Modeling the dynamic process of slab subduction based on temperature-dependent thermal coefficients
Zhang Chen
Zhang Shuangxi
Abstract：The thermal conductivity and expansion coefficients are two signifi-cant parameters that have influence on the dynamic process of slab subduction. Due to the heterogeneity of Earth medium,these two coefficients are usually variable with depth.Unfortunately,such variations are often ignored in current modeling studies of geodynamics.The present study refers to the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and expansion to simulate the dynamic process of slab subduction.The impact of thermal parameters and viscosity on slab ge-ometry and the corresponding characteristics of mantle convection are analyzed. The modeling results show that the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and expansion affect the subduction angle by changing the thermal and viscosity structure.The viscosity plays a critical role in controlling the slab dynamic evo-lution.The mantle convection is affected by viscosity structure and exhibits dif-ferent patterns,such as layered convection and local multiple convection loops, etc.
Keywords：slab subductionviscosity structuremantle convectionnumerical modeling
Publication Date：2014-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 872-882 )