Toroidal, Counter-Toroidal, and Upwelling Flow in the Mantle Wedge of the Rivera and Cocos Plates: Implications for IOB Geochemistry in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

Abstract

We carried out analog laboratory modeling at a scale 1:4,000,000 and computer rendering of the flow patterns in a simulated western Middle American subduction zone. The scaled model consists of a transparent tank filled with corn syrup and housing two conveyor belts made of polyethylene strips. One of the strips dips 60° and moves at a velocity of 30 mm/min simulating the Rivera plate. The other one dips 45°, moves at 90 mm/min simulating the subduction of the Cocos plate. Our scaled subduction zone also includes a gap between the simulated slabs analogous to a tear recently observed in shear wave tomography studies. An acrylic plate 3 mm thick floats on the syrup in grazing contact with the polyethylene strips and simulates the overriding North America plate. Our experiments reveal a deep toroidal flow of asthenospheric mantle through the Cocos–Rivera separation. The flow is driven by a pressure gradient associated with the down-dip differential-motion of the slabs. Similarly, low pressure generated by the fast-moving Cocos plate creates a shallow counter-toroidal flow in the uppermost 100 km of the mantle wedge. The flow draws mantle beneath the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt to the Jalisco block, then plunges into the deep mantle by the descending poloidal cell of the Cocos slab. Moreover, our model suggests a hydraulic jump causes an ~250 km asthenosphere upwelling around the area where intra-arc extensional systems converge in western Mexico. The upwelling eventually merges with the shallow counter-toroidal flow describing a motion in 3D space similar to an Archimedes’ screw. Our results indicate the differential motion between subducting slabs drives mixing in the mantle wedge of the Rivera plate and allows the slab to steepen and retreat. Model results are in good agreement with seismic anisotropy studies and the geochemistry of lavas erupted in the Jalisco block. The model can explain the eruption of OIB lavas in the vicinity of the City of Guadalajara in western Mexico, and the south shoulder in the central part of the Tepic-Zacoalco fault system.