@article{LiuSobolevBabeykoetal.2022,
  author    = {Liu, Sibiao and Sobolev, Stephan and Babeyko, Andrey and Pons, Micha{\"e}l},
  title     = {Controls of the foreland deformation pattern in the orogen-foreland shortening system},
  series = {Tectonics},
  volume    = {41},
  journal   = {Tectonics},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0278-7407},
  doi       = {10.1029/2021TC007121},
  pages     = {18},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Controls on the deformation pattern (shortening mode and tectonic style) of orogenic forelands during lithospheric shortening remain poorly understood. Here, we use high-resolution 2D thermomechanical models to demonstrate that orogenic crustal thickness and foreland lithospheric thickness significantly control the shortening mode in the foreland. Pure-shear shortening occurs when the orogenic crust is not thicker than the foreland crust or thick, but the foreland lithosphere is thin (<70-80 km, as in the Puna foreland case). Conversely, simple-shear shortening, characterized by foreland underthrusting beneath the orogen, arises when the orogenic crust is much thicker. This thickened crust results in high gravitational potential energy in the orogen, which triggers the migration of deformation to the foreland under further shortening. Our models present fully thick-skinned, fully thin-skinned, and intermediate tectonic styles in the foreland. The first tectonics forms in a pure-shear shortening mode whereas the others require a simple-shear mode and the presence of thick (>similar to 4 km) sediments that are mechanically weak (friction coefficient <similar to 0.05) or weakened rapidly during deformation. The formation of fully thin-skinned tectonics in thick and weak foreland sediments, as in the Subandean Ranges, requires the strength of the orogenic upper lithosphere to be less than one-third as strong as that of the foreland upper lithosphere. Our models successfully reproduce foreland deformation patterns in the Central and Southern Andes and the Laramide province.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BaesSobolevGeryaetal.2020,
  author    = {Baes, Marzieh and Sobolev, Stephan and Gerya, Taras V. and Brune, Sascha},
  title     = {Plume-induced subduction initiation},
  series = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems},
  volume    = {21},
  journal   = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {1525-2027},
  doi       = {10.1029/2019GC008663},
  pages     = {19},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Initiation of subduction following the impingement of a hot buoyant mantle plume is one of the few scenarios that allow breaking the lithosphere and recycling a stagnant lid without requiring any preexisting weak zones. Here, we investigate factors controlling the number and shape of retreating subducting slabs formed by plume-lithosphere interaction. Using 3-D thermomechanical models we show that the deformation regime, which defines formation of single-slab or multi-slab subduction, depends on several parameters such as age of oceanic lithosphere, thickness of the crust and large-scale lithospheric extension rate. Our model results indicate that on present-day Earth multi-slab plume-induced subduction is initiated only if the oceanic lithosphere is relatively young (<30-40 Myr, but >10 Myr), and the crust has a typical thickness of 8 km. In turn, development of single-slab subduction is facilitated by older lithosphere and pre-imposed extensional stresses. In early Earth, plume-lithosphere interaction could have led to formation of either episodic short-lived circular subduction when the oceanic lithosphere was young or to multi-slab subduction when the lithosphere was old.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{MuldashevSobolev2020,
  author    = {Muldashev, Iskander A. and Sobolev, Stephan},
  title     = {What controls maximum magnitudes of giant subduction earthquakes?},
  series = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems},
  volume    = {21},
  journal   = {Geochemistry, geophysics, geosystems},
  number    = {9},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {1525-2027},
  doi       = {10.1029/2020GC009145},
  pages     = {15},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Giant earthquakes with magnitudes above 8.5 occur only in subduction zones. Despite the developments made in observing large subduction zone earthquakes with geophysical instruments, the factors controlling the maximum size of these earthquakes are still poorly understood. Previous studies have suggested the importance of slab shape, roughness of the plate interface contact, state of the strain in the upper plate, thickness of sediments filling the trenches, and subduction rate. Here, we present 2-D cross-scale numerical models of seismic cycles for subduction zones with various geometries, subduction channel friction configurations, and subduction rates. We found that low-angle subduction and thick sediments in the subduction channel are the necessary conditions for generating giant earthquakes, while the subduction rate has a negligible effect. We suggest that these key parameters determine the maximum magnitude of a subduction earthquake by controlling the seismogenic zone width and smoothness of the subduction interface. This interpretation supports previous studies that are based upon observations and scaling laws. Our modeling results also suggest that low static friction in the sediment-filled subduction channel results in neutral or moderate compressive deformation in the overriding plate for low-angle subduction zones hosting giant earthquakes. These modeling results agree well with observations for the largest earthquakes. Based on our models we predict maximum magnitudes of subduction earthquakes worldwide, demonstrating the fit to magnitudes of all giant earthquakes of the 20th and 21st centuries and good agreement with the predictions based on statistical analyses of observations.},
  language  = {en}
}