@article {wang_temporal_2022, title = {Temporal velocity variations in the northern Hikurangi margin and the relation to slow slip}, journal = {Earth and Planetary Science Letters}, volume = {584}, year = {2022}, month = {04/2022}, pages = {117443}, abstract = {Slow slip events (SSE) have been studied in increasing detail over the last 20 years, improving our understanding of subduction zone processes. Although the relationship between SSEs and the physical properties of their surrounding materials is still not well-understood, the northern Hikurangi margin in New Zealand is the site of relatively shallow (<10 km deep), frequent SSEs, providing excellent opportunities for near-field investigations. From September to October 2014, an SSE occurred with more than 250 mm slip, and was recorded successfully by the Hikurangi Ocean Bottom Investigation of Tremor and Slow Slip (HOBITSS) deployment. This study applies scattered wave interferometry to ambient noise data acquired by nine HOBITSS ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) to study the seismic velocity variations related to the SSE. Single station cross-component correlations are computed within a period band that focuses on the upper plate in our study region. The average velocity variations display a decrease on the order of 0.05\% during the SSE, followed by an increase of similar magnitude afterwards. We suggest two possibilities. The first possibility, which has been suggested by other seismological observations, is that the SSE causes a low-permeability seal on the plate boundary to break. The break allows fluid to migrate into the upper plate, causing a seismic velocity decrease during the SSE because of increased pore fluid volume in the upper plate. Under this model, after the SSE, the fluids in the upper plate diffuse gradually and the velocity increases again. The second possibility is the velocity changes are related to changes in crustal strain during the slow slip cycle, whereby elastic strain accumulates prior to the SSE, causing contraction and reduction of porosity and therefore increase of velocity above the SSE source (the seismic velocity increases between SSEs). During the SSE the upper plate goes into extension as the elastic strain is released, which results in dilation and a porosity increase (seismic velocity reduction). After the SSE, stress and strain accumulate again, causing a porosity decrease and a velocity increase.}, keywords = {ambient noise, seismic velocity variations, slow slip event, the Hikurangi subduction zone}, issn = {0012-821X}, doi = {10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117443}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X22000796}, author = {Wang, Weiwei and Savage, Martha K. and Yates, Alexander and Zal, Hubert J. and Webb, Spahr and Boulton, Carolyn and Warren-Smith, Emily and Madley, Megan and Stern, Tim and Fry, Bill and Mochizuki, Kimihiro and Wallace, Laura} } @article {todd_earthquakes_2018, title = {Earthquakes and Tremor Linked to Seamount Subduction During Shallow Slow Slip at the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth}, volume = {123}, number = {8}, year = {2018}, note = {_eprint: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2018JB016136}, pages = {6769{\textendash}6783}, abstract = {Shallow slow slip events have been well documented offshore Gisborne at the northern Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand, and are associated with tectonic tremor downdip of the slow slip patch and increases in local microseismicity. Tremor and seismicity on the shallow subduction interface are often poorly resolved due to their distance from land-based seismic and geodetic networks. To address this shortcoming, the Hikurangi Ocean Bottom Investigation of Tremor and Slow Slip experiment deployed 24 absolute pressure gauges and 15 ocean bottom seismometers on the seafloor above the Gisborne slow slip patch to investigate the spatial and temporal extent of slow slip and associated tremor and earthquake activity. We present a detailed spatiotemporal analysis of the seismic signatures of various interplate slip processes associated with the September/October 2014 Gisborne slow slip event. Tectonic tremor begins toward the end and continues after the geodetically constrained slow slip event and is localized in the vicinity of two subducted seamounts within and updip of the slow slip patch. The subsequent, rather than synchronous occurrence of tremor suggests that tremor may be triggered by stress changes induced by slow slip. However, Coulomb failure stress change models based on the slow slip distribution fail to predict the location of tremor, suggesting that seamount subduction plays a dominant role in the stress state of the shallow megathrust. This and the observed interplay of seismic and aseismic interplate slip processes imply that stress changes from slow slip play a secondary role in the distribution of associated microseismicity.}, keywords = {earthquake, New Zealand, Seamount, slow slip, subduction, tremor}, issn = {2169-9356}, doi = {10.1029/2018JB016136}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018JB016136}, author = {Todd, Erin K. and Schwartz, Susan Y. and Mochizuki, Kimihiro and Wallace, Laura M. and Sheehan, Anne F. and Webb, Spahr C. and Williams, Charles A. and Nakai, Jenny and Yarce, Jefferson and Fry, Bill and Henrys, Stuart and Ito, Yoshihiro} }