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Tag: Subduction

Subduction is a key geological process where one tectonic plate sinks beneath another into the Earth’s mantle, usually at convergent plate boundaries. It drives mountain building, earthquakes, and volcanic activity, shaping Earth’s surface and its deep interior over Millions of years. Subduction zones recycle oceanic crust, are critically driving plate tectonics, and influence global climate through carbon cycling. Famous observables related to subduction include the Mariana Trench and the Andes Mountains. Dive into observables and models of subduction, the critical process that makes our planet so different from all others we know!

Plume-induced subduction

Temporal evolution of subduction initiation in a global, 3-D spherical numerical experiment showing the cold plates and hot mantle plumes.

Temporal evolution of subduction initiation in a global, 3-D spherical numerical experiment showing the cold plates as viscosity isosurfaces (grey) and mantle plumes as a temperature isosurface (red). Individual snapshots highlight the different phases of plume-induced subduction initiation characterised by (a) onset of hot mantle plumes, (b) local lithospheric thinning, (c-d) development of strong lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary topography through shallow horizontal mantle flow and an additional plume pulse, (e-f) plate failure and, finally, (g-h) buoyancy-driven subduction.

  • Creator: Fabio Crameri
  • This version: 01.09.2021
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Fabio Crameri from Crameri and Tackley (2016) is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.
  • Related reference: Crameri, F., and P. J. Tackley (2016), Subduction initiation from a stagnant lid and global overturn: new insights from numerical models with a free surface, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, 3(1), 1–19, doi:10.1186/s40645-016-0103-8
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Convergent plate boundary

Illustration of a convergent plate boundary on the Earth accommodating the relative motion of the plates by plate subduction and characterised by an arcuate shape.

Illustration of a convergent plate boundary on the Earth accommodating the relative motion of the plates by plate subduction. It is one of three general types of plate boundaries. Both convergent plate boundary and corresponding subduction zone have, usually, a characteristic arcuate (i.e., concave toward the upper plate) shape due to interaction with mantle flow.

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SZI geologic evidence

Schematic illustration of the emplacement of subduction zone initiation (SZI)-typical rock evidence during SZI, and a typical SZI ophiolite sequence.

Schematic illustration of the emplacement of subduction zone initiation (SZI)-typical rock evidence during SZI, and a typical SZI ophiolite sequence. Note that this is a text-book example (according to e.g., the Izu-Bonin-Mariana SZI) and that pre-existing structures (e.g., a pre-existing volcanic arc) or variable SZI dynamics (e.g., horizontal compression) could inhibit various stages and therefore their typical rock signatures.

  • Creator: Fabio Crameri
  • This version: 18.08.2021
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Fabio Crameri from Crameri et al. (2020) is available via the open-access s-Ink repository.
  • Related reference: Crameri, F., V. Magni, M. Domeier, G.E. Shephard, K. Chotalia, G. Cooper, C. Eakin, A.G. Grima, D. Gürer, A. Király, E. Mulyukova, K. Peters, B. Robert, and M. Thielmann (2020), A transdisciplinary and community-driven database to unravel subduction zone initiation, Nature Communications, 11, 3750. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17522-9
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Dynamic planet Earth

Illustration of the Earth with parts of its mantle extracted showing plate creation, cooling, and destruction.

Illustration of the Earth with parts of its mantle extracted showing plate creation, cooling, and destruction.

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Mobile-lid mantle convection

Temporal evolution of a global, fully spherical, 3D model of whole-mantle convection.

Animation showing the temporal evolution of whole-mantle convection including plate tectonics. The convective turnover of the mantle is characterised by hot rising mantle plumes (indicated by a hot, red temperature isosurface), and cold and stiff subduction zones of heavy tectonic surface plates (indicated by grey viscosity isosurfaces). Like on the Earth, in this model the mantle convects including its surface thermal boundary layer, with subduction zones (i.e., the sinking of cold and heavy oceanic plates) being its main driver. The global, fully spherical, 3D mantle convection model has been run by the code StagYY and represents the actual dynamics in the Earth’s mantle under some assumptions and simplifications.

  • Creator: Fabio Crameri
  • This version: 07.08.2021
  • License: Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  • Specific citation: This graphic by Fabio Crameri from Crameri and Tackley (2016) is available via the open-access s-ink.org repository.
  • Related reference: Crameri, F., and P. J. Tackley (2016), Subduction initiation from a stagnant lid and global overturn: new insights from numerical models with a free surface, Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, 3(1), 1–19, doi:10.1186/s40645-016-0103-8
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Mantle convection

Illustrative vertical cross-section showing the oceanic plate as part of whole-mantle convection.

The oceanic plate as part of whole-mantle convection. Illustrative vertical cross-section showing the oceanic plate sinking and destructing on its way down into the deep mantle, whereas hot mantle plumes next to large-low-shear-wave-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) form and rise back to the surface forming the process of mantle convection. Resisting whole mantle overturn are only the continental lithosphere, which is light and strong and therefore resists subduction, and the large-low shear-wave velocity provinces (LLSVP), which are chemically heavy features atop the core-mantle boundary. Somewhat passive features in mantle covection are the centre parts of the mantle (in some locations at around 1’000–2’200 km depth) around which the anomalously hot or cold material circles, sometimes called BEAMS, an abbreviation for “bridgmanite-enriched ancient mantle structures“. Thicknesses of individual layers and structures are not perfectly to scale.

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