Hydro-mechanical regimes of deforming subduction interface: modeling versus observations

Abstract:

A lot of evidence indicates that fluid flows exist in the subduction interface, including seismic observation, magnetotelluric imaging, heat flow modeling, etc. Fluid percolation should strongly modify rock deformation affected by fluid-induced weakening within the subduction interface. Hence, we study the fluid-rock interaction along the subduction interface using a visco-plastic hydro-mechanical model, in which rock deformation and fluid percolation are self-consistently coupled. Based on a series of 2D numerical experiments, we found two typical hydro-mechanical regimes of deforming subduction interface: (1) coupled and (2) decoupled. In the case of the coupled regime, the tectonic movement of the subduction interface is divided into blocks; newly generated faults are distributed uniformly , say fault band; fluid activity concentrates inside the faults. In the case of the decoupled regime, the upper layer of the subduction interface stops moving while the lower layer continues moving along with the subduction slab; a primary fault is generated at the centre of the subduction interface, or namely decoupled interface. Available observations suggests that both coupled and decoupled regimes can be observed in the nature at different scales. Systematic parameter study suggests that it is mainly the magnitude of the yield strength of subducted rocks depending on their cohesion and friction coefficient, which control the transition between the coupled and decoupled subduction interface regimes.