Slide 1

How Important is the Motion of Subducting Slabs Relative to the Underlying Mantle: A Proposed Study Walter R. Roest & R. Dietmar Mller The University of Sydney Geological Survey of Canada Slide 2 Illustration: W. Jacquelyne Kious & Robert I. Tilling, This Dynamic Earth (on-line), USGS Do Tectonic Plates Care about Mantle Motion? Slide 3 How about Mid-Ocean Ridges? Stein et al., EPSL,1977 predicted asymmetry between leading and trailing plates Analysis of spreading symmetry, Mller et al., Nature,1998 Do Tectonic Plates Care about Mantle Motion? Slide 4 Global Ocean Floor Age AGE (Ma) 1020180200 0 Mller et al., JGR,1997 Slide 5 Global spreading rates Slide 6 Spreading asymmetries Mller et al., Nature,1998 Slide 7 Conclusion, Mller et al. No systematic asymmetry in seafloor spreading rates, with respect to absolute plate motion Ridges move independent of mantle However, we do observe repeated spreading axis jumps towards hotspot Slide 8 How about Subduction Zones ? Scholz and Campos, JGR 1995 On the mechanism of seismic decoupling and back arc spreading Harabaglia and Doglioni, GRL 1998 Topography and gravity across subduction zones Gurnis, Ritsema and van Heijst, JGR 2000 Tonga slab deformation: The influence of lower mantle upwelling Do Tectonic Plates Care about Mantle Motion? Slide 9 Subduction Geometry Illustration modified after: Scholz and Campos, JGR, 1995 V UP = Upper Plate Absolute Velocity V S = Subduction Plate Velocity F SA = Sea Anchor Force F SU = Trench Suction Force F SP = Slab Pull Force F R = Resistance Force F n = Normal Force at Interface = F SA sin + F SU cos Slide 10 Effect of Sea Anchor Force TIME Acadia Subduction Zone Locked zone Deformation in upper plate Mega-thrust earthquakes Western Pacific Steep subduction, slab roll-back Upper plate extension Back-arc spreading Slide 11 Philippine Plate Slide 12 Slab Dip (Izu-Bonin-Mariana) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 455565758595 Mean Dip (Degrees) F sa N/m (x10 12 ) Scholz and Campos, JGR, 1995 Slide 13 Conclusion, Scholz and Campos Sea anchor force resists lateral motion of slab relative to mantle Sea anchor force model predicts state of seismic decoupling for 80% of the worlds subduction zones Simplistic model, other forces may play a role in seismic decoupling in some cases Slide 14 Harabaglia and Doglioni, GRL, 1998 Topography and Gravity profiles Slide 15 Stacked Profiles 2000 4000 0 2000 Topography Gravity East directedWest directed Harabaglia and Doglioni, GRL, 1998 0 Slide 16 Conclusion, Harabaglia and Doglioni Significant differences between east and west directed subduction Back arc spreading associated with west directed subduction (however, see Maria Sdrolias talk about periodicity) Explain observations by overall westward motion of lithosphere with respect to mantle Slide 17 Density at 813 km Gurnis et al., GRL, 2000 Earthquake Density (400 -700 km) Earthquakes > 100 km and > M5 rr at 542 km Slide 18 Conclusion, Gurnis et al. Tonga slab more deformed than other slabs Result of relatively young subduction Underlain by seismically slow structures Upward flow from mantle plume In other, long-lived, subduction system, the mantle tends to pull down, here pushes up Slide 19 Proposed Study Analyse global data sets: Absolute and relative plate motions Gravity, Topography Mantle Tomography Ocean Floor Age, Plate boundaries Earthquakes Volcanos .. And more.. Slide 20 Plate BoundariesGravity Anomalies Ocean Floor Age Topography Slide 21 Earthquakes (Engdahl et al., Bull.Seism.Soc.Am., 1998) 0-70 km 70-300 km 300-700 km Slide 22 Active and Recent Volcanos (various sources) Slide 23 Conclusion - 1 Large scale mantle flow seems to have an effect on subduction characteristics: What has the mantle been doing to subducting lithosphere? Do we understand the mechanics? What drives slab roll-back? Slide 24 Conclusion - 2 There are many data sets, but relatively few quantitative analyses / compilations: What parameters do geodynamic modellers want to see quantified? Are there other data sets (e.g. geochemistry, heatflow.)? How do we go from here?