Formation Of Plate Boundaries Research Articles

Formation and Evolution of the Pacific‐North American (San Andreas) Plate Boundary: Constraints From the Crustal Architecture of Northern California

AbstractThe northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ) drives a fundamental plate boundary transformation from convergence to translation; producing a series of strike‐slip faults, that become the San Andreas plate boundary. We find that the 3‐D structure of the Pacific plate lithosphere in the vicinity of the MTJ controls the location of San Andreas plate boundary formation. At the time of initiation of the Pacific‐North America plate boundary (∼30 Ma), the sequential interaction with the western margin of North America of the Pioneer Fracture Zone, soon followed by the Mendocino Fracture Zone, led to the capture of a small segment of partially subducted Farallon lithosphere by the Pacific plate, termed the Pioneer Fragment (PF). Since that time, the PF has translated with the Pacific Plate along the western margin of North America. Recently developed, high‐resolution seismic‐tomographic imagery of northern California indicates that (a) the PF is extant, occupying the western half of the slab window, immediately south of the MTJ; (b) the eastern edge of the PF lies beneath the newly forming Maacama fault system, which develops to become the locus for the primary plate boundary structure after approximately 6–10 Ma; and (c) the location of the translating PF adjacent to the asthenosphere of the slab window generates a shear zone within and below the crust that develops into the plate boundary faults. As a result, the San Andreas plate boundary forms interior to the western margin of North America, rather than at its western edge.

A record of plume-induced plate rotation triggering subduction initiation

The formation of a global network of plate boundaries surrounding a mosaic of lithospheric fragments was a key step in the emergence of Earth’s plate tectonics. So far, propositions for plate boundary formation are regional in nature; how plate boundaries are created over thousands of kilometres in geologically short periods remains elusive. Here we show from geological observations that a >12,000-km-long plate boundary formed between the Indian and African plates around 105 Myr ago. This boundary comprised subduction segments from the eastern Mediterranean region to a newly established India–Africa rotation pole in the west Indian Ocean, where it transitioned into a ridge between India and Madagascar. We identify coeval mantle plume rise below Madagascar–India as the only viable trigger of this plate rotation. For this, we provide a proof of concept by torque balance modelling, which reveals that the Indian and African cratonic keels were important in determining plate rotation and subduction initiation in response to the spreading plume head. Our results show that plumes may provide a non-plate-tectonic mechanism for large-plate rotation, initiating divergent and convergent plate boundaries far away from the plume head. We suggest that this mechanism may be an underlying cause of the emergence of modern plate tectonics.

Rapid subduction initiation and magmatism in the Western Pacific driven by internal vertical forces

Plate tectonics requires the formation of plate boundaries. Particularly important is the enigmatic initiation of subduction: the sliding of one plate below the other, and the primary driver of plate tectonics. A continuous, in situ record of subduction initiation was recovered by the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 352, which drilled a segment of the fore-arc of the Izu-Bonin-Mariana subduction system, revealing a distinct magmatic progression with a rapid timescale (approximately 1 million years). Here, using numerical models, we demonstrate that these observations cannot be produced by previously proposed horizontal external forcing. Instead a geodynamic evolution that is dominated by internal, vertical forces produces both the temporal and spatial distribution of magmatic products, and progresses to self-sustained subduction. Such a primarily internally driven initiation event is necessarily whole-plate scale and the rock sequence generated (also found along the Tethyan margin) may be considered as a smoking gun for this type of event.

The Generation of Plate Tectonics From Grains to Global Scales: A Brief Review

AbstractThe physics of rock deformation in the lithosphere governs the formation of tectonic plates, which are characterized by strong, broad plate interiors, separated by weak, localized plate boundaries. The size of mineral grains in particular controls rock strength and grain reduction can lead to shear localization and weakening in the strong ductile portion of the lithosphere. Grain damage theory describes the competition between grain growth and grain size reduction as a result of deformation, and the effect of grain size evolution on the rheology of lithospheric rocks. The self‐weakening feedback predicted by grain damage theory can explain the formation of mylonites, typically found in deep ductile lithospheric shear zones, which are characteristic of localized tectonic plate boundaries. The amplification of damage is most effective when minerallic phases, like olivine and pyroxene, are well mixed on the grain scale. Grain mixing theory predicts two coexisting deformation states of unmixed materials undergoing slow strain rate, and well‐mixed materials with large strain rate; this is in agreement with recent laboratory experiments, and is analogous to Earth's plate‐like state. A new theory for the role of dislocations in grain size evolution resolves the rapid timescale of dynamic recrystallization. In particular, a toy model for the competition between normal grain growth and dynamic recrystallization predicts oscillations in grain size with periods comparable to earthquake cycles and postseismic recovery, thus connecting plate boundary formation processes to the human timescale.

Role of strain-dependent weakening memory on the style of mantle convection and plate boundary stability

How plate tectonic surface motions relate to the convecting mantle remains one of the major problems in geosciences. In particular, the cause and consequence of strain localization at plate boundaries remains debated, even though strain memory, i.e. the ability to preserve and reactivate tectonic inheritance over geological time, appears to be a critical feature in plate tectonics. Here, we analyze how a parameterized damage weakening rheology, strain-dependent weakening, affects the time-dependence of plate boundary formation, the transition between mobile and stagnant-lid, and the reorganization of plates in 2-D convection models. The strain-dependent weakening within our models allows for a self-consistent formation and preservation of lithospheric weak zones, which are formed as remnants of subduction zones due to large-scale compressional deformation in the trench region. Such inherited weak zones can be reactivated as intra-plate subduction zones, ridge adjacent subduction, or as spreading centers themselves. Due to the weakening along plate boundaries, the inherited weak zones, and partly the accumulated strain along spreading centers, which weakens the shallow parts of the lithosphere, the longevity of mobile-lid convection increases. Strain-dependent weakening also enhances strain localization along convergent plate boundaries which increases their stability and longevity. As a consequence, tectonic inheritance is an important contribution to understanding the time-dependence of plate reorganization. Strain-dependent weakening results in a shift of the mobile-stagnant lid transition to higher effective yield stresses, if the weak zones fully penetrate the lithosphere and are relatively weakened by at least 20 %.

The Cathles Parameter (Ct): A Geodynamic Definition of the Asthenosphere and Implications for the Nature of Plate Tectonics

AbstractA weak asthenosphere, or low‐viscosity zone (LVZ), underlying Earth's lithosphere has played an important role in interpreting isostasy, postglacial rebound (PGR), and the seismic LVZ, as well as proposed mechanisms for continental drift, plate tectonics, and postseismic relaxation. Consideration of the resolving power of PGR, postseismic relaxation, and geoid modeling studies suggests a sublithospheric LVZ perhaps ~100–200 km thick with a viscosity contrast of ~100–1,000. Ab initio numerical models of plate‐like boundary layer motions in mantle convection also suggest a key role for the LVZ. Paradoxically, a thinner LVZ with a strong viscosity contrast is most effective in promoting plate‐like surface motions. These numerical results are explained in terms of the reduction in horizontal shear dissipation due to an LVZ, and a simple scaling theory leads to somewhat nonintuitive model predictions. For example, an LVZ causes stress magnification at the base of the lithosphere, enhancing plate boundary formation. Also, flow within the LVZ may be driven by the plates (Couette flow), or pressure‐driven from within the mantle (Poiseuille flow), depending upon the degree to which plates locally inhibit or drive underlying mantle convection. For studies of the long‐wavelength geoid, PGR, and mantle convection, a simple dimensionless parameter controls the effect of the LVZ. This “Cathles parameter” is given by Ct = η*(D/λ)3, where η* is the viscosity contrast, D is the thickness of the LVZ, and λ is the flow wavelength, emphasizing the tightly coupled trade‐off between LVZ thickness and viscosity contrast.

The dependence of planetary tectonics on mantle thermal state: applications to early Earth evolution.

For plate tectonics to operate on a planet, mantle convective forces must be capable of forming weak, localized shear zones in the lithosphere that act as plate boundaries. Otherwise, a planet's mantle will convect in a stagnant lid regime, where subduction and plate motions are absent. Thus, when and how plate tectonics initiated on the Earth is intrinsically tied to the ability of mantle convection to form plate boundaries; however, the physics behind this process are still uncertain. Most mantle convection models have employed a simple pseudoplastic model of the lithosphere, where the lithosphere 'fails' and develops a mobile lid when stresses in the lithosphere reach the prescribed yield stress. With pseudoplasticity high mantle temperatures and high rates of internal heating, conditions relevant for the early Earth, impede plate boundary formation by decreasing lithospheric stresses, and hence favour a stagnant lid for the early Earth. However, when a model for shear zone formation based on grain size reduction is used, early Earth thermal conditions do not favour a stagnant lid. While lithosphere stress drops with increasing mantle temperature or heat production rate, the deformational work, which drives grain size reduction, increases. Thus, the ability of convection to form weak plate boundaries is not impeded by early Earth thermal conditions. However, mantle thermal state does change the style of subduction and lithosphere mobility; high mantle temperatures lead to a more sluggish, drip-like style of subduction. This 'sluggish lid' convection may be able to explain many of the key observations of early Earth crust formation processes preserved in the geologic record. Moreover, this work highlights the importance of understanding the microphysics of plate boundary formation for assessing early Earth tectonics, as different plate boundary formation mechanisms are influenced by mantle thermal state in fundamentally different ways.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Earth dynamics and the development of plate tectonics'.

Grain damage, phase mixing and plate-boundary formation

The generation of plate tectonics on Earth relies on complex mechanisms for shear localization, as well as for the retention and reactivation of weak zones in the cold ductile lithosphere. Pervasive mylonitization, wherein zones of high deformation coincide with extensive mineral grain size reduction, is an important clue to this process. In that regard, the grain-damage model of lithospheric weakening provides a physical framework for both mylonitization and plate generation, and accounts for the competition between grain size reduction by deformation and damage, and healing by grain growth. Zener pinning at the evolving interface between mineral components, such as olivine and pyroxene, plays a key role in helping drive grains to small mylonitic sizes during deformation, and then retards their growth once deformation ceases. The combined effects of damage and pinning, however, rely on the efficiency of inter-grain mixing between phases (e.g., olivine and pyroxene) and grain dispersal, which likely depends on grain size itself. Here we present a new model for inter-grain mixing and damage and the onset of rapid mixing. The model considers the competition between the formation of new grains behind a receding interphase triple junction (e.g., olivine growing into a boundary between two pyroxene grains) and their severance or spalling during progressive deformation and damage. The newly formed grains of one phase are then transported along the opposing phase's grain-boundaries and the two phases become dispersed at the grain-scale in a growing mixed layer. The small intermixed grains also affect the grain evolution of the surrounding host grains by Zener pinning, and hence influence the rheology and growth of the mixed layer. As the grains in the mixed layer shrink, subsequently spalled new grains are also smaller, causing a feedback that leads to more rapid mixing and shear localization in the mixed layer. The early stages of mixing can be compared to laboratory experiments, but the transition to a steady-state localized mixed layer, as a proxy for a mylonitic zone, can take a few million years at mid lithospheric conditions. Moreover, a transition in mixing efficiency occurs as grain size reduces, which can induce hysteretic behavior, wherein strong, slowly deforming regions can co-exist with weak rapidly deforming zones, analogous to plate tectonic states with large strong plates and narrow weak boundaries.

Variations in planetary convection via the effect of climate on damage

A new model for the generation of plate tectonics suggests an important interaction between a planet's climate and its lithospheric damage behavior; and thus provides a simple explanation for the tectonic difference between Earth and Venus. We propose that high surface temperatures will lead to higher healing rates (e.g. grain growth) in the lithosphere that will act to suppress localization, plate boundary formation, and subduction. This leads to episodic or stagnant lid convection on Venus because of its hotter climate. In contrast, Earth's cooler climate promotes damage and plate boundary formation. The damage rheology presented in this paper attempts to describe the evolution of grain size by allowing for grain reduction via deformational work input and grain growth via surface tension-driven coarsening. We explore the interaction of damage and healing in two-dimensional numerical convection simulations. We also develop a simple “drip-instability” model to test the hypothesis that the competition between damage and healing controls convective and plate tectonic style by modulating episodicity at subduction zones. At small values of damage, f A , (or large values of healing, k A ) the lithosphere remains strong enough to resist subduction on time scales of billions of years. At intermediate values of f A and k A the lithosphere may become mobilized and allow for short bursts of tectonic behavior followed by periods of quiescence. At large (small) values of f A ( k A ) the fineness is increased so that the viscosity of the plate boundary is reduced to allow for continuous, unimpeded subduction of lithosphere and plate-like deformation. The results suggest the feasibility of our proposed hypothesis that the interplay of climate and damage control the mode of tectonics on a planet.

Patterns of stress and strain rate in southern Africa

The southward propagation of the East Africa rift presents an opportunity to study plate boundary formation. We tabulate orientation data which confirm the province of NW‐SE directed most compressive horizontal principal stress (“Wegener stress anomaly”) earlier tentatively attributed to ridge push. We also collect information on stress “regime,” described by the associated Andersonian fault type(s). We use thin shell finite element models with realistic rheology to test three causes of stress: (1) lateral variations in density moment, (2) resistance of unbroken lithosphere to relative plate rotation, and (3) stress concentration ahead of a crack tip. Models with stress due primarily to variations in density moment are unsuccessful in their predictions (59–73% incorrect regimes; 32–40° azimuth errors). Models in which Africa‐Somalia spreading is regulated at realistic rates by remote boundary conditions are more accurate (18–41% incorrect regimes; 25–35° azimuth errors). Treating the East Africa rift as a frictionless crack degrades the fit in either case. Apparently, the Wegener stress anomaly is caused primarily by resistance to the relative rotation between the Somalia and Africa plates. The East Africa rift north of 21°S may be weakened by strain but has residual friction ≥0.1. Greater strength of oceanic lithosphere is likely to cause stress increases, reorientations, and regime changes offshore. The predicted strain rate map has high rates along the rift, curving at 12°S into a western arc through Angola‐Namibia‐South Africa. Seismic hazard in Namibia may be greater than the instrumental catalog suggests. However, a number of unfit data indicate that these models represent only a first step.

Energetics of a two-phase model of lithospheric damage, shear localization and plate-boundary formation

SUMMARY The two-phase theory for compaction and damage proposed by Bercovici et al. (2001a, J. Geophys. Res.,106, 8887‐8906) employs a nonequilibrium relation between interfacial surface energy, pressure and viscous deformation, thereby providing a model for damage (void generation and microcracking) and a continuum description of weakening, failure and shear localization. Here we examine further variations of the model which consider (1) how interfacial surface energy, when averaged over the mixture, appears to be partitioned between phases; (2) how variability in deformational-work partitioning greatly facilitates localization; and (3) how damage and localization are manifested in heat output and bulk energy exchange. Microphysical considerations of molecular bonding and activation energy suggest that the apparent partitioning of surface energy between phases goes as the viscosity of the phases. When such partitioning is used in the two-phase theory, it captures the melt-compaction theory of McKenzie (1984, J. Petrol., 25, 713‐765) exactly, as well as the void-damage theory proposed in a companion paper (Ricard & Bercovici, submitted). Calculations of 1-D shear localization with this variation of the theory still show at least three possible regimes of damage and localization: at low stress is weak localization with diffuse slowly evolving shear bands; at higher stress strong localization with narrow rapidly growing bands exists; and at yet higher shear stress it is possible for the system to undergo broadly distributed damage and no localization. However, the intensity of localization is strongly controlled by the variability of the deformational-work partitioning with dilation rate, represented by the parameter γ .F orγ � 1, extreme localization is allowed, with sharp profiles in porosity (weak zones), nearly discontinuous separation velocities and effectively singular dilation rates. Finally, the bulk heat output is examined for the 1-D system to discern how much deformational work is effectively stored as surface energy. In the high-stress, distributed-damage cases, heat output is reduced as more interfacial surface energy is created. Yet, in either the weak or strong localizing cases, the system always releases surface energy, regardless of the presence of damage or not, and thus slightly more heat is in fact released than energy is input through external work. Moreover, increased levels of damage (represented by the maximum work-partitioning f ∗ ) make the localizing system release surface energy faster as damage enhances phase separation and focusing of the porosity field, thus yielding more rapid loss of net interfacial surface area. However, when cases with different levels of damage are compared at similar stages of development (say, the peak porosity of the localization) it is apparent that increased damage causes smaller relative heat release and retards loss of net interfacial surface energy. The energetics and energy partitioning of this damage and shear-localization model are applied to estimating the energy costs of forming plate boundaries and generating plates from mantle convection.

A two‐phase model for compaction and damage: 3. Applications to shear localization and plate boundary formation

A new two‐phase theory employing a nonequilibrium relation between interfacial surface energy, pressure, and viscous deformation [Bercovici et al., this issue] provides a model for damage (void generation and microcracking) and thus a continuum description of weakening, failure, and shear localization. Here we demonstrate applications of the theory to shear localization with simple shear flow calculations in which one phase (the matrix, representing, for example, silicate) is much stronger (more viscous) than the other phase (the fluid). This calculation is motivated as a simple model of plate boundary formation in a shear zone. Even without shear the two phases eventually separate due to gradients in surface tension. However, the influence of shear on phase separation is manifest in several ways. As shear velocity increases, the separation rate of the phases increases, demonstrating a basic feedback mechanism: Accumulation of the fluid phase causes focused weak zones on which shear concentrates, causing more damage and void generation and thus greater accumulation of fluid. Beyond a critical shear velocity, phase separation undergoes intense acceleration and focusing, leading to a “tear localization” in which the porosity becomes nearly singular in space and grows rapidly like a tear or crack. At an even higher value of shear velocity, phase separation is inhibited such that shear localization gives way to defocusing of weak zones suggestive of uniform microcracking and failure throughout the layer. Our two‐phase damage theory thus predicts a wide variety of shear localization and failure behavior with a continuum model. Applications of the theory to various fields, such as granular dynamics, metallurgy, and tectonic plate boundary formation are numerous.

Mathematical geophysics: A survey of recent developments in seismology and geodynamics: Vlaar, N J; Nolet, G; Wortel, M J R; Cloetingh, S A P L (editors) Dordrecht: Reidel, 1988, 407 P

I. Seismology and Three Dimensional Structure of the Earth.- Waves in a 3-D Earth.- 1 Low frequency seismology and three-dimensional structure - observational aspects..- 2 Free-oscillation coupling theory..- 3 Surface waves in weakly heterogeneous media..- 4 On the connection between ray theory and scattering theory for surface waves..- 5 A hybrid solution for wave propagation problems in inhomogeneous media..- Large-scale inversion.- 6 Elastic wavefield inversion and the adjoint operator for the elastic wave equation..- 7 Subspace methods for large-scale nonlinear inversion..- 8 Imaging algorithms, accuracy and resolution in delay time tomography..- II. Convection and Lithospheric Processes.- Geomagnetism.- 9 The determination of fluid flow at the core surface from geomagnetic observations..- Mantle convection.- 10 Long wavelength features of mantle convection..- 11 Mean-field methods in mantle convection..- 12 Infinite Prandtl number spherical-shell convection..- 13 Lateral heterogeneity and the geoid: the importance of the urface kinematic constraints..- Postglacial rebound.- 14 Lithospheric thickness, Antarctic deglaciation history, and ocean basin discretization effects in a global model of postglacial sea level change..- 15 Non-uniqueness of lithospheric thickness estimates based on glacial rebound data along the east coast of North America..- Thermomechanical processes in the lithosphere.- 16 On the mechanics of plate boundary formation..- 17 Supercontinent breakup: effect on eustatic sea level and the oceanic heat flux..