GEOPHYSICS: Subduction and Heat Flow

Thermal modeling of continental subduction and exhumation constrained by heat flow and seismicity in Taiwan

The thermal evolution of crustal exhumation subsequent to the subduction of the continental margin is modeled through numerical solutions to the two-dimensional heat conduction equation. The boundary conditions used in the modeling are basically constrained by available geophysical and geological observations in the Taiwan area. Temperature distributions are calculated at one-million-year inter...

Heat - Flow Heat - Flow Heat - Flow

Choosing between multiple ontological perspectives is crucial for reasoning about the physical world. Choosing the wrong perspective can make a reasoning task impossible. This paper introduces a Lagrangian plug flow ontology (PF) for reasoning about thermodynamic fluid flow. We show that this ontology captures continuously changing behaviors of flowing fluids not represented in currently implem...

Anisotropy and Flow in Pacific Subduction Zone Back-arcs

We have obtained constraints on the strength and orientation of anisotropy in the mantle beneath the Tonga, southern Kuril, Japan, and Izu-Bonin subduction zones using shear-wave splitting in S phases from local earthquakes and in teleseismic core phases such as SKS. The observed splitting in all four subduction zones is consistent with a model in which the lower transition zone (520–660 km) an...

Heat Flow

Three-dimensional instantaneous mantle flow induced by subduction

[1] We conduct three-dimensional subduction experiments by a finite element approach to study flow around slabs, which are prescribed based on a transient stage of upper mantle subduction from a laboratory model. Instantaneous velocity field solutions are examined, focusing on the toroidal vs. poloidal components as a function of boundary conditions, plate width, and viscosity contrast between ...