Researchers measured the height of the seafloor in back-arc basins around the world after correcting for sediment, crustal structure and plate age, to work out how much of that height is due to deeper mantle processes. They found that most of these basins sit lower than expected, and this effect gets stronger where the subducting … Read more…
Using three-dimensional numerical models, the authors investigate how a buoyant ribbon of thickened oceanic crust colliding with a subduction zone disturbs stress and strain within the subducting slab and the surrounding plates. They find that the angle of collision creates compartmentalised zones of high and low strain rate around a region of strong vorticity, and … Read more…
The lithospheric architecture of passive margins is crucial for understanding the tectonic processes that caused the breakup of Gondwana. We highlight the evolution of the South Atlantic passive margins by a simple thermal lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) model based on onset and cessation of rifting, crustal thickness, and stretching factors. We simulate lithospheric thinning and select … Read more…