The continental margin off Oregon from seismic investigations

In April and May 1996, a geophysical study of the Cascadia continental marg in off Oregon and Washington was carried out aboard the German RV Sonne as a cooperative experiment between GEOMAR, the USGS and COAS. Offshore centra l Oregon, which is the subject of this study, the experiment involved the c ollection of wide-angle refraction and reflection data along three profiles across the continental margin using ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) and hy drophones (OBH) as well as land recorders. Two-dimensional modelling of the travel times provides a detailed velocity structure beneath these profiles . The subducting oceanic crust of the Juan de Fuca plate can be traced from the trench to its position some 10 km landward of the coastline. At the co astline, the Moho has a depth of 30 km. The dip of the plate changes from 1 .5 degrees westward of the trench to about 6.5 degrees below the accretiona ry complex and to about 16 degrees further eastward below the coast. The ba ckstop forming western edge of the Siletz terrane, an oceanic plateau that was accreted to North America about 50 Ma ago, is well defined by the obser vations. It is located about 60 km to the east of the deformation front and has a seaward dip of 40 degrees. At its seaward edge, the base of the Sile tz terrane seems to be in contact with the subducting oceanic crust implyin g that sediments are unlikely to be subducted to greater depths. The upper oceanic crust is thinner to the east of this contact than to the west. At d epths greater than 18 km, the top of the oceanic crust is the origin of pre -critical reflections observable in several land recordings and in the data of one ocean bottom instrument. These reflections are most likely caused b y fluids that are released from the oceanic crust by metamorphic facies tra nsition. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.