Title
Effects of change in slab geometry on the mantle flow and slab fabric in Southern Peru
Date Issued
01 October 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Knezevic Antonijevic S.
Wagner L.
Beck S.
Long M.
Zandt G.
Publisher(s)
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Abstract
The effects of complex slab geometries on the surrounding mantle flow field are still poorly understood. Here we combine shear wave velocity structure with Rayleigh wave phase anisotropy to examine these effects in southern Peru, where the slab changes its geometry from steep to flat. To the south, where the slab subducts steeply, we find trench-parallel anisotropy beneath the active volcanic arc that we attribute to the mantle wedge and/or upper portions of the subducting plate. Farther north, beneath the easternmost corner of the flat slab, we observe a pronounced low-velocity anomaly. This anomaly is caused either by the presence of volatiles and/or flux melting that could result from southward directed, volatile-rich subslab mantle flow or by increased temperature and/or decompression melting due to small-scale vertical flow. We also find evidence for mantle flow through the tear north of the subducting Nazca Ridge. Finally, we observe anisotropy patterns associated with the fast velocity anomalies that reveal along strike variations in the slab's internal deformation. The change in slab geometry from steep to flat contorts the subducting plate south of the Nazca Ridge causing an alteration of the slab petrofabric. In contrast, the torn slab to the north still preserves the primary (fossilized) petrofabric first established shortly after plate formation.
Start page
7252
End page
7270
Volume
121
Issue
10
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas Ingeniería ambiental y geológica Geografía física
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84990967244
Source
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
ISSN of the container
21699313
Sponsor(s)
We are thankful to Donald Forsyth for access to his inversion codes. Collection of the PULSE and CAUGHT data sets was facilitated by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). Data collected are available through the IRIS Data Management Center. We thank Robert Clayton and Paul Davies for providing the records from eight PERUSE stations. We acknowledge helpful comments from anonymous reviewers for suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. The PULSE experiment was supported by NSF grants EAR-0944184 (LSW), EAR-0943991 (SLB), and EAR-0943962 (MDL). The CAUGHT project was supported by NSF grants EAR-0908777 (LSW) and EAR-0907880 (SLB).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus