Physical characteristics of subduction interface type seismogenic zones revisited

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

Subduction Zones

[1] Subduction zones are where sediments, oceanic crust, and mantle lithosphere return to and reequilibrate with Earth’s mantle. Subduction zones are interior expressions of Earth’s 55,000 km of convergent plate margins and are the geodynamic system that builds island arcs. Excess density of the mantle lithosphere in subduction zones provides most of the power needed to move the plates while in...

Large trench-parallel gravity variations predict seismogenic behavior in subduction zones.

We demonstrate that great earthquakes occur predominantly in regions with a strongly negative trench-parallel gravity anomaly (TPGA), whereas regions with strongly positive TPGA are relatively aseismic. These observations suggest that, over time scales up to at least 1 million years, spatial variations of seismogenic behavior within a given subduction zone are stationary and linked to the geolo...

Metamorphic evolution along the slab/ mantle interface within subduction zones

One view of the metamorphic subduction system supposes that coupled deformation and prograde/metasomatic reaction between the chemically enriched slab and the depleted mantle wedge promotes the formation of complexly hybridized lithologies along the slab/mantle interface. This type of model is based upon direct observations of the structure and petrology of high-P/T metamorphic complexes (e.g.,...

Simple Kinematics of Subduction Zones

Two main types of subduction zones can be distinguished: (1) those where the subduction hinge migrates away from the upper plate; and (2) those in which the subduction hinge migrates toward the upper plate. Apart from a few exceptions, this distinction seems to apply particularly for W-directed subduction zones and Eor NE-directed subduction zones, respectively. Moreover, the rate of subduction...