Carl Guilmette

Forearc hyperextension dismembered the south Tibetan ophiolites

Suprasubduction zone ophiolites are relics of oceanic upper plate forearcs and are typically preserved as discontinuous belts with discrete massifs along suture zones. Ophiolites usually contain an incomplete condensed section compared to average modern oceanic lithosphere. The incompleteness and discontinuity of ophiolites are frequently attributed to dismemberment, but tectonic causes remain poorly constrained. Here we show new paleomagnetic and field geological evidence for the preservation of extensional detachment faults that thinned and dismembered the south Tibetan ophiolite belt during the Early Cretaceous. Similar to those documented in modern slow- and ultraslow-spreading ridges, these detachments exhumed lithospheric mantle, and subophiolitic melange, to the seafloor, which became unconformably covered by Asia-derived forearc strata. We call this mechanism forearc hyperextension, whereby widespread detachment faults accommodate upper plate extension above a subduction zone. We propose that hyperextension is the key mechanism responsible for dismemberment of the south Tibetan ophiolitic belt shortly after its magmatic accretion.

Dynamics of intraoceanic subduction initiation : 2. Suprasubduction zone ophiolite formation and metamorphic sole exhumation in context of absolute plate motions

Analyzing subduction initiation is key for understanding the coupling between plate tectonics and the underlying mantle. Here we focus on suprasubduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites and how their formation links to intraoceanic subduction initiation in an absolute plate motion frame. SSZ ophiolites form the majority of exposed oceanic lithosphere fragments and are widely recognized to have formed during intraoceanic subduction initiation. Structural, petrological, geochemical, and plate kinematic constraints on their kinematic evolution show that SSZ crust forms at fore-arc spreading centers at the expense of a mantle wedge, thereby flattening the nascent slab. This leads to the typical inverted pressure gradients found in metamorphic soles that form at the subduction plate contact below and during SSZ crust crystallization. Former spreading centers are preserved in forearcs when subduction initiates along transform faults or off-ridge oceanic detachments. We show how these are reactivated when subduction initiates in the absolute plate motion direction of the inverting weakness zone. Upon inception of slab pull due to, e.g., eclogitization, the sole is separated from the slab, remains welded to the thinned overriding plate lithosphere, and can become intruded by mafic dikes upon asthenospheric influx into the mantle wedge. We propound that most ophiolites thus formed under special geodynamic circumstances and may not be representative of normal oceanic crust. Our study highlights how far-field geodynamic processes and absolute plate motions may force intraoceanic subduction initiation as key toward advancing our understanding of the entire plate tectonic cycle.

Forced subduction initiation recorded in the sole and crust of the Semail Ophiolite of Oman

Subduction zones are unique to Earth and fundamental in its evolution, yet we still know little about the causes and mechanisms of their initiation. Numerical models show that far-field forcing may cause subduction initiation at weak pre-existing structures, while inferences from modern subduction zones suggest initiation through spontaneous lithospheric gravitational collapse. For both endmembers, the timing of subduction inception corresponds with initial lower plate burial, whereas coeval or delayed extension in the upper plate are diagnostic of spontaneous or forced subduction initiation, respectively. In modern systems, the earliest extension-related upper plate rocks are found in forearcs, but lower plate rocks that recorded initial burial have been subducted and are inaccessible. Here, we investigate a fossil system, the archetypal Semail Ophiolite of Oman, which exposes both lower and upper plate relics of incipient subduction stages. We show with Lu–Hf and U–Pb geochronology of the lower and upper plate material that initial burial of the lower plate occurred before 104 million years ago, predating upper plate extension and the formation of Semail oceanic crust by at least 8 Myr. Such a time lag reveals far-field forced subduction initiation and provides unequivocal, direct evidence for a subduction initiation mechanism in the geological record.The subduction system recorded by the Semail Ophiolite of Oman was initiated by far-field events, according to a comparison of the ages of the upper and lower plate material.