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Creators/Authors contains: "Holt, Adam F."

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  1. ; ; ; ( , Geophysical Journal International)
    SUMMARY Tectonic plate motions predominantly result from a balance between the potential energy change of the subducting slab and viscous dissipation in the mantle, bending lithosphere and slab–upper plate interface. A wide range of observations from active subduction zones and exhumed rocks suggest that subduction interface shear zone rheology is sensitive to the composition of subducting crustal material—for example, sediments versus mafic igneous oceanic crust. Here we use 2-D numerical models of dynamically consistent subduction to systematically investigate how subduction interface viscosity influences large-scale subduction kinematics and dynamics. Our model consists of an oceanic slab subducting beneath an overriding continentalmore »plate. The slab includes an oceanic crustal/weak layer that controls the rheology of the interface. We implement a range of slab and interface strengths and explore how the kinematics respond for an initial upper mantle slab stage, and subsequent quasi-steady-state ponding near a viscosity jump at the 660-km-discontinuity. If material properties are suitably averaged, our results confirm the effect of interface strength on plate motions as based on simplified viscous dissipation analysis: a ∼2 order of magnitude increase in interface viscosity can decrease convergence speeds by ∼1 order of magnitude. However, the full dynamic solutions show a range of interesting behaviour including an interplay between interface strength and overriding plate topography and an end-member weak interface-weak slab case that results in slab break-off/tearing. Additionally, for models with a spatially limited, weak sediment strip embedded in regular interface material, as might be expected for the subduction of different types of oceanic materials through Earth’s history, the transient response of enhanced rollback and subduction velocity is different for strong and weak slabs. Our work substantiates earlier suggestions as to the importance of the plate interface, and expands the range of quantifiable links between plate reorganizations, the nature of the incoming and overriding plate and the potential geological record.« less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available April 13, 2023
  2. ; ; ; ( , Earth and Planetary Science Letters)
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  3. ( , Earth and planetary science letters)
    The importance of slab–slab interactions is manifested in the kinematics and geometry of the Philippine Sea Plate and western Pacific subduction zones, and such interactions offer a dynamic basis for the first-order observations in this complex subduction setting. The westward subduction of the Pacific Sea Plate changes, along-strike, from single slab subduction beneath Japan, to a double-subduction setting where Pacific subduction beneath the Philippine Sea Plate occurs in tandem with westward subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath Eurasia. Our 3-D numerical models show that there are fundamental differences between single slab systems and double slab systems where both subductionmore »systems have the same vergence. We find that the observed kinematics and slab geometry of the Pacific–Philippine subduction can be understood by considering an along-strike transition from single to double subduction, and is largely independent from the detailed geometry of the Philippine Sea Plate. Important first order features include the relatively shallow slab dip, retreating/stationary trenches, and rapid subduction for single slab systems (Pacific Plate subducting under Japan), and front slabs within a double slab system (Philippine Sea Plate subducting at Ryukyu). In contrast, steep to overturned slab dips, advancing trench motion, and slower subduction occurs for rear slabs in a double slab setting (Pacific subducting at the Izu–Bonin–Mariana). This happens because of a relative build-up of pressure in the asthenosphere beneath the Philippine Sea Plate, where the asthenosphere is constrained between the converging Ryukyu and Izu–Bonin–Mariana slabs. When weak back-arc regions are included, slab–slab convergence rates slow and the middle (Philippine) plate extends, which leads to reduced pressure build up and reduced slab–slab coupling. Models without back-arcs, or with back-arc viscosities that are reduced by a factor of five, produce kinematics compatible with present-day observations.« less
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  4. ; ; ; ( , Earth and Planetary Science Letters)
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