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Science 10 February 1995:
Vol. 267. no. 5199, pp. 838 - 843
DOI: 10.1126/science.267.5199.838
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Articles

Mantle Convection with Plates and Mobile, Faulted Plate Margins

Shijie Zhong 1 and Michael Gurnis 1

1 Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

A finite-element formulation of faults has been incorporated into time-dependent models of mantle convection with realistic rheology, continents, and phase changes. Realistic tectonic plates naturally form with self-consistent coupling between plate and mantle dynamics. After the initiation of subduction, trenches rapidly roll back with subducted slabs temporarily laid out along the base of the transition zone. After the slabs have penetrated into the lower mantle, the velocity of trench migration decreases markedly. The inhibition of slab penetration into the lower mantle by the 670-kilometer phase change is greatly reduced in these models as compared to models without tectonic plates.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Reconstructing Farallon Plate Subduction Beneath North America Back to the Late Cretaceous.
L. Liu, S. Spasojevic, and M. Gurnis (2008)
Science 322, 934-938
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The role of the East Asian active margin in widespread extensional and strike-slip deformation in East Asia.
W.P. Schellart and G.S. Lister (2005)
Journal of the Geological Society 162, 959-972
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Models for Distribution of Terrestrial Noble Gases and Evolution of the Atmosphere.
D. Porcelli and C. J. Ballentine (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 411-480
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Eclogite rheology: Implications for subducted lithosphere.
Z.-M. Jin, J. Zhang, H.W. Green II, and S. Jin (2001)
Geology 29, 667-670
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Compositional Heterogeneity in the Bottom 1000 Kilometers of Earth's Mantle: Toward a Hybrid Convection Model.
R. D. van der Hilst and H. Kárason (1999)
Science 283, 1885-1888
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The kinematics of back-arc basins, examples from the Tyrrhenian, Aegean and Japan Seas.
L. Jolivet, C. Faccenna, N. D'Agostino, M. Fournier, and D. Worrall (1999)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 164, 21-53
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