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JAMSTEC > Institute For Research on Earth Evolution

To find out the mystery, IFREE has two subjects, "Researches on Dynamics along Plate Subduction Zones" and "Researches on evolution of the oceanic crust and the mantle". We conduct a research and an observation on the seas of the world.

Researches on Dynamics along Plate Subduction Zones

Great earthquakes, with their magnitudes larger than 8, have repeatedly occur along the Nankai Trough every 100-150 years, resulting in devastating effects from both ground shaking and tsunami. More than 60 has passed since two latest events in 1944 (Tonankai) and in 1946 (Nankai). The structure around the earthquake-generating fault system has been investigated in this area, as well as monitoring of seismic activities. In 2007, a scientific drilling project, called the Nankai Trough Seismogeic Zone Experiment, started to depict the past and future of earthquake and tsunami generation through downhole measurements, laboratory experiments or computer simulation

Researches on evolution of the oceanic crust and the mantle

The Earth's oceanic crust is formed at the oceanic ridges. The oceanic crust subducts along the trenches and returns to the deep mantle down to the core-mantle boundary. Part of the deep subducted slab returns to the surface by upwelling flow of the mantle. The systems collectively forms the mantle cycle. The Earth's interior is not in steady state and has been evolving through 4.6 billion years Earth's history. We investigate the evolution history of the mantle and the crust and their interactions to the surface environment of the Earth.

 

 

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