Variations in oceanic plate bending along the Mariana trench

Zhang, Fan; Lin, Jian; Wang, Zhan

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2014.05.032

Cited by 52 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The Mariana Trench is in the Western Pacific Ocean (Figs 1 and 2), where the Pacific plate is subducting under the Mariana microplate in the northern (N) and central (C) Mariana Trench but under the Philippine Sea plate in the southern (S) Mariana Trench. Data sources for the analysis of the Mariana Trench are described in detail in Zhang et al (2014).…”

Section: Study Regionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jones et al 1978;Masson 1991;Ranero et al 2003Ranero et al , 2005Obana et al 2012;Gou et al 2013;Naliboff et al 2013;Boston et al 2014;Craig et al 2014;Zhou et al 2015). Faulting could in turn cause a significant reduction in the effective elastic thickness of the subducting plate Bodine & Watts 1979;Watts 2001;Ranero et al 2005;Contreras-Reyes & Osses 2010;Zhang et al 2014;Hunter & Watts 2016). Thus, the flexural bending shape of a subducting plate contains important information on the tectonic loading at the trench axis, lithospheric strength and overall faulting effects of the subducting plate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Contreras-Reyes & Osses (2010) and Contreras-Reyes et al (2013) showed that normal faulting has reduced the T e of the subducting plate of the Chile trench by 6-50 per cent. Zhang et al (2014) showed that the T e for the Mariana Trench is reduced by 21-61 per cent due to trenchward faulting of the outer-rise region. Zhou et al (2015) explicitly modeled normal faulting and elastoplastic deformation in a subducting plate and showed that normal faults could indeed reduce the T e significantly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…C1). For the Mariana Trench, the detailed analyses were already accomplished by Zhang et al (2014), and thus we only used the Mariana results in the synthesis of this study. We then investigated the intertrench variations by analysing a global array of 13 trenches, including the Manila, Mariana, Philippine, Kuril, Japan, Izu-Bonin, Aleutian, Tonga-Kermadec, Middle America, Peru, Chile, Sumatra and Java trenches (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra- and intertrench variations in flexural bending of the Manila, Mariana and global trenches: implications on plate weakening in controlling trench dynamics

Zhang

Lin

Zhou

et al. 2017

Geophysical Journal International

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S U M M A R YWe conducted detailed analyses of a global array of trenches, revealing systematic intra-and intertrench variations in plate bending characteristics. The intratrench variations of the Manila and Mariana Trenches were analysed in detail as end-member cases of the relatively young (16-36 Ma) and old (140-160 Ma) subducting plates, respectively. Meanwhile, the intertrench variability was investigated for a global array of additional trenches including the Philippine, Kuril, Japan, Izu-Bonin, Aleutian, Tonga-Kermadec, Middle America, Peru, Chile, Sumatra and Java Trenches. Results of the analysis show that the trench relief (W 0 ) and width (X 0 ) of all systems are controlled primarily by the faulting-reduced elastic thickness near the trench axis (T m e ) and affected only slightly by the initial unfaulted thickness (T M e ) of the incoming plate. The reduction in T e has caused significant deepening and narrowing of trench valleys. For the cases of relatively young or old plates, the plate age could be a dominant factor in controlling the trench bending shape, regardless the variations in axial loadings. Our calculations also show that the axial loading and stresses of old subducting plates can vary significantly along the trench axis. In contrast, the young subducting plates show much smaller values and variations in axial loading and stresses.

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Section: Study Regionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra- and intertrench variations in flexural bending of the Manila, Mariana and global trenches: implications on plate weakening in controlling trench dynamics

Zhang

Lin

Zhou

et al. 2017

Geophysical Journal International

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“…Turcotte & Schubert 2002) even though widespread normal faulting, indicative of brittle failure of the lithosphere, is documented in these settings (e.g. Ranero et al 2003;Zhang et al 2014;Zhou et al 2015). Elastic rheology therefore underlies the behaviour of the lithosphere over a range of spatial and temporal scales, and stress conditions.…”

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confidence: 99%

The role of elasticity in simulating long-term tectonic extension

et al. 2016

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S U M M A R YWhile elasticity is a defining characteristic of the Earth's lithosphere, it is often ignored in numerical models of long-term tectonic processes in favour of a simpler viscoplastic description. Here we assess the consequences of this assumption on a well-studied geodynamic problem: the growth of normal faults at an extensional plate boundary. We conduct 2-D numerical simulations of extension in elastoplastic and viscoplastic layers using a finite difference, particle-in-cell numerical approach. Our models simulate a range of faulted layer thicknesses and extension rates, allowing us to quantify the role of elasticity on three key observables: fault-induced topography, fault rotation, and fault life span. In agreement with earlier studies, simulations carried out in elastoplastic layers produce rate-independent lithospheric flexure accompanied by rapid fault rotation and an inverse relationship between fault life span and faulted layer thickness. By contrast, models carried out with a viscoplastic lithosphere produce results that may qualitatively resemble the elastoplastic case, but depend strongly on the product of extension rate and layer viscosity U × η L . When this product is high, fault growth initially generates little deformation of the footwall and hanging wall blocks, resulting in unrealistic, rigid block-offset in topography across the fault. This configuration progressively transitions into a regime where topographic decay associated with flexure is fully accommodated within the numerical domain. In addition, high U × η L favours the sequential growth of multiple short-offset faults as opposed to a large-offset detachment. We interpret these results by comparing them to an analytical model for the fault-induced flexure of a thin viscous plate. The key to understanding the viscoplastic model results lies in the rate-dependence of the flexural wavelength of a viscous plate, and the strain rate dependence of the force increase associated with footwall and hanging wall bending. This behaviour produces unrealistic deformation patterns that can hinder the geological relevance of long-term rifting models that assume a viscoplastic rheology.

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Mechanism for normal faulting in the subducting plate at the Mariana Trench

Zhou

Lin

Behn

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

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We investigate the mechanisms of normal fault initiation and evolution in the subducting Pacific Plate near the Mariana Trench, through bathymetry analysis and geodynamic modeling. We model the subducting plate as an elastoplastic slab subjected to tectonic forcing at the trench, including vertical load, bending moment, and horizontal tensional force. In our simulations, normal faults initiate within the outer rise region and reach maximum throw toward the trench. This result holds over a wide range of tectonic forcing and is consistent with observations of the Challenger Deep region, where multibeam bathymetry data indicate faults initiate near the outer rise at 70–110 km from the trench and reach maximum throw at 10–35 km from the trench. However, models require a horizontal tensional force with magnitude comparable to axial vertical load to jointly explain the observed seafloor bathymetry, location of maximum normal fault throw, and prevalence of normal faults dipping toward the trench.

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Variations in oceanic plate bending along the Mariana trench

Cited by 52 publications

References 31 publications

Intra- and intertrench variations in flexural bending of the Manila, Mariana and global trenches: implications on plate weakening in controlling trench dynamics

Intra- and intertrench variations in flexural bending of the Manila, Mariana and global trenches: implications on plate weakening in controlling trench dynamics

The role of elasticity in simulating long-term tectonic extension

Mechanism for normal faulting in the subducting plate at the Mariana Trench

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