SLIM3D: A tool for three-dimensional thermomechanical modeling of lithospheric deformation with elasto-visco-plastic rheology

Popov, Anton; Sobolev, S. V.

doi:10.1016/j.pepi.2008.03.007

Cited by 187 publications

(164 citation statements)

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“…Our global numerical model of the Earth interior consists of the particle-in-cell finite element model SLIM3D (Popov and Sobolev, 2008) within the top 300 km, which solves coupled momentum and energy equations with a semi-Lagrangian Eulerian grid and Winkler boundary condition. This allows for a free surface top boundary condition and a dynamic bottom boundary 5 condition, achieved through coupling to a spectral mantle flow code (Hager and O'Connell, 1981) to account for the deep mantle contributions.…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 1(c) shows a sectional schematic representation of the coupled numerical model with depth-dependent layered mantle viscosity structure ( Figure 1b) and seismic velocity-to-density scaling profile of Steinberger and Calderwood (2006) (Figure 1a), which are only considered below the depth of 300 km. The top 10 thermo-mechanical component (SLIM3D) has been used in a wide range of 2D and 3D regional numerical studies of crustal and lithospheric deformations (Popov and Sobolev, 2008;Brune et al, 2012Brune et al, , 2014Brune et al, , 2016Popov et al, 2012;Quinteros and Sobolev, 2013) with different spatial and temporal resolutions but the coupled code is used here and in Osei for the first time. In this 3D global study, we distinguish three material layers (phases) within the top component (SLIM3D): the crustal layer, the lithosphere and the sub-lithospheric mantle layers in order to account for the stress and temperature- visco-elasto-plastic rheology is described in detail by (Popov and Sobolev, 2008), with specific modeling parameters given in Osei and here in the appendix.…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, a 3D global lithosphere-asthenosphere finite element model (Popov and Sobolev, 2008) with visco-elasto-5 plastic rheology is coupled to a spectral model of mantle flow (Hager and O'Connell, 1981) at 300 km depth. As part of this work, we estimate dynamic topography and correlate our results with two different residual topography models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As part of this analysis, we test the ability of our new 3D thermo-mechanical model of the lithosphere and asthenosphere coupled to the mantle flow to reproduce the spatial pattern of the topographic anomalies and use it to separate 25 out the effects of the chemical depletion in cratonic regions on the dynamic topography and lithospheric stress field. (Steinberger and Calderwood, 2006) and (c) a schematic diagram of the numerical method that couples the 3D-lithosphereasthenosphere code SLIM3D (Popov and Sobolev, 2008) to a lower mantle spectral flow code (Hager and O'Connell, 1981) at a depth of 300 km 2 Method…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rheological parameters used in this study with varying Olivine water content of 100, 500, 1000 p.p.m H/10 6 Si in the weak asthenospheric mantle with dry lithosphere material. For more details regarding the formulation of the physical model and numerical implementation the reader is referred to Popov and Sobolev (2008) …”

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confidence: 99%

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Effects of upper mantle heterogeneities on lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

Tutu¹,

Steinberger²,

Sobolev³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. The orientation and tectonic regime of the observed crustal/lithospheric stress field contribute to our knowledge of different deformation processes occurring within the Earth's crust and lithosphere. In this study, we analyze the influence of the thermal and density structure of the upper mantle on the lithospheric stress field and topography. We use a 3D lithosphereasthenosphere numerical model with power-law rheology, coupled to a spectral mantle flow code at 300 km depth. Our results are validated against the World Stress Map 2016 and the observation-based residual topography. We derive the upper mantle 5 thermal structure from either a heat flow model combined with a sea floor age model (TM1) or a global S-wave velocity model (TM2). We show that lateral density heterogeneities in the upper 300 km have a limited influence on the modeled horizontal stress field as opposed to the resulting dynamic topography that appears more sensitive to such heterogeneities. There is hardly any difference between the stress orientation patterns predicted with and without consideration of the heterogeneities in the upper mantle density structure across North America, Australia, and North Africa. In contrast, we find that the dynamic 10 topography is to a greater extent controlled by the upper mantle density structure. After correction for the chemical depletion of continents, the TM2 model leads to a much better fit with the observed residual topography giving a correlation of 0.51 in continents, but this correction leads to no significant improvement in the resulting lithosphere stresses. In continental regions with abundant heat flow data such as, for instant, Western Europe, TM1 results in relatively a small angular misfits of 18.30

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Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of upper mantle heterogeneities on lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

Tutu¹,

Steinberger²,

Sobolev³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Evolution of stress and fault patterns in oblique rift systems: 3‐D numerical lithospheric‐scale experiments from rift to breakup

Brune

2014

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

112

117

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Rifting involves complex normal faulting that is controlled by extension direction, reactivation of prerift structures, sedimentation, and dyke dynamics. The relative impact of these factors on the observed fault pattern, however, is difficult to deduce from field-based studies alone. This study provides insight in crustal stress patterns and fault orientations by employing a laterally homogeneous, 3-D rift setup with constant extension velocity. The presented numerical forward experiments cover the whole spectrum of oblique extension. They are conducted using an elastoviscoplastic finite element model and involve crustal and mantle layers accounting for self-consistent necking of the lithosphere. Despite recent advances, 3-D numerical experiments still require relatively coarse resolution so that individual faults are poorly resolved. This issue is addressed by applying a post processing method that identifies the stress regime and preferred fault azimuth at each surface element. The simple model setup results in a surprising variety of fault orientations that are solely caused by the three-dimensionality of oblique rift systems. Depending on rift obliquity, these orientations can be grouped in terms of rift-parallel, extension-orthogonal, and intermediate normal fault directions as well as strike-slip faults. While results compare well with analog rift models of low to moderate obliquity, new insight is gained in advanced rift stages and highly oblique settings. Individual fault populations are activated in a characteristic multiphase evolution driven by lateral density variations of the evolving rift system. In natural rift systems, this pattern might be modified by additional heterogeneities, surface processes, and dyke dynamics.

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A 3‐D Lagrangian finite element algorithm with remeshing for simulating large‐strain hydrodynamic instabilities in power law viscoelastic fluids

Tscharner

Schmalholz

2015

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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We present a three-dimensional (3-D) numerical algorithm (PINK-3D) that is based on the finite element method. The algorithm is designed to simulate hydrodynamic instabilities in power law viscoelastic fluids under gravity. These instabilities are caused by large and sharp contrasts in mechanical strength and/ or density between different materials (e.g., folding, necking, or Rayleigh-Taylor diapirism). The instabilities are controlled by the geometry of the material interfaces and the related intralayer stress distribution when amplitudes of the material interfaces are still low. The presented algorithm combines a deformable Lagrangian mesh with remeshing in order to accurately simulate the low-amplitude stages of the emerging instabilities, and also to simulate the large-strain evolution of the structures emerging from these instabilities. The remeshing is based on material interfaces that accurately track the boundaries between materials with strongly varying material properties (e.g., effective viscosity or power law stress exponent). We describe here the main technical details of the 3-D algorithm. The accuracy of the 3-D algorithm is demonstrated with comparisons between the numerical results and 2-D and 3-D analytical solutions for folding, necking, Rayleigh-Taylor diapirism, and circular inclusions in viscous medium. We also benchmark the 3-D algorithm with results of a different 2-D finite element algorithm to test the accuracy of the large-strain results with remeshing. Furthermore, two tests are presented that show the accuracy of the viscoelasticity implementation. PINK-3D is also used to study 3-D necking applied to lithospheric slab detachment, and 2-D and 3-D folding applied to fold nappe formation. In particular, we apply the 3-D code to quantify and visualize the evolution of the 3-D finite strain ellipsoid for the developing 3-D structures.

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SLIM3D: A tool for three-dimensional thermomechanical modeling of lithospheric deformation with elasto-visco-plastic rheology

Cited by 187 publications

References 78 publications

Effects of upper mantle heterogeneities on lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

Effects of upper mantle heterogeneities on lithospheric stress field and dynamic topography

Evolution of stress and fault patterns in oblique rift systems: 3‐D numerical lithospheric‐scale experiments from rift to breakup

A 3‐D Lagrangian finite element algorithm with remeshing for simulating large‐strain hydrodynamic instabilities in power law viscoelastic fluids

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