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...

The stretching and break-up of tectonic plates by rifting control the evolution of continents and oceans, but the processes by which lithosphere deforms and accommodates strain during rifting remain enigmatic. Using scattering of teleseismic shear waves beneath rifted zones and adjacent areas in Southern California, we resolve the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and lithospheric thickness va...

If it is assumed that mantle convection is shallow, i.e. limited to an upper layer of 700 km, then the extent of surface plates must be such that aspect ratios are noticeably large, in contrast to many laboratory and numerical experiments. A rheology which depends strongly on temperature and pressure is provided as an explanation of why this may occur. The aspect ratio, it is suggested, is pref...

Plate tectonics was originally established as a kinematic theory of global tectonics, in which the Earth’s rigid outer layer, lithosphere, consists different size plates that move relative to each other along divergent, convergent or transform boundaries overlying ductile asthenosphere. It comprises three elements: lithosphere plates, asthenosphere, and coupled movement systems. operates throug...

Young mafic lavas from the East African Western Rift record melting of subcontinental lithospheric mantle that was metasomatically modified by multiple tectonic events. We report new isotope data monogenetic cinder cones near Bufumbira, Uganda, in Virunga Volcanic Field: 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7059–0.7079, εNd −6.5 to −1.3, εHf −6.3 +0.9, 208Pb/204Pb 40.1–40.7, 207Pb/204Pb 15.68–15.75, and 206Pb/204Pb 1...

Tectonic plates are thought to move above the asthenosphere due presence of accumulated melts or volatiles that result in a low-viscosity layer, known as lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB). Here, we report experiments suggesting may slide through solid-state mechanism. Ultrafine-grained aggregates Mg2GeO4 and minor MgGeO3 were synthetized using spark plasma sintering (SPS) deformed 1-atm ...