A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. October 2017. / Since the arc assembly and continental collision of the East African Orogen some 640 million years ago, Madagascar has gone through several geodynamic and tectonic episodes that have formed and subsequently modified its lithosphere. This thesis aims to investigate the structure of the crust, the uppermost mantle, and the mantle transition zone beneath Madagascar to gain insights into the relationship between present-day lithosphere structure and tectonic evolution, and to evaluate candidate models for the origin of the Cenozoic intraplate volcanism. To address these issues, local, regional, and teleseismic events recorded by several temporary seismic networks; the MAdagascar-COmoros-MOzambique (MACOMO), the SEismological signatures in the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere system of SOuthern MAdagascar (SELASOMA), and the Réunion Hotspot and Upper Mantle – Réunions Unterer Mantel (RHUM-RUM) were used to complement the seismic events recorded by the permanent seismic stations in Madagascar. The different methods used and the primary results of this study are explained in each section of this thesis. In the first part of this thesis, crustal and uppermost mantle structure beneath Madagascar was studied by analyzing receiver functions using an H-κ stacking technique and a joint inversion with Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity measurements. Results reflect the eastward and northward progressive development of the western sedimentary basins of Madagascar. The thickness of the Malagasy crust ranges between 18 km and 46 km. The thinnest crust (18-36 km thick) is located beneath the western basins and it is due to the Mesozoic rifting of Madagascar from eastern Africa. The slight thinning of the crust (31-36 km thick) along the east coast may have been caused by crustal uplift and erosion when Madagascar moved over the Marion hotspot and India broke away from it. The parameters describing the crustal structure of Archean and Proterozoic terranes, including thickness, Poisson’s ratio, average shear-wave velocity, thickness of mafic lower crust, show little evidence of secular variation. Slow shear-wave velocity of the uppermost mantle (4.2-4.3 km/s) are observed beneath the northern tip, central part and southwestern region of the island, which encompass major Cenozoic volcanic provinces in Madagascar. The second part of the thesis describes a seismic tomography study that determines the lateral variation of Pn-wave velocity and anisotropy within the uppermost mantle beneath Madagascar. Results show an average uppermost mantle Pn-velocity of 8.1 km/s. However, zones of relatively low-Pn-velocity (~7.9 km/s) are found beneath the Cenozoic volcanic provinces in the northern, central, and southwestern region of the island. These low-Pn-velocity zones are attributed to thermal anomalies that are associated with upwelling of hot mantle materials that gave rise to the Cenozoic volcanism. The direction of Pn anisotropy shows a dominant NW-SE direction of fast-polarization in the northern region and around the Ranostara shear zone, in the south-central Madagascar. The anisotropy in the uppermost mantle beneath these regions aligns with the existing geological framework, e.g. volcanic complex and shear zones, and can be attributed to a fossil anisotropy. The Pn anisotropy in the southwestern region, around the Morondava basin, is E-W to NE-SW-oriented. It can be attributed either to the mantle flow from plate motion, the African superplume, or the Mesozoic rifting from Africa. Results from this study do not show any substantial evidence of the formation of a diffuse boundary of the Lwandle plate, cutting through the central region of Madagascar. Station static delays reflect the significant variation in the Moho depth beneath the island. In the third part of the thesis, the thickness of the mantle transition zone beneath Madagascar, which is sensitive to the surrounding temperature variation, has been estimated by stacking receiver functions. Single-station and common-conversionpoint stacking procedures show no detectable thinning of the mantle transition zone and thus no evidence for a thermal anomaly in the mantle under Madagascar that extends as deep as the mantle transition zone. Therefore, this study supports an upper mantle origin for the Cenozoic volcanism. However, the resolution of the study is not sufficient to rule out the presence of a narrow thermal anomaly as might arise from a plume tail. Overall, the findings in this research are broadly consistent with the crustal and upper mantle structure of Madagascar determined by previous studies, but provides significantly greater detail with regard to the crustal and uppermost mantle structure as more seismic stations were used. / LG2018

Le désir de comprendre l'origine de la Terre, son évolution et sa composition, le futur de notre planète et les événements géologiques comme les séismes et les désastres qu'ils provoquent, ainsi que la curiosité de l'esprit humain font que les chercheurs étudient l'évolution tectonique et la structure actuelle de la Terre. Entre les paramètres clé pour une meilleure compréhension se trouvent la profondeur de la limite croûte-manteau (Moho) et celle de la limite entre la lithosphère et l'asthénosphère (LAB). Le but de cette thèse était de modéliser la limite lithosphère-asthénosphère (LAB) et l'épaisseur crustale sous l'Alborz central, le block sud-caspien et les régions environnantes. Dans cette étude, nous utilisions une méthode d'imagerie de la lithosphère, basée sur l'interprétation de données gravimétriques et de la topographie en équilibre isostatique local. Nous appliquons des algorithmes 1D et 2D de modélisation avant de présenter un nouvel algorithme d'inversion 3D. Nous présentons d'abord une inversion conjointe 1D de données de géoïde et de topographie. Le second pas est la modélisation 2D le long de trois profils par l'interprétation conjointe de géoïde, gravité (air libre et Bouguer), de topographie et de flux de chaleur à la surface. Finalement, nous performons une inversion 3D conjointe de données de géoïde, gravité (air libre) et de topographie. L'application des trois différentes méthodes à la région d'étude nous donne comme résultats principaux une croûte épaisse sous la chaine d'Alborz et sous l'Apsheron-Balkan Sill à la limite septentrionale du bassin sud-caspien. Des fortes variations de l'épaisseur de la lithosphère ont été obtenues, où la lithosphère la plus mince est localisée sous l'Iran central et NW, surtout dans des régions de volcanisme Cénozoïque. Les régions d'épaisseur maximale de la lithosphère se trouvent sous l'Apsheron-Balkan Sill, indiquant en combinaison avec un épaississement parallèle de la croûte une subduction de la lithosphère sud-caspienne vers le nord sous la lithosphère eurasienne. / The wish to understand the Earth's origin, evolution and composition, curiosity of the human to comprehend our planet's future evolution plus the geological needs compel researchers to investigate tectonic evolution and their present day structure and behavior. Some key parameters to better understand these subjects are depth of the Moho (the boundary between crust and mantle) and of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). The targeted area of this research includes the Alborz Mountains in northern Iran and the South Caspian Basin. The Alborz Mountains separate the South Caspian Basin from Central Iran. For our research, the definition of the LAB is an isotherm and we try to calculate the temperature distribution in the lithosphere. We also consider local isostasy to be valid for our modeling. Gravity, geoid, topography and surface heat flow data are used in this research to model the Moho and LAB discontinuities. Potential field data are sensitive to the lateral density variations which happen across these two boundaries but at different depth. In this research 1D, 2D and 3D modeling has been conducted in our targeted area. In 1D modeling, our data are topography and geoid undulations. The method is a 1D inversion based on a two-layered model comprising crust and lithospheric mantle. Using gravity, geoid, topography and surface heat flow data, we have modeled 2D distributions of the density and temperature in the lithosphere along three profiles crossing Iran in SW-NE direction from the Arabian foreland in the SW to the South Caspian Basin and the Turan Platform to the NE. Finally, a 3D algorithm has been developed and tested to obtain the density structure of the lithosphere from joint inversion of free air gravity, geoid and topography data based on a Bayesian approach with Gaussian probability density function. The algorithm delivers the crustal and lithospheric thicknesses and the average crustal density. The results show crustal root under the Alborz Mountains and a thin crust under the southernmost South Caspian Basin thickening northward until the Apsheron-Balkan Sill. Regarding LAB, the results show thick lithosphere under the South Caspian Basin compared to thin lithosphere of Central Iran.

In this dissertation, I use seismic imaging techniques to constrain the physical state of the upper mantle beneath regions of young oceanic lithosphere. Mantle convection is investigated beneath the Galápagos Archipelago and then beneath the Juan de Fuca (JdF) plate, with a focus on the JdF and Gorda Ridges before turning to the off-axis asthenosphere. In the Galápagos Archipelago, S-to-p receiver functions reveal a discontinuity in seismic velocity that is attributed to the dehydration of the upper mantle. The depth at which dehydration occurs is shown to be consistent with prior constraints on mantle temperature. A comparison between results from receiver functions, seismic tomography and petrology shows that mantle upwelling and melt generation occur shallower than the depth of the discontinuity, despite the expectation of high viscosities in the dehydrated layer. Beneath the JdF and Gorda Ridge, low Vs anomalies are too large to be explained by the cooling of the lithosphere and are attributed to partial melt. The asymmetry, large Vs gradients, and sinuosity of the anomalies beneath the JdF Ridge are consistent with models of buoyancy-driven upwelling. However, deformation zone processes appear to dominate mantle flow over seafloor spreading beneath the Explorer and Gorda diffuse plate boundaries. Finally, S-to-p receiver functions reveal a seismic discontinuity beneath the JdF plate that can only be attributed to seismic anisotropy. Synthesis of the receiver function results with prior SKS splitting results requires heterogeneous anisotropy between the crust and the discontinuity. Models of anisotropy feature increasing anisotropy before the decrease at the discontinuity, but well below the base of the lithosphere, and a clockwise rotation of the fast direction with increasing depth. In these results and even in the SKS splitting results, additional driving mechanisms for mantle flow such as density or pressure anomalies are required.

Mantle xenoliths allow us to investigate the geochemical and dynamic evolution of the mantle beneath the western margin of Antarctica and reconstruct a timeline of geologic events that are obscured on the surface. For this study, mantle xenoliths, brought to the surface by recent volcanism, were collected along a transect from the rift shoulder and into the rift basin in the western margin of the West Antarctic Rift System (WARS), thus providing a recent snapshot of the lithospheric mantle after major episodes of rifting. The second chapter of my thesis focuses on determining the age and persistence of the mantle within the rift. The rhenium-osmium (Re-Os) isotope system has proven to be an invaluable tracer of the tectonic history of the lithospheric mantle and can constrain the age of melt extraction and subsequent stabilization of the lithospheric mantle. This allowed us to track the age of the lithospheric mantle across this rifted margin. Os isotopes, combined with major element compositions, reveal widespread Paleoproterozoic (1.7-2.4 Ga) stabilization of the lithosphere and subsequent preservation, suggesting the lithosphere has dynamically thinned in response to rifting. Major element data allowed us to place temperature (T) constraints on the mantle and characterize the thermal history in the WARS. This study also revealed the oldest lithosphere ages recorded in Antarctica (3.3 Ga) and is the first to report ages that coincide with adjacent crustal ages, thus confirming the coupled relationship between the lithospheric mantle and continental crust. An integral factor controlling the composition of magmas generated at Earth’s surface is the composition of the SCLM. Magmas generated at depth must pass through it, and subsequently may take on geochemical signatures of the lithosphere, or may leave behind geochemical imprints of the migrating magma in the SCLM. Trace elements provide a means to investigate both the depletion and re-enrichment history of the SCLM. The third chapter of my thesis investigates the metasomatic overprinting of the Paleoproterozoic SCLM. Metasomatism, which is the chemical alteration of a rock by a migrating melt and/or fluid, leaves behind diagnostic signatures of the metasomatizing agent (e.g. subduction related fluids or carbonated melts). This can occur cryptically, where a melt percolates through the rock, changing the composition of the rock, but not the lithology. Modal metasomatism produces new mineral phases that are not typically expected in the rock. In xenoliths, trace elements enable us to decode geochemical signatures, and determine the sources of metasomatism. The WARS lithosphere has experienced varying degrees of re-enrichment, broadly characterized by low high field strength element (HFSE) abundances and rare earth element (REE) enrichments that correspond with carbonatite metasomatism. In addition, the presence of secondary hydrous phases (e.g. amphibole and phlogopite) imparted distinct geochemical signatures, revealing that the SCLM beneath the WARS was modified by reactive porous flow with an evolving metasomatic fluid/melt. Widespread Cenozoic rift-related volcanism (<20 Ma) is observed throughout the western margin of the East Antarctic Craton. It has been proposed that the Cenozoic basaltic volcanism in the region of our study site originated from a SCLM source that had been metasomatized during subduction along the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana, and subsequent extension in the WARS during the Late Cretaceous (~90 Ma). The fourth chapter of my thesis utilizes strontium (Sr), neodymium (Nd), and hafnium (Hf) isotopes to date depletion and refertilization events in the lithosphere, as well as understand the role of the SCLM in the formation of WARS volcanism. Together with lithologic features (e.g. presence of hydrous phase additions), Sr and Nd isotopic ratios in WARS xenoliths provide a geochemical link to the Cenozoic rift-related magmatism, and supports the SCLM’s role in the formation of diffuse alkaline magmatism throughout the region. Lu-Hf isotope model ages add a constraint on the timing of melt depletion, and establish a relationship between depleted and refertilized domains. Sr isotopes constrain a genetic link between the metasomatized Archean lithosphere sampled on the rift shoulder and the highly radiogenic character of the Ferrar flood basalts, and indicate long-term storage of subduction modified mantle domains in the SCLM. The Sm-Nd isotope system is variably overprinted by metasomatism throughout the WARS. The most highly metasomatized location produces a well-correlated isochron that indicates that the SCLM acquired its trace element metasomatic signature about 130 Ma ago, during the late stages of subduction along the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana.

Oceanic strike-slip earthquakes occur on transform faults and fracture zones that cut across thousands of kilometers of seafloor. The largest of these events often rupture a considerable portion of their associated fault and can provide a comprehensive look at seismic slip across the entire fault plane as well as constraints on the depth extent of seismic slip. It is generally accepted that seismic and aseismic slip along oceanic transform faults is thermally controlled, however composition and geometry have been proposed as significant controls on some faults. High strain rates are a mechanism to achieve greater rupture depths, such as the unusually deep centroids reported for the largest strike-slip earthquake recorded to date, the 2012 MW 8.6 Indian Ocean earthquake. Detailed studies of notable earthquakes and a scattering of well-known faults have been of great use in elucidating oceanic strike-slip rupture. Determining if observed behavior is characteristic of all oceanic strike-slip faults requires a different approach. To resolve how seismic and aseismic slip are controlled with depth and along strike, well-constrained depths of many earthquakes along oceanic strike-slip faults are determined by modeling teleseismic body waves. Finite-fault slip inversions are calculated for the largest, most recent, and best-recorded oceanic strike-slip events. The constrained depth and along-strike location of slip for numerous oceanic earthquakes on strike-slip faults illuminates the distribution of seismic rupture on these faults in detail, as well as in unprecedented breadth through the examination of oceanic faults in a range of spreading rates and lithosphere ages. These well-constrained depths are within the expected limit to brittle failure (600-800ºC) and show that seismic rupture extends throughout the upper mantle to the crust. Observations of seismic rupture along an oceanic strike-slip fault also provide a comparison to the behavior of continental strike-slip faults that pose a far greater hazard to population centers, such as the San Andreas Fault in the Western United States and the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey.

Abstract Knowledge of the thermal conditions in the lithosphere is based on theoretical models of heat transfer constrained by geological and geophysical data. The present dissertation focuses on the uncertainties of calculated temperature and heat flow density results and on how they depend on the uncertainties of thermal properties of rocks, as well as on the relevant boundary conditions. Due to the high number of involved variables of typical models, the random simulation technique was chosen as the applied tool in the analysis. Further, the random simulation technique was applied in inverse Monte Carlo solutions of geothermal models. In addition to modelling technique development, new measurements on thermal conductivity and diffusivity of middle and lower crustal rocks in elevated pressure and temperature were carried out. In the uncertainty analysis it was found that a temperature uncertainty of 50 K at the Moho level, which is at a 50 km's depth in the layered model, is produced by an uncertainty of only 0.5 W m-1 K-1 in thermal conductivity values or 0.2 orders of magnitude uncertainty in heat production rate (mW m-3). Similar uncertainties are obtained in Moho temperature, given that the lower boundary condition varies by ± 115 K in temperature (nominal value 1373 K) or ± 1.7 mW m-2 in mantle heat-flow density (nominal value 13.2 mW m-2). Temperature and pressure dependencies of thermal conductivity are minor in comparison to the previous effects. The inversion results indicated that the Monte Carlo technique is a powerful tool in geothermal modelling. When only surface heat-flow density data are used as a fitting object, temperatures at the depth of 200 km can be inverted with an uncertainty of 120 - 170 K. When petrological temperature-depth (pressure) data on kimberlite-hosted mantle xenoliths were used also as a fitting object, the uncertainty was reduced to 60 - 130 K. The inversion does not remove the ambiguity of the models completely, but it reduces significantly the uncertainty of the temperature results.

In this thesis, I investigate the seismic structure of oceanic lithosphere and asthenosphere with a particular focus on seismic anisotropy, using high-resolution surface waves recorded on ocean-bottom seismometers (OBS) in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The NoMelt (~70 Ma) and Young OBS Research into Convecting Asthenosphere (ORCA) (~43 Ma) OBS experiments located in the central and south Pacific, respectively, provide a detailed picture of ``typical'' oceanic lithosphere and asthenosphere and offer an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the age dependence of oceanic upper mantle structure. The Eastern North American Margin Community Seismic Experiment (ENAM-CSE) OBS array located just offshore the Eastern U.S. captures the transition from continental rifting during Pangea to normal seafloor spreading, representing significantly slower spreading rates. Collectively, this work represents a diverse set of observations that improve our understanding of seafloor spreading, present-day mantle dynamics, and ocean basin evolution. At NoMelt, which represents pristine relatively unaltered oceanic mantle, we observe strong azimuthal anisotropy in the lithosphere that correlates with corner-flow induced shear during seafloor spreading. We observe perhaps the first clear Love-wave azimuthal anisotropy that, in addition to co-located Rayleigh-wave and active source Pn constraints, provides a novel in-situ estimate of the complete elastic tensor of the oceanic lithosphere. Comparing this observed anisotropy to a database of laboratory and naturally deformed olivine samples from the literature leads us to infer an alternative ``D-type'' fabric associated with grain-size sensitive deformation, rather than the commonly assumed A-type fabric. This has vast implications for our understanding of grain-scale deformation active at mid-ocean ridges and subsequent thermo-rheological evolution of the lithosphere. At both NoMelt and YoungORCA we observe radial anisotropy in the lithosphere with Vsh > Vsv indicating subhorizontal fabric, in contrast to some recent global models. We also observe azimuthal anisotropy in the lithosphere that parallels the fossil-spreading direction. Estimates of radial anisotropy in the crust at both locations are the first of their kind and suggest horizontal layering and/or shearing associated with the crustal accretion process. Both experiments show asthenospheric anisotropy that is significantly rotated from current-day absolute plate motion as well as rotated from one another, at odds with the typical expectation of plate-induced shearing. This observation is consistent with small-scale density- or pressure-driven convection beneath the Pacific basin that varies in orientation over a length scale of at most ~2000 km and likely shorter. By directly comparing shear velocities at YoungORCA and NoMelt, we show that the half-space cooling model can account for most (~75%) of the sublithospheric velocity difference between the two location when anelastic effects are accounted for. The unaccounted for ~25% velocity reduction at YoungORCA is consistent with lithospheric reheating, perhaps related to upwelling of hot mantle from small-scale convection or its proximity to the Marquesas hotspot. While lithospheric anisotropy is parallel to the fossil-seafloor-spreading direction at both fast-spreading Pacific locations, it is perpendicular to spreading at the ENAM-CSE in the northwest Atlantic where spreading was ultra-slow to slow. Instead, anisotropy correlates with paleo absolute plate motion at the time of Pangea rifting ~180–195 Ma. We propose that ultra-slow-spreading environments, such as the early Atlantic, primarily record plate-motion modified fabric in the lithosphere rather than typical seafloor spreading fabric. Furthermore, slow shear velocities in the lithosphere may indicate that normal seafloor spreading did not initiate until ~170 Ma, 10–25 Myr after the initiation of continental rifting, revising previous estimates. Alternatively, it may shed new light on melt extraction at ultra-slow spreading environments.

This thesis concerns the causes and consequences of magma emplacement in the Earth’slithosphere during the formation of Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) and continental rifts. Motivated by geological, geophysical, geochemical and paleoclimate data, I formulate geodynamic models to address the following questions: (1) How were the massive volumes of subaerially erupted lava, described in multi-channel seismic data as seaward-dipping reflectors (SDRs), formed and what can SDRs tell us about the rifting processes? (2) What thermal and rheological conditions are required to produce the contrast in topography of the two youngest LIPs: namely that the Columbia Plateau sits ~0.7 km lower than the surrounding region while the Ethiopian Plateau is ~1.5 km higher than its surroundings? (3) Why does significant global warming occur a few hundred-thousand years prior to the main phase of eruptions of the Columbia River Basalts and the Deccan Traps? The major results of my thesis are: (1) The first two-dimensional thermo-mechanical treatment of SDR formation shows how the lithosphere thickness affects the deformation in response to magmatic loads during volcanic margin formation. I provide a quantitative mapping between the shape of SDRs and the strength of the lithosphere and this mapping reveals weak continental margin lithosphere during the initial continental breakup. (2) Cold and strong crust results in slow lower crustal flow and a persistent high plateau like the Ethiopian Plateau. In contrast, a combination of three things can produce a low plateau like the Columbia Plateau. First, hot and weak lower crust flows fast in response to topographic and magmatic loads. Second, a significant fraction of the magma intruded in the crust freezes onto and becomes part of the strong upper crust. Finally, the bulk of the intrusions occur before the main phase of extrusion to explain the geometry of the Columbia River Basalt lava flows. (3) I argue that the major eruptions of continental flood basalts may require densification of the crust by intrusion of larger volumes of magma than are extruded. Simple models show that magma crystallization and release of CO² from such intrusions could produce global warming before the main phase of flood basalt eruptions on the observed timescale.

Thesis advisor: Ethan Baxter / Serpentinites assume a critical role in geochemical and geophysical cycles, from recycling fluid into the sub-arc mantle to facilitating exhumation within subduction zones. Rodingite dikes can be used as a lens to investigate the hydration of the oceanic lithosphere as their development is synchronous with serpentinization, and while serpentinites lack sufficient mineral phases for geochronology, rodingite dikes are rich in andradite and grossular garnet which are potentially amenable for geochronology. This research seeks to constrain the timescales and duration of hydration of the oceanic lithosphere within the Alpine Tethys ocean basin, and associated serpentinization, by examining Apennines rodingites from the Internal Ligurides (Italy). These rodingites experienced seafloor hydrothermal alteration and were obducted onto the continental margin during Alpine orogenesis. As a result, they are ideal for studying seafloor metasomatism as they were not affected by prograde subduction zone metamorphism and dehydration. Sr isotopic and trace element profiles were constructed across two rodingite-serpentinite transects, revealing a complex, multi-stage hydration history consisting of 1) Widespread serpentinization, 2) Gabbroic intrusions, 3) Rodingitization, and 4) Localized, late-stage advective fluid flow. Serpentinizing fluids locally display strong continental crustal isotopic signatures, while rodingitization fluids are characterized by seawater-like values. U-Pb geochronology on rodingite garnets produced an age of 96.1 ± 8.9 Ma, which could represent either the main rodingitization phase or the late-stage advective alteration. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Northeast Japan experienced an approximately constant, compressional deformation during the last 5 million years resulting from the steady subduction of the Pacific plate. Because the direction of the maximum compression axis is approximately perpendicular to the strike of the island arc, 2-D finite-element modeling can be used to examine the deformation over time of the island-arc lithosphere. The model geometry is based on geophysical and geological data, and each model run requires an assumed rheology and interplate coupling. Novel to our modeling is the ability to include erosion/deposition loading and the creation of strike-slip faults, based on a dynamically-applied fracture criterion. The criterion for acceptability is how well a model matches observed present-day topography, gravity, and seismicity patterns. Results given below are for models that satisfy this criterion. The long-term effective elastic thickness is 10 km in the inner arc, increasing to about 50 km near the trench. The effective elastic thickness in the inner arc is therefore much smaller than the about 30 km short-term elastic thickness estimated from seismological data. The viscosity of the lower crust is on the order of 1022 Pa s or less. The strength of interplate coupling off Sanriku is about two to four times greater than off Miyagi, and there is about twice as strong a coupling at greater depths. The relative strength of coupling correlates well with the observed interplate seismicity. Hence the inferred weaker coupling off Miyagi indicates a lack of seismogenic potential -- a low probability for large earthquakes in that region, not just a long return cycle. The same modeling procedure was also applied to southwest Japan. The viscosity of the lower crust is not more than 1021 Pa s, and the elas tic thickness is about 10 km. The calculated strength of interplate coupling for southwest Japan is about 1.5 times greater than for the off-Sanriku region in northeast Japan, which correlates well with the fact that there have been great (M>8) earthquakes in the Nankai Trough region, but none that large in the off-Sanriku region. / Ph. D.