Skip to main content

Mantle wedge deformation by subducting and rotating slab and its possible implication

Abstract

We have constructed a simple model of the deformation of the mantle wedge caused by the subducting and rotating slab based on corner flow model. By applying this model to the geological settings of the Somuncura plateau volcanic region, northern Patagonia, which is located far from the volcanic front, we constrain the mechanical aspect of the hypothesis that the volcanisms of the Somuncura region are triggered by the dehydration-induced melting of the up-warped transition zone which may contain more water than other regions do. Assuming that the water concentrates in the transition zone under the Somuncura plateau, we find that the above scenario may be possible, if the speed of the subducting slab is less than 2 cm/yr or the dip angle changes significantly (50 degrees within 8 Myr).

References

  • Batchelor, G. K., An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics, Cambridge Univ. Press, England, 655 pp., 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bercovici, D. and S. Karato, Whole-mantle convection and the transition-zone water filter, Nature, 425, 39–44, 2003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohm, M., S. Luth, H. Echtler, G. Asch, K. Bataille, C. Bruhn, A. Rietbrock, and P. Wigger, The Southern Andes between 36° and 40°S latitude: seismicity and average seismic velocities, Tectonophys., 356, 275–289, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cande, S. C. and R. B. Leslie, Late Cenozoic tectonics of the Southern Chile trench, J. Geophys. Res., 91, 471–496, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Ignacio, C., I. Lopez, R. Oyarzun, and A. Marquez, The northern Patagonia Somuncura plateau basalts: a product of slab-induced, shallow asthenospheric upwelling?, Terra Nova, 13, 117–121, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furukawa, Y., Magmatic processes under arcs and formation of the volcanic front, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 8309–8319, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue, T., Effect of water on melting phase relations and melt composition in the system Mg2SiO4-MgSiO3-H2O up to 15 GPa, Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 85, 237–263, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iwamori, H., Degree of melting and source composition of Cenozoic basalts in southwest Japan: evidence for mantle upwelling by flux melting, J. Geophys. Res., 97, 10983–10995, 1992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, S. M., A. Ardolino, M. Franchi, and V. A. Ramos, El origen de la meseta de Somuncura: Distribucion y geoquimica de sus rocas volcanicas maficas, Proceedings 12th Congreso Geologico Argentino, 4, 236–248, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komabayashi, T. Omori, S. and S. Maruyama, Petrogenetic grid in the system MgO-SiO2-H2O up to 30 GPa, 1600°C: Applications to hydrous peridotite subducting into the Earth’s deep interior, J. Geophys. Res., 109, B03206, doi:10.1029/2003JB002651, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsukage, K., J. Zhicheng, and S. Karato, Density of hydrous silicate melt at the conditions of Earth’s deep mantle, Nature, 438, 488–491, 2005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie, D. P., Speculations on the consequences and causes of plate motions, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc., 18, 1–32, 1968.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miyashiro, A., Hot regions and the origin of marginal basins in the western Pacific, Tectonophys., 122, 195–216, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, W. J., Convection plumes in the lower mantle, Nature, 230, 42–43, 1971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz, J., R. Troncoso, P. Duhart, P. Crignola, L. Farmer, and C. R. Stern, The relation of the mid-Tertiary coastal magmatic belt in south-central Chile to the late Oligocene increase in plate convergence rate, Revista Geologica de Chile, 27, 177–204, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohtani, E. and M. Maeda, Density of basaltic melt at high pressure and stability of melt at the base of the lower mantle, Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett., 193, 69–75, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orihashi, Y., A. Motoki, M. J. Haller, H. Sumino, H. Iwamori, F. D. Cario, D. Hirata, R. Anma, and K. Nagao, New geochronological and geochemical constrains for extra back-arc volcanism in Somuncura region, northern Patagonia, Abstracts IAVCEI, General Assembly 2004, S07C, 12, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orihashi, Y., A. Motoki, M. J. Haller, and CHRISTMASSY Project Volcanic Group, Petrogenesis of relatively large-volume basalts on extraback arc province: Somuncura plateau, north Patagonia, Earth Monthly, 27, 438–447, 2005 (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rapela, C. W., L. A. Spalletti, J. C. Merodio, and E. Aragon, Temporal evolution and spatial variation of early Tertiary volcanism in the Patag-onian Andes, J. South American Earth Sciences, 1, 75–88, 1988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richard, G., M. Monnereau, and J. Ingrin, Is the transition zone an empty water reservoir? Inferences from numerical model of mantle dynamics, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 205, 37–51, 2002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakamaki, T., A. Suzuki, and E. Ohtani, Stability of hydrous melt at the base of the Earth’s upper mantle, Nature, 439, 192–194, 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smyth, J. R. and T. Kawamoto, Wadsleyite II: A new high pressure hydrous phase in the peridotite-H2O system, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 146, E9–E16, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stern, C. R., F. A. Frey, K. Futa, R. E. Zartman, Z. C. Peng, and T. K. Kyser, Tarce-element and Sr, Nd, Pb and O isotopic composition of Pliocene to Quaternary alkali basalts of the Patagonian plateau lavas of southernmost of South-America, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 104, 294–308, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storey, B. C., The role of mantle plumes in continental breakup: case histories from Gondwanaland, Nature, 377, 301–308, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tebbens, S. F. and S. C. Cande, Southeastern Pacific tectonic evolution from early Oligocene to present, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 12061–12084, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, D., L. Jianshe, and T. Rongyu, Origin of the Changbai intraplate volcanism in Northeast China: Evidence from seismic tomography, Chin. Sci. Bull., 13, 1401–1408, 2004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Honda.

Rights and permissions

Open Access  This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Honda, S., Orihashi, Y., Mibe, K. et al. Mantle wedge deformation by subducting and rotating slab and its possible implication. Earth Planet Sp 58, 1087–1092 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352614

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352614

Key words