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Seismic reflection imaging of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate

Nature volume 319, pages 210–213 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

McKenzie and Parker's early suggestion1 that the Juan de Fuca plate is underthrusting North America has since been confirmed by numerous studies. Evidence for plate convergence along this junction includes: a sediment-filled trench2–7, intense compressional deformation of the continental slope and shelf sediments2–7, seafloor magnetic anomalies that extend beneath the continental slope2,4, inland andesitic volcanoes8, paired low/high heat flow and gravity anomalies9,10, active onshore deformation11,12, onshore crustal earthquakes with compressional axes parallel to the direction of plate convergence13, sinistral strike-slip earthquakes along the Nootka Fault (Fig. 1)14, and a well-defined Benioff–Wadati zone6,15,16. Here we report the results of a seismic reflection survey that has delineated two slabs of oceanic lithosphere underlying Vancouver Island, one that is currently being subducted and one that is underplated. These findings lead us to speculate that successive underplating of oceanic lithosphere may be an important process in the evolution and growth of continents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Seismology and Geomagnetism, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1 Observatory Crescent, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0Y3

    A. G. Green & C. Spencer

  2. Department of Geophysics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1W5

    R. M. Clowes

  3. Pacific Geoscience Centre, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada, V8L 4B2

    C. J. Yorath, M. T. Brandon & A. Sutherland Brown

  4. Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2E1

    E. R. Kanasewich

Authors
  1. A. G. Green
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  7. A. Sutherland Brown
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Green, A., Clowes, R., Yorath, C. et al. Seismic reflection imaging of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate. Nature 319, 210–213 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/319210a0

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