Flexure of subducted slabs

The subducted lithosphere is regarded as a thin elastic plate that bends as a consequence of slab pull, the pressure of the asthenospheric flow induced by the subduction motion and the pressure exerted by the asthenospheric motion relative to the lithosphere. In westward subductions the latter factor enhances the slab pull, but in eastward subductions it opposes it. As a result, the subduction angle changes continuously with depth, following an elastic profile: it is smaller in eastward subductions and larger in those having a westward direction. The application of the model to 13 subducted slabs shows a good fit between the observed and the calculated shapes of the slabs.