IODP Expedition 333: Return to Nankai Trough Subduction Inputs Sites and Coring of Mass Transport Deposits

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 333 returned to two sites drilled during IODP Expedition 322 on the ocean side of the Nankai Trough to pursue the characterization of the inputs to the Nankai subduction and seismogenic zone, as part of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) multi-expedition project. Site C0011 is located at the seaward edge of the trench and Site C0012 on a basement high, Kashinozaki Knoll (Fig. 1). The main objectives of drilling again at these sites were to fill coring gaps in the upper part (<350 m) of the sedimentary sequence, to measure heat flow, and to core the oceanic basement to a greater depth on the Knoll. New results include the observation of a diagenetic boundary within the Shikoku Basin sediments that may be compared to one documented further west by ODP Legs 131, 190 and 196 but occurs here at a lower temperature. Borehole heat flow measurements confirm spatial variations in the Shikoku Basin that were indicated by short probe surveys. Heat flow variations between topographic highs and lows may be related to fluid convection within the basement. This expedition also included the objectives of the Nankai Trough Submarine LandSLIDE history (NanTroSLIDE) Ancillary Project Letter (APL) and cored at Site C0018 a pile of mass transport deposits on the footwall of the megasplay fault, a major out of sequence thrust that presumably slips coseismically during large subduction earthquakes. This brought new insight on the timing of these mass wasting events and on the deformation within the sliding slope sediments.