Plate interface strength and the flexural rigidity of subducting oceanic plates

Abstract:

Flexural rigidity estimates across a wide range of subduction zones reveal that oceanic plates rapidly weaken as they bend and pass through the outer-rise region into the trench. Inherently, the magnitude of weakening reflects the forces acting on the plate, which drive deformation through plastic yielding and brittle faulting. These forces include those acting to drive (slab pull) or resist (bending, plate coupling) subduction, which vary significantly through long-term (millions of years) changes in slab structure and dynamics. The forces also vary on seismic time-scales as indicated by changes in outer-rise seismicity characteristics before and after great earthquakes in many regions. As the rheology of the downgoing-overriding plate interface plays a first-order role in governing great earthquake seismicity, a quantifiable relationship may exist between large-scale slab weakening and the strength of the subduction interface.

Here, we assess this relationship using high-resolution, thermal-mechanical models of the Tonga subduction zone. Rather than developing subduction through time-dependent processes, these models use a cross-sectional slice (2-D) through the Tonga subduction zone as an initial condition in order to approximate the modern forces driving and resisting subduction. Consequently, deformation patterns develop over short (< 0.1 Myr) time-scales, allowing a direct comparison to measurements of flexural rigidity. We define a rheologically distinct, 1 km thick zone between the downgoing and overriding plate. The properties of this zone are varied to examine a range of interface strengths, including fixed (Von Mises), pressure (Mohr-Coulomb) and velocity-dependent rheologies. We then quantify the relationship between variations in subduction interface strength on these time-scales and the corresponding changes in the flexural rigidity of the subducting plate.