global distribution of large lunar craters implications for resurfacing and impactor populations by using high resolution altimetric measurements of the moon we produced a catalog of all impact craters 20 kilometers in diameter on the lunar surface and analyzed their distribution and population characteristics the most densely cratered portion of the highlands reached a state of saturation equilibrium large impact events such as orientale basin locally modified the prebasin crater population to 2 basin radii from the basin center basins such as imbrium orientale and nectaris which are important stratigraphic markers in lunar history are temporally distinguishable on the basis of crater statistics the characteristics of pre and postmare crater populations support the hypothesis that there were two populations of impactors in early solar system history and that the transition occurred near the time of the orientale basin event

slab detachment during continental collision influence of crustal rheology and interaction with lithospheric delamination abstract collision between continents can lead to the subduction of continental material if the crust remains coupled to the downgoing slab a large buoyancy force is generated this force slows down convergence and promotes slab detachment if the crust resists to subduction it may decouple from the downgoing slab and be subjected to buoyant extrusion we employ two dimensional thermo mechanical modelling to study the importance of crustal rheology on the evolution of subduction collision systems we propose simple quantifications of the mechanical decoupling between lithospheric levels and the potential for buoyant extrusion of the crust the modelling results indicate that a variable crustal rheological structure results in slab detachment delamination or the combination of both mechanisms a strong crust provides coupling at the moho low and remains coherent during subduction low it promotes deep subduction of the crust 180 km and slab detachment exhumation occurs in coherent manners via eduction and thrusting slab detachment triggers the development of topography 4 5 km close to the suture a contrasting style of collision occurs using a weak crustal rheology mechanical decoupling at the moho high promotes the extrusion of the crust high disabling slab detachment ongoing shortening leads to buckling of the crust and development of topography on the lower plate collisions involving rheologically layered crust allow decoupling at mid crustal depths this structure favours both the extrusion of upper crust and the subduction of the lower crust such collisions are successively affected by delamination and slab detachment topography develops together with the buoyant extrusion of crust onto the foreland and is further amplified by slab detachment our results suggest that the occurrence of both delamination apennines and slab detachment himalayas in orogens may indicate differences in the initial crustal structure of subducting continental plates in these regions

major lunar crustal terranes surface expressions and crust mantle origins in light of global remotely sensed data the igneous crust of the moon can no longer be viewed as a simple globally stratified cumulus structure composed of a flotation upper crust of anorthosite underlain by progressively more mafic rocks and a residual melt kreep sandwich horizon near the base of the lower crust instead global geochemical information derived from clementine multispectral data and lunar prospector gamma ray data reveals at least three distinct provinces whose geochemistry and petrologic history make them geologically unique 1 the procellarum kreep terrane pkt 2 the feldspathic high lands terrane fht and 3 the south pole aitken terrane spat the pkt is a mafic province coincident with the largely resurfaced area in the procellarum imbrium region whose petrogenesis relates to the early differentiation of the moon here some 40 of the th in the moon s crust is concentrated into a region that constitutes only about 10 of the crustal volume this concentration of th average 5 ppm and by implication the other heat producing elements u and k led to a fundamentally different thermal and igneous evolution within this region compared to other parts of the lunar crust lower crustal materials within the pkt likely interacted with underlying mantle materials to produce hybrid magmatism leading to the magnesian suite of lunar rocks and possibly kreep basalt although rare in the apollo sample collection widespread mare volcanic rocks having substantial th enrichment are indicated by the remote data and may reflect further interaction between enriched crustal residues and mantle sources the fht is characterized by a central anorthositic region that constitutes the remnant of an anorthositic craton resulting from early lunar differentiation basin impacts into this region do not excavate significantly more mafic material suggesting a thickness of tens of kilometers of anorthositic crust the feldspathic lunar meteorites may represent samples from the anorthositic central region of the fht ejecta from deep penetrating basin impacts outside of the central anorthositic region however indicate an increasingly mafic composition with depth the spat a mafic anomaly of great magnitude may include material of the upper mantle as well as lower crust thus it is designated a separate terrane whether the spa basin impact simply uncovered lower crust such as we infer for the fht remains to be determined

argon 40 argon 39 age spectra of apollo 17 highlands breccia samples by laser step heating and the age of the serenitatis basin we have obtained high resolution 21 63 steps 40ar 39ar age spectra using a continuous laser system on 19 submilligram samples of melt rocks and clasts from apollo 17 samples collected from the pre imbrian highlands in the easternmost part of the serenitatis basin the samples include poikilitic melt rocks inferred to have been formed in the serenitatis basin forming impact aphanitic melt rock whose compositions vary and whose provenance is uncertain and granulite gabbro and melt clasts three of the poikilitic melts have similar age spectrum plateau ages 72395 96 3893 16 ma 2 72535 7 3887 16 ma 76315 150 3900 16 ma with a weighted mean age of 3893 9 ma which we interpret as the best age for the serenitatis basin forming impact published 40ar 39ar age spectrum ages of apollo 17 poikilitic melts are consistent with our new age but are much less precise two poikilitic melts did not give plateaus and the maxima in their age spectra indicate ages of 3869 ma 72558 7 and 3743 ma 77135 178 plateau ages of two poikilitic melts and two gabbro clasts from 73155 range from 3854 16 ma to 3937 16 ma and have probably been affected by the ubiquitous older clasts and by post formation heating impact events plateau ages from two of the aphanitic melt blobs and two granulites in sample 72255 fall in the narrow range of 3850 16 ma to 3869 16 ma with a weighted mean of 3862 8 ma two of the aphanitic melt blobs from 72255 have ages of 3883 16 ma and 3894 ma whereas a poikilitic melt clast of different composition from the serenitatis melts has an age of 3835 16 ma which is the upper limit for the accretion of 72255 these data suggest that either the aphanitic melts vary in age as is also suggested by their varying chemical compositions or they formed in the 72255 accretionary event about 3 84 3 85 ga and older relict material is responsible for the dispersion of ages in any case the aphanitic melts do not appear to be serenitatis products our age for the serenitatis impact shows on the basis of the isotopic age evidence alone that serenitatis is 20 25 ma and probably 55 60 ma older than imbrium 3870 ma and probably 3836 ma dalrymple and ryder 1993 noritic granulite sample 78527 has a plateau age of 4146 17 ma representing a minimum age for cooling of this sample in the early lunar crust so far there is no convincing evidence in the lunar melt rock record for basin forming impacts significantly older than 3 9 ga

tungsten isotopes in ferroan anorthosites implications for the age of the moon and lifetime of its magma ocean new w isotope data for ferroan anorthosites 60025 and 62255 and low ti mare basalt 15555 show that these samples contrary to previous reports lee d c et al 1997 science 278 1098 1103 lee d c et al 2002 earth planet sci lett 198 267 274 have a w isotope composition that is indistinguishable from kreep and other mare basalts this requires crust extraction on the moon later than 60 myr after cai formation consistent with 147sm 143nd ages for ferroan anorthosites the absence of 182hf induced 182w variations in the moon is consistent with formation of the moon at 62 10 90myr after cai formation that has been inferred based on the indistinguishable 182w 184w ratios of the bulk moon and the bulk silicate earth the uncertainties on the age of the moon and the age of the oldest lunar samples currently hamper a precise determination of the duration of magma ocean solidification and are consistent with both an almost immediate crystallization and a more protracted timescale of 100 myr

impact history of the hed parent body ies clarified by new 40ar 39ar analyses of four hed meteorites and one anomalous basaltic achondrite abstract we investigate the thermal impact histories of four hed meteorites one cumulate eucrite lake carnegie two brecciated basaltic eucrites camel donga millbillillie one howardite old homestead 003 and an anomalous basaltic achondrite deakin 010 we have measured eight convincing new 40ar 39ar ages for three hed meteorites laser incremental 40ar 39ar analyses of carefully separated small grains two concordant 40ar 39ar plateau ages were obtained for plagioclase separates from lake carnegie resulting in a weighted mean age of combined plateau ages of 4507 20 ma millbillillie recorded three impact events at 3722 55 ma 3579 28 ma and 3313 174 ma from plagioclase matrix and pyroxene respectively this highlights the power of the k ar system to record impacts of different magnitudes experienced by a single meteorite two aliquots from camel donga returned concordant plateau ages interpreted to represent a single significant impact event at 3693 51 ma the anomalous basaltic achondrite deakin 010 did not yield any plateau and resulted in a series of minimum apparent ages with an oldest minimum age of 3 66 ga for the largest impact recorded cosmic ray exposure ages yielded apparent 38arc ages ranging from 6 to 40 ma two clusters of ages that represent significant impacts into the hed parent body may have been identified the first high temperature event is recorded by lake carnegie and other unbrecciated eucrites at 4 5 ga and is interpreted as a mega impact although it is also possible that this age is recording magmatic crystallisation due to the similarity of published sm nd and pb pb ages additionally from statistically reliable isotopic ages provided in this study it appears that the age range of major impact heating events post 4 5 ga might be more tightly restricted 3 8 3 5 ga than previously suggested 3 4 4 1 ga however a larger dataset is required before comparison with the range of the lunar heavy bombardment is justified if hed are indeed from 4 vesta we raise the possibility that the impact at 4 5 ga might be associated with the formation of the south polar veneneia basin whereas an age at 3 7 ga may represent the formation age of either veneneia or the younger rheasilvia impact structure

lunar impact basins stratigraphy sequence and ages from superposed impact crater populations measured from lunar orbiter laser altimeter lola data 1 impact basin formation is a fundamental process in the evolution of the moon and records the history of impactors in the early solar system in order to assess the stratigraphy sequence and ages of impact basins and the impactor population as a function of time we have used topography from the lunar orbiter laser altimeter lola on the lunar reconnaissance orbiter lro to measure the superposed impact crater size frequency distributions for 30 lunar basins d 300 km these data generally support the widely used wilhelms sequence of lunar basins although we find significantly higher densities of superposed craters on many lunar basins than derived by wilhelms 50 higher densities our data also provide new insight into the timing of the transition between distinct crater populations characteristic of ancient and young lunar terrains the transition from a lunar impact flux dominated by population 1 to population 2 occurred before the mid nectarian this is before the end of the period of rapid cratering and potentially before the end of the hypothesized late heavy bombardment lola derived crater densities also suggest that many pre nectarian basins such as south pole aitken have been cratered to saturation equilibrium finally both crater counts and stratigraphic observations based on lola data are applicable to specific basin stratigraphic problems of interest for example using these data we suggest that serenitatis is older than nectaris and humboldtianum is younger than crisium sample return missions to specific basins can anchor these measurements to a pre imbrian absolute chronology

asteroidal source of l chondrite meteorites abstract establishing connections between meteorites and their parent asteroids is an important goal of planetary science several links have been proposed in the past including a spectroscopic match between basaltic meteorites and 4 vesta that are helping scientists understand the formation and evolution of the solar system bodies here we show that the shocked l chondrite meteorites which represent about two thirds of all l chondrite falls may be fragments of a disrupted asteroid with orbital semimajor axis a 2 8 au this breakup left behind thousands of identified 1 15 km asteroid fragments known as the gefion family fossil l chondrite meteorites and iridium enrichment found in an 467 ma old marine limestone quarry in southern sweden and perhaps also 5 large terrestrial craters with corresponding radiometric ages may be tracing the immediate aftermath of the family forming collision when numerous gefion fragments evolved into the earth crossing orbits by the 5 2 resonance with jupiter this work has major implications for our understanding of the source regions of ordinary chondrite meteorites because it implies that they can sample more distant asteroid material than was previously thought possible

the onset of the lunar cataclysm as recorded in its ancient crater populations abstract the earliest bombardment history of the moon potentially provides powerful constraints for solar system evolution models a major uncertainty however is how much of this history is actually recorded in lunar craters for example some argue that most ancient lunar craters and basins were produced by a declining bombardment of leftover planetesimals produced by terrestrial planet formation processes others believe that most lunar craters and large basins were formed in a narrow time interval between 3 8 and 4 0 ga the so called lunar cataclysm in the light of recent improvements in our understanding of early solar system evolution it is possible that the contributions from both scenarios could be represented in the lunar crater record if so when did the declining bombardment end and the lunar cataclysm begin here we show using new counts of 15 150 km diameter craters on the most ancient lunar terrains that the craters found on or near nectaris basin appear to have been created by projectiles hitting twice as fast as those that made the oldest craters on various pre nectarian era terrains this dramatic velocity increase is consistent with the existence of a lunar cataclysm and potentially with a late reconfiguration of giant planet orbits which may have strongly modified the source of lunar impactors this work also suggests that the lunar cataclysm may have started near the formation time of nectaris basin this possibility implies that south pole aitken basin spa the largest lunar basin and one of the oldest by superposition was not created during the cataclysm this view is strengthened by our interpretation that a substantial fraction of ancient craters on spa were made by low velocity impactors finally we believe these results shed new light on the impact history of the primordial earth

a review of lunar chronology revealing a preponderance of 4 34 4 37 ga ages in this study data obtained from sm nd and rb sr isotopic measurements of lunar highlands samples are renormalized to common standard values and then used to define ages with a common isochron regression algorithm the reliability of these ages is evaluated using five criteria that include whether 1 the ages are defined by multiple isotopic systems 2 the data demonstrate limited scatter outside uncertainty 3 initial isotopic compositions are consistent with the petrogenesis of the samples 4 the ages are defined by an isotopic system that is resistant to disturbance by impact metamorphism and 5 the rare earth element abundances determined by isotope dilution of bulk of mineral fractions match those measured by in situ analyses from this analysis it is apparent that the oldest highlands rock ages are some of the least reliable and that there is little support for crustal ages older than 4 40 ga a model age for ur kreep formation calculated using the most reliable mg suite sm nd isotopic systematics in conjunction with sm nd analyses of kreep basalts is 4389 45 ma this age is a good match to the lu hf model age of 4353 37 ma determined using a subset of this sample suite the average modelmore age of 4353 25 ma determined on mare basalts with the 146sm 142nd isotopic system with a peak in pb pb ages observed in lunar zircons of 4340 20 ma and the oldest terrestrial zircon age of 4374 6 ma the preponderance of ages between 4 34 and 4 37 ga reflect either primordial solidification of a lunar magma ocean or a widespread secondary magmatic event on the lunar nearside the first scenario is not consistent with the oldest ages reported for lunar zircons whereas the second scenario does not account for concordance between ages of crustal rocks and mantle reservoirs less

high velocity collisions from the lunar cataclysm recorded in asteroidal meteorites lunar samples suggest that the inner solar system was bombarded by asteroids about 4 gyr ago radiometric ages of meteorites suggest an unusual number of high velocity asteroids at this time consistent with a dynamical origin of the bombardment in which the asteroids were pushed by outer planet migration onto highly eccentric orbits

rapid change in semi diurnal tides in the north atlantic since 1980 1 an anomalously large trend of m2 and s2 amplitudes and phases beginning in the early 1980s is observed in the north atlantic harmonic analysis of long term sea level records from tide gauge stations along the north american atlantic coast and european atlantic coast shows a large decrease in m2 and s2 amplitudes and an increase in phase lag the characteristics of the evolution of m2 and s2 tides are similar but not fully conclusive which may suggesting different causes in general the trends may be due to global warming which significantly increased in the early 1980s in the north atlantic region several climate related driving mechanisms for the observed changes in tides are discussed

u pb zircon dating geochemical and sr nd hf isotopic compositions of early indosinian intrusive rocks in west qinling central china petrogenesis and tectonic implications the qinling dabie sulu orogenic belt is the junction between the north and south china blocks which resulted from the final amalgamation of china continents during the indosinian indosinian granitoids are widespread in the qinling orogen and their geneses can thus constrain the evolution of china continent we carried out a combined u pb zircon dating and geochemical study for the shuangpengxi granodiorite pluton and the xiekeng diorite granodiorite pluton in the middle part of the west qinling orogen u pb zircon dating shows that the magma crystallization ages of 242 3 ma for the shuangpengxi pluton and 244 242 ma for the xiekeng pluton geochemical and sr nd hf isotopic compositions reveal that the magma of the shuangpengxi granodiorite was derived from partial melting of crustal materials the xiekeng diorites can be divided into high al diorite and high mg diorite both of them resulted from partial melting of enriched lithospheric mantle but their mantle source had been modified by previous slab derived melt the high al diorite was formed by fractional crystallization of olivine pyroxene and or preferential accumulation of plagioclase and the high mg diorite was formed by fractional crystallization of olivine and or preferential accumulation of pyroxene the xiekeng granodioritic porphyry was formed by mixing of crust derived and mantle derived melts we propose that the early indosinian magmatism resulted from break off of subducted oceanic slab after collision the slab break off model can well explain the linear distribution of the early indosinian plutons and rapid crustal uplift during the middle triassic in the west qinling

slab breakoff a model of lithosphere detachment and its test in the magmatism and deformation of collisional orogens we present a model proposing that oceanic lithosphere detaches from continental lithosphere during continental collision slab breakoff allowing an explanation of syn to post collisional magmatism and metamorphism continental collisions are preceded by subduction of dense oceanic lithosphere and followed by attempted subduction of buoyant continental lithosphere this situation of opposing buoyancy forces leads to extensional deformation in the subducted slab a narrow rifting mode of deformation will result if there is strain localization slab breakoff results we have assessed the plausiblity of this process by quantitatively evaluating an upper bound for the strength of the lithosphere and have compared it with the change in buoyancy force during continental sbduction whether breakoff will occur and the depth at which it will occur is a strong function of temperature and hence the subduction velocity for a subduction velocity of 1 cm yr breakoff could occur at depths of between 50 and 120 km while at higher velocities it is still likely to occur but at deeper depths as a result of the rifting during breakoff the asthenosphere upwells into the narrow rift and following breakoff it impinges on the mechanical lithosphere of the overriding plate the resulting conducted thermal perturbation leads to melting of the metasomatised overriding mantle lithosphere producing basaltic magmatism that leads to granitic magmatism in the crust dry asthenospheric mantle will melt only if breakoff occurs at a depth shallower than ca 50 km breakoff removes the force at the downdip side of the continental crust while the enhanced heating leads to a reduction of the strength of the underlying crust both effects facilitate the freeing of buoyant crustal sheets which can then rise towards the surface leading to the rapid exhumation of eclogite facies continental crust the cessation of subduction and replacement of the cold oceanic lithosphere by asthenosphere leads to rapid uplift of the orogen we have tested the variety of predicted expressions of slab breakoff in the geological record of the alps the aegean islands and the dabie shan a comparison of the various belts highlights 1 that the magmatism and metamorphism are found near the suture and the centre of the orogen demonstrating the general steepening of suture during collision 2 that a vague inverse correlation exists between maximum depth of metamorphism and volume of syn orogenic magmatism and 3 that the melts can be emplaced in both compressive and extensional environments we suggest that slab breakoff is an important step in the evolution of many orogenic belts and it allows an explanation for the combined presence in collisional orogens of magmatism with a mantle parentage and ultra high pressure metamorphics

identifying impact events within the lunar cataclysm from 40ar 39ar ages and compositions of apollo 16 impact melt rocks abstract lunar impact melt breccias provide a unique record of the timing and frequency of collisional events during the early history of the inner solar system prior to the development of a significant rock record on earth the predominance of ages clustering between 3 8 and 4 0 ga was a major unexpected discovery obtained from geochronological studies of lunar impact melts and is the basis of the concept that a cataclysmic bombardment of large planetesimals struck the earth and moon and possibly the entire inner solar system about 3 85 0 10 billion years ago as a test of the cataclysm hypothesis we measured high resolution 20 50 steps 40 ar 39 ar age spectra on 25 samples of apollo 16 impact melt breccias using a continuous laser heating system on sub milligram fragments twenty one of these 25 breccias produced multi step plateaus that we interpret as crystallization ages with 20 of these ages falling in the range 3 75 3 96 ga we propose that at least four different melt producing impact events can be distinguished based on the ages bulk compositions and petrographic characteristics of apollo 16 melt breccias the recognition of multiple impact events within the apollo 16 melt breccia suite shows that numerous impact events occurred on the lunar surface within a relatively narrow time interval providing additional evidence of a heavy bombardment of the moon during the early archean

an archaean heavy bombardment from a destabilized extension of the asteroid belt the late heavy bombardment lasted much longer than previously thought up to 1 7 billion years ago on earth with impacts on the moon and earth coming mostly from the e belt survivor hungaria asteroids the late heavy bombardment was a period of time generally put at about 4 1 billion to 3 8 billion years ago when the inner planets of the solar system were subjected to a high frequency barrage of asteroids this left its mark on the moon but on earth the craters quickly disappeared owing to tectonic processes and erosion in the first of two papers on the bombardment brandon johnson and jay melosh determine the properties of the asteroids by looking at spherule beds layers of debris ejected during the impacts the thickness of spherule layers is expected to vary according to the size of the impactor and the speed at which it hit earth this historical record of impacts indicates that the number of projectiles colliding with earth was substantially higher 3 5 billion years ago than it is today with a gradual decline in the number of strikes after the late heavy bombardment bottke et al modelled the evolution of an asteroid belt that extended farther towards mars than the present one they find that most of the impactors traced by the spherule beds probably originated in this e belt which was disrupted during migrations of some of the giant planets the barrage of comets and asteroids that produced many young lunar basins craters over 300 kilometres in diameter has frequently been called the late heavy bombardment1 lhb many assume the lhb ended about 3 7 to 3 8 billion years gyr ago with the formation of orientale basin2 3 evidence for lhb sized blasts on earth however extend into the archaean and early proterozoic eons in the form of impact spherule beds globally distributed ejecta layers created by chicxulub sized or larger cratering events4 at least seven spherule beds have been found that formed between 3 23 and 3 47 gyr ago four between 2 49 and 2 63 gyr ago and one between 1 7 and 2 1 gyr ago5 6 7 8 9 here we report that the lhb lasted much longer than previously thought with most late impactors coming from the e belt an extended and now largely extinct portion of the asteroid belt between 1 7 and 2 1 astronomical units from earth this region was destabilized by late giant planet migration10 11 12 13 e belt survivors now make up the high inclination hungaria asteroids14 15 scaling from the observed hungaria asteroids we find that e belt projectiles made about ten lunar basins between 3 7 and 4 1 gyr ago they also produced about 15 terrestrial basins between 2 5 and 3 7 gyr ago as well as around 70 and four chicxulub sized or larger craters on the earth and moon respectively between 1 7 and 3 7 gyr ago these rates reproduce impact spherule bed and lunar crater constraints

interpreting u pb data from primary and secondary features in lunar zircon in this paper we describe primary and secondary microstructures and textural characteristics found in lunar zircon and discuss the relationships between these features and the zircon u pb isotopic systems and the significance of these features for understanding lunar processes lunar zircons can be classified according to i textural relationships between zircon and surrounding minerals in the host breccias ii the internal microstructures of the zircon grains as identified by optical microscopy cathodoluminescence cl imaging and electron backscattered diffraction ebsd mapping and iii results of in situ ion microprobe analyses of the th u pb isotopic systems primary zircon can occur as part of a cogenetic mineral assemblage lithic clast or as an individual mineral clast and is unzoned or has sector and or oscillatory zoning the age of primary zircon is obtained when multiple ion microprobe analyses across the polished surface of the grain give reproducible and essentially concordant data a secondary set of microstructures superimposed on primary zircon include localised recrystallised domains localised amorphous domains crystal plastic deformation planar deformation features and fractures and are associated with impact processes the first two secondary microstructures often yield internally consistent and close to concordant u pb ages that we interpret as dating impact events others secondary microstructures such as planar deformation features crystal plastic deformation and micro fractures can provide channels for pb diffusion and result in partial resetting of the u pb isotopic systems

new crater calibrations for the lunar crater age chronology abstract measuring the spatial density of craters emplaced on geologic units is the primary method used for remotely estimating ages of solar system surfaces the calibration for this method which enables conversion of crater density to absolute age comes from apollo and luna lunar samples for which absolute radiometric ages have been determined researchers throughout the 1970s worked to establish the lunar chronology system based on that calibration correlating crater densities with absolute ages however no uniform crater study has been conducted on all calibration terrains a limitation that was previously unaddressed until this study the latest lunar images from the lunar reconnaissance orbiter were used here to re map the eleven main sampling sites and new crater counts of those surfaces were conducted these show significant differences for many sites crater counts in many cases having more craters than previously identified these results calibrated to the radiometric ages show a revised lunar crater chronology that changes previously established crater based ages by up about 1 billion years surfaces younger than 3 6 gyr and older than 3 9 gyr under the classic chronology are younger in this system and those in between are older in this new system

modeling the dynamics of subducting slabs cold dense subducting lithosphere provides the primary force driving tectonic plates at earth s surface the force available to drive the plates depends on a balance between the buoyancy forces driving subduction and the mechanical and buoyancy forces resisting subduction because both the buoyancy and rheology of the slab and mantle depend on temperature composition grain size water content and melt fraction unraveling which of these processes exert a first order control on slab dynamics and under what circumstances other processes become first order effects can be challenging laboratory and numerical models of slab dynamics provide a powerful method for testing the combined effects of buoyancy and strength changes that accompany the slab evolution in the upper mantle transition zone and lower mantle recent studies have focused on understanding how rheologic variations newtonian versus non newtonian viscosity or water content geometry 2d versus 3d and plate motions trench roll back or advance influence the evolution of slabs in the upper mantle and how they sink into the lower mantle these models suggest that spatial and temporal variations in slab strength and the history of subduction determine whether slabs sink directly into the lower mantle or are trapped in the transition zone

an introduction to the tectonophysics special issue on arc continent collision processes funding for the igcp 524 conference in taiwan was provided by the spanish ministry of education and culture through grant cgl2007 29829 e bte and by the national science council of taiwan grant number 97 2916 i006 006 a1 and national cheng kung university grant d96 3200

three dimensional numerical modeling of detachment of subducted lithosphere recent seismological studies suggest that slab detachment has occurred in the mediterranean and the new hebrides subduction zones subducted slabs in these regions are recognized to be torn at depths ranging from 100 to 300 km presumably caused by the lateral migration of the tear along the strike of the slab to investigate the physical mechanism of the slab detachment and in particular its migration we constructed a viscoelastic three dimensional finite element model and introduced a small initial tear from one side of the slab we investigated spatio temporal variations in the state of stress within the slab as a function of tear length rheology and a variety of force distribution our results show that an area of high shear stress concentration of the order of several hundred megapascals forms near the tip of the tear inside the slab which is probably sufficient to cause further lateral migration of the tear the stress concentration increases with the length of the tear and lower viscosity values of the surrounding mantle and increases with downdip tension from our modeling we conclude that favorable conditions for slab detachment are characterized by a high interplate frictional force at a subduction zone and a low convergence rate forming in plate tensional stress at intermediate depths such a condition is indeed observed in the dinarides hellenic and the new hebrides subduction zone

slab breakoff depth a slowdown subduction model 1 a slowdown subduction model is presented to estimate slab breakoff depth and initial time when continental lithosphere subducts into mantle by assuming oceanic lithosphere subducts with uniform velocity all forces acting on plate are balanced and noticing that to leading order some resistant forces are proportional functions of subduction velocity a simple dynamic model is proposed to describe the retarded subduction process thermal and strength structures within the slab are calculated under this slowdown process we then compare the integrated strength of transitional zone from continental to oceanic lithosphere within the slab with buoyancy change due to subducted continental crust to assess slab breakoff depth and initial time normally the slab breakoff depth is 65 similar to 130 km and initial time is 1 similar to 6 m yr after continental lithosphere initiates subduction the initial subduction velocity is a major factor that affects the breakoff depth and initial time while subduction angle has insignificant influence

compositional variation in apollo 16 impact melt breccias and inferences for the geology and bombardment history of the central highlands of the moon abstract high precision data for the concentrations of a number of lithophile and siderophile elements were obtained on multiple subsamples from 109 impact melt rocks and breccias mostly crystalline from the apollo 16 site compositions of nearly all apollo 16 melt rocks fall on one of two trends of increasing sm concentration with increasing sc concentration the eastern trend lower sm sc mg fe and sm yb ratios consists of compositional groups 3 and 4 of previous classification schemes these melt rocks are feldspathic poor in incompatible and siderophile elements and appear to have provenance in the descartes formation to the east of the site the western trend higher sm sc mg fe and sm yb ratios consists of compositional groups 1 and 2 these relatively mafic kreep bearing breccias are a major component 35 of the cayley plains west of the site and are unusual compared to otherwise similar melt breccias from other sites in having high concentrations of fe ni metal 1 2 the metal is the carrier of the low ir au 0 3 chondritic siderophile element signature that is characteristic of the apollo 16 site four compositionally distinct groups 1m 1f 2db and 2nr of western trend melt breccias occur that are each represented by at least six samples compositional group 1 of previous classification schemes the poikilitic or lkfm melt breccias can be subdivided into two groups group 1m represented by six samples including 60315 is characterized by lower al2o3 concentrations higher mgo and alkali concentrations and higher mg fe and cr sc ratios than group 1f represented by fifteen samples including 65015 group 1m also has siderophile element concentrations averaging about twice those of group 1f and ir au and ir ni ratios that are even lower than those of other western trend melt rocks ir au 0 24 0 03 ci normalized at the mafic extreme of group 2 vha melt breccias the melt lithology occurring as clasts in feldspathic fragmental breccias from north ray crater group 2nr is compositionally distinct from the melt lithology of dimict breccias from the cayley plains group 2db in having higher concentrations of sc cr and heavy rare earth elements and lower concentrations of siderophile elements the distinct siderophile element signature high absolute abundances low ir au ratio suggest that the four groups of mafic melt breccia are all somehow related ratios of some lithophile elements also suggest that they are more closely related to each other than they are to melt breccias from other apollo sites however none of the breccia compositions can be related to any of the others by any simple process of igneous fractionation or mixing involving common lunar materials thus the origin of the four groups of mafic melt breccia is enigmatic if they were produced in only one or two impacts then a mechanism exists for generating regimes of impact melt breccia in a single impact that are substantially different from each other in composition for various reasons including the problem of delivering large volumes of four different types of melt to the apollo 16 site it is unlikely that any of these breccias were produced in basin forming impacts if they were produced in as many as four crater forming impacts then the unusual siderophile element signature is difficult to explain possible explanations are 1 1 the four groups of melt breccia all contain metal from a single earlier impact 2 2 they were each formed by related metal rich meteoroids or 3 3 some common postimpact process has resulted in metal of similar composition in each of four melt pools within a compositional group most intrasample and intersample variation in lithophile element concentrations is caused by differences among samples in the proportion of a component of normative anorthosite or noritic anorthosite in most cases this compositional variation probably reflects variation in clast abundance for group 2db and probably 2nr differences in abundance of a component of ferroan anorthosite estimated al2o3 32 accounts for the compositional variation for groups 1m and 1f the anorthositic component is more mafic estimated al2o3 26 some group 2 samples may be related by a troctolitic component of varying abundance

a sawtooth like timeline for the first billion years of lunar bombardment abstract we revisit the early evolution of the moon s bombardment our work combines modeling based on plausible projectile sources and their dynamical decay rates with constraints from the lunar crater record radiometric ages of the youngest lunar basins and the abundance of highly siderophile elements in the lunar crust and mantle we deduce that the evolution of the impact flux did not decline exponentially over the first billion years of lunar history but also there was no prominent and narrow impact spike 3 9 gy ago unlike that typically envisioned in the lunar cataclysm scenario instead we show the timeline of the lunar bombardment has a sawtooth like profile with an uptick in the impact flux near 4 1 gy ago the impact flux at the beginning of this weaker cataclysm was 5 10 times higher than the immediately preceding period the nectaris basin should have been one of the first basins formed at the sawtooth we predict the bombardment rate since 4 1 gy ago declined slowly and adhered relatively close to classic crater chronology models neukum and ivanov 1994 overall we expect that the sawtooth event accounted for about one fourth of the total bombardment suffered by the moon since its formation consequently considering that 12 14 basins formed during the sawtooth event we expect that the net number of basins formed on the moon was 45 50 from our expected bombardment timeline we derived a new and improved lunar chronology suitable for use on pre nectarian surface units according to this chronology a significant portion of the oldest lunar cratered terrains has an age of 4 38 4 42 gyr moreover the largest lunar basin south pole aitken is older than 4 3 gy and therefore was not produced during the lunar cataclysm

re examining the main asteroid belt as the primary source of ancient lunar craters abstract it has been hypothesized that the impactors that created the majority of the observable craters on the ancient lunar highlands were derived from the main asteroid belt in such a way that preserved their size frequency distribution strom r g malhotra r ito t yoshida f kring d a 2005 science 309 1847 1850 a more limited version of this hypothesis dubbed the e belt hypothesis postulates that a destabilized contiguous inner extension of the main asteroid belt produced a bombardment limited to those craters younger than nectaris basin bottke w f vokrouhlick d minton d nesvorn d morbidelli a brasser r simonson b levison h f 2012 nature 485 78 81 we investigate these hypotheses with a monte carlo code called the cratered terrain evolution model ctem which models the topography of a terrain that has experienced bombardment due to an input impactor population we detail our effort to calibrate the code with a human crater counter we also take advantage of recent advances in understanding the scaling relationships between impactor size d i and final crater size d c for basin sized impact craters d c 300 km in order to use large impact basins as a constraint on the ancient impactor population of the moon we find that matching the observed number of lunar highlands craters with d c 100 km requires that the total number of impacting asteroids with d i 10 km be no fewer than 4 10 6 km 2 however this required mass of impactors has d c 64 km craters while not producing a crater larger than imbrium as required by the e belt hypothesis these results suggest that the lunar highlands were unlikely to have been bombarded by a population whose size frequency distribution resembles that of the currently observed main asteroid belt we suggest that the population of impactors that cratered the lunar highlands had a somewhat similar size frequency distribution as the modern main asteroid belt reflecting a similar rocky composition and collisional history but had a smaller ratio of objects capable of producing megabasins compared to objects capable of producing 100 km craters we estimate that the impactor population required to match the lunar highlands had n 5 5 km n 70 km 630 while the modern main asteroid belt ratio is n 5 5 km n 70 km 100

dynamics of continental collision influence of the plate contact summary observations shows that continental collision may evolve in different ways resulting in a wide range of tectonic responses in search of the controlling conditions and parameters we start from the results of our previous work which demonstrated that the properties of the plate contact are important for the overall dynamics of convergent plate margins two fundamental types of subduction plate contact can be distinguished one based on a fault and the other based on a weak subduction channel in this study we investigate how the plate contact affects the initial stage of continental collision we use a finite element method to solve the heat and the time dependent momentum equations for elastic power law viscous and plastic rheologies for the same rheological properties and driving forces varying the nature of the plate contact leads to three types of responses the presence of a subduction channel promotes coherent and when the boundary conditions allow it plate like subduction of the continental margin in models with a subduction fault coherent subduction of the incoming continental lithosphere occurs when the colliding passive margin has a gentle slope the approaching continental sliver starts to subduct and the subduction is characterized by a non plate like behaviour slower subduction velocity than in channel models and strong slab deformation if the continental margin is steep and the strength of the incoming continental crust is high fault models result in locking of the trench eventually leading to slab break off if the crustal strength is relatively low shear delamination of part of the crust is expected in the channel model this type of delamination never occurs the tectonic settings used in our experiments prescribed plate velocity of the subducting plate versus fixed subducting plate corresponding to a landlocked basin setting do not significantly influence the nature of the model response we conclude that initial stages of continental collision are strongly affected by whether the subduction contact is a fault or a channel neither the slab pull magnitude nor the tectonic setting is very important to the overall geodynamics at this stage the plate contact type along with the slope of the incoming passive margin and the rheology of the continent controls whether the incoming crust 1 subducts entirely 2 separates partially or entirely from the lithospheric mantle or 3 blocks the trench likely leading to slab break off

40ar 39ar ages of h chondrite impact melt breccias 40ar 39ar analyses of a total of 26 samples from eight shock darkened impact melt breccias of h chondrite affinity gao guenie lap 02240 lap 03922 lap 031125 lap 031173 lap 031308 nwa 2058 and ourique are reported these appear to record impacts ranging in time from 303 56 ma gao guenie to 4360 120 ma ourique ago three record impacts 300 400 ma ago while two others record impacts 3900 4000 ma ago combining these with other impact ages from h chondrites in the literature it appears that h chondrites record impacts in the first 100 ma of solar system history during the era of the lunar cataclysm and shortly thereafter 3500 4000 ma ago one or more impacts 300 ma ago and perhaps an impact 500 ma ago near the time of the l chondrite parent body disruption records of impacts on the h chondrite parent body are rare or absent between the era of planetary accretion and the lunar cataclysm 4400 4050 ma during the long stretch between heavy bombardment and recent breakup events 3500 1000 ma or at the time of final breakup into meteorite sized bodies 50 ma

the late heavy bombardment heavily cratered surfaces on the moon mars and mercury show that the terrestrial planets were battered by an intense bombardment during their first billion years or more but the timing sources and dynamical implications of these impacts are controversial the late heavy bombardment refers to impact events that occurred after stabilization of the planetary lithospheres such that they could be preserved as craters and basins lunar melt rocks and meteorite shock ages point toward a discrete episode of elevated impact flux between 3 5 and 4 0 4 2 ga and a relative quiescence between 4 0 4 2 and 4 4 ga evidence from precambrian impact spherule layers suggests that a long lived tail of terrestrial impactors lasted to 2 0 2 5 ga dynamical models that include populations residual from primary accretion and destabilized by giant planet migration can potentially account for the available observations although all have pros and cons the most parsimonious solution to match constraints is a hybrid mode

apollo 16 site geology and impact melts implications for the geologic history of the lunar highlands the geology of the apollo 16 site is reconsidered on the basis of data from photogeology geochemical remote sensing and lunar samples the site possesses an upper surface of anorthositic gabbro and related rocks mafic components were deposited as basin ejecta the events involved in its geological evolution were the nectaris impact and the imbrium impact the role of large local craters in the history of the region was to serve as topographic depressions to accumulate basin ejecta the most abundant melt composition at apollo 16 is an aluminous variety of lkfm basalt supplied by the nectaris impact as ejected basin impact melt the mafic lkfm melt may have been supplied by the imbrium impact more aluminous melt groups are probably derived from local small craters the remainder of the deposits in the region are composed of anorthositic clastic debris derived from the nectaris basin the local crustal substrate and imbrium and other basins

the comparative behavior of apatite zircon u pb systems in apollo 14 breccias implications for the thermal history of the fra mauro formation we report secondary ion mass spectrometry sims u pb analyses of zircon and apatite from four breccia samples from the apollo 14 landing site the zircon and apatite grains occur as cogenetic minerals in lithic clasts in two of the breccias and as unrelated mineral clasts in the matrices of the other two sims u pb analyses show that the ages of zircon grains range from 4023 24 ma to 4342 5 ma whereas all apatite grains define an isochron corresponding to an age of 3926 3 ma the disparity in the ages of cogenetic apatite and zircon demonstrates that the apatite u pb systems have been completely reset at 3926 3 ma whereas the u pb system of zircon has not been noticeably disturbed at this time the apatite u pb age is slightly older than the ages determined by other methods on apollo 14 materials highlighting need to reconcile decay constants used for the u pb ar ar and rb sr systems we interpret the apatite age as a time of formation of the fra mauro formation if the interpretation of this formation as an imbrium ejecta is correct apatite also determines the timing of imbrium impact the contrast in the pb loss behavior of apatite and zircon places constraints on the temperature history of the apollo 14 breccias and we estimate from the experimentally determined pb diffusion constants and an approximation of the original depth of the excavated samples in the fra mauro formation that the breccias experienced an initial temperature of about 1300 1100 c but cooled within the first five to ten years

dynamics of slab detachment 1 we investigate the dynamics of slab detachment around the detachment zone and evaluate the amount of time necessary for slabs to detach the study combines results of two dimensional 2d state of the art thermomechanical numerical simulations and a 1d analytical solution for viscous necking under gravity we show that the dominant deformation mechanism during slab detachment is viscous necking independent of the depth of slab detachment when the slab dip is moderate 35 70 slab detachment is partly affected by localized simple shearing in the colder parts of the slab brittle fracturing breaking plays a minor role during slab detachment our 2d thermomechanical models indicate that the duration of slab detachment quantified from the onset of slab thinning until the actual detachment i e vanishing of slab pull force is relatively short 250 km can occur within a short time interval 1 ma which has implications for geodynamic interpretations using slab detachment as explanation for processes such as melting exhumation or surface uplift the thinning of the slab during detachment observed in 2d simulations agrees well with predictions from a 1d analytical solution indicating that the 1d solution captures the first order features of the detachment process we also evaluate the impact of shear heating on the duration of slab detachment the predictions of a simple semi analytical solution based on dimensionless parameters agree well with our and previously published results

structure and evolution of the lunar procellarum region as revealed by grail gravity data gravity data show a rectangular pattern of narrow linear anomalies bordering the lunar procellarum region that are interpreted to be the frozen remnants of lava filled rifts and underlying feeder dykes the procellarum region is a broad area on the nearside of the moon characterized by low elevations and thin crust and largely covered by dark basalts that can be seen from earth with the unaided eye this structure has been interpreted as an ancient impact basin jeffrey andrews hanna et al use data from nasa s gravity recovery and interior laboratory grail mission to examine the subsurface structure of the procellarum they find that a pattern of narrow linear anomalies border the region interpreted to be the frozen remnants of lava filled rifts and underlying feeder dikes the discontinuous surface structures that were earlier interpreted as remnants of an impact basin rim are a part of this continuous set of quasi rectangular border structures with angular intersections the authors conclude that the procellarum was formed in response to thermal stresses produced by the differential cooling of the province relative to its surroundings coupled with magmatic activity driven by elevated heat flux the procellarum region is a broad area on the nearside of the moon that is characterized by low elevations1 thin crust2 and high surface concentrations of the heat producing elements uranium thorium and potassium3 4 the region has been interpreted as an ancient impact basin approximately 3 200 kilometres in diameter5 6 7 although supporting evidence at the surface would have been largely obscured as a result of the great antiquity and poor preservation of any diagnostic features here we use data from the gravity recovery and interior laboratory grail mission8 to examine the subsurface structure of procellarum the bouguer gravity anomalies and gravity gradients reveal a pattern of narrow linear anomalies that border procellarum and are interpreted to be the frozen remnants of lava filled rifts and the underlying feeder dykes that served as the magma plumbing system for much of the nearside mare volcanism the discontinuous surface structures that were earlier interpreted as remnants of an impact basin rim are shown in grail data to be a part of this continuous set of border structures in a quasi rectangular pattern with angular intersections contrary to the expected circular or elliptical shape of an impact basin9 the spatial pattern of magmatic tectonic structures bounding procellarum is consistent with their formation in response to thermal stresses produced by the differential cooling of the province relative to its surroundings coupled with magmatic activity driven by the greater than average heat flux in the region

cratering history and lunar chronology the moon is exceptional and important because it is the only planetary body besides the earth for which we have both a detailed stratigraphic history and datable rock samples that can be related to specific geomorphologic units fig 5 1 the moon has preserved much of its magmatic and impact record of at least the last 4 billion years while its endogenic history is of great interest for the fundamentals of planetary interiors and surfaces the moon has become a calibration plate for the cratering record of the earth moon system and by extrapolation of the entire inner solar system if one assumes a heliocentric origin for impactor populations these populations range from asteroids through long and short period comets to interplanetary dust and cover a size range from hundreds of kilometers to micrometers figure 5 1 telescopic view of the nearside of the earth s moon with landing sites of the apollo and luna missions this chapter reviews the presently available data sets in support of this paradigmatic assumption as follows 1 the phenomenology of lunar impact craters 2 the terrestrial record of the impact cratering process and the interpretation of terrestrial impactites as far as this ground truth is relevant for the interpretation of lunar impact craters and datable lunar impact breccias and melt rocks 3 the theory and numerical simulation of the cratering process and the characteristics of the earth moon crossing population of impactors asteroids and comets 4 the principles of relative age dating of lunar surface units and the general lunar stratigraphy 5 the stratigraphic significance and ages of lunar samples impactites and basalts and based on this data set the absolute ages of lunar surface units 6 the cratering rate of the moon as a function of time and 7 the time calibration of this cratering rate based on the

40ar 39ar age spectra of apollo 15 impact melt rocks by laser step heating and their bearing on the history of lunar basin formation we have obtained 26 high resolution 16 51 steps 40ar 39ar age spectra using a continuous laser system on submilligram fragments of recrystallized melt and single crystal plagioclase clasts from 12 apollo 15 impact melt rocks collected at the apennine front where the imbrium and serenitatis basins intersect these melt rocks represent a wide range of compositions and at least half a dozen different impacts six of the melt rocks have reproducible intermediate temperature plateaus over 40 or more of the 39ar released the plateaus are interpreted as crystallization impact ages and much of the non plateau behavior is attributable to recoil samples 15294 6 21 15304 7 69 15314 26 156 15357 15 and 15359 12 have mean 40ar 39ar plateau ages that are statistically indistinguishable and fall within the narrow range 3852 14 2 ma to 3870 12 ma with a weighted mean of 3865 5 ma sample 15356 9 has a mean plateau age of 3836 11 ma and may represent a distinctly younger impact a seventh sample 15314 30 158 has a peculiar but reproducible double plateau a low t one at 3873 9 ma which we think records the crystallization age and a high t one of 3831 10 ma which we interpret as an experimental 39ar recoil artifact four of the remaining melt rocks 15308 9 15414 2 37 15436 2 15445 253 have complex 40ar 39ar age spectra that indicate that they either formed in or were disturbed by impacts that occurred 3850 ma but did not completely reset the k ar isotopic system sample 15414 3 36 is different its spectrum may represent release mainly from clasts that were not well degassed in a melt event at 3870 ma the melt phase contains little potassium because most of the apennine front material must be coeval with or predate formation of the imbrium basin it seems likely that the imbrium impact is no older than 3870 ma and probably no older than 3836 ma so far there is no convincing evidence in the lunar record for melt producing impacts such as basin formation older than about 3 9 ga

crystal accumulation in a 4 2 ga lunar impact melt abstract the ages of lunar impact basins and the role of fractional crystallization in producing compositional heterogeneity of lunar melt sheets are long standing problems with significant implications for solar system dynamics and the petrologic evolution of the lunar crust here we document the formation of a basin scale impact on the moon at 4 20 0 07 ga based on the 147 sm 143 nd isochron age of a magnesian noritic anorthosite melt rock from lunar breccia 67955 major element compositions of plagioclase and mafic silicates in the melt rock imply a substantial component of primary mg suite cumulates or related lithologies in the pre impact crustal stratigraphy trace element compositions of the plagioclase including diagnostic ratios such as sr ba are also mostly similar to those in plagioclase from mg suite cumulates with a small number of grains trending toward compositions observed in ferroan anorthosites mineral melt distribution coefficients applied to trace element compositions of the 67955 plagioclase and pyroxene predict parental melt compositions that contrast strongly with the bulk rock compared to the whole rock parental melts calculated from the plagioclase are enriched in ree ree la yb 131 885 average 619 ppm vs 39 8 ppm and they have more fractionated ree patterns la yb n 1 2 9 8 average 4 9 vs 1 5 with deep negative eu anomalies eu eu 0 09 0 40 vs 1 36 trace element data for the pyroxenes also imply incompatible element enriched parental melts subsolidus equilibration between the plagioclase and the pyroxene apparently rotated the ree patterns but the conclusion that the parental melt was highly enriched in ree relative to the whole rock appears robust quantitative modeling shows that fractional crystallization of the 67955 whole rock composition cannot reproduce the range of ba sr ti and la concentrations measured in the 67955 plagioclase rather the models require an initial melt composition that was strongly enriched in these elements and they suggest that fractional crystallization became less efficient as crystallization proceeded the contrast between the inferred parental melt composition and the bulk rock implies formation of the 67955 noritic anorthosite as a crystal cumulate and that the cogenetic residual melt was strongly enriched in incompatible elements if so this would be the first documented example of fractional crystallization in a lunar impact melt sheet the petrological and geochemical characteristics of the 67955 noritic anorthosite suggest that it formed by an impact in the procellarum kreep terrane and was transported to the apollo 16 site as imbrium ejecta inheritance of ejecta related to this pre imbrium basin may contribute to the common occurrence of 4 2 ga 40 ar 39 ar plateau ages in breccia clasts and regolith fragments from the rim of north ray crater in that case those data may provide no constraints on the age of the nectaris basin despite its proximity to the apollo 16 site

laboratory experiments of slab break off and slab dip reversal insight into the alpine oligocene reorganization we present laboratory experiments to study the consequence of the rupture of a subducting slab on the deep geometry of the subduction zone in our experiments slab break off occurs after the entrance of buoyant material at trench causing a slowing down of the subduction and producing an increase of the shortening rate and a transient episode of subduction dip reversal we discuss the potential application of these processes to the recent collisional evolution of the alps proposing that the rupture of the slab produced a re organisation of the belt with a transition from one sided to a doubly vergent orogen

rheologic controls on the dynamics of slab detachment abstract the detachment of subducted lithosphere slabs has been proposed in a number of locations as the cause for observed volcanism and regional tectonic evolution for example along strike progression of uplift in the adriatic sea and west to east progression of volcanism in the trans mexican volcanic belt may be caused by propagating detachment of subducted slabs an understanding of the dynamics of slab detachment is necessary to relate the timing of detachment to surface observations we demonstrate using two dimensional 2d numerical models that the timing occurrence and surface effects resulting from the detachment of subducted lithosphere are strongly dependent upon the stiffness i e stress supported viscously of the lithosphere and rheology of the upper mantle in particular in models with a newtonian upper mantle where plastic yielding is the only weakening process within the slab detachment does not occur models accounting for non newtonian upper mantle deformation demonstrate two modes of detachment 1 slow and deep detachment of strong slabs 500 mpa or greater maximum yield strength controlled by heating of the slab and 2 fast and shallow detachment of weaker slabs 300 mpa controlled by yielding within the slab interior for slabs with a maximum yield strength of 500 mpa the time to detachment increases with slab age for ages ranging from 40 to 120 my indicating that detachment time is controlled by the integrated stiffness of the slab which limits the sinking rate however the detachment time for weaker slabs 300 mpa is independent of age because weaker slabs sink rapidly and the time to detachment is limited by the rate of flow of the surrounding mantle