Effects of plate bending and fault strength at subduction zones on plate dynamics

Plate bending at subduction zones: Consequences for the direction of plate motions

Bending of lithospheric plates at subduction zones is thought to be an important source of dissipation for convection in the Earth's mantle. However, the influence of bending on plate motion is uncertain. Here we use a variational description of mantle convection to show that bending strongly affects the direction of plate motion. Subduction of slabs and subsidence of oceanic lithosphere with a...

E ects of Plate Bending and FaultStrength at Subduction Zones onPlate

Dynamics of subduction initiation at preexisting fault zones

We show that a new subduction zone can initiate at a preexisting dipping fault zone with reasonable plate forces, consistent with what is observed in the western Pacific. The dynamics of subduction initiation within a viscoelastic medium has been systematically explored with the finite element method. We investigate the compression of oceanic lithosphere with hoth force and velocity boundary co...

Frictional Characteristics in Deeper Part of Seismogenic Transition Zones on a Subduction Plate Boundary

Rotation and plate locking at the southern Cascadia subduction zone

Global Positioning System vectors and surface tilt rates are inverted simultaneously for the rotation of western Oregon and plate locking on the southern Cascadia subduction thrust fault. Plate locking appears to be largely offshore, consistent with earlier studies, and is sufficient to allow occasional great earthquakes inferred from geology. Clockwise rotation of most of Oregon about a nearby...