Relations at High Pressures’, Earth and Planet. Sci. Letters 60, 305–317.
vonHerzenR. and MaxwellA. E.: 1959, ‘The Measurement of Thermal Conductivity of Deep-sea Sediments by a Needle-probe Method’, J. Geophys. Res. 64, 1557–1563.
WatanabeT., EppD., UyedaS., LangsethM., and YasuiM.: 1970, ‘Heat Flow in the Philippine Sea’, Tectonophysics 10, 205–224.
WatanabeT., LangsethM. G., and AndersonR. N.: 1977, ‘Heat Flow in Back-arc Basins of the Western Pacific’, in TalwaniM. and PitmanIIIW. C. (eds.), Island Arcs, Deep Sea Trenches, and Back-arc Basins, Maurice Ewing Ser., Vol. 1, Amer. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C., pp. 137–167.
YamanoM., UyedaS., AokiY., and ShipleyT. H.: 1982, ‘Estimates of Heat Flow Derived from Gas Hydrates’, Geology 10, 339–343.
YoshiiT.: 1979, ‘Compilation of Geophysical Data around the Japanese Islands (I)’, Bull. Earthquake Res. Inst. Univ. Tokyo 54, 75–117, (in Japanese with English abstract).
YoshiiT. and KobayashiK.: 1981, ‘Geophysics of Subduction Zones’, Kagaku 51, 472–478 (in Japanese).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamano, M., Honda, S. & Uyeda, S. Nankai Trough: A hot trench?. Mar Geophys Res 6, 187–203 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285959
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00285959