Architecture, formation and implication of active structure‐controlled intraslope channel system southeast offshore Sendai, Tohoku, Japan

Abstract

AbstractLocated off the Pacific coast of central Tohoku (NE Japan), the Ishinomaki slope channel (ISC) provides an excellent opportunity to study a structure‐controlled intraslope channel and downslope sedimentation along the active margin. The seismic reflection data across ISC show an extensive basal surface and overlying channel complexes between the basement structures of the Abukuma ridge to the south and Kitakami massif to the north, indicating that the formation of the intraslope basin, channelization of ISC and sedimentation of the downstream channel‐lobe transition zone (CLTZ) are very likely to be structure‐controlled. The oblique channel stacking pattern, faulting of the seafloor and subsurface Abukuma ridge in the upper and lower domains of ISC, collectively suggest that ISC has migrated northward and is currently under the influence of active compression. Differences in styles of accommodation space between the upper and lower domains of ISC suggest that differential subsidence occurred along the strike‐slip tectonic line. Based on the regional strike‐slip tectonic line, we propose that a Kitakami‐Abukuma ridge existed before the formation of ISC. The strike‐slip faulting divided the Kitakami‐Abukuma ridge into the Kitakami massif to the north and the Abukuma ridge to the south, and an intervening fault trough as the precursor of the intraslope basin and ISC. As the subduction of the Pacific Plate and associated compressional events continued, the Abukuma ridge was reactivated to narrow the intraslope basin into a confined channel. Located near the epicentre of the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake event, the ISC, downstream CLTZ and underlying intraslope basin provide information on active basement structure and the evolving sediment routing system on the tectonically active margin.