Subduction - Theory On Origin

Theory On Origin

Although the process of subduction as it occurs today is fairly well understood, its origin remains a matter of discussion and ongoing study. A recent paper by V.L. Hansen in Geology presented a hypothesis that mantle upwelling and similar thermal processes, combined with an impact from an extraterrestrial source, would give the early earth the discontinuities in the crust for the subduction of the denser material underneath lighter material.

A model of the initiation of subduction, based on analytic and analog modeling, presumes that the difference of density between two adjacent lithospheric slabs is sufficient to lead to the initiation of subduction. The analytic part of the model shows that where two lithospheric slabs of different densities are positioned one next to the other, maximum differential lithostatic pressure would occur at the base of the denser slab directed towards the lighter one. The resulting strain would lead to the rotation of the contact zone between the slabs to dip towards the lighter slab, and the dip would be reduced until offset along the contact zone would be enabled. The parameters that constrain the rotation of the contact zone are known as "Argand Numbers". Analog experiments based on this concept were carried out using a centrifuge using a lighter and denser brittle and ductile "lithosphere" floating on still denser "asthenosphere". The analog experiments suggested that the initiation of subduction started with the penetration of the denser ductile "lithosphere" below its lighter counterpart. Consequently, the lighter "lithosphere" was uplifted, then collapsed on the denser slab, increasing the load on its edge and driving the denser sequence further under the lighter slab. It was presumed further that once the denser "lithosphere" was set below the lighter one, it underwent conversion to eclogite, which increased its density and drove it to subduct into the "asthenosphere". The rate of this part of the subduction process was determined by friction. Reduction of slab friction in nature could result from serpentinization and other water-related processes. Geophysicist Don L. Anderson has hypothesized that plate tectonics could not happen without the calcium carbonate laid down by living beings at the edges of subduction zones. The massive weight of these sediments could be softening the underlying rocks, making them pliable enough to plunge.