Origin of Small Tectonic Plates

Abstract:

The plate tectonic theory allowed to split the Earth surface into 6 (Le Pichon 1968) to 52 tectonic plates (Bird 2003). These plates are separated into two groups: the first of 7 large plates and the second of numerous smaller plates (Morra et al 2013). Previous studies using the reconstruction of the past 200 My, suggest that the size of large plates is driven by mantle flow. But the tools employed are descriptive (Morra et al 2013, Sornette and Pisarenko 2003), hence ignoring forces and physical principles within the lithosphere and the mantle. The processes at the origin of small plates remain unknown.

We developed a new approach to explain the plate sizes. We demonstrate that the physics of convection drives it. We applied plate tectonics theory on 3D spherical convection models generating plate-like motions, which give access to a complete survey of data: velocities, viscosity and heat flow.

Our data show that (1) the large plates depend on the dominating scale of the convective flow due to the initiation or the shutdown of subductions; (2) the smaller plates are generated thanks to large variability of regional stresses along subduction zone by slab pull and suction influenced by the geometry of trenches.

Our results are consistent with the quick reorganizations of back-arc basins occuring synchronously with the modification of subduction zones geometry around the Pacific plate (Sdrolias et al 2004). Hence, we conclude that (1) the decreasing number of small plates in the plate reconstructions back in time is an artifact induced by their short lifetime, that is why they are artificially ignored; (2) the geometry of past trenches is simplified leading to an underestimation of the length of subduction zones.