Sediment accretion against a buttress beneath the Peruvian continental margin at 12° S as simulated with sandbox modeling

Reflection seismic data from the Peruvian continental margin at 12° S clearly reveal an accretionary wedge and buttress. Sandbox experiments applying the physical concept of the Coulomb theory allow the systematic investigation of the growth and deformation of such an accretionary structure. The style of deformation of the buttress and the internal structure of the wedge is observed in the sandbox models. The possibility of underplating material beneath the buttress and the amount of tectonic erosion depend on the physical properties of the materials, mainly internal friction, cohesion and basal friction. Boundary conditions such as the height of the subduction gate and the thickness of incoming sand also constrain the style of growth of the model accretionary structure.The configurations of two experiments were closely scaled to reflection seismic depth sections across the Peruvian margin. A deformable buttress constructed of compacted rock powder is introduced to replicate the basement rock which allows deformation similar to that in the seismic data. With the sandbox models it is possible to verify a proposed accretionary history derived from seismic and borehole data. The models also help in understanding the mechanisms which control the amount of accretion, subduction and underplating as a function of physical properties, boundary conditions and the duration of convergence.