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Plate tectonics on the Earth triggered by plume-induced subduction initiation

Abstract

Scientific theories of how subduction and plate tectonics began on Earth—and what the tectonic structure of Earth was before this—remain enigmatic and contentious1. Understanding viable scenarios for the onset of subduction and plate tectonics2,3 is hampered by the fact that subduction initiation processes must have been markedly different before the onset of global plate tectonics because most present-day subduction initiation mechanisms require acting plate forces and existing zones of lithospheric weakness, which are both consequences of plate tectonics4. However, plume-induced subduction initiation5,6,7,8,9 could have started the first subduction zone without the help of plate tectonics. Here, we test this mechanism using high-resolution three-dimensional numerical thermomechanical modelling. We demonstrate that three key physical factors combine to trigger self-sustained subduction: (1) a strong, negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere; (2) focused magmatic weakening and thinning of lithosphere above the plume; and (3) lubrication of the slab interface by hydrated crust. We also show that plume-induced subduction could only have been feasible in the hotter early Earth for old oceanic plates. In contrast, younger plates favoured episodic lithospheric drips rather than self-sustained subduction and global plate tectonics.

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Figure 1: Dynamics of plume-induced subduction initiation under present-day mantle temperature conditions.
Figure 2: Development of an embryonic mosaic of plates separated by spreading centres (ridges), triple junctions and transform faults at the latest stage of plume-induced subduction.
Figure 3: Influence of model parameters on the thinning of the oceanic plate under a condition of reduced intensity of magmatism-induced lithospheric weakening.
Figure 4: Plume–lithosphere interaction for hotter mantle temperature and thicker oceanic crust.

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Acknowledgements

This study was co-funded by the ERC ITN project ZIP (T.V.G.), the SNF project Swiss-AlpArray (T.V.G.), the SNF grant 200021_149252 (T.V.G.), the ETH grant ETH-37_11-2 (T.V.G.) and a SNF short scientific visits program (R.J.S.). Simulations were performed on the ETH-Zurich Brutus cluster and on the GFZ-Potsdam cluster. Open-source software ParaView (http://www.paraview.org) was used for 3D visualization.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

T.V.G. designed the study, conducted part of the numerical experiments, interpreted the results and designed the 3D thermo-mechanical code. R.J.S. designed the study, analysed the natural data and interpreted the results. M.B. conducted part of the numerical experiments and interpreted the results. S.V.S. designed the study and interpreted the results. S.A.W. analysed the natural data and interpreted the results. All authors discussed the results, problems and methods, interpreted the data and wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. V. Gerya.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Figure 1 Numerical model design and boundary conditions.

See Methods for details. 2D cross-section through the centre of the model shows the initial temperature distribution. Colour code for different materials is shown at the bottom of the figure.

Extended Data Figure 2 Influence of the oceanic plate age for plume-induced subduction initiation.

Compare with the reference model shown in Fig. 1. a, 10-Myr-old plate (model, ‘M1’ at 2.55 Myr). b, 60-Myr-old plate (model, ‘M2’ at 0.47 Myr). c, 80-Myr-old plate (model, ‘M3’ at 0.42 Myr). d, 120-Myr-old plate (model, ‘M4’ at 0.42 Myr). Dashed lines indicate positions of the 2D cross-sections shown in the right column. Colour code is the same as that in Fig. 1. See Extended Data Table 2 for details of the models.

Extended Data Figure 3 Freezing of plume-induced subduction due to increased strength of upper (basaltic) oceanic crust.

Compare with the reference model shown in Fig. 1. The model used for the simulations was ‘bsay’; see Extended Data Table 2. a, Oceanic plateau development (at 0.11 Myr). b, Subduction initiation and tearing of the circular slab (at 1.15 Myr). c, Freezing of subduction and detachment of lithospheric drips from the slab edges (at 4.67 Myr). d, Cooling of the plume and thermal relaxation of the lithosphere (at 29.65 Myr).

Extended Data Figure 4 Dynamics of plume-induced lithospheric drips for 20-Myr-old plate with 30-km-thick crust formed under hotter mantle temperature conditions.

The model used for the simulations was ‘bsar’; see Extended Data Table 2. a, Oceanic plateau development (at 0.05 Myr). b, Formation of a circular eclogitic crustal drip at the plateau margins (at 0.26 Myr). c, Detachment of the circular eclogitic drip (at 0.34 Myr). d, Broadening of the plateau and nucleation of the subsequent circular eclogitic drip (at 0.46 Myr).

Extended Data Figure 5 2D hydromechanical numerical model of melt-bearing visco-plastic rock deformation.

See Methods for details. a–h, Results for time step 300 are shown. Model domain size is 500 m × 50 m. Parameters of the numerical experiment correspond to the model ‘L27’ in Extended Data Table 3.

Extended Data Figure 6 2D seismomechanical numerical model of visco-elasto-plastic lithosphere deformation assisted by frequent episodes of dyke propagation.

See Methods for details. a–h, Results for time step 1,555 (propagation of dyke number 16) are shown. Model domain size is 3,000 m × 3,000 m. Parameters of the numerical experiment correspond to the model ‘D65’ in Extended Data Table 4.

Extended Data Table 1 Physical properties of rocks used in numerical experiments
Extended Data Table 2 Conditions and results of 3D numerical experiments for plume-induced subduction initiation
Extended Data Table 3 Conditions and results of 2D hydromechanical numerical experiments for melt-bearing rock deformation
Extended Data Table 4 Conditions and results of 2D seismomechanical numerical experiments for lithospheric deformation assisted by dyke propagation

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Gerya, T., Stern, R., Baes, M. et al. Plate tectonics on the Earth triggered by plume-induced subduction initiation. Nature 527, 221–225 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature15752

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