The role of slabs and oceanic plate geometry in the net rotation of the lithosphere, trench motions, and slab return flow

Gérault, Mélanie; Becker, T. W.; Kaus, Boris; Faccenna, Claudio; Moresi, Louis; Husson, Laurent

doi:10.1029/2011gc003934

Cited by 31 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 89 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Gérault et al . [] showed that in 2‐D cylindrical‐geometry simulations with free‐slip boundary conditions, the rate of lithospheric net rotation depends more strongly on properties of slabs, the location of ridges, and the coupling of plates at the trench (i.e., presence and properties of a weak zone) and less strongly on the presence of continental keels. Our 3‐D calculations use kinematically prescribed boundary conditions and consequently the locations and kinematics of plate boundaries, including trench migration, are not free parameters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of slabs in generating net rotation in 3‐D spherical‐geometry flow models may be more limited than the 2‐D cylindrical geometry experiments of Gérault et al . [] suggest. Becker and Faccenna [] performed calculations in which lateral viscosity variations associated with slabs were incorporated using the slab model of Steinberger [] and found that the rate of net rotation produced by slabs was less than that produced in models that introduced continental keels, reaching only

\sim 10 %

of the HS3 rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lithospheric net rotation relative to the mantle can only be generated in buoyancy driven flows in the presence of lateral viscosity variations, perhaps related to high viscosity regions beneath continents [ Ricard et al ., ; Zhong , ; Becker , ] or related to the properties of slabs and plate boundaries [e.g., Gérault et al ., ]. Plate motion history models [ Lithgow‐Bertelloni and Richards , ; Seton et al ., ] have been used as time‐dependent boundary conditions in convection models with different mantle viscosity structures to investigate the time evolution of mantle structures [e.g., McNamara and Zhong , ; Zhang et al ., ; Bower et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

History and dynamics of net rotation of the mantle and lithosphere

Rudolph

Zhong

2014

Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The net rotation of Earth's lithosphere with respect to the underlying mantle is the longestwavelength component of toroidal flow in the mantle and is sensitive to both mantle buoyancy structure and lateral viscosity variations. The lithospheric net rotation in the geologic past implied by plate reconstructions using a hotspot reference frame for the past 100 Myr is up to five times greater than the presentday rate of lithospheric net rotation. We explore the role of lateral viscosity variations associated with subcontinental keels in producing the lithospheric net rotation for the geologic past and find that the introduction of subcontinental keels improves the agreement between modeled net rotation and the net rotation present in the plate reconstructions for the past 25 Myr. However, our models with continental keels produce at most 0:16 =Myr of differential rotation between the lithosphere and lower mantle for present-day, and explaining the most rapid rates of lithospheric net rotation during the Cretaceous and Paleogene remains challenging. This suggests the need for either an additional mechanism for generating lithospheric net rotation, or an adjustment to the absolute mantle reference frame relative to which plate motions are specified.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

\sim 10 %

of the HS3 rate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

History and dynamics of net rotation of the mantle and lithosphere

Rudolph

Zhong

2014

Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The use of full spherical geometry is still computationally expensive, particularly if one wishes to accurately resolve mantle dynamics at the present‐day convective vigor of the Earth [ Stadler et al ., ]. The use of a cylindrical geometry [ van Keken , ; Gérault et al ., ] or other two‐dimensional approximations to the spherical Earth [ Hernlund and Tackley , ], where the models take into account at least in part the curvature of the Earth and the connectedness of the Earth mantle, are therefore still attractive options.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of a laminar plume in a cavity: The influence of boundaries on the steady state stem structure

Keken

Davaille

Vatteville

2013

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

[1] The steady state structure of thermal plumes rising from a small heater is studied in high Prandtl number fluids. We show good agreement between laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. We study the effect of the boundaries on the plume development by numerically simulating the plume rise in very large geometries. The thermal structure of the plume axis is similar for all box sizes considered, but the velocity structure changes strongly as box sizes are increased. We show that the effect of the side boundaries becomes unimportant for large aspect ratio, but that the free-slip top boundary has a strong influence on the velocity structure under all conditions. We show that the use of an outflow boundary condition significantly reduces the influence of the top boundary. Under these conditions we recover to good precision the theoretical predictions for plumes rising in an semi-infinite half-space. The strong influence of the boundaries in high Prandtl number fluids is important in the interpretation of laboratory experiments and numerical simulation for the dynamics of the Earth's mantle.Components: 9,800 words, 15 figures.

show abstract

“…It is somehow equivalent to introducing a weak zone in numerical models that is used to mimic the effect of a fault subduction zone (e.g. Zhong and Gurnis, 1994;Gérault et al, 2012).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The dynamics of laterally variable subductions: laboratory models applied to the Hellenides

et al. 2013

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We designed three-dimensional dynamically selfconsistent laboratory models of subduction to analyse the relationships between overriding plate deformation and subduction dynamics in the upper mantle. We investigated the effects of the subduction of a lithosphere of laterally variable buoyancy on the temporal evolution of trench kinematics and shape, horizontal flow at the top of the asthenosphere, dynamic topography and deformation of the overriding plate. Two subducting units, which correspond to a negatively buoyant oceanic plate and positively buoyant continental one, are juxtaposed via a trench-perpendicular interface (analogue to a tear fault) that is either fully-coupled or shear-stress free. Differential rates of trench retreat, in excess of 6 cm yr −1 between the two units, trigger a more vigorous mantle flow above the oceanic slab unit than above the continental slab unit. The resulting asymmetrical sublithospheric flow shears the overriding plate in front of the tear fault, and deformation gradually switches from extension to transtension through time. The consistency between our models results and geological observations suggests that the Late Cenozoic deformation of the Aegean domain, including the formation of the North Aegean Trough and Central Hellenic Shear zone, results from the spatial variations in the buoyancy of the subducting lithosphere. In particular, the lateral changes of the subduction regime caused by the Early Pliocene subduction of the old oceanic Ionian plate redesigned mantle flow and excited an increasingly vigorous dextral shear underneath the overriding plate. The models suggest that it is the inception of the Kefalonia Fault that caused the transition between an extension dominated tectonic regime to transtension, in the North Aegean, Mainland Greece and Peloponnese. The subduction of the tear fault may also have helped the propagation of the North Anatolian Fault into the Aegean domain.

show abstract

The role of slabs and oceanic plate geometry in the net rotation of the lithosphere, trench motions, and slab return flow

Cited by 31 publications

References 89 publications

History and dynamics of net rotation of the mantle and lithosphere

History and dynamics of net rotation of the mantle and lithosphere

Dynamics of a laminar plume in a cavity: The influence of boundaries on the steady state stem structure

The dynamics of laterally variable subductions: laboratory models applied to the Hellenides

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About