The topography of the 660-km discontinuity beneath the Kuril-Kamchatka: Implication for morphology and dynamics of the northwestern Pacific slab

Abstract

The 660-km discontinuity (660) plays a potentially important role in deep slab dynamics and mantle convection. Increasing numbers of seismic observations suggest controversial morphologies of the Pacific slab beneath the Kuril-Kamchatka, highlighting the poorly understood interaction of the slab and mantle discontinuities. Here we collect near-source S-to-P converted waves from a large dataset with several dense seismic networks and systematically image the topography of the 660 around the Pacific slab beneath the Kuril-Kamchatka. We conduct detailed comparisons of the 660 depths and seismicity along some vertical cross sections. In comparison with the discontinuity depth in the IASP91 model, the 660 exhibits broad depressions up to 32–63 km with apparent downward deflections beneath the Kamchatka Peninsula and northern Kuril (region I), supporting slab penetration into the lower mantle; in contrast, the 660 depressions beneath southern Kuril (region II) are less than 21–28 km with a relatively flat configuration, implying a stagnating slab with possible hot entrained mantle materials and/or partial melts below it. We interpret these regional variations in the 660 topography as reflecting local low-temperature anomalies due to different slab morphologies associated with contrasting subduction modes. We suggest compound effects of pressure-driven mantle flow and trench retreat for inducing the inferred subduction mode change of the Pacific slab from region I to region II. Our results can provide more insight into subduction dynamics in the northwestern Pacific.