Imperial College London
Alternate

Saskia Goes

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Professor of Geophysics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 6434s.goes

 
 
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Location

 

4.47Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Agrusta:2017:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.005,
author = {Agrusta, R and Goes, S and Van, Hunen J},
doi = {10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.005},
journal = {Earth and Planetary Science Letters},
pages = {10--23},
title = {Subducting-slab transition-zone interaction: stagnation, penetration and mode switches},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.005},
volume = {464},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Seismic tomography showsthat subducting slabs can either sink straight into the lowermantle, or lie down in the mantle transition zone. Moreover, some slabs seem to have changedmode  from  stagnation  to  penetration or vice-versa. We  investigate  the dynamic  controls  on  these  modes  and  particularly  the  transition  between  themusing 2D  self-consistent thermo-mechanical subduction  models.Our  models  confirm  that the ability of the trench to move is key for slab flattening in the transition zone. Over a  wide  range  of  plausible  Clapeyron  slopes  and  viscosity  jumps  at  the  base  of  the 15transition zone, hot young slabs (25 Myrin our models) are most likely to penetrate,while cold old slabs (150 Myr) drive more trench motion and tend to stagnate. Several mechanisms are able to inducepenetrating slabs to stagnate:ageing of the subducting plate, decreasing upper plate forcing, andincreasing Clapeyron slope(e.g.due to the arrival  of  a  more  hydrated  slab).Gettingstagnating  slabs to penetrate  is  more difficult.  It  can  be  accomplishedby an  instantaneous  change  inthe  forcing  of  the upper  plate from  free  to motionless,ora  sudden decrease inthe  Clapeyron  slope. A rapid  changein  plate age  at  the  trench  from  old  to young cannot  easily induce penetration. On Earth, ageing of thesubducting plateage(with accompanying upper plate rifting)may be the most common mechanism for causing slab stagnation, while strong changes inupper plate forcingappear required for triggering slab penetration.
AU  - Agrusta,R
AU  - Goes,S
AU  - Van,Hunen J
DO  - 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.005
EP  - 23
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 1385-013X
SP  - 10
TI  - Subducting-slab transition-zone interaction: stagnation, penetration and mode switches
T2  - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.02.005
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/44331
VL  - 464
ER  -
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