@article {5290, title = {Structure and Composition of the Plate-Boundary Slip Zone for the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake}, volume = {342}, number = {6163}, year = {2013}, month = {December 6}, pages = {1208{\textendash}1211}, abstract = {
The mechanics of great subduction earthquakes are influenced by the frictional properties, structure, and composition of the plate-boundary fault. We present observations of the structure and composition of the shallow source fault of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami from boreholes drilled by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 343 and 343T. Logging-while-drilling and core-sample observations show a single major plate-boundary fault accommodated the large slip of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake rupture, as well as nearly all the cumulative interplate motion at the drill site. The localization of deformation onto a limited thickness (less than 5 meters) of pelagic clay is the defining characteristic of the shallow earthquake fault, suggesting that the pelagic clay may be a regionally important control on tsunamigenic earthquakes.
}, doi = {DOI: 10.1126/science.1243719}, author = {Chester, Frederick M and Rowe, C and Ujiie, K and Kirkpatrick, J and Regalla, C and Remitti, F and Moore, J C and Toy, V and Monica L Wolfson-Schwehr and Bose, Santanu and Kameda, J and James J Mori and Brodsky, Emily E and Eguchi, Nobuhisa and Toczko, S} }