What Exactly Causes Mysterious Deep Earthquakes?

Fluids play a vital role in deep-focus earthquakes, which occur between 300 and 700 kilometers beneath the planet's surface, according to a new study published in AGU Advances. Steven Shirey, Lara Wagner, Peter van Keken, and Michael Walter of Carnegie Mellon University and Graham Pearson of the University of Alberta make up the research team.

Common Earthquakes

Wagner and van Keken put their theory to the test by using complex computational models to simulate the temperatures of sinking slabs at considerably larger depths than had previously been done. In addition to the modeling, Walter looked into the stability of the water-bearing minerals to see whether they could hold on to water in particular situations under the extreme heat and pressures of the Earth's deep interior. Even though warmer plates couldn't contain water, the study demonstrated that the minerals in colder oceanic plates might hypothetically transport water to the depths associated with deep-focus earthquakes.

The scientists compared the simulations to real-life seismological data to back up their findings. They demonstrated that the slabs that might theoretically transport water to these depths were also undergoing hitherto unexplained deep earthquakes.

This study is unique in that it examines the same subject using four separate disciplines: geochemistry, seismology, geodynamics, and petrology, all of which point to the same conclusion: water and other fluids are a fundamental component in deep-focus earthquakes.

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