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On the initiation of subductionEstimates of shear resistance associated with lithospheric thrusting and convergence represent lower bounds on the force necessary to promote trench formation. Three environments proposed as preferential sites of incipient subduction are investigated: passive continental margins, transform faults/fracture zones, and extinct ridges. None of these are predicted to convert into subduction zones simply by the accumulation of local gravitational stresses. Subduction cannot initiate through the foundering of dense oceanic lithosphere immediately adjacent to passive continental margins. The attempted subduction of buoyant material at a mature trench can result in large compressional forces in both subducting and overriding plates. This is the only tectonic force sufficient to trigger the nucleation of a new subduction zone. The ubiquitous distribution of transform faults and fracture zones, combined with the common proximity of these features to mature subduction complexes, suggests that they may represent the most likely sites of trench formation if they are even marginally weaker than normal oceanic lithosphere.
Document ID
19910037624
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Mueller, Steve
(Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas, TX, United States)
Phillips, Roger J.
(Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 10, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 96
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
91A22247
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-459
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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