How Slab Age and Width Combine to Dictate the Dynamics and Evolution of Subduction Systems: A 3-D Spherical Study

Many of the factors expected to control the dynamics and evolution of Earth's subduction zones are under-explored in an Earth-like spherical geometry. Here, we simulate multi-material free-subduction of a complex rheology slab in a 3-D spherical shell domain, to investigate the effect of plate age (simulated by covarying plate thickness and density) and width on the evolution of subduction systems. We find that the first-order predictions of our spherical cases are generally consistent with existing Cartesian studies: (a) as subducting plate age increases, slabs retreat more and subduct at a shallower dip angle, due to increased bending resistance and sinking rates; and (b) wider slabs can develop along-strike variations in trench curvature due to toroidal flow at slab edges, trending toward a “W”-shaped trench with increasing slab width. We find, however, that these along-strike variations are restricted to older, stronger, retreating slabs: Younger slabs that drive minimal trench motion remain relatively straight along the length of the subduction zone. We summarize our results into a regime diagram, which highlights how slab age modulates the effect of slab width, and present examples of the evolutionary history of subduction zones that are consistent with our model predictions.