@article{BaesSobolevQuinteros2018,
  author    = {Baes, Marzieh and Sobolev, Stephan Vladimir and Quinteros, Javier},
  title     = {Subduction initiation in mid-ocean induced by mantle suction flow},
  series = {Geophysical journal international},
  volume    = {215},
  journal   = {Geophysical journal international},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0956-540X},
  doi       = {10.1093/gji/ggy335},
  pages     = {1515 -- 1522},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Pre-existing weakness zones in the lithosphere such as transform faults/fracture zones and extinct mid-oceanic ridges have been suggested to facilitate subduction initiation in an intra-oceanic environment. Here, we propose that the additional forcing coming from the mantle suction flow is required to trigger the conversion of a fracture zone/transform fault into a converging plate boundary. This suction flow can be induced either from the slab remnants of former converging plate boundaries or/and from slabs of neighbouring active subduction zones. Using 2-D coupled thermo-mechanical models, we show that a sufficiently strong mantle flow is able to convert a fracture zone/transform fault into a subduction zone. However, this process is feasible only if the fracture zone/transform fault is very close to the mid-oceanic ridge. Our numerical model results indicate that time of subduction initiation depends on the velocity, domain size and location of mantle suction flow and age of the oceanic plate.},
  language  = {en}
}