Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
Template:Short description Template:Expand Japanese Template:Use dmy dates
The Kuril–Kamchatka Trench or Kuril Trench (Template:Langx, Kurilo-Kamchatskii Zhyolob) is an oceanic trench in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It lies off the southeast coast of Kamchatka and parallels the Kuril Island chain to meet the Japan Trench east of Hokkaido. It extends from a triple junction with the Ulakhan Fault and the Aleutian Trench near the Commander Islands, Russia, in the northeast, to the intersection with the Japan Trench in the southwest.<ref name=USGS/>
The trench formed as a result of the subduction zone, which formed in the late Cretaceous, that created the Kuril island arc as well as the Kamchatka volcanic arc. The Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the Okhotsk plate along the trench, resulting in intense volcanism.
The maximum depth of the trench is reported in peer-reviewed academic papers as 9,600 meters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
History
The trench was first discovered during an oceanographic and hydrographic survey by the USS Tuscarora.<ref name="x159">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="z711">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The ship had detected a depth of 4655 fathoms.<ref name="z711"/>
Tectonics
At the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, the Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Okhotsk plate, a minor tectonic plate formerly considered to be part of the North American plate. The convergence rate ranges from ≈Template:Cvt/yr in the north to ≈Template:Cvt/yr at the southern end. Obliquity of convergence increases to the south, where the transpressional stress is partitioned into trench-normal thrust earthquakes and trench-parallel strike-slip earthquakes. This partitioning results in westward translation of the Kurile forearc relative to the North American plate.
Associated seismicity
Major earthquakes associated with the subduction zone:<ref name=USGS>Rhea, S., et al., 2010, Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007, Kuril-Kamchatka arc and vicinity, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1083-C, 1 map sheet, scale 1:5,000,000 accessed 25 October 2022</ref><ref name="USGS_2013">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
| Date | Location | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| 3 February 1923 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 13 April 1923 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 2 March 1933 | Sanriku-oki, Japan | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 4 November 1952 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 6 November 1958 | Kuril Islands, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 13 October 1963 | Kuril Islands, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 4 October 1994 | Kuril Islands, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 25 September 2003 | Hokkaido, Japan | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 15 November 2006 | Kuril Islands, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 24 May 2013 | Sea of Okhotsk | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 18 July 2017 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 25 March 2020 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
| 29 July 2025 | Kamchatka, Russia | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} |
See also
References
External links
- Kamchatka & Kuril Islands: Regional Map and Introduction, www.skimountaineer.com, accessed 25 October 2022
Template:Coord Template:Kuril Islands Template:East Asia plates