Subduction-related structure at the southwest end (Albatross segment) of the Mw 9.2, 1964 megathrust rupture area offshore Kodiak Island, Alaska

• Main Authors: Krabbenhoeft, Anne, von Huene, Roland, Klaeschen, Dirk, Miller, J. J.
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Kodiak; Alaska
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/37757/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/37757/1/FB4_GDY_A0_akrabbenhoeft_DGG17.jpg

Some of the largest earthquakes worldwide, including the 1964 9.2 Mw megathrust earthquake, occurred in Alaskan subduction zones. To better understand rupture processes and their mechanisms, we relate seafloor morphology from multibeam and regional bathymetric compilations with sub-seafloor images and seismic P-wave velocity structures. We re-processed legacy multichannel seismic (MCS) data including shot- and intra-shotgather interpolation, multiple removal and Kirchhoff depth migration. These images even reveal the shallow structure of the subducting oceanic crust. Traveltime tomography of a coincident vintage (1994) wide angle dataset reveals the P-wave velocity distribution as well as the deep structure of the subducting plate to the ocean crust Moho. The subducting oceanic crust morphology is rough and partly hidden by a thick sediment cover that reaches ~3 km depth at the trench axis. Bathymetry shows two major contrasting upper plate morphologies: the shallow dipping lower slope consists of trench-parallel ridges that form the accreted prism whereas the steep rough middle and upper slopes are composed of competent older rock. Thrust faults are distributed across the entire slope, some of which connect with the subducted plate interface. A subtle change in seafloor gradient from the lower to the middle slope coincides with a splay fault zone marking the boundary between the margin framework and the frontal prism. It corresponds to the most prominent lateral increase in seismic P-wave velocities, ~25 km landward of the trench axis. Major thrusts in several MCS-lines are correlated with bathymetric data, showing their > 100 km lateral extent, which might also be tsunamigenic paths of earthquake rupture from the seismogenic zone to the seafloor. The splay fault zone has been recognized as a potential tsunamigenic structure in the 1938 and 1946 earthquake rupture areas.