Tectonic evolution of convergent plate margins and its geological effects

Science China Earth Sciences - Oceanic lithosphere is generated at divergent plate boundaries and disappears at convergent plate boundaries. Seafloor spreading and plate subduction together...     

Recent geodynamic evolution of convergent plate margins and the reconstruction of fossil plate boundaries

Summary The discovery of paleoplates buried in the upper mantle leads to an interpretation of the subduction as a discontinuous process running in cycles and shifting the place of its operation in or against the direction of ocean floor spreading. This mechanism explains the distribution of calc-alkaline volcanism of different age in fossil convergent plate boundaries. The establishment of regular spatial correlation of the aseismic gap in the Wadati-Benioff zones with the distribution of calc-alkaline volcanism enables to reconstruct fossil plate boundaries and to define allochtonous terranes in apparently homogeneous continental plates. The hampering effect of the ocean floor morphology and of the fragments of continental plates approaching the trench, which substantially influences the rates of subduction and the geodynamic history of active continental margins in different domains along the trench, allows us to understand the complicated geological development of continental wedges in fossil convergent plate margins. The establishment of the segmented nature of active subduction zones and the dramatic morphology of the lower limit of the active subducted slab along the trench help us to interpret extensive lateral gaps in volcanic chains overlying active as well as fossil subduction zones.     

Seismicity pattern: an indicator of source region of volcanism at convergent plate margins

The results of detailed investigation into the geometry of distribution of earthquakes around and below the volcanoes Korovin, Cleveland, Makushin, Yake-Dake, Oshima, Lewotobi, Fuego, Sangay, Nisyros and Montagne Pelée at convergent plate margins are presented. The ISC hypocentral determinations for the period 1964-1999, based on data of global seismic network and relocated by Engdahl, van der Hilst and Buland, have been used.The aim of this study has been to contribute to the solution of the problem of location of source regions of primary magma for calc-alkaline volcanoes spatially and genetically related to the process of subduction. Several specific features of seismicity pattern were revealed in this context. (i) A clear occurrence of the intermediate-depth aseismic gap (IDAG) in the Wadati-Benioff zone (WBZ) below all investigated active volcanoes. We interpret this part of the subducted slab, which does not contain any teleseismically recorded earthquake with magnitude greater than 4.0, as a partially melted domain of oceanic lithosphere and as a possible source of primary magma for calc-alkaline volcanoes. (ii) A set of earthquakes in the shape of a seismically active column (SAC) seems to exists in the continental wedge below volcanoes Korovin, Makushin and Sangay. The seismically active columns probably reach from the Earth surface down to the aseismic gap in the Wadati-Benioff zone. This points to the possibility that the upper mantle overlying the subducted slab does not contain large melted domains, displays an intense fracturing and is not likely to represent the site of magma generation. (iii) In the continental wedge below the volcanoes Cleveland, Fuego, Nisyros, Yake-Dake, Oshima and Lewotobi, shallow seismicity occurs down to the depth of 50 km. The domain without any earthquakes between the shallow seismically active column and the aseismic gap in the Wadati-Benioff zone in the depth range of 50-100 km does not exclude the melting of the mantle also above the slab. (iv) Any earthquake does not exist in the lithospheric wedge below the volcano Montagne Pelée. The source of primary magma could be located in the subducted slab as well as in the overlying mantle wedge. (v) Frequent aftershock sequences accompanying stronger earthquakes in the seismically active columns indicate high fracturing of the wedge below active volcanoes. (vi) The elongated shape of clusters of epicentres of earthquakes of seismically active columns, as well as stable parameters of the available fault plane solutions, seem to reflect the existence of dominant deeply rooted fracture zones below volcanoes. These facts also favour the location of primary magma in the subducting slab rather than in the overlying wedge.We suppose that melts advancing from the slab toward the Earth surface may trigger the observed earthquakes in the continental wedge that is critically pre-stressed by the process of subduction. However, for definitive conclusions it will be necessary to explain the occurrence of earthquake clusters below some volcanoes and the lack of seismicity below others, taking into account the uncertainty of focal depth determination from global seismological data in some regions.     

On the geometry of convergent plate boundaries

Previous studies of plate dynamics suggest that, at consuming plate boundaries, driving forces (negative buoyancy) acting on the slab are counterbalanced by viscous forces, proportional to the consumption velocity and resisting the downgoing motion into the mantle. New observations on the geometry of subduction zones may help test this equilibrium theory. A condition for local equilibrium of the driving and resistive forces is that the consumption velocity (V_⊥) remains constant along a given trench. From this condition, a geometrical property of the shape of trenches and island arcs on the sphere is inferred: the consuming margin of two plates should follow segments of helices about the axis of rotation of their relative motion. A comparison of the shape of island arcs and trenches with helices supports this inference.     

Crustal growth and reworking at Archean plate margins

<正>1.Introduction Archean cratons have attained and maintained long-term stability, and they are the main area for studying the geological processes and tectonic regime of early Earth. The majority of cratons have completed their cratonization through growth and assemblage of ancient continental nuclei in the late Archean(Cawood et al., 2018; Zeh and Kirchenbaur, 2022).     

The generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection

In the last decade, significant progress has been made toward understanding how plate tectonics is generated from mantle dynamics. A primary goal of plate-generation studies has been the development of models that allow the top cold thermal boundary layer of mantle convection, i.e. the lithosphere, to develop broad and strong plate-like segments separated by narrow, weak and rapidly deforming boundaries; ideally, such models also permit significant strike-slip (toroidal) motion, passive ridges (i.e. pulled rather than pried apart), and self-consistent initiation of subduction. A major outcome of work so far is that nearly all aspects of plate generation require lithospheric rheologies and shear-localizing feedback mechanisms that are considerably more exotic than rheologies typically used in simple fluid-dynamical models of mantle flow. The search for plate-generating behavior has taken us through investigations of the effects of shear weakening (‘stick-slip’) and viscoplastic rheologies, of melting at ridges and low-viscosity asthenospheres, and of grain-size dependent rheologies and damage mechanics. Many such mechanisms, either by themselves or in combination, have led to self-consistent fluid-mechanical models of mantle flow that are remarkably plate-like, which is in itself a major accomplishment. However, many other important problems remain unsolved, such as subduction intiation and asymmetry, temporal evolution of plate geometry, rapid changes in plate motion, and the Archaean initiation of the plate-tectonic mode of convection. This paper presents a brief review of progress made in the plate-generation problem over the last decade, and discusses unresolved issues and future directions of research in this important area.     

Slip partitioning along major convergent plate boundaries

Along plate boundaries characterized by oblique convergence, earthquake slip vectors are commonly rotated toward the normal of the trench with respect to predicted plate motion vectors. Consequently, relative plate motion along such convergent margins must be partitioned between displacements along the thrust plate interface and deformation within the forearc and back-arc regions. The deformation behind the trench may take the form of strike-slip motion, back-arc extension, or some combination of both. We observe from our analysis of the Harvard Moment Tensor Catalog that convergent arcs characterized by back-arc spreading, specifically the Marianas and New Hebrides, are characterized by a large degree of slip partitioning. However, the observed rates, directions, and location of back-arc spreading are not sufficient to account for degree of partitioning observed along the respective arcs, implying that the oblique component of subduction is also accommodated in part by shearing of the overriding plate. In the case of the Sumatran arc, where partitioning is accommodated by strike-slip faulting in the overriding plate, the degree of partitioning is similar to that observed along the Marianas, but the result is viewed with caution because it is based on a predicted plate motion vector that is based on locally derived earthquake slip vectors. In the case of the Alaskan-Aleutian arc, where back-arc spreading is also absent, the degree of partitioning is less and rotation of slip vectors toward the trench normal appears to increase linearly as a function of the obliquity of convergence. If partitioning in the Alaskan-Aleutian arc is accommodated by strike-slip faulting within the upper plate, the positive relationship between obliquity of convergence and the rotation of earthquake slip vectors to the trench normal may reflect that either (1) the ratio of the depth extent of strike-slip faults behind the trenchZ _s to the subduction thrustZ _t increases westward along the arc, (2) the dip of the subduction thrust increases westward along the arc, or (3) the strength of the subduction thrust decreases westward along the arc.     

Sediment deformation and plate tectonics in the Gulf of Oman

The continental margin off the Makran coast of Iran and Pakistan is an excellent example of active deformation of sediments at a compressive plate boundary. Seismic reflection profiles across the margin suggest that relatively flat-lying sediments from the Oman abyssal plain are being scraped off the Arabian plate and accreted onto the Eurasian plate in a series of tightly folded sediment ridges aligned parallel to the coast. The most active folding appears to be occurring in the southernmost of the ridges, where it has formed a frontal fold up to 750 m high, with a width of 3–4 km. Filling of the basins between the ridges with later sediment becomes progressively more complete towards the north, and produces a smooth continental shelf near the coast, where the ridges are completely buried by sediment. Evidence for the possible presence of northward-dipping thrust faults which uplift the ridges towards the coast is seen in the consistent back-tilting of the sediments in the inter-fold basins.Below the abyssal plain to the south of the folded zone the sediments are divided by a prominent reflector, horizon A, into an upper group of flat-lying beds that overlie strata which dip gently to the north. A sharp velocity increase occurs across this horizon. The deepest observable reflector, horizon B, is seen as a series of diffraction hyperbolae which dip conformably northwards at about 1°. Velocity determinations from refraction and variable-angle reflection stations over the abyssal plain indicate a thick pile of low-velocity material which is probably sediment lying above horizon B. The material directly below horizon B has a velocity of 4.5 ± 0.2km/s and is probably volcanic in origin.     

Subduction-channel model of prism accretion,melange formation,sediment subduction,and subduction erosion at convergent plate margins: 2. Implications and discussion

The subduction-channel model predicts five geologically and geophysically distinctive types of convergent plate margin. They differ primarily in the proportions of incoming sediment and upflowing melange offscraped and underplated near the toe of the overriding block. The model predicts complex patterns of uplift or subsidence of the forearc region due to differential underplating or subduction erosion and to initiation or cessation of melange upflow. It shows how subduction speed, sediment input, and pressure gradient along the channel govern the general distribution and magnitude of subduction-zone earthquakes. It can predict the upward trajectories of exotic blueschist or serpentinized peridotite blocks that become entrained in the upwelling melange; and it suggests mechanisms by which much larger tracts of coherent blueschist can be raised to shallower levels. It predicts characteristic structural and metamorphic histories for geologic units accreted during steady-state subduction, showing for example, that offscraped materials undergo subhorizontally-directed compression during final dewatering and accretion, whereas underplated ones undergo large simple shear. It gives the maximum depths reached by upwelled melange, which bear significantly on the metamorphic changes observed in them. It predicts large-scale melange diapirism in certain rare cases, in which the normally adverse pressure gradient is reversed in a short reach of the channel, as at Barbados Island. Finally, it explains why pelagic sediments are seldom found in accretionary complexes and gives insight into the factors controlling what portion of the incoming sediment, and the¹⁰Be and other tracers it carries, will reach the region of volcanic-arc magmagenesis.     

Subduction-channel model of prism accretion,melange formation,sediment subduction,and subduction erosion at convergent plate margins: 1. Background and description

Many geological and geophysical investigations, particularly the Deep Sea Drilling Project, have shown that convergent plate margins are highly diverse features. For example, at some sites of subduction, such as the Lesser Antilles, the bedded sediment atop the incoming oceanic plate is extensively offscraped, whereas at others, such as Mariana, not only is the incoming sediment completely subducted beneath crystalline rock but portions of the overriding plate are undergoing subduction erosion. Earthquakes indicate wide variations in stress distribution within and between sites of plate convergence. Many ancient accretionary complexes include tracts of intensely-deformed subduction melange that contain blocks of mafic greenstones. Some contain bodies of thoroughly recrystallized blueschist that were uplifted from depths of 20 to 30 km. A comprehensive model for convergent plate margins must explain these and numerous other observations. Although the still widely cited imbricatethrust model for prism accretion qualitatively explains some observations at subduction zones, it does not account for many others, such as deep sediment subduction and subduction erosion. The subduction-channel model postulates essentially the same basic mechanics for all convergent plate margins that have attained a quasi-steady state (typically reached after about 20 Ma of subduction at speeds of 10 to 20 km Ma^?1). It assumes that the subducting sediment deforms approximately as a viscous material once it is dragged into a relatively thin shear zone, or subduction channel, between the downgoing plate and the overriding one. It predicts the overall movement patterns of the sediment deforming within the channel and near its inlet, accounts for most of the observed features at convergent plate margins, and quantifies the processes of sediment subduction, offscraping, and underplating, and the formation of subduction melange. The predicted variations in tectonic behavior depend upon such site-specific variables as the speed of subduction, the supply of sediment, the geometry of the descending plate, and the topography and structure of the overriding block.     

Precambrian plate tectonics: The midcontinent gravity high

Examination of the shape of the midcontinent gravity high of central North America has led to the hypothesis that the Keweenawan rift system that caused it is the result of plate tectonic interaction. A numerical test has been carried out on the width and postulated transform fault offsets of the gravity high. The exactness of fit to a plate tectonic geometry implies that the continental lithosphere behaved as rigid plates during the Late Precambrian, about 1.1 by ago. This exactness of fit also suggests that the total amount of separation on the Keweenawan rifts is equal to the width of the gravity high. Gravity modelling studies bear out the plausibility of a major amount of rifting, up to 90 km under central Lake Superior. The midcontinent gravity high may represent an intermediate stage of continental rifting, since similar gravity highs and strong associated magnetic anomalies are found on the modern rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean.     

The progressive onset and evolution of Precambrian subduction and plate tectonics

Science China Earth Sciences - The regime of plate tectonics on early Earth is one of the fundamental problems in Earth sciences. Precambrian era takes the majority (ca. 88%) of Earth’s...     

基于板块构造理论黑龙江亚板块地震活动动力学模型的研究

基于板块构造理论,根据黑龙江亚板块所处的地震动力学环境和构造物理条件,结合区域地震活动图像,分析研究总结出的地震活动特征,着手建立了动力学分析模型,通过历史和新近地震活动的检验,证明该模型可以较为圆满的解释区域内绝大多数显著地震活动现象,对未来地震趋势研究工作有较大参考价值.     

Plio-Quaternary tectono-magmatic zonation and plate tectonics in the Central Andes

Seismic provinces in Peru and northern Chile may be defined in direct relation to the geometry of parts of Nazca plate that are being subducted under the Americas plate. Recent tectonism and calc-alkaline volcanism appear also to have a clear relationship to that same geometry of the subducted slab. Under northern and central Peru, the slab plunges at 10–15° to the northeast, and becomes almost horizontal farther east; at surface in the same region, recent calc-alkaline volcanism is absent and recent tectonics are mostly compressional. Under southern Peru and northern Chile, the slab plunges regularly at about 30° to the east; at the surface, calc-alkaline volcanism is still active and recent tectonism appears to be mostly extensional.     

Adakitic rocks at convergent plate boundaries: Compositions and petrogenesis

Science China Earth Sciences - Adakitic rocks are intermediate-acid magmatic rocks characterized by enrichment in light rare-earth elements, depletion in heavy rare-earth elements, positive to...     

Influence of plate tectonics on the locations of geothermal fields

A number of geothermal fields explored so far in the circum-Pacific area occur along spreading ridges and subduction zones in areas of young tectonism and volcanism. A preliminary analysis, however, suggests that these geothermal fields are not situated along entire segments of plate boundaries but only at certain locations. In convergent zones these locations are (i) near the ends of plate boundary segments or (ii) in transverse zones that divide plates into several blocks 100–1000 km long. The locations of geothermal fields therefore appear to be influenced by plate geometry and correspond to lateral breaks in the continuity of the underthrusting plate.     

Hotspots,mantle convection and plate tectonics: A synthetic calculation

A model is developed that unifies vigorous hotspots with global-scale mantle convection and plate tectonics. The convection dynamics are assumed to generate flow patterns that emerge as closely packed polygonal cells in approaching the asthenosphere, and whose geometry is completely determined by a defining set of vigorous hotspots. Overlying viscously coupled rigid plates are driven with unique velocities (Euler vectors) at which the area integral of the shear forces is zero; these velocities are dynamically stable. The computed plate velocities, resulting from convection based on 15 hotspots, are compared with the velocities of plate motion models AM1-2 (Minster andJordan, 1978) and HS-NUVEL1 (Gripp andGordon, 1990), which combine transform fault geometries, magnetic anomalies and seismic data. The comparison shows a striking agreement for a majority of the plates. Geophysical implications of this numerical exercise are discussed.     

Seismic gaps and plate tectonics: Seismic potential for major boundaries

The theory of plate tectonics provides a basic framework for evaluating the potential for future great earthquakes to occur along major plate boundaries. Along most of the transform and convergent plate boundaries considered in this paper, the majority of seismic slip occurs during large earthquakes, i.e., those of magnitude 7 or greater. The concepts that rupture zones, as delineated by aftershocks, tend to abut rather than overlap, and large events occur in regions with histories of both long- and short-term seismic quiescence are used in this paper to delineate major seismic gaps.In detail, however, the distribution of large shallow earthquakes along convergent plate margins is not always consistent with a simple model derived from plate tectonics. Certain plate boundaries, for example, appear in the long term to be nearly aseismic with respect to large earthquakes. The identification of specific tectonic regimes, as defined by dip of the inclined seismic zone, the presence or absence of aseismic ridges and seamounts on the downgoing lithospheric plate, the age contrast between the overthrust and underthrust plates, and the presence or absence of back-arc spreading, have led to a refinement in the application of plate tectonic theory to the evaluation of seismic potential.The term seismic gap is taken to refer to any region along an active plate boundary that has not experienced a large thrust or strike-slip earthquake for more than 30 years. A region of high seismic potential is a seismic gap that, for historic or tectonic reasons, is considered likely to produce a large shock during the next few decades. The seismic gap technique provides estimates of the location, size of future events and origin time to within a few tens of years at best.The accompanying map summarizes six categories of seismic potential for major plate boundaries in and around the margins of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, South Sandwich and Sunda (Indonesia) regions for the next few decades. These categories range from what we consider high to low potential for being the site of large earthquakes during that period of time. Categories 1, 2 and 6 define a time-dependent potential based on the amount of time elapsed since the last large earthquake. The remaining categories, 3, 4, and 5, are used for areas that have ambiguous histories for large earthquakes; their seismic potential is inferred from various tectonic criteria. These six categories are meant to be interpreted as forecasts of the location and size of future large shocks and should not be considered to be predictions in which a precise estimate of the time of occurrence is specified.Several of the segments of major plate boundaries that are assigned the highest potential, i.e., category 1, are located along continental margins, adjacent to centers of population. Some of them are hundreds of kilometers long. High priority should be given to instrumenting and studying several of these major seismic gaps since many are now poorly instrumented. The categories of potential assigned here provide a rationale for assigning prorities for instrumentation, for future studies aimed at predicting large earthquakes and for making estimates of tsunami potential.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Contribution No. 2906.