Eclogitization
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Southeast Asia: New Views of the Geology of the Malay Archipelago Open
Southeast (SE) Asia is surrounded by subduction zones causing intense seismicity and volcanic activity. Subduction has been the principal tectonic driver of collisions that caused the growth of continental SE Asia, and most recently the co…
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High‐Pressure Granulite Facies Overprinting During the Exhumation of Eclogites in the Bangong‐Nujiang Suture Zone, Central Tibet: Link to Flat‐Slab Subduction Open
The geometric transformation of a descending plate, such as from steep to flat subduction in response to a change from normal to overthickened oceanic crust during subduction, is a common and important geological process at modern or fossi…
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Subduction Orogeny and the Late Cenozoic Evolution of the Mediterranean Arcs Open
The Late Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Mediterranean region, which is sandwiched between the converging African and European continents, is dominated by the process of subduction orogeny. Subduction orogeny occurs where localized subd…
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Ophiolites of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Geochemical and petrological characterization and tectonic settings Open
We present a compilation of published data (field, petrography, ages and geochemistry) from 73 ophiolitic complexes of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The ophiolitic complexes, ranging in age from Neoproterozoic to Triassic, have been geo…
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Causes and consequences of flat-slab subduction in southern Peru Open
Flat or near-horizontal subduction of oceanic lithosphere has been an important tectonic process both currently and in the geologic past. Subduction of the aseismic Nazca Ridge beneath South America has been associated with the onset of fl…
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Rapid conversion of an oceanic spreading center to a subduction zone inferred from high-precision geochronology Open
Significance Subduction, the process by which tectonic plates sink into the mantle, is a fundamental tectonic process on Earth, yet the question of where and how new subduction zones form remains a matter of debate. In this study, we find …
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Archean eclogite-facies oceanic crust indicates modern-style plate tectonics Open
Significance The onset time of plate tectonics is highly debated in the Earth sciences. A key indicator of modern-style plate tectonics, with deep subduction of oceanic plates, is the presence of eclogite (oceanic crust metamorphosed at hi…
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Length scales and types of heterogeneities along the deep subduction interface: Insights from exhumed rocks on Syros Island, Greece Open
We use structural and microstructural observations from exhumed subduction-related rocks exposed on Syros Island (Cyclades, Greece) to provide constraints on the length scales and types of heterogeneities that occupy the deep subduction in…
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Subduction initiation without magmatism: The case of the missing Alpine magmatic arc Open
Models of orogens identify subduction of oceanic crust as the key mechanism leading to continental collision. Such models, based inter alia on thermobarometric and geochronological evidence preserved in high-pressure metamorphic rocks and …
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Continental underplating after slab break-off Open
We present three-dimensional numerical models to investigate the dynamics of continental collision, and in particular what happens to the subducted continental lithosphere after oceanic slab break-off. We find that in some scenarios the su…
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From oceanic to continental subduction: Implications for the geochemical and redox evolution of the supra-subduction mantle Open
Processes taking place in subduction zones are the main controller of the chemical cycle of volatile and incompatible elements in the Earth system. Metamorphic devolatilization reactions occurring during slab burial play a key role in the …
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Subduction Duration and Slab Dip Open
The dip angles of slabs are among the clearest characteristics of subduction zones, but the factors that control them remain obscure. Here, slab dip angles and subduction parameters, including subduction duration, the nature of the overrid…
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Control of Subduction Zone Age and Size on Flat Slab Subduction Open
Flat slab subduction is an enigmatic style of subduction where the slab attains a horizontal orientation for up to several hundred kilometers below the base of the overriding plate. It has been linked to the subduction of buoyant aseismic …
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Poly-cyclic Metamorphic Evolution of Eclogite: Evidence for Multistage Burial–Exhumation Cycling in a Subduction Channel Open
(Ultra-)high-pressure [(U)HP] eclogites provide direct evidence for metamorphic processes at mantle depths in subduction zones. Textural evidence and pressure–temperature (P–T) path reconstruction allow a unique opportunity to constrain th…
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The effects of subduction termination on the continental lithosphere: Linking volcanism, deformation, surface uplift, and slab tearing in central Anatolia Open
Subduction beneath central Anatolia represents the transition between continuous subduction along the Aegean trench in the west and slab break-off and/or subduction termination at the Arabian-Eurasian collision zone in the east. Using rece…
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Numerical modeling of subduction: State of the art and future directions Open
During the past five decades, numerical modeling of subduction, one of the most challenging and captivating geodynamic processes, remained in the core of geodynamic research. Remarkable progress has been made in terms of both in-depth unde…
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Subduction history of the Caribbean from upper-mantle seismic imaging and plate reconstruction Open
The margins of the Caribbean and associated hazards and resources have been shaped by a poorly understood history of subduction. Using new data, we improve teleseismic P -wave imaging of the eastern Caribbean upper mantle and compare ident…
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The Crustal Domains of the Alboran Basin (Western Mediterranean) Open
The Alboran Basin in the westernmost Mediterranean hosts the orogenic boundary between the Iberian and African plates. Although numerous geophysical studies of crustal structure onshore Iberia have been carried out during the last decade, …
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Effects of water transportation on subduction dynamics: Roles of viscosity and density reduction Open
The effects of water on subduction dynamics, e.g., plate migration rate, slab geometry, stress field, and back-arc spreading, are investigated by using a 2-D self-consistent model for lithosphere subduction and whole mantle convection. We …
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Differentiating induced versus spontaneous subduction initiation using thermomechanical models and metamorphic soles Open
Despite the critical role of subduction in plate tectonics, the dynamics of its initiation remains unclear. High-temperature low-pressure metamorphic soles are vestiges of subduction initiation, providing records of the pressure and temper…
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Late Orogenic Heating of (Ultra)High Pressure Rocks: Slab Rollback vs. Slab Breakoff Open
Some (ultra)high-pressure metamorphic rocks that formed during continental collision preserve relict minerals, indicating a two-stage evolution: first, subduction to mantle depths and exhumation to the lower-crustal level (with simultaneou…
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Oblique subduction and mantle flow control on upper plate deformation: 3D geodynamic modeling Open
Most subduction zones on Earth are oblique, i.e., the angle between the plate convergence vector and the trench notably differs from 90°. Therefore, modeling and understanding the strain partitioning in the forearc, the development of exte…
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Relamination Styles in Collisional Orogens Open
During continental collision, a part of the lower‐plate material can be subducted, emplaced at the base of the upper plate, and eventually incorporated into its crust. This mechanism of continental‐crust transformation is called relaminati…
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Plume‐Induced Subduction Initiation: Single‐Slab or Multi‐Slab Subduction? Open
Initiation of subduction following the impingement of a hot buoyant mantle plume is one of the few scenarios that allow breaking the lithosphere and recycling a stagnant lid without requiring any preexisting weak zones. Here, we investigat…
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Indian plate paleogeography, subduction and horizontal underthrusting below Tibet: paradoxes, controversies and opportunities Open
The India–Asia collision zone is the archetype to calibrate geological responses to continent–continent collision, but hosts a paradox: there is no orogen-wide geological record of oceanic subduction after initial collision around 60–55 Ma…
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Uplift rate transients at subduction margins due to earthquake clustering Open
Coastal uplift is common in continental fore‐arc systems, with elevated paleoshorelines indicating that uplift rates can vary dramatically over time on individual margins. The origins of these changes in uplift rates are examined using a g…
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History of Subduction Polarity Reversal During Arc‐Continent Collision: Constraints From the Andaman Ophiolite and its Metamorphic Sole Open
Subduction polarity reversal during arc‐continent collision has been proposed as a key mechanism to initiate new subduction zones. Despite often interpreted, well‐exposed geological record that document the reversal is sparse. The ophiolit…
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Mantle Flow as a Trigger for Subduction Initiation: A Missing Element of the Wilson Cycle Concept Open
The classical Wilson Cycle concept, describing repeated opening and closing of ocean basins, hypothesizes spontaneous conversion of passive continental margins into subduction zones. This process, however, is impeded by the high strength o…
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Mantle earthquakes in the Himalayan collision zone Open
Earthquakes are known to occur beneath southern Tibet at depths up to ∼95 km. Whether these earthquakes occur within the lower crust thickened in the Himalayan collision or in the mantle is a matter of current debate. Here we compare verti…
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Plume‐Induced Sinking of Intracontinental Lithospheric Mantle: An Overlooked Mechanism of Subduction Initiation? Open
Although many different mechanisms for subduction initiation have been proposed, only few of them are viable in terms of consistency with observations and reproducibility in numerical experiments. In particular, it has recently been demons…