Subduction Erosion, Crustal Structure, and an Evolutionary Model of the Northern Yap Subduction Zone: New Observations From the Latest Geophysical Survey

Abstract

AbstractThe Yap subduction zone is a distinctive erosive margin with an extremely slow convergence rate. The high relief of the subducting plate, generated by horst and graben structures and seamounts, leads to attenuation of the crust. In this study, we present the latest geophysical data, collected by the Chinese research vessel Kexue, to investigate subduction erosion at the Yap subduction zone and develop subduction models for Yap subduction zone structures. We show an anomalous distance between the Yap Trench and the adjacent volcanic arc, the steep slope of the trench arcward, a frontal prism, and rare sediment in the trench, all typical features of erosive margins. We propose that the high‐relief subducting plate has led to erosion of the overlying plate and that different subduction processes, controlled locally by the topography of the subducting plate, have modified the Yap subduction zone. Numerous normal faults increase the relief of the seafloor entering the trench, and an anomalously large slope angle along the trench reflects uplift of the fore‐arc high via seamount subduction. In addition, the thin crust of the subducted horst and graben structures, along with the normal faults, might have eroded the fore‐arc crust and subsequently eroded the Yap arc crust during subduction. These subduction erosional processes at the Yap Trench provide one of the best cases of an erosive margin in the world, particularly for a subduction zone with an extremely slow convergence rate.