Rayleigh - Taylor instabilities from hydration and melting propel 'cold plumes' at subduction zones

Taras V. Gerya; David A. Yuen

doi:10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00265-6

Rayleigh - Taylor instabilities from hydration and melting propel 'cold plumes' at subduction zones

Taras V. Gerya, David A. Yuen

Earth and Environmental Sciences-Twin Cities

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

436 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is commonly thought that hot diapiric flows prevail in the mantle wedge above the subducting slab. However, hydration and partial melting along the slab can create a situation in which a Rayleigh-Taylor instability can develop at the top of a cold subducting slab. We have numerically modeled this parodoxically interesting geological phenomenon, in which rising diapiric structures, colder than the asthenosphere by 300-400°C, are driven upward by compositional buoyancy, with a high-resolution two-dimensional regional model. These 'cold plumes' with a compositional, hydrous origin, launched from a depth of greater than 100 km, are lubricated by viscous heating, have an upward velocity in excess of 10 cm/yr, penetrate the relatively hot asthenosphere in the mantle wedge within a couple of million years and thus can cool the surroundings. These 'cold plumes' are fueled by partial melting of the hydrated mantle and subducted oceanic crust due to fluid release from dehydration reactions wihin the slab, including the decomposition of serpentine. There may be a spatial correlation between seismicity and the particular depth of cold-plume initiation. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	47-62
Number of pages	16
Journal	Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volume	212
Issue number	1-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00265-6
State	Published - Jul 15 2003

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by RFBR Grant # 03-05-64633, by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship to T.V.G., the geophysics program of the National Science Foundation and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the scope of Sonderforschungsbereich 526 at Ruhr-University. The authors appreciate discussions with J. Van Decar, concerning the recognition of the ‘cold-plume’ phenomena, Tetsu Seno, Shigenori Maruyama and S. Omori, concerning Japanese plate tectonics and other matters. We thank Lilli Yang for drawing Fig. 1. Constructive reviews by Jeroen van Hunen and Garrett Ito are greatly appreciated. [RV]

Keywords

2-D numerical modeling
Magmatic activity
Mantle plumes
Seismicity
Subduction zones

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10.1016/S0012-821X(03)00265-6

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title = "Rayleigh - Taylor instabilities from hydration and melting propel 'cold plumes' at subduction zones",

abstract = "It is commonly thought that hot diapiric flows prevail in the mantle wedge above the subducting slab. However, hydration and partial melting along the slab can create a situation in which a Rayleigh-Taylor instability can develop at the top of a cold subducting slab. We have numerically modeled this parodoxically interesting geological phenomenon, in which rising diapiric structures, colder than the asthenosphere by 300-400°C, are driven upward by compositional buoyancy, with a high-resolution two-dimensional regional model. These 'cold plumes' with a compositional, hydrous origin, launched from a depth of greater than 100 km, are lubricated by viscous heating, have an upward velocity in excess of 10 cm/yr, penetrate the relatively hot asthenosphere in the mantle wedge within a couple of million years and thus can cool the surroundings. These 'cold plumes' are fueled by partial melting of the hydrated mantle and subducted oceanic crust due to fluid release from dehydration reactions wihin the slab, including the decomposition of serpentine. There may be a spatial correlation between seismicity and the particular depth of cold-plume initiation. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.",

keywords = "2-D numerical modeling, Magmatic activity, Mantle plumes, Seismicity, Subduction zones",

author = "Gerya, {Taras V.} and Yuen, {David A.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by RFBR Grant # 03-05-64633, by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship to T.V.G., the geophysics program of the National Science Foundation and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the scope of Sonderforschungsbereich 526 at Ruhr-University. The authors appreciate discussions with J. Van Decar, concerning the recognition of the {\textquoteleft}cold-plume{\textquoteright} phenomena, Tetsu Seno, Shigenori Maruyama and S. Omori, concerning Japanese plate tectonics and other matters. We thank Lilli Yang for drawing Fig. 1. Constructive reviews by Jeroen van Hunen and Garrett Ito are greatly appreciated. [RV]",

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AU - Gerya, Taras V.

AU - Yuen, David A.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by RFBR Grant # 03-05-64633, by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship to T.V.G., the geophysics program of the National Science Foundation and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft within the scope of Sonderforschungsbereich 526 at Ruhr-University. The authors appreciate discussions with J. Van Decar, concerning the recognition of the ‘cold-plume’ phenomena, Tetsu Seno, Shigenori Maruyama and S. Omori, concerning Japanese plate tectonics and other matters. We thank Lilli Yang for drawing Fig. 1. Constructive reviews by Jeroen van Hunen and Garrett Ito are greatly appreciated. [RV]

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N2 - It is commonly thought that hot diapiric flows prevail in the mantle wedge above the subducting slab. However, hydration and partial melting along the slab can create a situation in which a Rayleigh-Taylor instability can develop at the top of a cold subducting slab. We have numerically modeled this parodoxically interesting geological phenomenon, in which rising diapiric structures, colder than the asthenosphere by 300-400°C, are driven upward by compositional buoyancy, with a high-resolution two-dimensional regional model. These 'cold plumes' with a compositional, hydrous origin, launched from a depth of greater than 100 km, are lubricated by viscous heating, have an upward velocity in excess of 10 cm/yr, penetrate the relatively hot asthenosphere in the mantle wedge within a couple of million years and thus can cool the surroundings. These 'cold plumes' are fueled by partial melting of the hydrated mantle and subducted oceanic crust due to fluid release from dehydration reactions wihin the slab, including the decomposition of serpentine. There may be a spatial correlation between seismicity and the particular depth of cold-plume initiation. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

AB - It is commonly thought that hot diapiric flows prevail in the mantle wedge above the subducting slab. However, hydration and partial melting along the slab can create a situation in which a Rayleigh-Taylor instability can develop at the top of a cold subducting slab. We have numerically modeled this parodoxically interesting geological phenomenon, in which rising diapiric structures, colder than the asthenosphere by 300-400°C, are driven upward by compositional buoyancy, with a high-resolution two-dimensional regional model. These 'cold plumes' with a compositional, hydrous origin, launched from a depth of greater than 100 km, are lubricated by viscous heating, have an upward velocity in excess of 10 cm/yr, penetrate the relatively hot asthenosphere in the mantle wedge within a couple of million years and thus can cool the surroundings. These 'cold plumes' are fueled by partial melting of the hydrated mantle and subducted oceanic crust due to fluid release from dehydration reactions wihin the slab, including the decomposition of serpentine. There may be a spatial correlation between seismicity and the particular depth of cold-plume initiation. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

KW - 2-D numerical modeling

KW - Magmatic activity

KW - Mantle plumes

KW - Seismicity

KW - Subduction zones

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JO - Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters

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IS - 1-2

ER -

Rayleigh - Taylor instabilities from hydration and melting propel 'cold plumes' at subduction zones

Abstract

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