IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-27518-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Southward expanding plate coupling due to variation in sediment subduction as a cause of Andean growth

Author

Listed:
  • Jiashun Hu

    (Southern University of Science and Technology
    California Institute of Technology
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Lijun Liu

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Michael Gurnis

    (California Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Growth of the Andes has been attributed to Cenozoic subduction. Although climatic and tectonic processes have been proposed to be first-order mechanisms, their interaction and respective contributions remain largely unclear. Here, we apply three-dimensional, fully-dynamic subduction models to investigate the effect of trench-axial sediment transport and subduction on Andean growth, a mechanism that involves both climatic and tectonic processes. We find that the thickness of trench-fill sediments, a proxy of plate coupling (with less sediments causing stronger coupling), exerts an important influence on the pattern of crustal shortening along the Andes. The southward migrating Juan Fernandez Ridge acts as a barrier to the northward flowing trench sediments, thus expanding the zone of plate coupling southward through time. Consequently, the predicted history of Andean shortening is consistent with observations. Southward expanding crustal shortening matches the kinematic history of inferred compression. These results demonstrate the importance of climate-tectonic interaction on mountain building.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiashun Hu & Lijun Liu & Michael Gurnis, 2021. "Southward expanding plate coupling due to variation in sediment subduction as a cause of Andean growth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27518-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27518-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27518-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-27518-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yi-Wei Chen & Jonny Wu & John Suppe, 2019. "Southward propagation of Nazca subduction along the Andes," Nature, Nature, vol. 565(7740), pages 441-447, January.
    2. F. A. Capitanio & C. Faccenna & S. Zlotnik & D. R. Stegman, 2011. "Subduction dynamics and the origin of Andean orogeny and the Bolivian orocline," Nature, Nature, vol. 480(7375), pages 83-86, December.
    3. W. P. Schellart, 2017. "Andean mountain building and magmatic arc migration driven by subduction-induced whole mantle flow," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Simon Lamb & Paul Davis, 2003. "Cenozoic climate change as a possible cause for the rise of the Andes," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6960), pages 792-797, October.
    5. Stuart N. Thomson & Mark T. Brandon & Jonathan H. Tomkin & Peter W. Reiners & Cristián Vásquez & Nathaniel J. Wilson, 2010. "Glaciation as a destructive and constructive control on mountain building," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7313), pages 313-317, September.
    6. W. P. Schellart & J. Freeman & D. R. Stegman & L. Moresi & D. May, 2007. "Evolution and diversity of subduction zones controlled by slab width," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7133), pages 308-311, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoyue Wu & Jiashun Hu & Ling Chen & Liang Liu & Lijun Liu, 2023. "Paleogene India-Eurasia collision constrained by observed plate rotation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guido M. Gianni & Jeremías Likerman & César R. Navarrete & Conrado R. Gianni & Sergio Zlotnik, 2023. "Ghost-arc geochemical anomaly at a spreading ridge caused by supersized flat subduction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Yaguang Chen & Hanlin Chen & Mingqi Liu & Taras Gerya, 2023. "Vertical tearing of subducting plates controlled by geometry and rheology of oceanic plates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Puetz, Stephen J., 2022. "The infinitely fractal universe paradigm and consupponibility," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Guido M. Gianni & César R. Navarrete, 2022. "Catastrophic slab loss in southwestern Pangea preserved in the mantle and igneous record," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Muhammad Usman, 2016. "A study on the enhancing earthquake frequency in northern Pakistan: is the climate change responsible?," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 82(2), pages 921-931, June.
    6. Kuidi Zhang & Jie Liao & Taras Gerya, 2024. "Onset of double subduction controls plate motion reorganisation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Felipe Quiero & Andrés Tassara & Giampiero Iaffaldano & Osvaldo Rabbia, 2022. "Growth of Neogene Andes linked to changes in plate convergence using high-resolution kinematic models," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Cody C. Mason & Brian W. Romans & Molly O. Patterson & Daniel F. Stockli & Andrea Fildani, 2022. "Cycles of Andean mountain building archived in the Amazon Fan," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27518-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.