Architecture and Kinematics of the Taiwan Arc-Continent Collision

Abstract:

In Taiwan two subduction zones come together in quasi-orthogonal, kinematically stable configuration. Under Taiwan the upper crust of Eurasia is decoupled from the rest of the lithosphere by a detachment that forms the main subduction interface between Eurasia (EU) and Philippine Sea plate (PSP). This interface is visible in both seismicity and crustal tomography at shallow depths and can be followed into the mantle to depths of 450-500 km using global tomography. The plate interface between EU and PSP in the upper 100 km changes from about 60 degrees in the south to vertical (south-central Taiwan) to overturned (north-central Taiwan). The Eurasian Moho is similarly folded, but it does not overturn. Shortening across the plate boundary is accomplished by a combination of subduction of Eurasian lithosphere, folding and thrusting in the Eurasian upper crust, and a secondary subduction zone within the PSP. We hypothesize that: (1) once arc-continent collision occurs, subduction of Eurasian continental lower crust and upper mantle can continue by lithospheric delamination and by continuity with the much larger Eurasian slab to the south; (2) the upper crust of EU deforms by faulting and folding; (3) the present convergence rate of about 90 mm/yr is limited to the last 2 Ma, whereas the long-term rate is about 30 mm/yr and in Taiwan the difference is being taken up by secondary subduction within the PSP margin; (4) a margin-parallel STEP (Subduction-Transform-Edge-Propagator) fault forms the northern limit of Eurasian subduction, which allows the whole system to propagate self-similarly southwestward.