2-D viscoelastic FEM simulation on stress state in the deep part of a subducted slab

• Published in: Acta seismologica sinica Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 301 - 308
• Main Authors: Liu, Ya-jing, Ye, Guo-yang, Mao, Xing-hua, Ning, Jie-yuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Chinese
• Published: Beijing Springer Nature B.V 01.05.2002; Department of Geophysics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
• Subjects: Computer simulation; deep; Finite element analysis; Finite element method; Geology; Grain size; Mathematical models; numerical; Phase boundaries; Seismic engineering; Seismic phenomena; seismicity; simulation; Slabs; state; stress; Stress state; Stresses; subduction; viscoelasticity; zone; stress state; deep seismicity; numerical simulation; viscoelasticity; subduction zone
• ISSN: 1000-9116; 1674-4519; 1993-1344; 1867-8777
• DOI: 10.1007/s11589-002-0063-5

The characteristics of the stress fields in deep subducting slabs are studied using viscoelastic plain strain finite element method. When introducing the new rheology structure given by Karato, et al into our computation, there emerge two regions with great shear stress just below the olivine-spinel phase transition zone, which encompass the low viscosity zone below the lower tip of the metastable wedge. Further, the directions of the main compressional stress of these two regions are all along the dip direction of the slab. These are in accordance with the seismic observations that there are two deep seismic zones in a slab and the directions of the main compressional stress in these two seismic zones are along the dip direction of the slab. Smaller effective viscosity probably caused by smaller grain size in the phase transformation zone does not have great influence on the stress state in the deep part of the slab. There is the maximum of shear stress at the transition region from olivine to spinel and the direction of the main compressional stress in this region is roughly perpendicular to the trend of the phase boundary no matter whether there exists metastable wedge, which nevertheless do not correspond to some well-known seismic observations.