An inhomogeneous across-slab conduit controlled by intraslab stress heterogeneity in the Nankai subduction zone

Nonvolcanic, deep low-frequency tremors and slow-slip events occur simultaneously in the transition zone from locked to continuously creeping fault in the down-dip portion of the Nankai Trough subduction zone, southwestern Japan. The occurrence of these slow earthquakes is discontinuous along the trench and attributed to the effect of high pore pressures at the plate boundary. Here, we show that spatial variations in intraslab stress may control fluid migration from the subducted Philippine Sea slab to the plate boundary. The triaxial normal faulting stress, detected by stress tensor inversion using focal mechanisms in the slab, controls anisotropically permeability that trends NNW–SSE subhorizontally from the subducted Philippine Sea slab to the plate boundary. The inhomogeneous permeability controlled by spatial stress heterogeneities in the subducted Philippine Sea slab controls the intraslab fluid pathway. This hypothesis is consistent with the spatial heterogeneity of slow earthquakes and (3)He/(4)He ratio distributions.