View source for Kuril–Kamchatka Trench

{{Short description|Oceanic trench in the northwest Pacific}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=geo|千島海溝|date=June 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Kuril Trench.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Topographic image of the northwest Pacific including the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench.]]
The '''Kuril–Kamchatka Trench''' or '''Kuril Trench''' ({{langx|ru|Курило-Камчатский жёлоб}}, ''Kurilo-Kamchatskii Zhyolob'') is an [[oceanic trench]] in the northwest [[Pacific Ocean]]. It lies off the southeast coast of [[Kamchatka]] and parallels the [[Kuril Islands|Kuril Island]] chain to meet the [[Japan Trench]] east of [[Hokkaido]]. It extends from a [[triple junction]] with the [[Ulakhan Fault]] and the [[Aleutian Trench]] near the [[Commander Islands]], Russia, in the northeast, to the intersection with the Japan Trench in the southwest.<ref name=USGS/>
The trench formed as a result of the [[subduction]] zone, which formed in the late [[Cretaceous]], that created the Kuril [[island arc]] as well as the Kamchatka volcanic arc.  The [[Pacific plate]] is being subducted beneath the [[Okhotsk microplate]] along the trench, resulting in intense [[volcanism]].
The maximum depth of the trench is reported in peer-reviewed academic papers as 9,600 meters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kamenev |first=Gennady M. |date=10 February 2022 |title=Macrofauna and Nematode Abundance in the Abyssal and Hadal Zones of Interconnected Deep-Sea Ecosystems in the Kuril Basin (Sea of Okhotsk) and the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench (Pacific Ocean) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358492838_Macrofauna_and_Nematode_Abundance_in_the_Abyssal_and_Hadal_Zones_of_Interconnected_Deep-Sea_Ecosystems_in_the_Kuril_Basin_Sea_of_Okhotsk_and_the_Kuril-Kamchatka_Trench_Pacific_Ocean |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302025846/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358492838_Macrofauna_and_Nematode_Abundance_in_the_Abyssal_and_Hadal_Zones_of_Interconnected_Deep-Sea_Ecosystems_in_the_Kuril_Basin_Sea_of_Okhotsk_and_the_Kuril-Kamchatka_Trench_Pacific_Ocean |archive-date=2 March 2023 |access-date=1 March 2023 |website=Researchgate }}</ref>
==Tectonics==
[[File:Kuril-Kamchatka Trench USGS.png|thumb|Map of earthquake locations, showing depth contours on top of downgoing slab]]
At the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, the [[Pacific plate]] is [[subduction|subducting]] beneath the [[Okhotsk microplate]], a microplate formerly considered to be part of the [[North American plate]]. The convergence rate ranges from [[≈]]{{cvt|75|mm}}/yr in the north to ≈{{cvt|83|mm}}/yr at the southern end. Obliquity of convergence increases to the south, where the [[transpression]]al stress is partitioned into trench-normal thrust earthquakes and trench-parallel strike-slip earthquakes. This partitioning results in westward translation of the Kurile forearc relative to the North American plate.
== Associated seismicity ==
Major earthquakes associated with the subduction zone:<ref name=USGS>Rhea, S., et al., 2010, [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1083/c/ Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2007, Kuril-Kamchatka arc and vicinity], U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2010-1083-C, 1 map sheet, scale 1:5,000,000 accessed 25 October 2022</ref><ref name="USGS_2013">{{cite web | url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000h4jh#summary | title=M8.3 – Sea of Okhotsk | publisher=United States Geological Survey | date=2013-05-25 | access-date=2013-05-25}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date
! Location
! Magnitude
|-
|[[February 1923 Kamchatka earthquake|3 February 1923]]
|Kamchatka, Russia
|{{center|8.4}}
|-
|[[April 1923 Kamchatka earthquake and tsunami|13 April 1923]]
|Kamchatka, Russia
|{{center|8.2}}
|-
|[[1933 Sanriku earthquake|2 March 1933]]
|Sanriku-oki, Japan
|{{center|8.6}}
|-
|[[1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake|4 November 1952]]
|Kamchatka, Russia
|{{center|9.0}}
|-
|6 November 1958
|Kuril Islands, Russia
|{{center|8.4}}
|-
|[[1963 Kuril Islands earthquake|13 October 1963]]
|Kuril Islands, Russia
|{{center|8.5}}
|-
|[[1994 Kuril Islands earthquake|4 October 1994]]
|Kuril Islands, Russia
|{{center|8.3}}
|-
|[[2003 Hokkaidō earthquake|25 September 2003]]
|Hokkaido, Japan
|{{center|8.3}}
|-
|[[2006 Kuril Islands earthquake|15 November 2006]]
|Kuril Islands, Russia
|{{center|8.3}}
|-
|[[2013 Okhotsk Sea earthquake|24 May 2013]]
|[[Sea of Okhotsk]]
|{{center|8.3}}
|-
|18 July 2017
|Kamchatka, Russia
|{{center|7.8}}
|-
|[[2020 Kamchatka earthquake|25 March 2020]]
|Kamchatka, Russia
|{{center|7.5}}
|}
{{clear}}
==See also==
*[[Kamchatka earthquakes]]
*[[Ring of Fire]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522032457/http://www.skimountaineer.com/ROF/Region.php?region=Kamchatka Kamchatka & Kuril Islands: Regional Map and Introduction], ''www.skimountaineer.com'', accessed 25 October 2022
{{Coord|47|30|N|155|21|E|display=title|type:waterbody_source:dewiki}}
{{Kuril Islands}}
{{East Asia plates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuril-Kamchatka Trench}}
[[Category:Landforms of Asia]]
[[Category:Landforms of the Kuril Islands]]
[[Category:Kamchatka Peninsula]]
[[Category:Oceanic trenches of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Subduction zones]]
[[Category:Landforms of Russia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Sakhalin Oblast]]
[[Category:Geology of the Russian Far East]]