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We investigate the impact of outer-rise normal fault subduction on the structural evolution of the décollement and frontal prism in a portion of the Japan trench that hosted the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. We use seismic reflection data to map the relative occurrence of sediment accretion, sediment subduction, and frontal tectonic erosion in the shallow portion of the subduction zone and correlate these deformation styles to the magnitude of outer-rise fault throw and incoming plate sediment thickness. These data reveal spatial heterogeneity in the modes of deformation over distances of 5-10 km that necessitate correlative heterogeneity in the geometry and composition of the shallow décollement over similar length-scales. We find that sediment accretion predominantly occurs in regions where incoming plate sediment thickness is greater than fault throw. In these areas, the décollement appears to be non-planar and compositionally homogenous. Conversely, frontal tectonic erosion and slope failures are predominantly observed in regions where fault throw is greater than sediment thickness. In these areas, the décollement may be planar but compositionally heterogeneous. Additionally, spatial variations in near trench slip appear to correlate with the dominant deformation modes, suggesting that both sediment thickness and outer-rise fault throw may be important controls on shallow megathrust behavior. 

Abstract Oceanic plates experience extensive normal faulting as they bend and subduct, enabling fracturing of the incoming lithosphere. Debate remains about the relative importance of pre‐existing faults, plate curvature and other factors controlling the extent and style of bending‐related faulting. The subduction zone off the Alaska Peninsula is an ideal place to investigate controls on bending faulting as the orientation of the abyssal‐hill fabric with respect to the trench and plate curvature vary along the margin. Here, we characterize faulting between longitudes 161°W and 155°W using newly collected multibeam bathymetry data. We also use a compilation of seismic reflection data to constrain patterns of sediment thickness on the incoming plate. Although sediment thickness increases over 1 km from 156°W to 160°W, most sediments were deposited prior to the onset of bending faulting and thus should have limited impact on the expression of bend‐related fault strikes and throws in bathymetry data. Where magnetic anomalies trend subparallel to the trench (<30°) west of ∼156°W, bending faults parallel magnetic anomalies, implying that bending faults reactivate pre‐existing structures. Where magnetic anomalies are highly oblique (>30°) to the trench east of 156°W, no bending faults are observed. Summed fault throws increase to the west, including where pre‐existing structure orientations are constant (between 157 and 161°W), suggesting that another factor such as the increase in slab curvature must influence bending faulting. However, the westward increase in summed fault throws is more abrupt than expected for gradual changes in slab bending alone, suggesting potential feedbacks between pre‐existing structures, slab dip, and faulting. 

ABSTRACT New paleoseismic trenching indicates late Quaternary oblique right-lateral slip on the Leech River fault, southern Vancouver Island, Canada, and constrains permanent forearc deformation in northern Cascadia. A south-to-north reduction in northward Global Navigation Satellite System velocities and seismicity across the Olympic Mountains, Strait of Juan de Fuca (JDF), and the southern Strait of Georgia, has been used as evidence for permanent north–south crustal shortening via thrust faulting between a northward migrating southern forearc and rigid northern backstop in southwestern Canada. However, previous paleoseismic studies indicating late Quaternary oblique right-lateral slip on west-northwest-striking forearc faults north of the Olympic Mountains and in the southern Strait of Georgia are more consistent with forearc deformation models that invoke oroclinal bending and(or) westward extrusion of the Olympic Mountains. To help evaluate strain further north across the Strait of JDF, we present the results from two new paleoseismic trenches excavated across the Leech River fault. In the easternmost Good Hope trench, we document a vertical fault zone and a broad anticline deforming glacial till. Comparison of till clast orientations in faulted and undeformed glacial till shows evidence for postdeposition faulted till clast rotation, indicating strike-slip shear. The orientation of opening mode fissuring during surface rupture is consistent with right-lateral slip and the published regional SHmax directions. Vertical separation and the formation of scarp-derived colluvium along one fault also indicate a dip-slip component. Radiocarbon charcoal dating within offset glacial till and scarp-derived colluvium suggest a single surface rupturing earthquake at 9.4±3.4  ka. The oblique right-lateral slip sense inferred in the Good Hope trench is consistent with slip kinematics observed on other regional west-northwest-striking faults and indicates that these structures do not accommodate significant north–south shortening via thrust faulting. 

Abstract The San Juan fault (SJF), on southern Vancouver Island, Canada, juxtaposes the oceanic Wrangellia and Pacific Rim terranes in the northern Cascadia forearc, and has been suggested to play a role in multiple Mesozoic‐Cenozoic terrane accretion events. However, direct observations of the SJF's kinematics have not been documented and its exact role in accommodating strain arising from terrane accretion is unknown. To test if, how, and when the SJF accommodated accretion‐related strain, we use geologic mapping, kinematic inversion of fault‐plane slickenlines, and dating of marine sediments to constrain the timing and direction of brittle slip of the SJF.P‐ andT‐axes from kinematic inversions indicate predominantly left‐lateral slip. Left‐lateral brittle faulting cross‐cuts ∼51 Ma magmatic intrusions and foliation, providing a maximum age of brittle deformation. The fault zone is non‐conformably overlain by a >300 m‐thick sequence of clastic marine shelf and slope sediments that are not left‐laterally offset. A strontium isotope age of foraminifers helps constrain the depositional age of the sediments to late Eocene–early Oligocene, bracketing left‐lateral slip to the Eocene. Eocene left‐lateral slip is temporally and kinematically consistent with regional southwest‐northeast compression during accretion of the Siletzia ocean island plateau, suggesting brittle slip on the SJF accommodated strain resulting from the accretion of this terrane. This result does not support hypotheses that brittle slip along the SJF directly accommodated earlier accretion of the Pacific Rim terrane to Wrangellia, instead it offsets the older accretionary boundary between these two terranes. 

Abstract Subduction forearcs are subject to seismic hazard from upper plate faults that are often invisible to instrumental monitoring networks. Identifying active faults in forearcs therefore requires integration of geomorphic, geologic, and paleoseismic data. We demonstrate the utility of a combined approach in a densely populated region of Vancouver Island, Canada, by combining remote sensing, historical imagery, field investigations, and shallow geophysical surveys to identify a previously unrecognized active fault, theXEOLXELEK‐Elk Lake fault, in the northern Cascadia forearc, ∼10 km north of the city of Victoria. Lidar‐derived digital terrain models and historical air photos show a ∼2.5‐m‐high scarp along the surface of a Quaternary drumlinoid ridge. Paleoseismic trenching and electrical resistivity tomography surveys across the scarp reveal a single reverse‐slip earthquake produced a fault‐propagation fold above a blind southwest‐dipping fault. Five geologically plausible chronological models of radiocarbon dated charcoal constrain the likely earthquake age to between 4.7 and 2.3 ka. Fault‐propagation fold modeling indicates ∼3.2 m of reverse slip on a blind, 50° southwest‐dipping fault can reproduce the observed deformation. Fault scaling relations suggest aM6.1–7.6 earthquake with a 13 to 73‐km‐long surface rupture and 2.3–3.2 m of dip slip may be responsible for the deformation observed in the paleoseismic trench. An earthquake near this magnitude in Greater Victoria could result in major damage, and our results highlight the importance of augmenting instrumental monitoring networks with remote sensing and field studies to identify and characterize active faults in similarily challenging environments.