NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Dynamical consequences on fast subducting slabs from a self-regulating mechanism due to viscous heating in variable viscosity convectionWe have studied 2-D time-dependent convection for a rheology which is both non-Newtonian and temperature-dependent. Strong effects associated with viscous heating are found in the downwelling sheets, which are heated on both sides with an intensity around O(100) times the chondritic value. The magnitude of viscous heating increases strongly with the subduction speed. The slab interior is weakened by viscous heating and slab breakoff then takes place. This process provides a self-regulating mechanism for governing the speed of intact slabs able to reach the deep mantle. Timescales associated with viscous heating are quite short, a few million years. Internal heating by radioactivity decreases the amount of shear heating.
Document ID
19950056942
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Larsen, Tine B.
(Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN United States)
Yuen, David A.
(Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN United States)
Malevsky, Andrei V.
(Beckman Inst. Urbana, IL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
May 15, 1995
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 22
Issue: 10
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95A88541
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available