@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{RichterBruneRiedletal.2021,
  author    = {Richter, Maximilian and Brune, Sascha and Riedl, Simon and Glerum, Anne and Neuharth, Derek and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {Controls on asymmetric rift dynamics},
  series = {Tectonics / American Geophysical Union, AGU ; European Geophysical Society, EGS},
  volume    = {40},
  journal   = {Tectonics / American Geophysical Union, AGU ; European Geophysical Society, EGS},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0278-7407},
  doi       = {10.1029/2020TC006553},
  pages     = {21},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Complex, time-dependent, and asymmetric rift geometries are observed throughout the East African Rift System (EARS) and are well documented, for instance, in the Kenya Rift. To unravel asymmetric rifting processes in this region, we conduct 2D geodynamic models. We use the finite element software ASPECT employing visco-plastic rheologies, mesh-refinement, distributed random noise seeding, and a free surface. In contrast to many previous numerical modeling studies that aimed at understanding final rifted margin symmetry, we explicitly focus on initial rifting stages to assess geodynamic controls on strain localization and fault evolution. We thereby link to geological and geophysical observations from the Southern and Central Kenya Rift. Our models suggest a three-stage early rift evolution that dynamically bridges previously inferred fault-configuration phases of the eastern EARS branch: (1) accommodation of initial strain localization by a single border fault and flexure of the hanging-wall crust, (2) faulting in the hanging-wall and increasing upper-crustal faulting in the rift-basin center, and (3) loss of pronounced early stage asymmetry prior to basinward localization of deformation. This evolution may provide a template for understanding early extensional faulting in other branches of the East African Rift and in asymmetric rifts worldwide. By modifying the initial random noise distribution that approximates small-scale tectonic inheritance, we show that a spectrum of first-order fault configurations with variable symmetry can be produced in models with an otherwise identical setup. This approach sheds new light on along-strike rift variability controls in active asymmetric rifts and proximal rifted margins.},
  language  = {en}
}