three dimensional instantaneous mantle flow induced by subduction 1 we conduct three dimensional subduction experiments by a finite element approach to study flow around slabs which are prescribed based on a transient stage of upper mantle subduction from a laboratory model instantaneous velocity field solutions are examined focusing on the toroidal vs poloidal components as a function of boundary conditions plate width and viscosity contrast between slab and mantle we show how the slab to mantle viscosity ratio determines the strength of toroidal flow and find that the toroidal flow component peaks for slab mantle viscosity ratios 100 independent of slab width or geometry

exhumation of eclogites insights from depth time path analysis abstract literature data on geochronology and pressure temperature estimates have been used to assess the depth time paths for high pressure units in the alps and the variscan belt these depth time paths consistently show that exhumation rates decrease through time the first stages of the exhumation are rapid 1 mm yr 1 and last less than a few million to a few tens of million years in contrast the final 10 20 km ascent to the surface is at least one order of magnitude slower for the deepest and most important part of the exhumation trajectory the chronology of the retrogressive metamorphism excludes gravitational collapse as the major driving force material balance and structural arguments also exclude isostatically assisted erosion processes prism dynamics and tectonically assisted erosion are the most likely mechanisms accounting for the kinetics of exhumation isostasy assisted erosion and shallow level extension are nevertheless required to eventually bring the high pressure rocks to exposure

dynamics of retreating slabs 2 insights from three dimensional laboratory experiments 1 a laboratory analogue of a three layer linear viscous slab upper mantle lower mantle system is established in a silicone putty honey and crystallized honey tank experiment the same setup as in the numerical investigation part 1 is used we focus on the interaction of the slab with the induced passive mantle flow by widely varying the mantle volume flux boundary conditions in our numerical experiments the lateral volume flux was set to zero in interpreting the results relative to the real earth the base of the box is taken as the bottom of the mantle convection system while the lateral boundaries may be associated with the presence of other nearby slabs dynamic force equilibrium assessed on the basis of an analytical review of forces is described for four different phases 1 the subduction initiation instability 2 the accelerating dynamic free fall phase of the slab 3 the dynamic interaction with the 660 km discontinuity and 4 a final phase of steady state trench retreat phase 3 is an important feature not observed in the numerical experiments this highly dynamic phase of interrupted trench retreat can therefore be attributed to boundary conditions on mantle volume flux on the basis of integration constants of force equilibrium in phases 2 and 4 we identify two different classes of volume flux one in which the lateral boundary can be considered open and the other class where it is closed closed boundary condition cases are obtained if any of the lateral box boundaries are 600 km away from the slab assuming a one to one relation between trench retreat and back arc spreading enigmatic observations of episodic opening of back arc basins can be explained by our experimental observations

evolution of retreating subduction boundaries formed during continental collision retreating subduction boundaries formed where the rate of subduction exceeds the rate of overall plate convergence appear to be commonly developed features within regions of early or incomplete continent continent collision they are characterized by regional extension within the overriding plate and at their leading edge by thin skinned arcuate thrust belts that are concave towards the overriding plate as is illustrated by examples from the mediterranean region the formation of retreating subduction boundaries is intimately related to the process of continental collision during the early stages of collision retreating subduction boundaries are commonly formed by lateral ejection from zones of crustal shortening along the main collision boundary retreating plate boundaries can also form before the main collision and the associated thrust belts emplaced as precollisional accretionary assemblages because the driving mechanism for retreating subduction boundaries appears to be gravity acting on a dense subducted slab slab pull subduction usually ceases when and only when thick buoyant continental crust enters the subduction zone thus differences in the evolution and duration of retreating subduction systems can be largely attributed to the size and configuration of the deep water regions available to be subducted in some cases retreating subduction boundaries may escape into the open ocean where they form nearly isolated local tectonic systems in these systems the rate of subduction is approximately compensated by the rate of upper plate extension and migration of the system across the oceanic region may be very rapid for example the horseshoe seamounts located about 800 km offshore in the eastern north atlantic may be the active expression of an east dipping westwardly migrating retreating subduction boundary that has evolved from the betic cordillera rif system active in miocene time and may now be progressing across the atlantic at approximately 50 mm yr an analogous situation may be represented by the scotia arc system a westward dipping retreating subduction system located between the south american and antarctic plates which may have escaped into the south atlantic ocean from a zone of crustal shortening in the andes and is now progressing across the atlantic at a rate of about 80 mm yr

calibrating the bulk rheology of active obliquely convergent thrust belts and forearc wedges from surface profiles and velocity distributions the geometrical profiles and surface velocity distributions in active forearc wedges depend on the bulk rheology and the surface tractions analytical and numerical solutions of the force balance and comer flow circulation equations indicate that the mechanical parameters should in principle all be directly determinable from the observational variables the analysis suggests the following preliminary conclusions 1 the surface profiles of forearc wedges are con sistent with either a bulk plastic rheology or a viscous rheol ogy with a transition to plastic or coulomb behavior in the upper few kilometers 2 comer flow circulation in the absence of accretion is diagnostic of wedges with a bulk viscous rheology the surface strike normal velocity and the surface profile both depend on the bulk viscosity and the viscous coupling at the base allowing these mechanical vari ables to be determined current estimates of this velocity in some wedges suggest the bulk viscosity is not less than 3x10 9 pa s 3 obliquely converging nonaccreting plastic and coulomb wedges show no distributed strike parallel shear if the obliquity is above a critical angle the wedge is separated from the upper plate by a strike slip fault defining a forearc sliver the critical angle of obliquity the velocity of the forearc sliver and the wedge geometry allow the boundary tractions to be determined in obliquely convergent viscous wedges the strike parallel velocity is distributed throughout the wedge decaying exponentially from the rear to the front its value at the rear and the length scale for the decay allow the bulk viscosity and the coupling at the rear to be determined slip vectors in some forearc wedges and thrust belts suggest complete partitioning of the strike parallel component of motion characteristic of a bulk viscous rheology others show partitioning above a limiting angle of obliquity suggesting bulk plastic behavior there are no documented cases of active margins where there is an absence of partition ing for obliquity 45 o which appears to role out coulomb behavior as a general description for the bulk rheology of forearc wedges

exhumation of high pressure rocks driven by slab rollback rocks metamorphosed under high pressure hp and ultra high pressure uhp conditions in subduction zones come back to the surface relatively soon after their burial and at rates comparable to plate boundary velocities in the mediterranean realm their occurrence in several belts related to a single subduction event shows that the burial exhumation cycle is a recurrent transient process using the calabria apennine and aegean belts as examples we show that the exhumation of hp rocks is associated in time and space with the subduction of small continental lithosphere blocks that triggers slab rollback creating the necessary space for the exhumation of the buoyant continental crust that was deeply buried just before the buoyancy force of the subducted crust increases until this crust detaches from the downgoing slab it then exhumes at a rate that depends directly on the velocity of trench retreat to become part of the overriding plate heated from below by the asthenosphere that flows into the opening mantle wedge the exhumed crust weakens and undergoes core complex type extension responsible for a second stage of exhumation at a lower rate the full sequence of events that characterizes this model crust mantle delamination slab rollback and trench retreat hp rock exhumation asthenosphere heating and core complex formation arises entirely from the initial condition imposed by the subduction of a small continental block no specific condition is required regarding the rheology and erosion rate of hp rocks the burial exhumation cycle is transient and can recur every time a small continental block is subducted

structure and evolution of the himalaya tibet orogenic belt the 1981 french chinese expedition to tibet focused on the lhasa block extending earlier coverage 400 km north of the tsangpo suture the lhasa block stood between 10 and 15 n latitude over most of the upper cretaceous and eocene and if gondwanian in origin had detached from gondwana by early permian seismic profiles reveal a complex moho topography resulting both from multiple continental thrusting and large scale strike slip faulting subduction related granitoids representing mixtures of mantle and crustal components and anatectic granitoids have been analysed and dated this study emphasizes the role of smaller blocks in the accretion of the continental mosaic

coupled and decoupled regimes of continental collision numerical modeling useful geodynamic distinction of continental collision zones can be based on the degree of rheological coupling of colliding plates coupled active collision zones which can be either retreating or advancing are characterized by a thick crustal wedge and compressive stresses i e himalaya and western alps while decoupled end members which are always retreating are defined by a thin crustal wedge and bi modal distribution of stresses i e compressional in the foreland and extensional in the inner part of the orogen northern apennines in order to understand physical controls defining these different geodynamic regimes we conducted a 2d numerical study based on finite differences and marker in cell techniques in our experiments we systematically varied several major parameters responsible for the degree of rheological coupling between plates during collision such as convergence rate crustal rheology and effective velocity of upward propagation of aqueous fluids and melts in the mantle wedge low convergence rates and fluids melts propagation velocities favor continuous coupling and convergence between the plates coupled collision zones are characterized by continuous accretion of the weak upper continental crust resulting in the development of a thick and broad crustal wedge by hot temperature in the inner parts of the orogen due to radiogenic heating of the thickened crust by compressive orogenic stresses and appearance of a double seismogenic brittle layer involving upper crust and sub moho mantle in contrast high convergence rates and fluid melt percolation velocities produce efficient weakening of the mantle wedge and of the subduction channel triggering complete decoupling of two plates mantle wedging into the crustal wedge and retreating style of collision the evolution of fully decoupled collision zones are characterized by the disruption of the accretionary wedge formation of an extensional basin in the inner part of the orogen and delamination of the weak portion of the continental crust that is first thrusted toward the foreland and subsequently dissected by extensional tectonics transition from coupled to decoupled regime occurs always at the early stages of continental collision indicating that insertion of rheologically weak crustal material in the subduction channel is critical for the subsequent evolution of the collision zone we found good correlations of our numerical results with some of the major collisional orogens in particular the decoupled retreating collision regime reproduces what is observed in the northern apennines

subduction and the depth of convection in the mediterranean mantle 1 we tie together geological data paleotectonic reconstruction plate motion and tomographic analysis to unravel the history of subduction and back arc extension of the eastern and central mediterranean in these two regions extensional processes started contemporaneously around 30 myr ago but with marked differences in the eastern region the aegean basin opened slowly 1 cm yr behind a shallow dipping slab 40 45 the corresponding high velocity anomaly extends inside the upper mantle and can be also followed in the midmantle down to a depth of at least 1500 km its descent into the midmantle initiated most probably during the late cretaceous and the trench moved northeastward following the path of the eurasian plate and under the persistent push of the african plate conversely in the central mediterranean region subduction initiated later and the motion of the subducting slab is confined to the upper mantle causing punctuated and rapid episodes of back arc extension provencal and tyrrhenian basins behind a slab that dips steeply 75 we explore the causes that control how the slab subducted and interacted with the lower more viscous part of the mantle

dynamics of sediment subduction accretion at convergent margins short term modes long term deformation and tectonic implications a conceptual model is proposed for the short term operation of subduction accretion systems at convergent margins the operation is described in terms of the mass fluxes among the four system components namely the accretionary or prowedge wedge p an uplifted plug u a retrowedge r and the subduction zone the latter consists of a conduit c of slowly moving and deforming material and an underlying subduction channel where material moves and deforms more rapidly a broad range of convergent margin types can be accommodated within the conceptual model framework with differing short term modes that depend on which of the p u r c components that are active finite element geodynamical model experiments are used to investigate whether these modes are dynamically feasible these experiments determine excitation of modes under controls that include model entry and exit mass fluxes flexural loading by accreted material and slab pull forces boundary velocities corresponding to subduction and subduction zone advance retreat distribution thickness and density of accreted sediment and internal frictional properties of the coulomb sediments that all modes with the exception of p in which only a prowedge is created are seen in the models provides support for the concepts and allows conditions that favor particular modes to be recognized in addition the finite deformation predicted by the models is used to infer the long term tectonic styles associated with both single mode evolutions and those that exhibit mode switching a steady state mass balance can occur for modes 0 pure subduction p c i e where components p and c are active or other modes when the surface mass denudation plus the subduction flux balances accretion plus tectonic underplating the p c mode is favored by subduction zone retreat and or an increasing subduction load and creates an apparent landward dipping backstop p u c is predicted to be the most common mode and it creates an apparent seaward dipping backstop p u r c is an inefficient mode but is favored by easily detached retrocrust or sediment and or a decreasing subduction load

the western alps from the jurassic to oligocene spatio temporal constraints and evolutionary reconstructions abstract despite extensive research in the last 150 years the regional tectonic reconstruction of the western alps has remained controversial the curved orogenic belt consists of several ribbon like continental terranes sesia austroalpine internal crystalline massifs brianconnais which are separated by two or more ophiolitic sutures piemonte valais antrona lanzo canavese high pressure hp metamorphism of each terrane occurred during distinct orogenic episodes at 65 ma in the sesia austroalpine at 45 ma in the piemonte zone and at 35 ma in the internal crystalline massifs it is suggested that these events reflect individual accretionary episodes which together with kinematic indicators and the speed and direction of plate motions provide constraints for the discussed reconstruction model the model involves a prolonged orogenic history that took place during relative convergence of europe and adria here considered as a promontory of the african plate the first accretionary event involved the sesia austroalpine terrane final closure of the piemonte ocean occurred during the eocene 45 ma and involved ultra high pressure uhp metamorphism of the piemonte oceanic crust incorporation of the brianconnais terrane in the accretionary wedge occurred thereafter possibly during or after subduction of the valais ocean in the late eocene 45 35 ma this subduction was terminated at ca 35 ma when the internal crystalline massifs i e the assumed internal parts of the brianconnais terrane were buried into great depths and underwent hp and uhp metamorphism

relation between the intensity of deformation and retrogression in blueschist metapelites of tinos island greece evidenced by chlorite mica local equilibria the late greenschist deformation of the cycladic blueschists unit on tinos island evolves along a ne sw gradient of non coaxial strain across a major extensional shear zone deformation is more intense and the greenschist overprint is also more severe close to the shear zone that separates the cycladic blueschists from the upper ophiolitic unit in the ne of the island the compositional variability of chlorite and k white mica kwm in metapelites sampled along a ne sw cross section is characteristic of their p t conditions of crystallization and is mainly characterized by variations of their si al fe and mg contents due to the tschermak substitution siiv fe mg vi alvialiv multi equilibrium p t estimates based on the assumption of local equilibrium indicate that each sample recorded a part of the p t history which depends on the distance to the contact to the main shear zone i e the intensity and the pattern of deformation the combination of p t estimates obtained from all the samples collected along the transect provides a continuous p t path which is composed of two parts it provides insights on the syn and post orogenic exhumation for some of the cycladic blueschists in particular we could distinguish two stages in the exhumation process a first stage in the blueschist facies occurred along a cold p t path during the construction of the hellenides the second exhumation stage occurred along a warmer p t path during the formation of the aegean sea between the two stages of exhumation there is a thermal reequilibration of the crust and a partial thermal overprint of the blueschist parageneses

dynamic models of downgoing plate buoyancy driven subduction subduction motions and energy dissipation abstract it is much debated whether the forces associated with the downgoing plate the overriding plate passive or active mantle flow are dominant in controlling the paths of plates into the mantle we investigate the dynamics and energetics for a free subduction system driven solely by downgoing plate buoyancy using a finite element model of a viscoelastic plate with a free surface sinking into a passive unbounded mantle represented by drag forces parameters are varied to study effects of an asthenosphere ridge push and a passive overriding plate for a range of subducting plate viscosities and densities such a single free plate achieves subduction mainly through trench retreat most of the energy dissipation occurs in driving the passive mantle response as a result the slab s sinking velocity is its stokes velocity determined by lithospheric buoyancy and mantle viscosity the total subduction velocity and dip adjust to minimize bending dissipation in the lithosphere and are affected by slab rheology as well as buoyancy a low viscosity asthenosphere and ridge push facilitate plate advance increasing plate dips and lowering subduction velocity while suction and buoyancy of a work free passive overriding plate decreases plate dips thus increasing subduction and rollback velocities however the geometrical relation between the different parameters is the same in all model cases because the slabs sink according to their stokes velocity the free subduction models thus provide a reference that can be used to distinguish the signature of downgoing plate buoyancy from that of other driving forces in global compilations of subduction parameters

influence of surrounding plates on 3d subduction dynamics 1 our 3d modelling study shows that the presence of lithospheric plates around a subducting plate has a significant influence on subduction dynamics in particular on trench retreat rate slab dip and lateral shortening of the subducting plate neighbouring plates prevent unrealistic plate behaviour with no need for complex rheologies because at the earth s surface plates form a continuous shell they should not be neglected

episodic slab rollback fosters exhumation of hp uhp rocks summary the burial exhumation cycle of crustal material in subduction zones can either be driven by the buoyancy of the material by the surrounding flow or by both high pressure and ultrahigh pressure rocks are chiefly exhumed where subduction zones display transient behaviours which lead to contrasted flow regimes in the subduction mantle wedge subduction zones with stationary trenches mode i favour the burial of rock units whereas slab rollback mode ii moderately induces an upward flow that contributes to the exhumation a regime that is reinforced when slab dip decreases mode iii episodic regimes of subduction that involve different lithospheric units successively activate all three modes and thus greatly favour the exhumation of rock units from mantle depth to the surface without need for fast and sustained erosion

continental subduction and exhumation of high pressure rocks insights from thermo mechanical laboratory modelling abstract thermo mechanical physical modelling of continental subduction is performed to investigate the exhumation of deeply subducted continental crust the model consists of two lithospheric plates made of new temperature sensitive analogue materials the lithosphere is underlain by liquid asthenosphere the continental lithosphere contains three layers the weak sedimentary layer the crust made of a stronger material and of a still stronger lithospheric mantle the whole model is subjected to a constant vertical thermal gradient causing the strength reduction with depth in each lithospheric layer subduction is driven by both push force and pull force during subduction the subducting lithosphere is heating and the strength of its layers reduces the weakening continental crust reaches maximal depth of about 120 km and cannot subduct deeper because its frontal part starts to flow up the subducted crust undergoes complex deformation including indicated upward ductile flow of the most deeply subducted portions and localised failure of the subducted upper crust at about 50 km depth this failure results in the formation of the first crustal slice which rises up between the plates under the buoyancy force this process is accompanied by the delamination of the crustal and mantle layers of the subducting lithosphere the delamination front propagates upwards into the interplate zone resulting in the formation of two other crustal slices that also rise up between the plates average equivalent exhumation rate of the crustal material during delamination is about 1 cm year the crust asthenosphere boundary near the interplate zone is uplifted the subducted mantle layer then breaks off removing the pull force and thereby stopping the delamination and increasing horizontal compression of the lithosphere the latter produces shortening of the formed orogen and the growth of relief the modelling reveals an interesting burial exhumation evolution of the sedimentary cover during initial stages of continental subduction the sediments of the continental margin are dragged to the overriding plate base and are partially accreted at the deep part of the interplate zone at 60 70 km depth these sediments remain there until the beginning of delamination during which the pressure between the subducted crust and the overriding plate increases this results in squeezing the underplated sediments out part of them is extruded upwards along the interplate zone to about 30 km depth at an equivalent rate of 5 10 cm year

multistage accretion and exhumation of the continental crust ivrea crustal section italy and switzerland the ivrea crustal section exposes in map view all levels of the southern alpine continental crust from ultramafic mafic and felsic granulite facies rocks of the deep crust ivrea verbano zone through medium grade basement rocks strona ceneri zone and val colla zone to unmetamorphosed permo mesozoic sediments the oldest part of the crustal section is preserved in the medium grade basement units which are interpreted to be the overprinted remains of an ordovician 440 480 ma magmatic arc or forearc complex during variscan subduction this arc was technically underplated by a carboniferous accretion subduction complex 320 355 ma containing metasediments and slivers of rheic oceanic crust presently found in the ivrea verbano zone during the late stages of variscan convergence 290 320 ma lithospheric delamination triggered magmatic underplating and lead to polyphase deformation under amphibolite to granulite facies conditions this was broadly coeval with extensional exhumation and erosion of the variscan overprinted ordovician crust presently exposed in the strona ceneri and val colla zones post variscan transtensional tectonics 270 290 ma were associated with renewed magmatic underplating mylonitic shearing and incipient exhumation of the lower crust in the ivrea verbano zone this coincided with the formation of elongate basins filled with volcanoclastic sediments in the upper crust early mesozoic tethyan rifting of the southern alpine crust 180 230 ma reduced crustal thickness to 10 km or less in the lower crust most of this thinning was accommodated by granulite to retrograde greenschist facies mylonitic shearing the lower crust was exhumed along a large noncoaxial mylonitic shear zone that was linked to asymmetrical rift basins in the upper crust the composite structure resulting from this complex evolution is probably typical of thinned late variscan continental crust on the passive margins of western europe alpine faulting and folding 20 50 ma fragmented the crustal section the originally deepest levels of the crustal section in the ivrea verbano zone as well as some segments of the basement cover contact were steepened whereas other parts of the crustal section particularly the strona ceneri zone underwent only minor to moderate alpine rotation

dynamical effects of subducting ridges insights from 3 d laboratory models summary we model using analogue experiments the subduction of buoyant ridges and plateaus to study their effect on slab dynamics experiments show that simple local 1 d isostatic considerations are not appropriate to predict slab behaviour during the subduction of a buoyant ridge perpendicular to the trench because the rigidity of the plate forces the ridge to subduct with the dense oceanic lithosphere oceanic ridges parallel to the trench have a stronger effect on the process of subduction because they simultaneously affect a longer trench segment large buoyant slab segments sink more slowly into the asthenosphere and their subduction result in a diminution of the velocity of subduction of the plate we observe a steeping of the slab below those buoyant anomalies resulting in smaller radius of curvature of the slab that augments the energy dissipated in folding the plate and further diminishes the velocity of subduction when the 3 d geometry of a buoyant plateau is modelled the dip of the slab above the plateau decreases as a result of the larger velocity of subduction of the dense normal oceanic plate on both sides of the plateau such a perturbation of the dip of the slab maintains long time after the plateau has been entirely incorporated into the subduction zone we compare experiments with the present day subduction zone below south america experiments suggest that a modest ridge perpendicular to the trench such as the present day juan fernandez ridge is not buoyant enough to modify the slab geometry already subducted buoyant anomalies within the oceanic plate in contrast may be responsible for some aspects of the present day geometry of the nazca slab at depth

collision tectonics in the swiss alps insight from geodynamic modeling this paper compares results from two dimensional finite element dynamic modeling with the kinematic evolution of the swiss alps during the collision phase in particular we investigate the role of inherited lateral strength heterogeneities on orogenesis a number of first order characteristics are directly comparable at crustal scales in the models the entry of continental crust into the convergent margin marks the end of near perfect subduction accretion of material of the subducting plate to the upper plate creates an orogenic wedge on the incoming pro side and initiates a retroshear zone or model backthrust the addition of material to the upper plate builds a bivergent orogen heterogeneities in the pro crust focus shear and lead to the development of nappe structures the combined action of pro shear nappe stacking and retroshear backthrusting uplifts a plug between the two shear zones subsequent focusing of shear along the retroshear zone results in rotation of the plug and overlying units leading to crustal scale backfolds as observed in the swiss alps the model experiments predict features relevant to alpine dynamics including 1 similar crustal thicknesses and exhumation patterns to those observed in the swiss alps today for erosion rates comparable to natural ones 1 mm yr 1 2 continued accretion and subduction of upper crustal fragments allowing high pressure metamorphic conditions 3 tilting and exhumation of lower crust when a midcrustal weak zone is present and 4 shunting of material across the strong lower crustal wedge of the upper plate

buoyancy driven rapid exhumation of ultrahigh pressure metamorphosed continental crust abstract preservation of ultrahigh pressure uhp minerals formed at depths of 90 125 km require unusual conditions our subduction model involves underflow of a salient 250 150 km wide 90 125 km long of continental crust embedded in cold largely oceanic crust capped lithosphere loss of leading portions of the high density oceanic lithosphere by slab break off as increasing volumes of microcontinental material enter the subduction zone buoyancy driven return toward midcrustal levels of a thin 2 15 km thick low density slice finally uplift backfolding normal faulting and exposure of the uhp terrane sustained over 20 million years rapid 5 mm year exhumation of the thin aspect ratio uhp sialic sheet caught between cooler hanging wall plate and refrigerating downgoing lithosphere allows withdrawal of heat along both its upper and lower surfaces the intracratonal position of most uhp complexes reflects consumption of an intervening ocean basin and introduction of a sialic promontory into the subduction zone uhp metamorphic terranes consist chiefly of transformed yet relatively low density continental crust compared with displaced mantle material otherwise such complexes could not return to shallow depths relatively rare metabasaltic metagabbroic and metacherty lithologies retain traces of phases characteristic of uhp conditions because they are massive virtually impervious to fluids and nearly anhydrous in contrast h2o rich quartzofeldspathic gneissose schistose more permeable metasedimentary and metagranitic units have backreacted thoroughly so coesite and other uhp silicates are exceedingly rare because of the initial presence of biogenic carbon and its especially sluggish transformation rate uhp paragneisses contain the most abundantly preserved crustal diamonds

influence of trench width on subduction hinge retreat rates in 3 d models of slab rollback subduction of tectonic plates limited in lateral extent and with a free trailing tail i e free subduction is modeled in a three dimensional 3 d geometry the models use a nonlinear viscoplastic rheology for the subducting plate and exhibit a wide range of behaviors depending on such plate characteristics as strength width and thickness we investigate the time evolution of this progressive rollback subduction measure the accompanying return flow in the upper mantle and quantify the plate kinematics due to the 3 d geometry flow is allowed to accompany slab rollback around the lateral edges of the slab the toroidal component as opposed to 2 d geometry where material is forced to flow underneath the slab tip the poloidal component a simple force balance is provided which relates the speed of backward trench migration to the resistive forces of generating flow and weakening the plate our results indicate most of the gravitational energy of the system i e the negative buoyancy of the subducting slab is converted into a toroidal flow 69 a much smaller amount goes into weakening the plate 18 and the remaining amount goes into driving flow parallel to displacement of the slab 13 for the trench widths w we investigate 1500 km a maximum trench retreat rate occurs for trenches 600 km wide which is attributed to the interaction between a plate of finite width and the induced flow which has a lengthscale in the horizontal direction these numerical results quantitatively agree with comparable 3 d laboratory experiments using analogue models with a purely viscous plate material schellart 2004a 2004b including correlations between increasing retreat rate with increasing plate thickness trench width for maximum retreat rate 500 km and estimated amount of slab buoyancy used to drive rollback induced flow 70 several implications for plate tectonics on earth result from these models such as rollback subduction providing a physical mechanism for ephemeral slab graveyards situated above the more viscous lower mantle and endothermic phase transition prior to a flushing event into the lower mantle mantle avalanche

a mechanism for syn collisional rock exhumation and associated normal faulting results from physical modelling abstract properly scaled physical modelling of the subduction of continental lithosphere is performed with a three layer lithospheric model the model includes a strong upper crust a weak ductile lower crust and a strong mantle part the lithosphere is underlain by a low viscosity asthenosphere subduction is produced by a piston push force and the pull force from the mantle lithospheric layer which is slightly denser than the asthenosphere the results of the modelling are tested on the example of the himalayas in the experiments all lithospheric layers subduct into the mantle to a depth corresponding to 200 300 km in nature until the upper crustal layer fails in front of the subduction zone forming a first major thrust fault the mct in our interpretation of the himalayas underthrusting along this fault increases relief which upon reaching a height corresponding to several kilometres in nature is removed mechanically by a blade the blade is moved horizontally back and forth throughout the experiment this erosional unloading mechanism causes the previously subducted segment of the buoyant upper crust to slide upward over the weak lower crust at a rate comparable to the subduction rate the rise of the crustal slice accelerates displacement along the crustal thrust while producing a normal sense motion and exhumation of the material from great depth up to 40 50 km depending on the model parameters along the upper surface of the slice the rapid uplift of the crust then ceases and the orogenesis occurs further due to continuing underthrusting along the first major thrust at a certain stage the crust fails again producing a new major crustal thrust the mbt in the himalayas

swarms of repeating stick slip icequakes triggered by snow loading at mount rainier volcano we have detected over 150 000 small m 3000 m on the glacier covered edifice and occur primarily in weeklong to monthlong swarms composed of simultaneous distinct families of events each family contains up to thousands of earthquakes repeating at regular intervals as often as every few minutes mixed polarity first motions a linear relationship between recurrence interval and event size and strong correlation between swarm activity and snowfall suggest the source is stick slip basal sliding of glaciers the sudden added weight of snow during winter storms triggers a temporary change from smooth aseismic sliding to seismic stick slip sliding in locations where basal conditions are favorable to frictional instability coda wave interferometry shows that source locations migrate over time at glacial speeds starting out fast and slowing down over time indicating a sudden increase in sliding velocity triggers the transition to stick slip sliding we propose a hypothesis that this increase is caused by the redistribution of basal fluids rather than direct loading because of a 1 2 day lag between snow loading and earthquake activity this behavior is specific to winter months because it requires the inefficient drainage of a distributed subglacial drainage system identification of the source of these frequent signals offers a view of basal glacier processes discriminates against alarming volcanic noises documents short term effects of weather on the cryosphere and has implications for repeating earthquakes in general

exhumation rates of high pressure metamorphic rocks in subduction channels the effect of rheology 1 exhumation of high pressure metamorphic rocks can take place with typical plate velocities of cm year this is consistent with a model of forced flow in a subduction channel the micro structural record of exhumed metamorphic rocks indicates that stresses are generally too low to drive deformation of the bulk material by dislocation creep according to a power law rheology instead deformation appears to be localized in low strength shear zones and is dominated by dissolution precipitation creep or fluid assisted granular flow implying a newtonian rheology 1d modeling shows that the effective rheology of the material in the subduction channel has a significant influence on the rate of exhumation when the subduction flux either equals or exceeds the return flux the maximum exhumation rate for newtonian behavior of the material is at least twice as high 1 3 of the subduction burial rate compared to that for power law creep 1 6 of the subduction burial rate

a thermomechanical model of exhumation of high pressure hp and ultra high pressure uhp metamorphic rocks in alpine type collision belts using a fully coupled numerical thermomechanical model handling strain localization surface processes and ultra high viscosity contrasts 11 orders of magnitude we test a number of possible mechanisms of high pressure hp low temperature lt high temperature ht exhumation in continental collision zones the model considers two end member cases low or high buoyancy of the downgoing crust the first model case predicts three levels of exhumation in the same collisional context the classical corner flow lp lt low pressure low temperature exhumation in the accretionary prism deeper 70 km hp ht exhumation for the thickened subducting crustal sedimentary wedge and ultra hp ht exhumation from the lower crustal chamber forming at the depth of 100 120 km and separated from the upper one by a narrow crustal channel the width of this channel can oscillate in the process of shortening thus controlling the quantity of the crustal material exchanged between the crustal wedge and the lower crustal chamber although both zones of crustal accumulation and the narrow channel between them resemble a vortex shaped nozzle this nozzle appears to be too soft to produce any significant overpressures from the upper crustal wedge the material is exhumed following the ascending shear flow created by the overriding plate assisted by positive buoyancy of the heated crustal material from the lower crustal chamber the material is transported upward to the upper crustal wedge by a flow induced by the asthenospheric traction and a small scale convective instability forming in the lower crustal chamber due to its heating by the overriding asthenosphere in the second modelled case of high buoyancy the latter mechanisms become dominant resulting in hyper fast exhumation of the crust to the surface accelerated or slowed subduction in case of full or partial crustal decoupling respectively and upper plate extension d 2001 elsevier science b v all rights reserved

conditions for a crustal block to be sheared off from the subducted continental lithosphere what is an essential factor to cause features associated with collision 1 crustal blocks are detached from the subducting lithosphere at various depths i call such phenomena shearing off and investigate the mechanical conditions for shearing off to occur in the continental lithosphere the buoyancy of the crustal block does not work selectively as a driving force until it has been sheared off and i suppose that shearing off occurs when the shear traction at the thrust whose maximum value is calculated from the strength along the thrust overcomes the strength of the boundary faults of the block and determine the depth of the leading edge of the subducted crustal block when shearing off occurs the temperatures of the slab and at its surface are calculated by the steady state formula of molnar and england 1990 as a function of the surface heat flow dip angle and convergence velocity of the subducted continental plate as the shear stress and temperature at the ductile part of the thrust zone are consistent with the flow law the shear stress at the brittle part is a strong function of the pore fluid pressure ratio i show that shearing off of an upper crustal block is possible only for a small value of such as 0 4 when the surface heat flow value is 70 mw m2 i suggest that the essential factor to cause shallow offscraping of crustal blocks in collision zones is not a buoyancy of the continental crust but a low value of which would result from a little amount of dehydration from the subducted continental plate

exhumation of deep crustal metamorphic rocks and crustal extension in arc and back arc regions we adress the problem of exhumation of metamorphic rocks in arc and back arc positions based on observations of the aegean and tyrrhenian back arc regions in both regions back arc extension has been active for 25 ma at least while convergence and crustal thickening was going on at the thrust front compressional structures are reworked in the back arc domain as extensional flat lying detachments which allow unroofing of the metamorphic pile metamorphic rocks suffer first a dynamic burial during nappe stacking and then fast exhumation when they reach the extensional region we describe a continuous process of burial and exhumation that is contemporaneous with the migration of the thrust front toward external zones the front of extension follows behind at approximately one hundred kilometers at the convergence front continuous subduction of a cold oceanic slab or continuous accretion of continental units keeps a cool p t gradient and hp lt metamorphic rocks are formed at depth the overall cool environment leads to a deep brittle ductile transition and thus to a resistant crust which can sustain its large thickness while the thrust front propagates forward parts of the accretionary wedge which were formed earlier enter the back arc domain which can be already under extension and which is warmer because of a greater distance to the cold slab and the presence of the volcanic arc the brittle ductile transition rises in the thick crust which then becomes unstable and subsequently collapses the exhumation history of metamorphic rocks below detachments is two fold 1 a constantely thickening crust is unroofed by flat lying detachments which rework early thrusts this first period is characterized by a good preservation of hp lt parageneses 2 the second period is when rocks are in the zone of crustal scale extension of the back arc region deep crustal metamorphics are exhumed below flat lying detachements which affect the whole crust

thinning of continental backarc lithosphere by flow induced gravitational instability abstract many continental backarcs have thin 60 km lithosphere for 100s of km behind the volcanic arc even where there has been no significant extension one mechanism to produce thin backarc lithosphere is through gravitational thinning of normal thickness lithosphere by subduction related mantle flow the stability of backarc mantle lithosphere is examined using thermal mechanical models of subduction of an oceanic plate beneath continental lithosphere with an initial thickness of 120 km and a thermal structure similar to average phanerozoic continental lithosphere subduction induced mantle flow shears the base of the backarc lithosphere producing lateral density perturbations owing to the non newtonian lithosphere rheology shearing also reduces the effective viscosity of the lowermost lithosphere enabling the density perturbations to become gravitationally unstable the perturbations develop into rapidly growing downwellings which result in removal of lower backarc lithosphere on timescales of 5 10 ma conductive heating and shearing of the remaining lithosphere results in a second more muted phase of gravitational instability and thinning lower lithosphere instability is enhanced by higher subduction rates weaker intrinsic rheology higher compositional density and hotter initial thermal structure the numerical model results are in good agreement with a buoyancy stability analysis which includes the vertical gradients in temperature and strain rate through the lithosphere as both rheology and density depend on lithosphere composition significant thinning may be restricted to continental mantle lithosphere that is fertile and contains a small amount of water to produce a final thickness comparable to that observed without lithospheric contraction or extension it is necessary to have a weak lithosphere rheology an initial thermal structure hotter than average phanerozoic continental geotherms or a combination of the two the region of thin lithosphere at the northern cascadia backarc coincides with terranes that were accreted to the north american craton the known fertile composition of the backarc lithosphere may allow it to be thinned while the drier more refractory craton lithosphere is resistant to thinning

35 ma old ultrahigh pressure metamorphism and evidence for very rapid exhumation in the dora maira massif western alps abstract ion microprobe shrimp data on zircons from various rock types of an ultrahigh pressure uhp metamorphic whiteschist type pyrope quartzite lens of the dora maira massif dmm consistently show domains giving a late eocene age of 35 4 1 0 ma which is taken as the age of uhp metamorphism these domains partially replace the older oscillatory zoning pattern of the zircons formed during primary magmatic crystallization at about 275 ma zircons of a metagranitic country rock next to the uhp metamorphic lens have these primary features best preserved all zircons measured also yield intermediate ages between 275 and 35 ma with a statistical concentration between 260 and 210 ma thus the uniformity of the initial zircon population both in the lens and the country rock evidences a common protolith that is a granite intruded during the late herynian while the intermediate ages are at least partly due to incomplete resetting of the zircons during uhp metamorphism those in the 260 210 ma range may be related to rifting episodes in the permotriassic the mg rich chemistry of the whiteschist lenses is due to local metasomatic alterations of the granite perhaps by fluids derived from evaporitic sediments dating as early as the permotriassic as well the more pervasive resetting of zircon ages during uhp metamorphism in the pyrope quartzite lenses is explained by the ubiquity of fluids and or melts produced during subduction by a series of dehydration reactions that occurred only in the more hydrous mg rich protoliths and not in their drier granitic neighborhood fission track ages determined partly on the same zircon samples yielding 29 9 1 4 ma mark the time when the uhpm unit had reached about 290 c at a shallow location within the crust thus exhumation over a vertical distance of about 120 km must have occurred within about 5 6 ma indicating an average uplift rate of about 20 24 km ma and an average cooling rate of about 85 100 c ma the radiometric data obtained do not lend any support to an eo alpine cretaceous subduction event so that deep subduction and immediately following exhumation all took place during early to mid tertiary time this scenario seems to apply to large portions of the western and central alps as well calling for drastic geodynamic reinterpretations of these parts of the alps

dynamics of orogenic wedges and the uplift of high pressure metamorphic rocks subduction accretion complexes can be approximated as wedge shaped continua with a rigid buttress behind and a subducting litho spheric slab beneath thick wedges undergoing prograde metamorphism have a negligible long term yield strength and are likely to exhibit a complex nonlinear viscous rheology such a wedge will tend to deform internally until it reaches a stable configuration in which the gravitational forces generated by the wedge geometry balance the traction exerted on its underside by the subducting slab accretion of material at the wedge front will lengthen the wedge and cause it to shorten internally to regain the stable geometry this shortening will be expressed as late out of sequence thrusting backthrusting and folding conversely underplating of sediment or crustal slices will thicken the wedge which may need to extend internally to regain stability extension will cause listric normal faults that may merge downward into zones of ductile extension continued underplating at depth and compensating extension above provides a mechanism for bringing high p low t metamorphic rocks to upper levels in the rear of the wedge where they are commonly observed many major tectonic boundaries in convergent orogens such as the coast range thrust in the franciscan complex major nappe contacts in the alps and the contact between the nevado filabride and higher betic nappe complexes in the betic cordillera show abrupt increases in metamorphic grade downward across them this is consistent with their origin or reactivation as uplift related extensional structures

on the relationships between slab dip back arc stress upper plate absolute motion and crustal nature in subduction zones 1 statistical analysis of modern oceanic subduction zone parameters such as the age of a downgoing plate or the absolute plate motions is performed in order to investigate which parameter controls the dip of a slab and conversely what the influence of slab geometry is on upper plate behavior for that purpose parameters have been determined from global databases along 159 transects from all subduction zones that are not perturbed by nearby collision or ridge plateau seamount subduction on the basis of tomographic images slabs that penetrate through or lie on the 670 km discontinuity are also identified the results of the statistical analysis are as follows 1 back arc stress correlates with slab dip i e back arc spreading is observed for deep dips deeper than 125 km larger than 50 whereas back arc shortening occurs only for deep dips less than 30 2 slab dip correlates with absolute motion of the overriding plate the correlation is even better when the slab lies on or even more penetrates through the 670 km discontinuity 3 slabs dip more steeply by about 20 on average beneath oceanic overriding plates than beneath continental ones 4 slabs dip more steeply on average by about 10 near edges 5 slab dip does not correlate with the magnitude of slab pull the age of subducting lithosphere at the trench the thermal regime of the subducting lithosphere the convergence rate or the subduction polarity east versus west the present study provides evidence that the upper plate absolute motion plays an important role on slab dip as well as on upper plate strain retreating overriding plates are often oceanic ones and thus may partially explain the steeper slab dips beneath oceanic upper plates one can infer that low slab dips correlate well with compression in continental advancing upper plates whereas steep dips are often associated with extension in oceanic retreating upper plates excess weight of old slabs is often counterbalanced by other forces probably asthenospheric in origin such as lateral mantle flow near slab edges or anchor forces to determine slab dip

modelling tectonic styles and ultra high pressure uhp rock exhumation during the transition from oceanic subduction to continental collision the tectonic styles of the transition from oceanic subduction to continental collision and their implications for exhumation of uhp material are tested in a series of numerical thermal mechanical models that address subduction collision dynamics at constant convergence rate reference models examine the sensitivity to continental mantle lithosphere density pro continental margin temperature and rheology and retro continental margin rheology three tectonic styles are observed 1 continental subduction without significant deformation of the over riding continent favoured by relatively dense mantle lithosphere and a strong retro continental margin 2 deformation and subduction of the leading edge of the retro continent favoured by low density mantle lithosphere and strong retro continental crust and 3 backthrusting of the retro continental margin and subsequent double subduction favoured by low density mantle lithosphere and weak retro continental crust continental u hp material is formed in all three tectonic styles although it is only efficiently exhumed in the first case three mechanisms contribute to u hp exhumation their importance depending on the evolving geometry of the subduction zone the strength of the continental margin crust and the density of the subducting mantle lithosphere weaker hotter continental margins decouple in the subduction channel and are subsequently exhumed by buoyancy and or driven circulation of material and or forced expulsion in response to insertion of strong continent into the subduction channel plunger effect stronger colder continental material is subducted without detachment and is then transported laterally underplating the retro continental mantle lithosphere neither surface erosion nor slab break off are required for uhp exhumation

the fate of subducted continental margins two stage exhumation of the high pressure to ultrahigh pressure western gneiss region norway thermobarometry suggests that ultrahigh pressure uhp to high pressure hp rocks across the western gneiss region ponded at the moho following as much as 100 km of exhumation through the mantle and before exhumation to the upper crust eclogite across the c 22 000 km 2 study area records minimum pressures of c 8 18 kbar and temperatures of c 650 780 c one orthopyroxene eclogite yields an uhp of c 28 5 kbar and evidence of former coesite has been found c 50 km farther east than previously known despite this widespread evidence of uhp to hp thermobarometry of metapelite and garnet amphibolite samples reveals a surprisingly uniform supra barrovian amphibolite facies overprint at c 11 kbar and c 650 750 c across the entire area chemical zoning analysis suggests that garnet in these samples grew during heating and decompression presumably during the amphibolite facies event these data indicate that the norwegian uhp hp province was exhumed from mantle depths of c 150 km to lower crustal depths where it stalled and underwent a profound high temperature overprint the ubiquity of late stage supra barrovian metamorphic overprints suggests that large scale collisional uhp terranes routinely stall at the continental moho where diminishing body forces are exceeded by boundary forces significant portions of the middle or lower crust worldwide may be formed from uhp terranes that were arrested at the moho and never underwent their final stage of exhumation

exhumation of high pressure rocks a review of concepts and processes the exhumation of high pressure metamorphic rocks requires either the removal of the overburden that caused the high pressures or the transport of the metamorphic rocks through the overburden exhumation cannot be achieved simply by thrusting or strike slip faulting it may be caused by erosion of shortened and thickened crust but this is unlikely to be the only mechanism for exhuming rocks from depths greater than about 20 km one or more of the following additional mechanisms may be involved 1 corner flow of low viscosity material trapped between the upper and lower plates in a subduction zone can cause upward flow of deeply buried rock and may explain some occurrences of high pressure tectonic blocks in melange this process does not however appear to be adequate to explain the exhumation of regional high pressure terrains 2 buoyancy forces acting directly on metamorphic rock bodies may cause them to rise relative to more dense surroundings this is likely to be the most important mechanism of exhumation of crustal rocks subducted into the mantle but cannot explain the emplacement of coherent tracts of high density metamorphic rock into shallow crustal levels some high pressure blocks emplaced at shallow levels in accretionary terrains may have been entrained in diapiric intrusions of low density mud or serpentinite 3 extension driven by the forces associated with contrasts in surface elevation may explain the exhumation and structural setting of many high pressure terrains extension may occur in the upper part of an accretionary wedge thickened by underplating or it may affect the whole lithosphere in a region of intracontinental convergence if surface elevation has been increased by the removal of a lithospheric root in the second case extension may be accompanied by magmatism and an evolution towards higher temperature during decompression of the metamorphic terrain

dating the indian continental subduction and collisional thickening in the northwest himalaya multichronology of the tso morari eclogites multichronometric studies of the low temperature eclogitic tso morari unit ladakh india place timing constraints on the early evolution of the northwest himalayan belt several isotopic systems have been used to date the eclogitization and the exhumation of the tso morari unit lu hf sm nd rb sr and ar ar a ca 55 ma age for the eclogitization has been obtained by lu hf on garnet omphacite and whole rock from mafic eclogite and by sm nd on garnet glaucophane and whole rock from high pressure metapelites these results agree with a previously reported u pb age on allanite and together these ages constrain the subduction of the indian continental margin at the paleocene eocene boundary during exhumation the tso morari rocks underwent thermal relaxation at about 9 3 kbar characterized by partial recrystallization under amphibolite facies conditions ca 47 ma as dated by sm nd on garnet calcic amphibole and whole rock from metabasalt rb sr on phengite apatite and whole rock and ar ar on medium si phengite from metapelites ar ar analyses of biotite and low si muscovite from metapelites which recrystallized at 5 kbar toward the end of the exhumation show that the tso morari unit was at upper crustal levels ca 30 ma these results indicate variable exhumation rates for the tso morari unit beginning with rapid exhumation while the indian margin subduction was still active and later proceeding at a slower pace during the crustal thickening associated with the himalayan collision

asthenospheric upwelling oceanic slab retreat and exhumation of uhp mantle rocks insights from greater antilles 1 exhumation of garnet bearing peridotites has been associated with low density continental rocks this association does not explain the occurrence of garnetbearing peridotites in the oceanic subduction zone of the greater antilles in hispaniola we use numerical models of intra oceanic subduction to explain exhumation of garnet peridotites without involvement of buoyant continental crust we demonstrate that rheological weakening of the mantle wedge takes place due to its strong hydration during subduction of serpentinized slow spreading ridge this weakening triggers upwelling of the hydrated peridotites and partially molten peridotites followed by upwelling of hot asthenosphere and subsequent retreat of the subducting slab according to numerical modelling of p t paths this process can explain exhumation of uhp 4gpa rocks in an intra oceanic setting citation gorczyk w s guillot t v gerya and k hattori 2007 asthenospheric upwelling oceanic slab retreat and exhumation of uhp mantle rocks insights from greater antilles geophys res lett 34 l21309 doi 10 1029 2007gl031059