Physical properties of the top of the subducting Philippine Sea plate beneath the SW Japan arc, derived from onshore - offshore integrated seismic survey

The Nankai trough region, where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting beneath the southwestern Japan arc, is a well-known seismogenic zone of interplate earthquakes (e.g. the 1944 Tonankai Earthquake (M=7.9) and the 1946 Nankai Earthquake (M=8.0)). A detailed crustal and upper mantle structure of the subducted Philippine Sea Plate and the overlying SW Japan arc is inevitably important to constrain the physical process of earthquake occurrence. In the summer of 1999, we conducted a highly dense onshore-offshore integrated seismic experiment in the eastern part of Shikoku Island and the adjacent Nankai trough, SW Japan. The most remarkable feature of the record sections is that extremely high amplitude reflections (bright reflections) can be recognized. This phase was interpreted as a reflected wave from the top of the subducting Philippine Sea plate at a depth of 18-30km (Kurashimo et al., 2002). Physical properties across the reflecting interface control amplitude versus offset (AVO) response. To obtain physical properties of the material between the subducting Philippine Sea plate and island arc crust, we investigated AVO response on this bright reflection. Analyzing this bright reflection, we could obtain the reflection coefficient (Rpp) as a function of the incident angle. Rpp tends to increase beyond about 50 degrees. To discuss about this characteristic, we calculated reflection coefficient for different velocity models. The single interface models (positive velocity contrast exists between the interface. negative velocity gradient exists upper side of the reflecter) can not explain the characteristic of the Rpp. Thin layer model (about 200 m) with a P-wave velocity of 4.0 km/s (a thin layer with a negative reflection coefficient at its upper boundary and a much larger, but positive reflection coefficient at its base exists) explains the characteristic of the Rpp. The P-wave velocity of the sediments shows 2.0-4.2km/s off Shikoku Island (Kodaira et al., 2002). These results suggest that sedimentary material subducts beneath the southern part of Sikoku Island with the oceanic crust.