Subduction dynamics and the origin of Andean orogeny and the Bolivian orocline

Capitanio, Fabio A.; Faccenna, Claudio; Zlotnik, Sergio; Stegman, D. R.

doi:10.1038/nature10596

Cited by 167 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…2c and Supplementary Figs S3c and S4c). This finding reconciles observed lithosphere kinematics with inferences on the dynamics, as it is in good agreement with the typical timescale of the fastest geological processes generating torques upon plates, such as the descent of slabs into the Earth's mantle 15 , the interaction of mantle flow and plume heads with the lithosphere base 3,27,28 and the influence of surface processes on the tectonics of plate margins 29 among others.…”

Section: Trans-dimensional Hierarchical Bayesian Formulationsupporting

confidence: 83%

Reconstructing plate-motion changes in the presence of finite-rotations noise

2012

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understanding lithospheric plate motions is of paramount importance to geodynamicists. much effort is going into kinematic reconstructions featuring progressively finer temporal resolution. However, the challenge of precisely identifying ocean-floor magnetic lineations, and uncertainties in geomagnetic reversal timescales result in substantial finite-rotations noise. unless some type of temporal smoothing is applied, the scenario arising at the native temporal resolution is puzzling, as plate motions vary erratically and significantly over short periods ( < 1 myr). This undermines our ability to make geodynamic inferences, as the rates at which forces need to be built upon plates to explain these kinematics far exceed the most optimistic estimates. Here we show that the largest kinematic changes reconstructed across the Atlantic, Indian and south Pacific ridges arise from data noise. We overcome this limitation using a trans-dimensional hierarchical Bayesian framework. We find that plate-motion changes occur on timescales no shorter than a few million years, yielding simpler kinematic patterns and more plausible dynamics.

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Section: Trans-dimensional Hierarchical Bayesian Formulationsupporting

confidence: 83%

Reconstructing plate-motion changes in the presence of finite-rotations noise

2012

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“…8). Upper-plate mobility depends not only on the forces that the plate experiences at its other boundaries, but in addition, thicker, more buoyant and longer overriding plates provide more resistance to trench motion (Zhong and Gurnis, 1997;Capitanio et al, 2010b;Van Dinther et al, 2010;Capitanio et al, 2011;Garel et al, 2014;Holt et al, 2015).…”

Section: Role Of Upper Plate and Mantle Resistance: External Controlsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

et al. 2017

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTAs subducting plates reach the base of the upper mantle, some appear to flatten and stagnate, while others seemingly go through unimpeded. This variable resistance to slab sinking has been proposed to affect long-term thermal and chemical mantle circulation. A review of observational constraints and dynamic models highlights that neither the increase in viscosity between upper and lower mantle (likely by a factor 20-50) nor the coincident endothermic phase transition in the main mantle silicates (with a likely Clapeyron slope of -1 to -2 MPa/K) suffice to stagnate slabs. However, together the two provide enough resistance to temporarily stagnate subducting plates, if they subduct accompanied by significant trench retreat. Older, stronger plates are more capable of inducing trench retreat, explaining why backarc spreading and flat slabs tend to be associated with old-plate subduction. Slab viscosities that are ~2 orders of magnitude higher than background mantle (effective yield stresses of 100-300 MPa) lead to similar styles of deformation as those revealed by seismic tomography and slab earthquakes. None of the current transition-zone slabs seem to have stagnated there more than 60 m.y. Since modeled slab destabilization takes more than 100 m.y., lower-mantle entry is apparently usually triggered (e.g., by changes in plate buoyancy). Many of the complex morphologies of lower-mantle slabs can be the result of sinking and subsequent deformation of originally stagnated slabs, which can retain flat morphologies in the top of the lower mantle, fold as they sink deeper, and eventually form bulky shapes in the deep mantle.

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“…These large age variations are important for elevations within and away from the mountain belt as highlighted by Capitanio et al (2011). Older (cooler, denser) slabs lead to faster subduction and more vigorous flow in the mantle wedge.…”

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confidence: 99%

Dynamic uplift during slab flattening

Dávila¹,

Lithgow‐Bertelloni²

2015

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Subduction exerts a strong control on surface topography and is the main cause of large vertical motions in continents, including past events of large-scale marine flooding and tilting. The mechanism is dynamic deflection: the sinking of dense subducted lithosphere gives rise to stresses that directly pull down the surface. Here we show that subduction does not always lead to downward deflections of the Earth's surface. Subduction of young lithosphere at shallow angles (flat subduction) leaves it neutrally or even positively buoyant with respect to underlying mantle because the lithosphere is relatively warm compared with older lithosphere, and because the thickened and hence drier oceanic crust does not undergo the transformation of basalt to denser eclogite. Accounting for neutrally buoyant flat segments along with large variations in slab morphology in the South American subduction zone explains alongstrike and temporal changes in dynamic topography observed in the geologic record since the beginning of the Cenozoic. Our results show that the transition from normal subduction to slab flattening generates dynamic uplift, preventing back-arc marine flooding.

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Subduction dynamics and the origin of Andean orogeny and the Bolivian orocline

Cited by 167 publications

References 28 publications

Reconstructing plate-motion changes in the presence of finite-rotations noise

Reconstructing plate-motion changes in the presence of finite-rotations noise

Subduction-transition zone interaction: A review

Dynamic uplift during slab flattening

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