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1. Temperature Limit of the Deep Biosphere off Muroto

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.370.2017  

   Heuer, V.B.; Inagaki, F.; Morono, Y.; Kubo, Y.; Maeda, L. (November 2017, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program)

   null (Ed.)

   International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 370 explored the limits of the biosphere in the deep subseafloor where temperature exceeds the known temperature maximum of microbial life (~120°C) at the sediment/basement interface ~1.2 km below the seafloor. Site C0023 is located in the protothrust zone in the Nankai Trough off Cape Muroto at a water depth of 4776 m, in the vicinity of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 808 and 1174. In 2000, ODP Leg 190 revealed the presence of microbial cells at Site 1174 to a depth of ~600 meters below seafloor (mbsf), which corresponds to an estimated temperature of ~70°C, and reliably identified a single zone of elevated cell concentrations just above the décollement at around 800 mbsf, where temperature presumably reached 90°C; no cell count data was reported for other sediment layers in the 70°–120°C range because the detection limit of manual cell counting for low-biomass samples was not low enough. With the establishment of Site C0023, we aimed to detect and investigate the presence or absence of life and biological processes at the biotic–abiotic transition utilizing unprecedented analytical sensitivity and precision. Expedition 370 was the first expedition dedicated to subseafloor microbiology that achieved time-critical processing and analyses of deep biosphere samples, conducting simultaneous shipboard and shore-based investigations. Our primary objective during Expedition 370 was to study the relationship between the deep subseafloor biosphere and temperature. We comprehensively studied the controls on biomass, activity, and diversity of microbial communities in a subseafloor environment where temperatures increase from ~2°C at the seafloor to ~120°C and thus likely encompasses the biotic–abiotic transition zone. This included investigating whether the supply of fluids containing thermogenic and/or geogenic nutrient and energy substrates may support subseafloor microbial communities in the Nankai accretionary complex. To address these primary scientific objectives and questions, we penetrated 1180 m and recovered 112 cores of sediment and across the sediment/basalt interface. More than 13,000 samples were collected, and selected samples were transferred to the Kochi Core Center by helicopter for simultaneous microbiological sampling and analysis in laboratories with a super-clean environment. In addition to microbiological measurements, we determined the geochemical, geophysical, and hydrogeological characteristics of the sediment and the underlying basement and installed a 13-thermistor sensor borehole temperature observatory into the borehole at Site C0023. 

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2. Expedition 370 Preliminary Report: Temperature Limit of the Deep Biosphere off Muroto

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.pr.370.2017  

   Heuer, V.B.; Inagaki, F.; Morono, Y.; Kubo, Y.; Maeda, L. (January 2017, Preliminary report)

   null (Ed.)

   International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 370 aimed to explore the limits of life in the deep subseafloor biosphere at a location where temperature increases with depth at an intermediate rate and exceeds the known temperature maximum of microbial life (~120°C) at the sediment/basement interface ~1.2 km below the seafloor. Drilling Site C0023 is located in the vicinity of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 808 and 1174 at the protothrust zone in the Nankai Trough off Cape Muroto at a water depth of 4776 m. ODP Leg 190 in 2000, revealed the presence of microbial cells at Site 1174 to a depth of ~600 meters below seafloor (mbsf), which corresponds to an estimated temperature of ~70°C, and reliably identified a single zone of higher cell concentrations just above the décollement at around 800 mbsf, where temperature presumably reached 90°C; no cell count data was reported for other sediment layers in the 70°–120°C range, because the limit of manual cell count for low-biomass samples was not high enough. With the establishment of Site C0023, we aimed to detect and investigate the presence or absence of life and biological processes at the biotic–abiotic transition with unprecedented analytical sensitivity and precision. Expedition 370 was the first expedition dedicated to subseafloor microbiology that achieved time-critical processing and analyses of deep biosphere samples by simultaneous shipboard and shore-based investigations. Our primary objectives during Expedition 370 were to study the relationship between the deep subseafloor biosphere and temperature. We aimed to comprehensively study the factors that control biomass, activity, and diversity of microbial communities in a subseafloor environment where temperatures increase from ~2°C at the seafloor to ~120°C at the sediment/basement interface and thus likely encompasses the biotic–abiotic transition zone. We also aimed to determine geochemical, geophysical, and hydrogeological characteristics in sediment and the underlying basaltic basement and elucidate if the supply of fluids containing thermogenic and/or geogenic nutrient and energy substrates may support subseafloor microbial communities in the Nankai accretionary complex. To address these primary scientific objectives and questions, we penetrated 1180 m and recovered 112 cores across the sediment/basalt interface. More than 13,000 samples were collected, and selected samples were transferred to the Kochi Core Center by helicopter for simultaneous microbiological sampling and analysis in laboratories with a super-clean environment. Following the coring operations, a temperature observatory with 13 thermistor sensors was installed in the borehole to 863 mbsf. 

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3. Along-strike variations in protothrust zone characteristics at the Nankai Trough subduction margin

   https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02305.1  

   Tilley, Hannah L.; Moore, Gregory F.; Yamashita, Mikiya; Kodaira, Shuichi (February 2021, Geosphere)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Significant along-strike changes in the protothrust zone at the toe of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism were imaged in new high-resolution seismic reflection data. The width of the protothrust zone varies greatly along strike; two spatially discrete segments have a wide protothrust zone (∼3.3–7.8 km, ∼50–110 protothrusts), and two segments have almost no protothrust zone (∼0.5–2.8 km, <20 protothrusts). The widest protothrust zone occurs in the region with the widest and thickest sediment wedge and subducting turbidite package, both of which are influenced by basement topography. The trench wedge size and lithology, the lithology of the subducting section, and the basement topography all influence the rate of consolidation in the trench wedge, which we hypothesize is an important control over the presence and width of the protothrust zone. We conclude that protothrusts are fractures that form from shear surfaces in deformation band clusters as the trench fill sediment is consolidated. Strain localization occurs at sites with a high density of protothrusts, which become the probable locations of future frontal thrust propagation. The frontal thrust may propagate forward with a lower buildup of strain where it is adjacent to a wide protothrust zone than at areas with a narrow or no protothrust zone. This is reflected in the accretionary prism geometry, where wide protothrust zones occur adjacent to fault-propagation folds with shallow prism toe surface slopes. 

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4. Expedition 380 Preliminary Report: NanTroSEIZE Stage 3: Frontal Thrust Long-Term Borehole Monitoring System (LTBMS)

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.pr.380.2018  

   Kinoshita, M.; Becker, K.; Toczko, S. (April 2018, Preliminary report)

   null (Ed.)

   The multiexpedition Integrated Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) was designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. Overall NanTroSEIZE scientific objectives include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. Expedition 380 was the twelfth NanTroSEIZE expedition since 2007. Refer to Kopf et al. (2017) for a comprehensive summary of objectives, operations, and results during the first 11 expeditions. Expedition 380 focused on one primary objective: riserless deployment of a long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) in Hole C0006G in the overriding plate at the toe of the Nankai accretionary prism. The LTBMS installed in Hole C0006G incorporates multilevel pore pressure sensing and a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. Similar previous LTBMS installations were completed farther upslope at IODP Sites C0002 and C0010. The ~35 km trench-normal transect of three LTBMS installations will provide monitoring within and above regions of contrasting behavior in the megasplay fault and the plate boundary as a whole, including a site above the updip edge of the locked zone (Site C0002), a shallow site in the megasplay fault zone and its footwall (Site C0010), and a site at the tip of the accretionary prism (the Expedition 380 installation at Site C0006). In combination, this suite of observatories has the potential to capture stress and deformation spanning a wide range of timescales (e.g., seismic and microseismic activity, slow slip, and interseismic strain accumulation) across the transect from near-trench to the seismogenic zone. Expedition 380 achieved its primary scientific and operational goal with successful installation of the LTBMS to a total depth of 457 m below seafloor in Hole C0006G. The installation was conducted in considerably less time than budgeted, partly because the Kuroshio Current had shifted away from the NanTroSEIZE area after 10 y of seriously affecting D/V Chikyu NanTroSEIZE operations. After Expedition 380, the LTBMS was to be connected to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis in March 2018 using the remotely operated vehicle Hyper-Dolphin from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology R/V Shinsei Maru. 

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5. NanTroSEIZE Stage 3: Frontal Thrust Long-Term Borehole Monitoring System (LTBMS)

   https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.380.2018  

   Becker, K.; Kinoshita, M.; Toczko, S. (December 2018, Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program)

   null (Ed.)

   The multiexpedition Integrated Ocean Drilling Program/International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) project was designed to investigate fault mechanics and seismogenesis along subduction megathrusts through direct sampling, in situ measurements, and long-term monitoring in conjunction with allied laboratory and numerical modeling studies. Overall NanTroSEIZE scientific objectives include characterizing the nature of fault slip and strain accumulation, fault and wall rock composition, fault architecture, and state variables throughout the active plate boundary system. Expedition 380 was the twelfth NanTroSEIZE expedition since 2007. Refer to Kopf et al. (2017) for a comprehensive summary of objectives, operations, and results during the first 11 expeditions. Expedition 380 focused on one primary objective: riserless deployment of a long-term borehole monitoring system (LTBMS) in Hole C0006G in the overriding plate at the toe of the Nankai accretionary prism. The LTBMS installed in Hole C0006G incorporates multilevel pore-pressure sensing and a volumetric strainmeter, tiltmeter, geophone, broadband seismometer, accelerometer, and thermistor string. Similar previous LTBMS installations were completed farther upslope at IODP Sites C0002 and C0010. The ~35 km trench–normal transect of three LTBMS installations will provide monitoring within and above regions of contrasting behavior in the megasplay fault and the plate boundary as a whole, including a site above the updip edge of the locked zone (Site C0002), a shallow site in the megasplay fault zone and its footwall (Site C0010), and a site at the tip of the accretionary prism (the Expedition 380 installation at Site C0006). In combination, this suite of observatories has the potential to capture stress and deformation spanning a wide range of timescales (e.g., seismic and microseismic activity, slow slip, and interseismic strain accumulation) across the transect from near-trench to the seismogenic zone. Expedition 380 achieved its primary scientific and operational goal with successful installation of the LTBMS to a total depth of 457 m below seafloor in Hole C0006G. The installation was conducted in considerably less time than budgeted, partly because the Kuroshio Current had shifted away from the NanTroSEIZE area after 10 y of seriously affecting D/V Chikyu NanTroSEIZE operations. After Expedition 380, the LTBMS was successfully connected to the Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis (DONET) in March 2018 using the remotely operated vehicle Hyper-Dolphin from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) R/V Shinsei Maru. 

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