Deep Slab Research Articles

Imaging of the subducted Kyushu-Palau Ridge in the Hyuga-nada region, western Nankai Trough subduction zone

We performed 3D seismic tomography of the Hyuga-nada region, western Nankai subduction zone, to investigate the relationship of the subducted part of Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR) to coseismic rupture propagation, seismicity, and shallow very low frequency earthquakes. Combining active-source and passive-source data recorded both onshore and offshore, we imaged the deep slab from near the trough axis to the coastal area. Our results show the subducted KPR as a low-velocity belt oriented NW–SE extending down the plate boundary to around 30km depth. At this depth, we suggest that the subducted KPR detaches from the slab and becomes underplated on the overriding continental plate. As the coseismic slip areas of past large earthquakes do not extend into the subducted KPR, we suggest that it may inhibit rupture propagation. The interior of the subducted KPR shows active intraslab seismicity with a wide depth distribution. Shallow very low frequency earthquakes are continuously active above the location of the subducted KPR, whereas they are intermittent to the northeast of the subducted KPR. Thus, the subducted KPR appears to be an important factor in coseismic rupture propagation and seismic phenomena in this region.

Hygrothermal simulations of foundations: Part 1: Soil material properties

Deep basements, crawl spaces and slab on grade are typical foundations in residential buildings in North America. The foundation of a house is a somewhat invisible and at sometimes ignored component of the building. Appropriate foundation design and construction practice must not only include thermal performance, but also design for a durable and safe hygrothermal performance. A hygrothermal simulation tool can be used to evaluate and predict the hygrothermal behavior of an insulated foundation constructions, in cooperation with the surrounding soil. Though, further development of the tool might first be needed and validated to fulfill the prerequisites. Transient hygrothermal simulation tools have existed in Building Science for more than 20 years, but are mainly used for building envelope simulation above ground. A lot of knowledge already exists in Soil Science concerning the variation of the soil material properties in relation to soil texture, moisture content etc. However, Soil Science uses these properties for other purpose and with different modeling approaches, hence a conversion is needed. This paper studies the existing knowledge of soil properties, converted to apply for simulation in Building Science. Further, the soil properties are implemented in a transient hygrothermal simulation tool, studying the applicability for modeling soil temperature and moisture flow. Finally the results are compared with measurement and followed by a discussion of further investigations and development needed.

Dynamics of slab rollback and induced back-arc basin formation

We performed a numerical study to understand the dynamical mechanisms of back-arc basin formation induced by slab rollback. To this end, we used two-dimensional numerical models of an integrated plate–mantle convection system with 410- and 660-km phase transitions. Retrograde slab migration occurs when the slab stagnates in the transition zone or when the deep section of the slab is vertical. In both cases, slab rollback occurs because the deep slab section obstructs the descending motion of the shallow slab section with an inclination. Buoyancy of the 660-km phase boundary acts as the obstructing force in the case of stagnant slab formation, and an anchoring force against the horizontal motion works similarly in the case of vertical slabs. To balance the horizontal component of the obstructing force, a suction force at the plate boundary pulls the overriding plate toward the ocean. Back-arc spreading is produced by means of slab rollback when the overriding plate with a weak area is fixed to the model boundary. The back-arc deformation becomes compressional when the overriding plate is freely movable despite trench retreat, because the wedge mantle flow viscously drags the overriding plate toward the trench. This implies that forces tending to actuate the overriding plate away from the trench are necessary to generate back-arc extension even when trench retreat is generated by slab rollback.

Global mantle heterogeneity and its influence on teleseismic regional tomography

A new global P-wave tomography model is determined using a flexible-grid parameterization. This new model better reveals the mantle structure under the polar regions than the previous tomographic models. The subducting slabs are generally imaged clearly as high-velocity (high-V) zones. The young slabs are still subducting in the upper mantle and the mantle transition zone (MTZ), whereas the old and ancient slabs are either stagnant in the MTZ or have subducted down to the lower mantle, even reaching the core-mantle boundary. Low-velocity (low-V) anomalies are generally revealed in the mantle under the hotspot regions. It seems that a variety of mantle upwelling (plumes) exist. Some strong plumes are visible in the whole mantle under the long-living hotspots, such as those in south-central Pacific, Africa, Hawaii and Iceland, whereas weak plumes are visible in only some depth range under the minor hotspots. Under the intraplate volcanoes in East Eurasia, Bering Sea and West Alaska, significant low-V anomalies are revealed in the upper mantle, which may reflect hot and wet upwelling associated with corner flows in the big mantle wedge (BMW) above the stagnant Pacific slab in the MTZ and perhaps deep slab dehydration as well. The subduction-triggered magmatism in the BMW may be a new class of mantle plumes. We also used the new global model to investigate the influence of whole-mantle heterogeneity on the determination of upper-mantle tomography under Japan with a teleseismic inversion method. The results show that the mantle heterogeneities outside the target volume of regional tomography can cause significant changes (~0.2-0.4s) to the observed relative travel-time residuals of a distant earthquake. The pattern of regional tomography remains the same even after correcting for the whole-mantle heterogeneity, but there are some changes in the amplitude of velocity anomalies in the regional tomography. Hence it is necessary to correct for the mantle heterogeneities outside the target volume so as to obtain a better regional tomography.

Dynamics of slab detachment

We investigate the dynamics of slab detachment around the detachment zone and evaluate the amount of time necessary for slabs to detach. The study combines results of two‐dimensional (2D) state‐of‐the‐art thermomechanical numerical simulations and a 1D analytical solution for viscous necking under gravity. We show that the dominant deformation mechanism during slab detachment is viscous necking, independent of the depth of slab detachment. When the slab dip is moderate (35–70°), slab detachment is partly affected by localized simple shearing in the colder parts of the slab. Brittle fracturing (breaking) plays a minor role during slab detachment. Our 2D thermomechanical models indicate that the duration of slab detachment, quantified from the onset of slab thinning until the actual detachment (i.e. vanishing of slab‐pull force), is relatively short (<5 Ma) and can occur in less than 0.5 Ma. No clear correlation between the depth and the duration of slab detachment was observed. The simulations suggest that even deep slab detachment (>250 km) can occur within a short time interval (<1 Ma) which has implications for geodynamic interpretations using slab detachment as explanation for processes such as melting, exhumation or surface uplift. The thinning of the slab during detachment, observed in 2D simulations, agrees well with predictions from a 1D analytical solution indicating that the 1D solution captures the first‐order features of the detachment process. We also evaluate the impact of shear heating on the duration of slab detachment. The predictions of a simple semi‐analytical solution, based on dimensionless parameters, agree well with our and previously published results.

Fluid flow during slab unbending and dehydration: Implications for intermediate‐depth seismicity, slab weakening and deep water recycling

Subducting oceanic plates carry a considerable amount of water from the surface down to mantle depths and contribute significantly to the global water cycle. A part of these volatiles stored in the slab is expelled at intermediate depths (70–300 km) where dehydration reactions occur. However, despite the fact that water considerably affects many physical properties of rocks, not much is known about the fluid flow path and the interaction with the rocks through which volatiles flow in the slab interior during its dehydration. We performed thermomechanical models (coupled with a petrological database and with incompressible aqueous fluid flow) of a dynamically subducting and dehydrating oceanic plate. Results show that, during slab dehydration, unbending stresses drive part of the released fluids into the cold core of the plate toward a level of strong tectonic under‐pressure and neutral (slab‐normal) pressure gradients. Fluids progressively accumulate and percolate updip along such a layer forming, together with the upper hydrated layer near the top of the slab, a Double Hydrated Zone (DHZ) where intermediate‐depth seismicity could be triggered. The location and predicted mechanics of the DHZ would be consistent with seismological observations regarding Double Seismic Zones (DSZs) found in most subduction zones and suggests that hydrofracturing could be the trigger mechanism for observed intermediate‐depth seismicity. In the light of our results, the lower plane of the DSZ is more likely to reflect a layer of upward percolating fluid than a level of mantle dehydration. In our models, a 20–30 km thick DSZ forms in relatively old oceanic plates without requiring an extremely deep slab hydration prior to subduction. The redistribution of fluids into the slab interior during slab unbending also has important implications for slab weakening and the deep water cycle. We estimate that, over the whole of Earth's history, a volume of water equivalent to around one to two oceans can be stored in nominally anhydrous minerals of the oceanic lithosphere and transported to the transition zone by this mechanism, suggesting that mantle regassing could have been efficient even without invoking the formation of high pressure hydrous minerals.

Temperature, Pressure, and Composition of the Mantle Source Region of Late Cenozoic Basalts in Hainan Island, SE Asia: a Consequence of a Young Thermal Mantle Plume close to Subduction Zones?

Basaltic lavas from Hainan Island near the northern edge of the South China Sea have an age range of between late Miocene (about 13 Ma) and Holocene, with a peak age of late Pliocene to middle Pleistocene. The basaltic province is dominated by tholeiites with subordinate alkali basalts. Most analysed samples display light rare earth element (LREE) enriched REE patterns and ocean island basalt (OIB)-like incompatible element distributions. The basalts contain abundant undeformed high-Mg olivine phenocrysts (up to Fo90·7) that are high in CaO and MnO, indicating high-magnesian parental magmas. Independent barometers indicate that clinopyroxenes in the basalts crystallized over a wide range of pressures of 2–25 kbar (dominantly at 10–15 kbar) and that the melt cooled from about 1350°C to 1100°C during their crystallization. The compositional characteristics of the basalts indicate that their generation most probably involved both low-silica and high-silica melts, as represented by the alkali basalts and tholeiites, respectively. Our results show that the source region for the Hainan basalts is highly heterogeneous. The source for the tholeiites is mainly composed of peridotite and recycled oceanic crust, whereas the source for the bulk of the low-Th alkali basalts consists predominantly of peridotite and low-silica eclogite (garnet pyroxenite). Some high-Th (≥ 4 ppm) alkali basalts may have been produced by partial melting of low-silica garnet pyroxenite (eclogite). We estimated the primary melt compositions for the Hainan basalts using the most forsteritic olivine (Fo90·7) composition and the most primitive bulk-rock samples (MgO > 9·0 wt % and CaO >8·0 wt %), assuming a constant Fe–Mg exchange partition coefficient of KD = 0·31 and Fe3+/FeT = 0·1. The effective melting pressure (Pf) and melting temperature (T) of the primary melts are Pf = 18–32 kbar (weighted average = 23·8 ± 1·8 kbar) and T = 1420–1520°C for the tholeiites, and Pf = 25–32 (weighted average = 28·3 ± 1·4 kbar) and T = 1480–1530°C for the alkali basalts. The Pf –T data form an array that plots systematically above the dry lherzolite solidus but below the base of the lithosphere (∼55 km) and intersects the dry peridotite solidus at a pressure of about 50 kbar. The mantle potential temperature beneath Hainan Island, based on the estimate primary melt compositions, varies from about 1500 to 1580°C with a weighted average of 1541 ± 10°C. The high-magnesian olivine phenocrysts, high mantle potential temperature, and the presence of recycled oceanic crust in the source region provide independent support for the Hainan plume model that has previously been proposed largely based on geophysical observations. The Hainan plume thus provides a rare example of a young mantle plume associated with deep slab subduction.

2D and 3D numerical models on compositionally buoyant diapirs in the mantle wedge

We present 2D and 3D numerical model calculations that focus on the physics of compositionally buoyant diapirs rising within a mantle wedge corner flow. Compositional buoyancy is assumed to arise from slab dehydration during which water-rich volatiles enter the mantle wedge and form a wet, less dense boundary layer on top of the slab. Slab dehydration is prescribed to occur in the 80–180 km deep slab interval, and the water transport is treated as a diffusion-like process. In this study, the mantle's rheology is modeled as being isoviscous for the benefit of easier-to-interpret feedbacks between water migration and buoyant viscous flow of the mantle. We use a simple subduction geometry that does not change during the numerical calculation. In a large set of 2D calculations we have identified that five different flow regimes can form, in which the position, number, and formation time of the diapirs vary as a function of four parameters: subduction angle, subduction rate, water diffusivity (mobility), and mantle viscosity. Using the same numerical method and numerical resolution we also conducted a suite of 3D calculations for 16 selected parameter combinations. Comparing the 2D and 3D results for the same model parameters reveals that the 2D models can only give limited insights into the inherently 3D problem of mantle wedge diapirism. While often correctly predicting the position and onset time of the first diapir(s), the 2D models fail to capture the dynamics of diapir ascent as well as the formation of secondary diapirs that result from boundary layer perturbations caused by previous diapirs. Of greatest importance for physically correct results is the numerical resolution in the region where diapirs nucleate, which must be high enough to accurately capture the growth of the thin wet boundary layer on top of the slab and, subsequently, the formation, morphology, and ascent of diapirs. Here 2D models can be very useful to quantify the required resolution, which we find for a 10 19 Pa · s mantle wedge to be about 1 km node spacing for quadratic-order velocity elements.

Shape and origin of the East-Alpine slab constrained by the ALPASS teleseismic model

During the last two decades teleseismic studies yielded valuable information on the structure of the upper mantle below the Alpine–Mediterranean area. Subducted oceanic lithosphere forms a broad anomaly resting on but not penetrating the 670 km discontinuity. More shallow slabs imaged below the Alpine arc are interpreted as subducted continental lower lithosphere. Substantial advances in our understanding of past and active tectonic processes have been achieved due to these results. However, important issues like the polarity of subduction under the Eastern Alps and the slab geometry at the transition to the Pannonian realm are still under debate. The ALPASS teleseismic experiment was designed to address these open questions. Teleseismic waveforms from 80 earthquakes recorded at 75 temporary and 79 permanent stations were collected during 2005 and 2006. From these data, a tomographic image of the upper mantle was generated between 60 km and 500 km depth. Crustal corrections, additional station terms, and ray bending caused by the velocity perturbations were considered. A steeply to vertically dipping “shallow slab” below the Eastern Alps is clearly resolved down to a depth of ~ 250 km. It is interpreted as European lower lithosphere detached from the crust and subducted during post-collision convergence between Adria and Europe. Below the Pannonian realm low velocities or high mantle temperatures prevail down to ~ 300 km depth, consistent with the concept of a Pannonian lithospheric fragment, which underwent strike–slip deformation relative to the European plate and extension during the post-collision phase of the Alpine orogeny. Between 350 km and 400 km depth, a “deep slab” extends from below the central Eastern Alps to under the Pannonian realm. It is interpreted as subducted lithosphere of the Alpine Tethys. At greater depth, there is a continuous transition to the high velocity anomaly above the 670 km discontinuity.

Upper mantle anisotropy and transition zone thickness beneath southeastern North America and implications for mantle dynamics

A variety of models for mantle flow beneath southeastern North America have been proposed, including those that invoke westward driven return flow from the sinking Farallon slab, small‐scale convective downwelling at the edge of the continental root, or the upward advective transport of volatiles from the deep slab through the upper mantle. We use shear wave splitting observations and receiver function analysis at broadband seismic stations in the southeastern United States to test several of these proposed mantle flow geometries. Near the coast, stations exhibit well‐resolved null (no splitting) behavior for SKS phases over a range of back azimuths, consistent with either isotropic upper mantle or with a vertical axis of anisotropic symmetry. Farther inland we identify splitting with mainly NE–SW fast directions, consistent with asthenospheric shear due to absolute plate motion (APM), lithospheric anisotropy aligned with Appalachian tectonic structure, or a combination of these. Phase‐weighted stacking of individual receiver functions allows us to place constraints on the timing of arrivals from the 410 and 660 km discontinuities and on average transition zone thickness beneath individual stations. At most stations we find transition zone thicknesses that are consistent with the global average (∼240 km), with two stations showing evidence for a slightly thickened transition zone (∼250 km). Our results are relevant for testing different models for mantle dynamics beneath the southeastern United States, but due to the sparse station coverage, we are unable to uniquely constrain the pattern of mantle flow beneath the region. Our SKS splitting observations support a model in which mantle flow is primarily vertical (either upwelling or downwelling) beneath the southeastern edge of the North American continent, in contrast to the likely horizontal, APM‐driven flow beneath the continental interior. However, our receiver function analysis does not provide unequivocal support either for widespread hydration of the transition zone or for widespread thickening due to the downwelling of relatively cold mantle material. We expect that the necessary data to constrain such models more tightly can be obtained from the operation of denser seismic networks, including the Transportable Array and Flexible Array components of USArray.

Deep structure and origin of active volcanoes in China

We synthesize significant recent results on the deep structure and origin of the active volcanoes in mainland China. Magmatism in the western Pacific arc and back-arc areas is caused by dehydration of the subducting slab and by corner flow in the mantle wedge, whereas the intraplate magmatism in China has different origins. The active volcanoes in Northeast China (such as the Changbai and Wudalianchi) are caused by hot upwelling in the big mantle wedge (BMW) above the stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone and deep slab dehydration as well. The Tengchong volcano in Southwest China is caused by a similar process in the BMW above the subducting Burma microplate (or Indian plate). The Hainan volcano in southernmost China is a hotspot fed by a lower-mantle plume which may be associated with the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs’ deep subduction in the east and the Indian slab’s deep subduction in the west down to the lower mantle. The stagnant slab finally collapses down to the bottom of the mantle, which can trigger the upwelling of hot mantle materials from the lower mantle to the shallow mantle beneath the subducting slabs and may cause the slab–plume interactions.

Mantle structure and dynamics under East Russia and adjacent regions

We present seismic images of the mantle beneath East Russia and adjacent regions and discuss geodynamic implications. Our mantle tomography shows that the subducting Pacific slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under Western Alaska, Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Japan Sea, and Northeast Asia. Many intraplate volcanoes exist in these areas, which are located above the low-velocity zones in the upper mantle above the stagnant slab, suggesting that the intraplate volcanoes are related to the dynamic processes in the big mantle wedge above the stagnant slab and the deep slab dehydration. Teleseismic tomography revealed a low-velocity zone extending down to 660 km depth beneath the Baikal rift zone, which may represent a mantle plume. The bottom depths of the Wadati–Benioff deep seismic zone and the Pacific slab itself become shallower toward the north under Kamchatka Peninsula, and the slab disappears under the northernmost Kamchatka. The slab loss is considered to be caused by the friction between the slab and the surrounding asthenosphere as the Pacific plate rotated clockwise at about 30 Ma ago, and then the slab loss was enlarged by the slab-edge pinch-off by the hot asthenospheric flow and the presence of Meiji seamounts.

Buoyancy, bending, and seismic visibility in deep slab stagnation

The petrological consequences of deep subhorizontal deflection (“stagnation”) of subducting slabs should affect both apparent seismic velocity structures and slab morphology. We construct kinematic thermal models of stagnant slabs and perform thermodynamic modeling of the consequent perturbation of high-pressure phase transitions in mantle minerals, focusing upon Japan as our study area. We calculate associated thermo-petrological buoyancy forces and bending moments which (along with other factors such as viscosity variations and rollback dynamics) may contribute to slab deformation. We consider effects of variations in depth of stagnation, post-stagnation dip angle, phase transition sharpness, transition triplication due to multiple intersection of geotherms with phase boundaries, and potential persistence of metastable phases due to kinetic hindrance. We also estimate seismic velocity anomalies, as might be imaged by seismic tomography, and corresponding seismic velocity gradients, as might be imaged by receiver-function analysis. We find that buoyant bending moment gradients of petrological origin at the base of the transition zone may contribute to slab stagnation. Such buoyancy forces vary with the depth at which stagnation occurs, so that slabs may seek an equilibrium slab stagnation depth. Metastable phase bending moment gradients further enhance slab stagnation, but they thermally decay after ∱/4600•700km of horizontal travel, potentially allowing stagnant slabs to descend into the lower mantle. Stagnant slabs superimpose zones of negative velocity gradient onto a depressed 660-km seismic discontinuity, affecting the seismological visibility of such features. Seismologically resolvable details should depend upon both stagnation depth and the nature of the imaging technique (travel-time tomography vs. boundary-interaction phases). While seismic tomography appears to yield images of stagnant slabs, discontinuity topography beneath Japan resolved by migrated receiver functions appears to be consistent with slab penetration of the transition zone. However, model slabs which bottom around ∱/4780•810km and then bend upwards by a few degrees can match both the tomographic and receiver-function images.

Deep slab hydration induced by bending-related variations in tectonic pressure

Geophysical data reveal that at subduction zones oceanic plates could be pervasively hydrated for several kilometres below the crust–mantle boundary. Numerical experiments suggest that such deep hydration is facilitated by negative pressure gradients that lead to the downward pumping of water along bending-related normal faults. Bending of oceanic plates at subduction zones results in extension and widespread normal faulting1 in the upper, brittle part of the slab2,3. Detailed seismic surveys at trenches reveal that this part of the oceanic plate could be pervasively hydrated for several kilometres below the crust–mantle boundary4,5,6,7. Similarly, heat-flow surveys indicate active fluid circulation within the slab8. Yet, the mechanisms that enable fluids to percolate to such depths in spite of their natural buoyancy remain unclear. Here we use two-dimensional numerical experiments to show that stress changes induced by the bending oceanic plate produce subhydrostatic or even negative pressure gradients along normal faults, favouring downward pumping of fluids. The fluids then react with the crust and mantle surrounding the faults and are stored in the form of hydrous minerals. We suggest that this process is the dominant mechanism of deep slab hydration, although it may be locally aided by the enhancement in porosity due to prefailure dilatancy9, pre-existing cracks10 and migrating fluid-filled cracks11. Our results have implications for the transport of water into the deeper parts of the mantle12, and for further clarifying the seismic anisotropy of slabs13.

Role of the overriding plate in the subduction process: Insights from numerical models

Active convergent margins are primarily shaped by the interplay among the subducting plate, overriding plate, and mantle. The effect of important forces, like far-field mantle flow, overriding plate motion, and inter-plate coupling, however, remains partially ambiguous. In a preliminary attempt to clarify their role, a self-consistent, viscoelastic, plane-strain, mechanical finite element model, in which subducting plate, overriding plate and mantle interact dynamically, is developed. In this quasi-static framework with a freely moving slab, trench, and inter-plate fault, the role of a compressive overriding plate on subduction zone kinematics, morphology and stress-state is characterized. A slab interacting solely with a semi-analytical three-dimensional mantle flow formulation shows that local non-induced mantle flow influences slab geometry and kinematics, adding an important dynamic term to the system. The impact of an overriding plate on this system is determined completely by overriding plate trench-ward motions and is only pertinent if the overriding plate actively advances the trench. A trench-ward moving overriding plate indents the slab and thereby enforces trench retreat and decreases slab dip. It also stimulates over-thrusting of the overriding plate onto the slab, and thereby permits mountain building within the overriding plate. Frictional resistance is observed to have a dominant local effect within the overriding plate as it is increasingly dragged down, thereby inhibiting the growth of overriding plate topography. A distinguishable effect on large-scale trench motions and deep slab dip is, however, absent for re-normalized friction coefficients ranging up to about 0.2. Minor additional effects include a decrease in plate motions of about 15% and slab bending stresses of about 10%.

The opening of Sirte basin: Result of slab avalanching?

North Africa's Sirte basin opening is an enigmatic feature in the complex Meso-Cenozoic rearrangement of Mediterranean tectonics. New borehole data inversion constrains its deformation history showing a stretching event starting ~ 70 Ma and terminating in a further abrupt increase at ~ 50 Ma, rapidly fading afterwards. The timing of this event hardly reconciles with the Mesozoic major plates reorganization following the spreading of the Atlantic, and the Neogene Central Mediterranean tectonics, active at different times. Here, we propose that Sirte rifting could have been driven by the pull exerted by the Hellenic subduction. Reconstructions of Hellenic convergence and slab deep subduction, as constrained by plate kinematics and tomography, show that large slab mass accumulates in the upper mantle by late Cretaceous–Paleogene, eventually forcing further sinking in the lower mantle, coeval to the growing strain evolution recorded in Sirte. Furthermore, the ~ 20 m.y. phase of large pull here recorded, the consequent rapid growth over ~ 10 m.y. and following decay are compatible with the dynamics of slab avalanche as revealed by numerical models, showing that the Sirte basin opened in response to the large pull force developed during the mass flush, and transferred from deep slab to surface.

Deep slab subduction and dehydration and their geodynamic consequences: Evidence from seismology and mineral physics

We present new pieces of evidence from seismology and mineral physics for the existence of low-velocity zones in the deep part of the upper mantle wedge and the mantle transition zone that are caused by fluids from the deep subduction and deep dehydration of the Pacific and Philippine Sea slabs under western Pacific and East Asia. The Pacific slab is subducting beneath the Japan Islands and Japan Sea with intermediate-depth and deep earthquakes down to 600 km depth under the East Asia margin, and the slab becomes stagnant in the mantle transition zone under East China. The western edge of the stagnant Pacific slab is roughly coincident with the NE–SW Daxing'Anling-Taihangshan gravity lineament located west of Beijing, approximately 2000 km away from the Japan Trench. The upper mantle above the stagnant slab under East Asia forms a big mantle wedge (BMW). Corner flow in the BMW and deep slab dehydration may have caused asthenospheric upwelling, lithospheric thinning, continental rift systems, and intraplate volcanism in Northeast Asia. The Philippine Sea slab has subducted down to the mantle transition zone depth under Western Japan and Ryukyu back-arc, though the seismicity within the slab occurs only down to 200–300 km depths. Combining with the corner flow in the mantle wedge, deep dehydration of the subducting Pacific slab has affected the morphology of the subducting Philippine Sea slab and its seismicity under Southwest Japan. Slow anomalies are also found in the mantle under the subducting Pacific slab, which may represent small mantle plumes, or hot upwelling associated with the deep slab subduction. Slab dehydration may also take place after a continental plate subducts into the mantle.

Overriding plate shortening and extension above subduction zones: A parametric study to explain formation of the Andes Mountains

Research Article| November 01, 2008 Overriding plate shortening and extension above subduction zones: A parametric study to explain formation of the Andes Mountains W.P. Schellart W.P. Schellart 1Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia †Present address: School of Geosciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia. E-mail: wouter.schellart@sci.monash.edu.au; tel: 61 (0)3 9905 1782; fax: 61 (0)3 9905 4903. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2008) 120 (11-12): 1441–1454. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26360.1 Article history received: 06 Nov 2007 rev-recd: 29 Feb 2008 accepted: 10 Mar 2008 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation W.P. Schellart; Overriding plate shortening and extension above subduction zones: A parametric study to explain formation of the Andes Mountains. GSA Bulletin 2008;; 120 (11-12): 1441–1454. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26360.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Mountain building above subduction zones, such as observed in the Andes, is enigmatic, and the key parameter controlling the underlying dynamics remains a matter of considerable debate. A global survey of subduction zones is presented here, illustrating the correlation between overriding plate deformation rate and twelve physical parameters: overriding plate velocity, subducting plate velocity, trench velocity, convergence velocity, subduction velocity, subduction zone accretion rate, subducting plate age, subduction polarity, shallow slab dip, deep slab dip, lateral slab edge proximity, and subducting ridge proximity. All correlation coefficients are low (|R| ≤ 0.39), irrespective of the global reference frame, relative plate motion model, or overriding plate deformation model, except for the trench velocity (0.33–0.68, exact value depends on adopted global reference frame) and subduction velocity, which shows an anticorrelation (0.55–0.57). This implies that no individual parameter can explain overriding plate deformation, except that trench retreat generally corresponds to extension while an approximately stable trench or trench advance generally corresponds to shortening. Understanding of the variety of strain patterns is obtained when slab edge proximity and overriding plate velocity are combined. Orogenesis occurs in overriding plates bordering central regions of wide subduction zones (≥~4000 km) when the overriding plate is moving trenchward at 0–2 cm/yr (e.g., Andes, Japan). Because the center of a wide slab offers large resistance to lateral migration, the overriding plate effectively collides with the subduction hinge, forcing the slab to attain a shallow dip angle (e.g., Nazca and Japan slabs). Overriding plate extension is only found close to lateral slab edges or during overriding plate motion away from the center of a wide subduction zone, but in the latter scenario, maximum extension velocities are much lower than in the former scenario. For subduction settings close to lateral slab edges, overriding plate motion plays no significant role in overriding plate deformation. Thus, for rapid overriding plate extension, the key ingredient is rapid trench retreat, which only occurs close to lateral slab edges, while for overriding plate shortening, the key ingredients are (1) the resistance to rapid trench and hinge retreat, which occurs far from lateral slab edges, and (2) trenchward overriding plate motion. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

The potential influence of subduction zone polarity on overriding plate deformation, trench migration and slab dip angle

A geodynamic model exists, the westward lithospheric drift model, in which the variety of overriding plate deformation, trench migration and slab dip angles is explained by the polarity of subduction zones. The model predicts overriding plate extension, a fixed trench and a steep slab dip for westward-dipping subduction zones (e.g. Mariana) and predicts overriding plate shortening, oceanward trench retreat and a gentle slab dip for east to northeastward-dipping subduction zones (e.g. Chile). This paper investigates these predictions quantitatively with a global subduction zone analysis. The results show overriding plate extension for all dip directions (azimuth α = − 180° to 180°) and overriding plate shortening for dip directions with α = − 90° to 110°. The wide scatter in data negate any obvious trend and only local mean values in overriding plate deformation rate indicate that overriding plate extension is somewhat more prevalent for west-dipping slabs. West-dipping subduction zones are never fixed, irrespective of the choice of reference frame, while east to northeast-dipping subduction zones are both retreating and advancing in five out of seven global reference frames. In addition, westward-dipping subduction zones have a range in trench-migration velocities that is twice the magnitude of that for east to northeastward-dipping slabs. Finally, there is no recognizable correlation between slab dip direction and slab dip angle. East to northeast-dipping slabs ( α = 30° to 120°) have shallow (0–125 km) slab dip angles in the range 10–60° and deep (125–670 km) slab dip angles in the range 40–82°, while west-dipping slabs ( α = − 60° to − 120°) have shallow slab dip angles in the range 19–50° and deep slab dip angles in the range 25–86°. Local mean deep slab dip angles are nearly identical for east and west-dipping slabs, while local mean shallow slab dip angles are lower by only 4.7–8.1° for east to northeast-dipping slabs. It is thus concluded that overall, there is no observational basis to support the three predictions made by the westward drift model, and for some sub-predictions the observational basis is very weak at most. Alternative models, which incorporate and underline the importance of slab buoyancy-driven trench migration, slab width and overriding plate motion, are better candidates to explain the complexity of subduction zones, including the variety in trench-migration velocities, overriding plate deformation and slab dip angles.

Search for deep slab segments under Alaska

The evolution of the northeastern Pacific Basin is very complicated, featured by many ancient plates, microplates, ridge subduction and a series of slab windows. In this work, we collected 15,804 teleseismic arrival times from original seismograms of 889 distant earthquakes to determine a three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure down to 700 km depth beneath Alaska using a local and teleseismic joint inversion method. Our results show that the Pacific slab imaged as high-velocity (high-V) anomalies is subducting down to 300–400 km depth and it becomes deeper westwards under south-central and western Alaska. While in eastern Alaska, the Pacific slab is visible down to only about 90 km depth. Beneath western Alaska, high-V anomalies at 400–600 km depths are revealed, which represent the extinct Kula plate, and a gap between the subducted Pacific slab and the Kula slab is considered to represent the ancient Kula–Pacific spreading center. In southeastern Alaska, a large low-velocity (low-V) anomaly is found, which may reflect the upwelling mantle in the Pacific–Juan de Fuca slab window near the subducted edge of the Pacific plate. Our results support the existence of the Pacific–Juan de Fuca slab window suggested by the previous studies.