Browsing by Author "Condit, Cailey B."
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Item Slab dehydration in warm subduction zones at depths of episodic slip and tremor(Elsevier, 2020) Condit, Cailey B.; Guevara, Victor E.; Delph, Jonathan R.; French, Melodie E.Non-volcanic tremor (NVT) and episodic slow slip events (SSEs) have been observed below the seismogenic zone of relatively warm subduction zones for the past 20 years. Geophysical and geologic observations show that this portion of the subduction interface is fluid-rich, and many models for these slip behaviors necessitate high pore fluid pressures. However, whether these fluids are sourced from local dehydration reactions in particular lithologies, or require up-dip transport from greater depths is not known. We present thermodynamic models of the petrologic evolution of four lithologies typical of the plate interface (average MORB, seafloor altered MORB, hydrated depleted MORB mantle, and metapelite) along predicted plate boundary pressure–temperature (P-T) paths at several warm subduction segments where NVT and SSEs are observed at depths between 25-65 km. The models suggest that 1-2 wt% H2O is released at the depths of NVT/SSEs in Jalisco-Colima, Guerrero, Cascadia, and Shikoku due to punctuated dehydration reactions within MORB, primarily through chlorite and/or lawsonite breakdown. These reactions produce sufficient in-situ fluid across a narrow P-T range to cause high pore fluid pressures at NVT/SSE depths. Dehydration of hydrated peridotite is minimal at these depths for most margins, and metapelite releases H2O (<1.5 wt%) gradually over a wide depth range compared to MORB. We posit that punctuated dehydration of oceanic crust provides the dominant source of fluids at the base of the seismogenic zone in these warm subduction zones, and up-dip migration of fluids from deeper in the subduction zone is not required.Item Slip partitioning along an idealized subduction plate boundary at deep slow slip conditions(Elsevier, 2019) French, Melodie E.; Condit, Cailey B.Below the base of many subduction seismogenic zones, the plate interface periodically slips at rates 1 to 2 orders of magnitude faster than tectonic plate velocities. A number of competing hypotheses exist to explain the mechanisms for these slow slip events (SSEs), but they remain incompletely tested because we do not know how deformation is partitioned across the lithologically complex plate boundary interface. We use the deepest exposure of the Arosa zone, a ∼520 m-thick exhumed subduction interface, as a case study to evaluate the partitioning of strain between lithologic units throughout the SSE cycle. We review and synthesize published constitutive relations for the five lithologic units present to express shear stress as a function of deformation rate. We use these results to predict (1) the shear stress across the plate boundary as a function of slip velocity and (2) the partitioning of deformation among the different lithologic units for SSE and aseismic creep velocities. We conduct this analysis for pore fluid pressures from hydrostatic to near-lithostatic. Our results show that, at pore fluid pressure close to hydrostatic, aseismic creep and SSE velocities occur by viscous deformation of calcareous and quartzose units. However, once the pore fluid pressure increases above 80% of lithostatic, plate boundary slip migrates from the calcareous and quartzose rocks during aseismic creep to frictional deformation of talc schist during slow slip. This result is insensitive to differences in the thicknesses of metasedimentary units that may be present along subduction plate boundaries and, therefore, may apply to subduction plate boundaries in general.