The Gibraltar slab dynamics and its influence on past and present-day Alboran domain deformation: Insights from thermo-mechanical numerical modelling

Gea, Pedro J.; Negredo, Ana M.; Mancilla, Flor de Lis

doi:10.3389/feart.2023.995041

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 107 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, the significant decrease of V T with increasing T OP reported in Figure 6e demonstrates the strong impact of the OP thickness on trench retreat velocities. This result is in agreement with previous 3D and 2D models (Butterworth et al, 2012;Gea et al, 2023;Hertgen et al, 2020;Sharples et al, 2014;Yamato et al, 2009) finding that thin/weak OP favors faster trench velocities and rollback compared to a thick/strong OP. This result is enhanced by the fixed boundary condition of the OP at its trailing edge.…”

Section: Comparison With Previous Studiessupporting

confidence: 93%

Overriding Plate Thickness as a Controlling Factor for Trench Retreat Rates in Narrow Subduction Zones

Gea,

Mancilla,

Negredo

et al. 2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Slab width is a significant factor in controlling subduction zone dynamics, particularly the retreat velocities, which tend to decrease with wider slabs. However, observations of natural narrow subduction zones reveal no correlation between slab width and trench velocities. This suggests that other factors may exert a greater influence. In this study, we employ 3D numerical subduction models to systematically assess the impact of slab width, strength of slab coupling to the lateral plate (LP), and overriding plate (OP) thickness on trench kinematics and geometry. Our models focus on narrow slabs (400–1,200 km), and the results demonstrate that, in the case of narrow subduction zones, the slab width has little effect on trench migration rates and the viscous coupling at the lateral slab edge is only important for very narrow subduction zones (≤800 km). Conversely, the OP thickness emerges as a crucial factor, with increasing plate thickness leading to a strong decrease in trench velocities. These findings provide an explanation for the observed trench velocities in natural narrow subduction zones, where an inverse relationship with OP thickness is evident. Furthermore, our study reveals that not only slab width, but also the OP thickness and the slab coupling to the LP, significantly influence trench geometry. Strong lateral coupling promotes the formation of concave trench geometries, while thick overriding plates favor the development of “w”‐shaped geometries. Overall, a comprehensive understanding of subduction processes necessitates considering the interplay between slab width, OP thickness, and slab coupling to the LP.

show abstract

Section: Comparison With Previous Studiessupporting

confidence: 93%

Overriding Plate Thickness as a Controlling Factor for Trench Retreat Rates in Narrow Subduction Zones

Gea,

Mancilla,

Negredo

et al. 2024

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(2020), who found that thin/weak OP favours faster trench velocities and rollback compared to a thick/strong OP. The 2D self-consistent subduction models of Gea et al (2023) and A. Holt et al (2015) also show that a thicker OP leads to a reduction in V T .…”

Section: Comparison With Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 86%

Overriding plate thickness as a controlling factor for trench retreat rates in narrow subduction zones

Gea

Mancilla

Negredo

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Slab width plays a major role in controlling subduction dynamics and trench motion. However, observations on natural narrow subduction zones do not show any correlation between slab width and trench velocities, indicating that other factors may have a greater impact. Here, we use 3D numerical subduction models to evaluate the effect of slab width, strength of slab coupling to the lateral plate and overriding plate thickness on trench kinematics. Model results show that slab width has little influence on trench migration rates for narrow subduction zones, but that the thickness of the overriding plate plays a major role, with trench velocities decreasing as the thickness increases. These results explain trench velocities observed in natural narrow subduction zones showing no relation with slab width but an inverse dependence on overriding plate thickness. Finally, we find that the overriding plate thickness also significantly affects the trench shape.

show abstract

“…Betic-Rif Cordillera vary significantly across the region [Pasquale et al, 1996;Custodio et al, 2019;Gea et al, 2023].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crustal Attenuation Tomographic Image of Northern Morocco: Indication of High Tectonic Activities

Najim,

El Hilali,

Timoulali

et al. 2024

Annals of Geophysics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Northern Morocco is known by its complex tectonic activity and has been the subject of various geophysical and geodynamic studies aimed to understand the physical properties and composition of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. The waveforms of earthquakes recorded by the Topo – Iberia – Picasso seismic networks from 2008 to 2012 are analyzed to determine the decay properties of the coda wave and map the attenuation and absorption properties of the crust in this region. The coda quality factor Qc was estimated in five non‑overlapping frequency windows, ranging from 1.5 to 24 Hz, using recordings of local earthquakes. The measurements of Qc were then used to create maps of the absorption quality factor (Qi) using a linearized approximation. These maps were compared with the tectonic settings of the region to gain further insight into the crustal properties. Lateral and vertical variations of the coda quality factor (Qc) were investigated by creating a three‑dimensional tomographic image of the region. The results showed strong lateral variations of absorption in the northern part of Morocco, indicating high tectonic activity. Areas with high tectonic activity and high absorption were characterized by low values of Qc, while areas with low tectonic activity and low absorption had high values of Qc. The areas with thick cover sedimentary materials and shallow geothermal activity showed low‑frequency absorption. When compared to previous studies in northern Morocco, the study provides new information about the three‑dimensional attenuation model of the Earth’s crust.

show abstract

The Gibraltar slab dynamics and its influence on past and present-day Alboran domain deformation: Insights from thermo-mechanical numerical modelling

Cited by 4 publications

References 107 publications

Overriding Plate Thickness as a Controlling Factor for Trench Retreat Rates in Narrow Subduction Zones

Overriding Plate Thickness as a Controlling Factor for Trench Retreat Rates in Narrow Subduction Zones

Overriding plate thickness as a controlling factor for trench retreat rates in narrow subduction zones

Crustal Attenuation Tomographic Image of Northern Morocco: Indication of High Tectonic Activities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About