Studies of past sea-level markers are commonly used to unveil the tectonic history and seismic behavior of subduction zones. We present new evidence on vertical motions of the Hellenic subduction zone as resulting from a suite of Late Pleistocene - Holocene shorelines in western Crete (Greece). Shoreline ages obtained by AMS radiocarbon dating of seashells, together with the reappraisal of shor...

We developed a kinematic earthquake cycle model applicable to transform fault zones, subduction zones, and collision zones on the basis of elastic dislocation theory. The crustal deformation associated with the periodic occurrence of interplate earthquakes is generally given by the superposition of viscoelastic responses to steady slip on the whole plate boundary, steady back slip on the seismi...

Large earthquakes occur in rocks undergoing high-pressure/low-temperature metamorphism during subduction. Rhythmic major-element zoning in garnet is a common product of such metamorphism, and one that must record a fundamental subduction process. We argue that rhythmic major-element zoning in subduction zone garnets from the Franciscan Complex, California, developed in response to growth-dissol...

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t The horizontal Nazca slab, extending over a distance of ∼800 km along the trench is one of enigmatic features in Peruvian subduction zone. Increased buoyancy of the oceanic lithosphere alone due to the subduction of Nazca Ridge is insufficient to fully explain such a lengthy segment. We use data from the recent seismic experiment in southern Peru to find th...

A simple model which relates the rate of seafloor creation and the age of the oceanic lithosphere at subduction to the rate of continental accretion can successfully explain the apparent differences between Archaean and Phanerozoic terrains in terms of plate tectonics. The model has been derived using the following parameters: (1) the spreading rate at mid-ocean ridges; (2) the age of the ocean...

We investigate the dehydration processes in subduction zones and their implications for the water cycle throughout Earth's history. We use a numerical tool that combines thermo-mechanical models with a thermodynamic database to examine slab dehydration for present-day and early Earth settings and its consequences for the deep water recycling. We investigate the reactions responsible for releasi...

[1] The two large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPs) at the base of the lower mantle are prominent features in all shear wave tomography models. Various lines of evidence suggest that the LLSVPs are thermochemical and are stable on the order of hundreds of million years. Hot spots and large igneous province eruption sites tend to cluster around the edges of LLSVPs. With 3‐D global spherical ...

Biotite and K-feldspar Ar/Ar systems from the east-central Peninsular Ranges batholith near 33°N were affected by two distinct phases of Late Cretaceous rapid cooling. The 85-Ma biotite K-Ar isochron separates comparatively shallow rocks in the southwest that record earlier cooling (91–86 Ma) from deeper rocks in the northeast that record later cooling (78–68 Ma). Samples close to 85 Ma isochro...

A thin-shell program for modeling neotectonics of regional or global lithosphere with faults. Influence of fore-arc structure on the extent of great subduction zone earthquakes. 1994: Effects of multiple phase transitions in a three-dimensional spherical model of convection in Earth's mantle. 2000: Role of temperaturedependent viscosity and surface plates in spherical shell models of mantle con...

[1] Shear-wave splitting observations from many subduction zones show complex patterns of seismic anisotropy that commonly have trench-parallel fast directions. Three-dimensional flow may give rise to trench-parallel stretching and provide an explanation for these patterns of seismic anisotropy. Along-strike variations in slab geometry produce trench-parallel pressure gradients and are therefor...