Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstruction

J. Almeida; N. Riel; F. M. Rosas; J. C. Duarte; W. P. Schellart

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117195

Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstruction

J. Almeida^*
, N. Riel
, F. M. Rosas
, J. C. Duarte
, W. P. Schellart

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Oceanic lithosphere worldwide is younger than ca. 200 Myr, suggesting that it must have been globally recycled by the recurrent formation of new subduction zones since the existence of subduction on Earth. However, postulated subduction zone initiation processes remain difficult to explain in many cases, and the specific geodynamic conditions under which these might occur are still largely unknown. We here use numerical models driven by the internal force balance of a subduction system to better understand the (geo)dynamics governing (intra-oceanic) polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation. This initiation mode assumes that the birth of a new subduction zone could be triggered by buoyant plateau-obstruction of a pre-existent one dipping in the opposite direction. Our work provides a new insight on the key geodynamic conditions governing this type of subduction zone initiation and discusses their general compliance with known natural examples.

Original language	English
Article number	117195
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volume	577
Early online date	22 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117195
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship (016.VICI.170.110) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript.

Funding Information:
J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship ( 016.VICI.170.110 ) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship (016.VICI.170.110) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Michael Gurnis
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia	PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL, PD/BD/135067/2017, UIDB/50019/2020

Keywords

internal force balance
numerical modelling
oceanic plateau
polarity-reversal
subduction zone initiation
subduction zones

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10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117195

Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstructionFinal published version, 5.27 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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title = "Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstruction",

abstract = "Oceanic lithosphere worldwide is younger than ca. 200 Myr, suggesting that it must have been globally recycled by the recurrent formation of new subduction zones since the existence of subduction on Earth. However, postulated subduction zone initiation processes remain difficult to explain in many cases, and the specific geodynamic conditions under which these might occur are still largely unknown. We here use numerical models driven by the internal force balance of a subduction system to better understand the (geo)dynamics governing (intra-oceanic) polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation. This initiation mode assumes that the birth of a new subduction zone could be triggered by buoyant plateau-obstruction of a pre-existent one dipping in the opposite direction. Our work provides a new insight on the key geodynamic conditions governing this type of subduction zone initiation and discusses their general compliance with known natural examples.",

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note = "Funding Information: J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship (016.VICI.170.110) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript. Funding Information: J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship ( 016.VICI.170.110 ) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier B.V.",

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language = "English",

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AU - Riel, N.

AU - Rosas, F. M.

AU - Duarte, J. C.

AU - Schellart, W. P.

N1 - Funding Information: J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship (016.VICI.170.110) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript. Funding Information: J. Almeida acknowledges funding by FCT PhD grant no. PD/BD/135067/2017 - Earthsystems-IDL. J. Almeida, F.M. Rosas and J.C. Duarte acknowledge financial support by FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 - IDL. W.P. Schellart has been funded by a Vici Fellowship ( 016.VICI.170.110 ) from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO). The authors thank Michael Gurnis, Wim Spakman, Fabio Crameri and an anonymous reviewer for their insightful and constructive feedback, which significantly contributed to improve the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2022/1/1

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N2 - Oceanic lithosphere worldwide is younger than ca. 200 Myr, suggesting that it must have been globally recycled by the recurrent formation of new subduction zones since the existence of subduction on Earth. However, postulated subduction zone initiation processes remain difficult to explain in many cases, and the specific geodynamic conditions under which these might occur are still largely unknown. We here use numerical models driven by the internal force balance of a subduction system to better understand the (geo)dynamics governing (intra-oceanic) polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation. This initiation mode assumes that the birth of a new subduction zone could be triggered by buoyant plateau-obstruction of a pre-existent one dipping in the opposite direction. Our work provides a new insight on the key geodynamic conditions governing this type of subduction zone initiation and discusses their general compliance with known natural examples.

AB - Oceanic lithosphere worldwide is younger than ca. 200 Myr, suggesting that it must have been globally recycled by the recurrent formation of new subduction zones since the existence of subduction on Earth. However, postulated subduction zone initiation processes remain difficult to explain in many cases, and the specific geodynamic conditions under which these might occur are still largely unknown. We here use numerical models driven by the internal force balance of a subduction system to better understand the (geo)dynamics governing (intra-oceanic) polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation. This initiation mode assumes that the birth of a new subduction zone could be triggered by buoyant plateau-obstruction of a pre-existent one dipping in the opposite direction. Our work provides a new insight on the key geodynamic conditions governing this type of subduction zone initiation and discusses their general compliance with known natural examples.

KW - internal force balance

KW - numerical modelling

KW - oceanic plateau

KW - polarity-reversal

KW - subduction zone initiation

KW - subduction zones

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85117598749

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85117598749#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117195

DO - 10.1016/j.epsl.2021.117195

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85117598749

SN - 0012-821X

VL - 577

SP - 1

EP - 14

JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters

M1 - 117195

ER -

Polarity-reversal subduction zone initiation triggered by buoyant plateau obstruction

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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