Dynamics of retreating slabs: 1. Insights from two‐dimensional numerical experiments

Funiciello, Francesca; Morra, Gabriele; Regenauer‐Lieb, Klaus; Giardini, Domenico

doi:10.1029/2001jb000898

Cited by 81 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(114 reference statements)

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“…Laboratory and numerical models [5,10,12,15,16,18,19,29,31] have shown that the process is mainly controlled by the interaction of the lithosphere with the surface and is one-sided, characterized by an unsubducted plate overlapping the subducting plate. Seismic tomography and Benioff Zone studies have shown that they penetrate down into the mantle assuming complex shapes [6,11,17,38,39].…”

Section: Modeling Subduction With Accelerated-bem Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth curvature effects on subduction morphology: Modeling subduction in a spherical setting

et al. 2008

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We present the first application in geodynamics of a (Fast Multipole) Accelerated Boundary Element Method (Accelerated-BEM) for Stokes flow. The approach offers the advantages of a reduced number of computational elements and linear scaling with the problem size. We show that this numerical method can be fruitfully applied for the simulation of several geodynamic systems at the planetary scale in spherical coordinates, and we suggest a general approach for modeling combined mantle convection and plate tectonics. The first part of the paper is devoted to the technical exposition of the new approach, while the second part focuses on the effect played by Earth curvature on the subduction of a very wide oceanic lithosphere (W = 6,000 km and W = 9,000 km), comparing the effects of two different planetary radii (ER = 6,371 km, 2ER = 2 9 6,371 km), corresponding to an ''Earth-like'' model (ER) and to a ''flat Earth'' one (2ER). The results show a distinct difference between the two models: while the slab on a ''flat Earth'' shows a slight undulation, the same subducting plate on the ''Earth-like'' setting presents a dual behavior characterized by concave curvature at the edges and by a folding with wavelength of the order of magnitude of 1,000 km at the center of the slab.

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Section: Modeling Subduction With Accelerated-bem Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth curvature effects on subduction morphology: Modeling subduction in a spherical setting

et al. 2008

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“…Carlson and Melia, 1984;Jarrard, 1986;Garfunkel et al, 1986;Heuret and Lallemand, 2005). Laboratory (Funiciello et al, 2003a;Bellahsen et al, 2005) and numerical (Funiciello et al, 2003b;Stegman et al, 2006;Di Giuseppe et al, 2008;Di Giuseppe et al, 2009;Capitanio et al, 2010b) models of oceanic subduction showed that trench migration is controlled by geometrical (thickness and width of the plate) and rheological (density contrast, viscosity ratio) parameters of the subducting lithosphere. In the continental subduction scenario, Royden (1993) proposed the same two end-member classes: the advancing style (e.g.…”

Section: Magni Et Al: Numerical Models Of Slab Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical models of slab migration in continental collision zones

et al. 2012

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Abstract.Continental collision is an intrinsic feature of plate tectonics. The closure of an oceanic basin leads to the onset of subduction of buoyant continental material, which slows down and eventually stops the subduction process. In natural cases, evidence of advancing margins has been recognized in continental collision zones such as India-Eurasia and Arabia-Eurasia. We perform a parametric study of the geometrical and rheological influence on subduction dynamics during the subduction of continental lithosphere. In our 2-D numerical models of a free subduction system with temperature and stress-dependent rheology, the trench and the overriding plate move self-consistently as a function of the dynamics of the system (i.e. no external forces are imposed). This setup enables to study how continental subduction influences the trench migration. We found that in all models the slab starts to advance once the continent enters the subduction zone and continues to migrate until few million years after the ultimate slab detachment. Our results support the idea that the advancing mode is favoured and, in part, provided by the intrinsic force balance of continental collision. We suggest that the advance is first induced by the locking of the subduction zone and the subsequent steepening of the slab, and next by the sinking of the deepest oceanic part of the slab, during stretching and break-off of the slab. These processes are responsible for the migration of the subduction zone by triggering small-scale convection cells in the mantle that, in turn, drag the plates. The amount of advance ranges from 40 to 220 km and depends on the dip angle of the slab before the onset of collision.

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“…This property is critical in subduction as it prevents the unsubducted plate from sinking straight down [11].…”

Section: Modeling Subduction With Fmm-bemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large Scale Three-Dimensional Boundary Element Simulation of Subduction

Morra

Chatelain

Tackley

et al. 2007

Computational Science – ICCS 2007

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Abstract. We present a novel approach for modeling subduction using a Multipole-accelerated Boundary Element Method (BEM). The present approach allows large-scale modeling with a reduced number of elements and scales linearly with the problem size. For the first time the BEM has been applied to a subduction model in a spherical planet with an upper-lower mantle discontinuity, in conjunction with a free-surface mesh algorithm.

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Dynamics of retreating slabs: 1. Insights from two‐dimensional numerical experiments

Cited by 81 publications

References 62 publications

Earth curvature effects on subduction morphology: Modeling subduction in a spherical setting

Earth curvature effects on subduction morphology: Modeling subduction in a spherical setting

Numerical models of slab migration in continental collision zones

Large Scale Three-Dimensional Boundary Element Simulation of Subduction

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