Offshore active faults of the Mikata fault zone in Fukui, Japan, revealed by high-resolution seismic profiles

Abstract:

The Mikata fault zone are located in coastal and shallow sea area off Fukui Prefecture, West Japan. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Tokai University conducted, as part of MEXT 2013 nearshore active fault survey project, a high-resolution multi-channel seismic survey using Boomer and a 12-channel streamer cable, acoustic profiling survey using parametric sub-bottom profiler and shallow-sea offshore drilling, in order to clarify distribution and activity of the Mikata fault zone.

The seismic reflection surveys identified four reflection surfaces as vertical displacement markers in the post-glacial deposits at a depth ranging from ca. 4.5m to ca. 17m below the sea bottom on the downthrown side. We estimated the age of each marker reflection surface by using the C14 age and others from 4m-long core obtained on the downthrown side of fault and the sea level change in the latest Pleistocene and early Holocene around Japan. The results of these surveys have revealed that the fault system was reactivated three times since the latest Pleistocene. The vertical slip rate and average recurrence interval of the fault system are estimated at ca. 0.8-1.0 m/ky and 2,000-3,800 years, respectively.