Long-distance fluid and heat transport in the oceanic crust entering the Nankai subduction zone, NanTroSEIZE transect

Abstract

I examine the potential causes of anomalous seafloor heat flux on the oceanic plate in the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) transect offshore southern Japan. The most prominent anomaly is a ∼50 mWm−2 change in heat flux between Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Sites C0011 and C0012 over a distance of <10 km. I develop thermal models to investigate the effects of hydrothermal circulation in the basaltic basement of the oceanic crust and variations in heat input from the mantle. The <10 km wide transition in surface heat flux reflects a process in the shallow subsurface; variations in heat input from ⩾5 km depth would generate a >30 km wide transition at the seafloor. The observed surface heat flux pattern is indicative of hydrothermal circulation in the basement aquifer and advection of heat from the subducted crust into the aquifer on the incoming plate. For a 600 m thick aquifer, the permeability is likely ⩾7×10−11 m2, and hydrothermal circulation transports at least 300 times more heat than conduction alone. The heat flux from the subduction zone seaward to the incoming plate is consistent with hydrothermal circulation in the subducting crust persisting to ∼100 km landward of the deformation front. Vigorous fluid circulation in the basaltic basement is consistent with both the seafloor thermal anomalies and geochemical anomalies near the sediment–basement interface.