New model of fluid distribution in the Cascadia Subduction Zone helps understanding seismic activity
A new three-dimensional model of the fluid stored deep within the Earth’s crust along the Cascadia Subduction Zone provides new insights into how the accumulation and release of such fluid can affect seismic activity in the region. The liquid collects near but does not penetrate the thickened section of crust known as Siletzia lying beneath much of western Oregon and Washington. The pressure associated with this fluid could be a factor in the seismic phenomenon known as episodic tremor and slip, or ETS, said Gary Egbert, an electromagnetic geophysicist at Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and lead author of the new paper. detail the findings. Episodic tremors and slips are fault behaviors that include localized non-volcanic vibrations and slow slip events that may occur over hours or days. It occurs throughout the Cascadia Subduction Zone, from northern California to British Columbia, but is less frequent and intense under the Siletzia central core, wh