Mantle constraints on the plate tectonic evolution of the Tonga–Kermadec–Hikurangi subduction zone and the South Fiji Basin region

Schellart, Wouter P.; Spakman, Wim

doi:10.1080/08120099.2012.679692

Cited by 49 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Some of the slabs (e.g., below South America) may appear flat when cross sections are taken obliquely through relatively complex slab geometries. For Kermadec, the interpretations of the lower-mantle anomalies range from flattened (Fukao and Obayashi, 2013) to just thickened (Schellart and Spakman, 2012). French and Romanowicz (2014) note that their recent global shear-speed model confirms the flattened slab material that Fukao et al (2009) identified in the uppermost lower mantle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…On the other hand, a recent study attributed both the extension phase and the (inferred to not be flattened) slab segments in the lower mantle to different subduction systems (Hall and Spakman, 2015). Kermadec is another location where a lower-mantle flat slab segment, of up to ~800 km length, similar to the reconstructed amount of trench retreat, has been suggested (Fukao and Obayashi, 2013), although others interpret the deeper slab structure as thickened rather than flattened (Schellart and Spakman, 2012).…”

Section: Plate Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those that do penetrate into the lower mantle below the northwest Pacific are generally not continuous below ~1000 km depth, although there are also significant volumes of fast anomalies deeper in the lower mantle below the region ( Van der Hilst et al, 1997;Grand, 2002;Simmons et al, 2012). Lower-mantle anomalies below Tonga and Kermadec extend from ~700 km down to at least 1700 km, but it is not clear whether they are connected to upper-mantle slabs (Van der Hilst, 1995;Schellart and Spakman, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Miller et al, 2006;Goes et al, 2008); for the Tonga flat segment of ~1300 km, ~30-40 m.y. (Van der Hilst, 1995;Sdrolias and Müller, 2006;Schellart and Spakman, 2012); and for the ~500-km-long, Calabrian flat slab, 8-10 m.y. (Wortel and Spakman, 2000;Faccenna et al, 2001).…”

Section: Antmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

et al. 2017

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTAs subducting plates reach the base of the upper mantle, some appear to flatten and stagnate, while others seemingly go through unimpeded. This variable resistance to slab sinking has been proposed to affect long-term thermal and chemical mantle circulation. A review of observational constraints and dynamic models highlights that neither the increase in viscosity between upper and lower mantle (likely by a factor 20-50) nor the coincident endothermic phase transition in the main mantle silicates (with a likely Clapeyron slope of -1 to -2 MPa/K) suffice to stagnate slabs. However, together the two provide enough resistance to temporarily stagnate subducting plates, if they subduct accompanied by significant trench retreat. Older, stronger plates are more capable of inducing trench retreat, explaining why backarc spreading and flat slabs tend to be associated with old-plate subduction. Slab viscosities that are ~2 orders of magnitude higher than background mantle (effective yield stresses of 100-300 MPa) lead to similar styles of deformation as those revealed by seismic tomography and slab earthquakes. None of the current transition-zone slabs seem to have stagnated there more than 60 m.y. Since modeled slab destabilization takes more than 100 m.y., lower-mantle entry is apparently usually triggered (e.g., by changes in plate buoyancy). Many of the complex morphologies of lower-mantle slabs can be the result of sinking and subsequent deformation of originally stagnated slabs, which can retain flat morphologies in the top of the lower mantle, fold as they sink deeper, and eventually form bulky shapes in the deep mantle.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Plate Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Antmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

et al. 2017

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“…Large changes in absolute plate velocity of 5-15 cm/yr have been documented for several tectonic plates, such as the Indian plate and Farallon plate, and have been ascribed to changes in plate boundary forces or changes in drag forces applied by the sub-lithospheric mantle (Patriat and Achache, 1984;Schellart et al, 2010;Cande and Stegman, 2011;van Hinsbergen et al, 2011). Changes in plate boundary forces are generally linked to changes in subduction dynamics, such as initiation or termination of a subduction zone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Australian plate motion and topography linked to fossil New Guinea slab below Lake Eyre

Schellart

Spakman

2015

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Unravelling causes for absolute plate velocity change and continental dynamic topography change is challenging because of the interdependence of large-scale geodynamic driving processes. Here, we unravel a clear spatio-temporal relation between latest Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic subduction at the northern edge of the Australian plate, Early Cenozoic Australian plate motion changes and Cenozoic topography evolution of the Australian continent. We present evidence for a ∼4000 km wide subduction zone, which culminated in ophiolite obduction and arc-continent collision in the New Guinea-Pocklington Trough region during subduction termination, coinciding with cessation of spreading in the Coral Sea, a ∼5 cm/yr decrease in northward Australian plate velocity, and slab detachment. Renewed northward motion caused the Australian plate to override the sinking subduction remnant, which we detect with seismic tomography at 800-1200 km depth in the mantle under central-southeast Australia at a position predicted by our absolute plate reconstructions. With a numerical model of slab sinking and mantle flow we predict a long-wavelength subsidence (negative dynamic topography) migrating southward from ∼50 Ma to present, explaining Eocene-Oligocene subsidence of the Queensland Plateau, ∼330 m of late Eocene-early Oligocene subsidence in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Oligocene-Miocene subsidence of the Marion Plateau, and providing a first-order fit to the present-day, ∼200 m deep, topographic depression of the Lake Eyre Basin and Murray-Darling Basin. We propound that dynamic topography evolution provides an independent means to couple geological processes to a mantle reference frame. This is complementary to, and can be integrated with, other approaches such as hotspot and slab reference frames.

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Formation of andesite melts and Ca‐rich plagioclase in the submarine Monowai volcanic system, Kermadec arc

Kemner

Haase

Beier

et al. 2015

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Andesites are typical rocks of island arcs and may either form by fractional crystallization processes or by mixing between a mafic and a felsic magma. Here we present new petrographic and geochemical data from lavas of the submarine Monowai volcanic system in the northern Kermadec island arc that display a continuous range in composition from basalt to andesite. Using petrology, major, trace, and volatile element data, we show that basaltic magmas mostly evolve to andesitic magmas by fractional crystallization. Our thermobarometric calculations indicate that the formation of the large caldera is related to eruption of basaltic‐andesitic to andesitic magmas from a magma reservoir in the deeper crust. Small variations in trace element ratios between the caldera and the large active cone imply a homogeneous mantle source. Contrastingly, resurgent dome melts of the caldera stagnated at shallower depths are more depleted and show a stronger subduction input than the other edifices. The Monowai basaltic glasses contain less than 1 wt % H2O and follow typical tholeiitic fractionation trends. High‐An plagioclase crystals observed in the Monowai lavas likely reflect mixing of H2O‐saturated melt batches with hot and dry tholeiitic, decompression melt batches. The result is a relatively H2O‐poor mafic magma at Monowai implying that partial melting of the mantle wedge is only partly due to the volatile flux and that adiabatic melting may play a significant role in the formation of the parental melts of the Monowai volcanic system and possibly other arc volcanoes.

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Mantle constraints on the plate tectonic evolution of the Tonga–Kermadec–Hikurangi subduction zone and the South Fiji Basin region

Cited by 49 publications

References 68 publications

Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

Australian plate motion and topography linked to fossil New Guinea slab below Lake Eyre

Formation of andesite melts and Ca‐rich plagioclase in the submarine Monowai volcanic system, Kermadec arc

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