Situated at the dynamic convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, Taiwan experiences moderate earthquakes and notable volcanic activity, particularly in the Tatun Volcanic Group.
Assistant Professor Justin Yen-Ting Ko and his research team investigate regional magmatism in northern Taiwan using advanced three-dimensional, frequency-dependent attenuation tomography of P- and S-waves. Employing high-resolution data from the Formosa seismic array, they identify high-attenuation anomalies (low Q) beneath the Northern Taiwan Volcanic Zone (NTVZ) and offshore submarine volcanoes, indicative of potential hydrothermal activities and magma reservoirs at varying depths. Additionally, they observe low-attenuation anomalies (high Q) in the forearc region of the Ryukyu subduction zone, suggesting partial saturation linked to serpentinization processes resulting from seawater infiltration or forearc mantle hydration.
These findings illuminate complex geological features and provide essential insights into the crustal properties of northern Taiwan, contributing to a deeper understanding of its magmatic evolution and tectonic processes.
The research was published in the Nature Research journal Scientific Reports:
Lin, Y.-P., Ko, J. Y.-T.*, Huang, B.-S., Lin, C.-H., and Shih, M.-H. (2024). Unveiling attenuation structures in the northern Taiwan volcanic zone. Sci Rep 14, 4716. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55397-8
Fig. 1. Cross-sections of ΔlnQP(x,f0) (left side) and ΔlnQS(x,f0) (right side) through the northern Taiwan attenuation tomography model. Red triangles indicate the locations of volcanoes.
