Divergent double subduction

Schematic diagram showing subduction system in conventional plate tectonics theory and divergent double subduction

Divergent double subduction (abbreviated as DDS), also called outward dipping double-sided subduction,[1] is a special type of subduction process in which two parallel subduction zones with different directions are developed on the same oceanic plate.[2] In conventional plate tectonics theory, an oceanic plate subducts under another plate and new oceanic crust is generated somewhere else, commonly along the other side of the same plates[3] However, in divergent double subduction, the oceanic plate subducts on two sides. This results in the closure of ocean and arc–arc collision.

This concept was first proposed and applied to the Lachlan Fold Belt in southern Australia.[2] Since then, geologists have applied this model to other regions such as the Solonker Suture Zone of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt,[4][5] the Jiangnan Orogen,[6] the Lhasa–Qiangtang collision zone[7] and the Baker terrane boundary.[8] Active examples of this system are (1) the Molucca Sea Collision Zone in Indonesia, in which the Molucca Sea Plate subducts below the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate on two sides,[9][10] and (2) the Adriatic Plate in the central Mediterranean, subducting both on its western side (beneath the Apennines and Calabria) and on its eastern side (beneath the Dinarides).[11][12]

Note that the term divergent is used to describe one oceanic plate subducting in different directions on two opposite sides. This sense should not be confused with the use of the same term in divergent plate boundary, which refers to a spreading center, where two separate plates move away from each other.

  1. ^ Holt, A. F.; Royden, L. H.; Becker, T. W. (2017-01-04). "The Dynamics of Double Slab Subduction". Geophysical Journal International. 209 (1): ggw496. doi:10.1093/gji/ggw496. ISSN 0956-540X.
  2. ^ a b Soesoo, Alvar; Bons, Paul D.; Gray, David R.; Foster, David A. (Aug 1997). "Divergent double subduction: Tectonic and petrologic consequences". Geology. 25 (8): 755–58. Bibcode:1997Geo....25..755S. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0755:DDSTAP>2.3.CO;2.
  3. ^ C., Condie, Kent (1997). Plate tectonics and crustal evolution. Condie, Kent C. (4th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. ISBN 9780750633864. OCLC 174141325.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Xiao, Wenjiao; Windley, Brian F.; Hao, Jie; Zhai, Mingguo (2003). "Accretion leading to collision and the Permian Solonker suture, Inner Mongolia, China: Termination of the central Asian orogenic belt". Tectonics. 22 (6): 1069. Bibcode:2003Tecto..22.1069X. doi:10.1029/2002TC001484. S2CID 131492839.
  5. ^ Eizenhöfer, Paul R.; Zhao, Guochun; Zhang, Jian; Sun, Min (2014-04-01). "Final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean along the Solonker Suture Zone: Constraints from geochronological and geochemical data of Permian volcanic and sedimentary rocks". Tectonics. 33 (4): 2013TC003357. Bibcode:2014Tecto..33..441E. doi:10.1002/2013tc003357. hdl:10722/202788. ISSN 1944-9194. S2CID 59146817.
  6. ^ Zhao, Guochun (2015). "Jiangnan Orogen in South China: Developing from divergent double subduction". Gondwana Research. 27 (3): 1173–80. Bibcode:2015GondR..27.1173Z. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.09.004. S2CID 128424279.
  7. ^ Zhu, Di-Cheng; Li, Shi-Min; Cawood, Peter A.; Wang, Qing; Zhao, Zhi-Dan; Liu, Sheng-Ao; Wang, Li-Quan (2016). "Assembly of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes in central Tibet by divergent double subduction" (PDF). Lithos. 245: 7–17. Bibcode:2016Litho.245....7Z. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2015.06.023. hdl:10023/9072. S2CID 121172110.
  8. ^ Schwartz, J. J.; Snoke, A. W.; Frost, C. D.; Barnes, C. G.; Gromet, L. P.; Johnson, K. (2010). "Analysis of the Wallowa-Baker terrane boundary: Implications for tectonic accretion in the Blue Mountains province, northeastern Oregon". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 122 (3–4): 517–36. Bibcode:2010GSAB..122..517S. doi:10.1130/b26493.1. S2CID 129000860.
  9. ^ Mccaffrey, Robert; Silver, Eli A.; Raitt, Russell W. (1980). Hayes, Dennis E. (ed.). The Tectonic and Geologic Evolution of Southeast Asian Seas and Islands. American Geophysical Union. pp. 161–77. doi:10.1029/gm023p0161. ISBN 9781118663790.
  10. ^ Hall, Robert (2000). "Neogene History of collision in the Halmahera Region, Indonesia". Proceedings of the Indonesian Petroleum Association 27th Annual Convention: 487–93.
  11. ^ Király, Ágnes; Holt, Adam F.; Funiciello, Francesca; Faccenna, Claudio; Capitanio, Fabio A. (2018). "Modeling Slab-Slab Interactions: Dynamics of Outward Dipping Double-Sided Subduction Systems". Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. 19 (3): 693–714. Bibcode:2018GGG....19..693K. doi:10.1002/2017gc007199. hdl:10852/72198. ISSN 1525-2027. S2CID 134490772.
  12. ^ Király, Ágnes; Faccenna, Claudio; Funiciello, Francesca (2018-10-09). "Subduction zones interaction around the Adria microplate and the origin of the Apenninic arc". Tectonics. 37 (10): 3941–53. Bibcode:2018Tecto..37.3941K. doi:10.1029/2018tc005211. ISSN 0278-7407. S2CID 135189573.