Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2016, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (1): 31-37.doi: 10.11978/2015002CSTR: 32234.14.2015002

• Marine Geology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Deformation of seamount during subduction: Insights from sandbox experiment and numerical simulation

LI Fucheng1, 2, SUN Zhen1, ZHANG Jiangyang1, 2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China;
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2015-01-04 Online:2016-01-10 Published:2016-02-02
  • Contact: SUN Zhen. E-mail: zhensun@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    Major National Oil and Gas Projects (2011ZX05025-003-005), the Joint Program of NSFC and Guangdong Province (U1301233)

Abstract: Using sandbox experiment and numerical simulation, we discussed deformation of a subducting seamount. Our results showed that the deformation mainly concentrated at the overlain ocean sediment when a seamount subducted beneath the accretionary wedge. The sediment was scraped into wedge, while the part in the tailing of the seamount was well stored. After the seamount entered the subduction channel, the oceanic crust began to bend downward. The bending provided more space for seamount subduction and caused the subduction angle increased. Above described subduction process decreased the coupling between seamount and continental crust, leading to occurrences of megathrust earthquakes largely reduced. This study also represented an attempt to investigate deformation of a subduction zone by multi-methods.

Key words: seamount subduction, deformation, plate bending, coupling