Identification of a large mud volcano field in the Hyuga-nada, northern end of the Ryukyu trench, offshore Japan

Abstract

We identified 27 new mud volcanoes, including potential ones, in a part of the Hyuga-nada area, southwest offshore Japan, at the northern end of the Ryukyu Trench, based on subseafloor geological structures using geophysical investigations. These mud volcanoes exhibited high density and breadth and were likely connected to other mud volcano fields in the south. Acoustic investigations indicated subseafloor structures. Multiple acoustically transparent bodies were interpreted as a region containing gas. They were likely to appear along faults and below the bottom of valleys and sometimes reached the seafloor, expressing mud volcanoes onto the seafloor. They also indicated the wide distribution of subseafloor free-gas throughout the area. These acoustic investigations suggested that a swarm of mud volcanoes exists over the Hyuga-nada area, heterogeneously distributed along a series of plate convergent margins, the Nankai Trough, and the northern part of the Ryukyu Trench.