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Shaping mobile belts by small-scale convection

Nature volume 465, pages 602–605 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mobile belts are long-lived deformation zones composed of an ensemble of crustal fragments, distributed over hundreds of kilometres inside continental convergent margins1,2. The Mediterranean represents a remarkable example of this tectonic setting3: the region hosts a diffuse boundary between the Nubia and Eurasia plates comprised of a mosaic of microplates that move and deform independently from the overall plate convergence4. Surface expressions of Mediterranean tectonics include deep, subsiding backarc basins, intraplate plateaux and uplifting orogenic belts. Although the kinematics of the area are now fairly well defined, the dynamical origins of many of these active features are controversial and usually attributed to crustal and lithospheric interactions. However, the effects of mantle convection, well established for continental interiors5,6,7, should be particularly relevant in a mobile belt, and modelling may constrain important parameters such as slab coherence and lithospheric strength. Here we compute global mantle flow on the basis of recent, high-resolution seismic tomography to investigate the role of buoyancy-driven and plate-motion-induced mantle circulation for the Mediterranean. We show that mantle flow provides an explanation for much of the observed dynamic topography and microplate motion in the region. More generally, vigorous small-scale convection in the uppermost mantle may also underpin other complex mobile belts such as the North American Cordillera or the Himalayan–Tibetan collision zone.

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Figure 1: Topography and deformation indicators for the Mediterranean.
Figure 2: Reference flow model for the Mediterranean region.
Figure 3: Additional flow models for the Mediterranean.
Figure 4: Cartoon illustrating the architecture of the subduction zones and the related pattern of mantle convection in the Mediterranean region.

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Acknowledgements

C.F. thanks the University of Southern California (USC) and the Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche for supporting his visit at USC. This work has been financially supported by TOPOEUROPE and MEDUSA (NSF-EAR 0451952), computations were performed on USC’s High Performance Computing Center, and we thank the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics and the seismologists who shared their tomographic models in electronic form. C.F. thanks R. Funiciello for his support and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento Scienze Geologiche, University Roma TRE, 00146 Rome, Italy

    Claudio Faccenna

  2. Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche—IGAG 00016, Rome, Italy

    Claudio Faccenna

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0740, USA,

    Thorsten W. Becker

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  1. Claudio Faccenna
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Contributions

T.W.B. performed numerical modelling, C.F. designed the modelling strategy. Both authors contributed equally to interpreting and analysing the data and to writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Claudio Faccenna.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Faccenna, C., Becker, T. Shaping mobile belts by small-scale convection. Nature 465, 602–605 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09064

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