Slab detachment explained

In plate tectonics, slab detachment or slab break-off may occur during continent-continent or arc-continent collisions. When the continental margin of the subducting plate reaches the oceanic trench of the subduction zone, the more buoyant continental crust will in normal circumstances experience only a limited amount of subduction into the asthenosphere. The slab pull forces will, however, still be present and this normally leads to the breaking off or detachment of the descending slab from the rest of the plate.^[1] The isostatic response to the detachment of the downgoing slab is rapid uplift. Slab detachment is also followed by the upwelling of relatively hot asthenosphere to fill the gap created, leading in many cases to magmatism.^[2]

The uncritical use of the slab-detachment model to explain disparate observations of magmatism, uplift and exhumation in continental collision zones has been criticised.^{[3] [4]}

Slab tears

Detachment initiates at a particular point on the slab and will then propagate laterally along the descending slab, forming a slab tear. The propagation of the detachment will be accompanied by lateral migration of both the associated uplift and the magmatism.^[5] Such laterally propagating tears have been recognised from several collision zones, such as the Hindu Kush part of the Himalayan Belt.^[6] The Tertiary magmatism in the Alps observed along the Insubric Line has been argued to result from a rapidly propagating slab tear following continental collision and the initiation of slab breakoff.^[7]

Further reading

• Gerya . Taras V. . Yuen . David A. . Maresch . Walter V. . Thermomechanical modelling of slab detachment . Earth and Planetary Science Letters . September 2004 . 226 . 1–2 . 101–116 . 10.1016/j.epsl.2004.07.022 . 2004E&PSL.226..101G .
• Duretz . T. . Schmalholz . S. M. . Gerya . T. V. . Dynamics of slab detachment . Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems . 2012 . 13 . 3 . n/a . 10.1029/2011GC004024 . 2012GGG....13.3020D . 134158189 .
• Duretz . Thibault . Gerya . Taras V. . May . Dave A. . Numerical modelling of spontaneous slab breakoff and subsequent topographic response . Tectonophysics . April 2011 . 502 . 1–2 . 244–256 . 10.1016/j.tecto.2010.05.024 . 2011Tectp.502..244D .
• Kohn . Matthew J. . Parkinson . Christopher D. . Petrologic case for Eocene slab breakoff during the Indo-Asian collision . Geology . 1 July 2002 . 30 . 7 . 591–594 . 10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0591:PCFESB>2.0.CO;2 . 2002Geo....30..591K .
• Ferrari . Luca . Slab detachment control on mafic volcanic pulse and mantle heterogeneity in central Mexico . Geology . 2004 . 32 . 1 . 77 . 10.1130/G19887.1 . 2004Geo....32...77F .
• Altunkaynak . Şafak . Collision-Driven Slab Breakoff Magmatism in Northwestern Anatolia, Turkey . The Journal of Geology . 1 January 2007 . 115 . 1 . 63–82 . 10.1086/509268 . 2007JG....115...63A . 140584465 .
• Lee . Hao-Yang . Chung . Sun-Lin . Lo . Ching-Hua . Ji . Jianqing . Lee . Tung-Yi . Qian . Qing . Zhang . Qi . Eocene Neotethyan slab breakoff in southern Tibet inferred from the Linzizong volcanic record . Tectonophysics . 1 November 2009 . 477 . 1 . 20–35 . 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.02.031 . 2009Tectp.477...20L .

Notes and References

1. van Hunen . Jeroen . Allen . Mark B. . Continental collision and slab break-off: A comparison of 3-D numerical models with observations . Earth and Planetary Science Letters . February 2011 . 302 . 1–2 . 27–37 . 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.11.035 . 2011E&PSL.302...27V .
2. Huw Davies . J. . von Blanckenburg . Friedhelm . Slab breakoff: A model of lithosphere detachment and its test in the magmatism and deformation of collisional orogens . Earth and Planetary Science Letters . 1 January 1995 . 129 . 1 . 85–102 . 10.1016/0012-821X(94)00237-S . 1995E&PSL.129...85D .
3. Niu . Yaoling . Slab breakoff: a causal mechanism or pure convenience? . Science Bulletin . April 2017 . 62 . 7 . 456–461 . 10.1016/j.scib.2017.03.015 . 36659252 . 2017SciBu..62..456N . free .
4. Garzanti . Eduardo . Radeff . Giuditta . Malusà . Marco G. . Slab breakoff: A critical appraisal of a geological theory as applied in space and time . Earth-Science Reviews . February 2018 . 177 . 303–319 . 10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.11.012 . 2018ESRv..177..303G .
5. Wortel . M. J. R. . Subduction and Slab Detachment in the Mediterranean-Carpathian Region . Science . 8 December 2000 . 290 . 5498 . 1910–1917 . 10.1126/science.290.5498.1910 . 11110653 . 2000Sci...290.1910W .
6. Kufner S.-K. . Schurr B. . Haberland C. . Zhang Y. . Saul J. . Ischuk A. . Oimahmadov I. . 2017 . Zooming into the Hindu Kush slab break-off: A rare glimpse on the terminal stage of subduction . Earth and Planetary Science Letters . 461 . 127–140 . 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.12.043. 2017E&PSL.461..127K . free .
7. von Blanckenburg . Friedhelm . Davies . J. Huw . Slab breakoff: A model for syncollisional magmatism and tectonics in the Alps . Tectonics . February 1995 . 14 . 1 . 120–131 . 10.1029/94TC02051 . 1995Tecto..14..120V .