Multivariate Statistical and Multiproxy Constraints on Earthquake-Triggered Sediment Remobilization Processes in the Central Japan Trench.

Understanding the impact of earthquakes on subaqueous environments is key for submarine paleoseismological investigations seeking to provide long-term records of past earthquakes. For this purpose, event deposits (e.g.

Megathrust earthquake drives drastic organic carbon supply to the hadal trench.

The giant 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake has been inferred to remobilise fine-grained, young surface sediment enriched in organic matter from the slope into the >7 km deep Japan Trench. Yet, this hypothesis and assessment of its significance for the carbon cycle has been hindered by limited data density and resolution in the hadal zone. Here we combine new high-resolution bathymetry data with sub-bottom profiler images and sediment cores taken during 2012-2016 in order to map for the first time the spatial extent of the earthquake-triggered event deposit along the hadal Japan Trench.