page_title: Japan Trench
section_title: Ocean drilling
hierarchical_section_title: Japan Trench / Ocean drilling
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of JAMSTEC's drilling site along the Japan Trench. Map was created using GeoMapApp. Site was locating using information of JAMSTEC's website. https://www.jamstec.go.jp/chikyu/e/exp343/science.html
context_page_description: The Japan Trench is an oceanic trench part of the Pacific Ring of Fire off northeast Japan. It extends from the Kuril Islands to the northern end of the Izu Islands, and is 8,046 metres at its deepest. It links the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench to the north and the Izu-Ogasawara Trench to its south with a length of 800 kilometres. This trench is created as the oceanic Pacific plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate. The subduction process causes bending of the down going plate, creating a deep trench. Continuing movement on the subduction zone associated with the Japan Trench is one of the main causes of tsunamis and earthquakes in northern Japan, including the megathrust Tōhoku earthquake and resulting tsunami that occurred on 11 March, 2011. The rate of subduction associated with the Japan Trench has been recorded at about 7.9–9.2 centimetres /yr.
context_section_description: In 1980, lipids samples were taken via sediment cores located on both the landward and distal sides of the Japan Trench during six sections of the Deep Sea Drilling Project's transect. They were analyzed using gas chromatography and computerized-gas chromatography-mass spectrometric data. Samples were identified to contain many components such as aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, acids and other poly functional components. These components are considered as indicators for terrestrial, marine (non-bacterial), and bacterial inputs within the sediment of the Japan Trench.
  Expedition 343 of the Japan Trench Fast Driling Project was conducted under the supervision and authority of the Japan Agency For Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). The drilling occurred during two periods; April 1 to May 24, 2012 and from July 5th-18th, 2012. Their main goal was to better understand the very large fault slip of 30–50 metres (98–164 ft) that occurred during the Tohoku earthquake and its potential as one of the main triggers of tsunami wave formation occurring along the northeast coast of Japan.
  In 2013, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 343 collected sediment samples from drilling at the plate boundary fault zone along the Japan Trench. The sediment cores collected exhibited low friction at coseismic slip velocities as well as at low slip velocities. These studies and samples have supported the idea that these frictional properties of the fault zone possibly triggered the shallow and large slip during the Tohoku earthquake.
caption: Map of JAMSTEC's drilling site along the Japan Trench. Map was created using GeoMapApp. The drilling site was located using information on JAMSTEC's website. https://www.jamstec.go.jp/chikyu/e/exp343/science.html
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