Cambridge Books Online
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Orogenesis
The Making of Mountains
Michael R. W. Johnson, Simon L. Harley
Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139023924
Online ISBN: 9781139023924
Hardback ISBN: 9780521765565
Chapter
2 - Driving mechanisms for plates, slab retreat and advance, and a cau
se of orogenesis pp. 10-15
Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139023924.004
Cambridge University Press
2 Driving mechanisms for plates, slab retreat
and advance, and a cause of orogenesis
In 1928 Arthur Holmes suggested that the mechanism for continental drift is cells of
convection in the mantle. This was a remarkable insight, although many would now
question the one-to-one connection between plate motion and mantle convection. So what
is the modern view on the driving force for plate movements? There are two models in
which the plates drive themselves. The first is called ‘slab pull’, which means that the dense
ocean crust exerts a pull on the ocean floor during subduction as it plunges into hot
asthenosphere. In contrast, the less dense continental crust is relatively buoyant. Some-
times the subducted slab of ocean crust breaks off and sinks into the hot asthenosphere, but
if it survives it will exert a traction and in effect pull the ocean crust away from the Mid
Ocean Rise. The opposite view is ‘slab push’, which means that the driving force for the
moving ocean floor is situated at the Mid Ocean Rise which is opening under extension to
allow in the new ocean crust.
Perhaps it should not be either/or here. Phillip England (1982) calculated the required
stresses at the Mid Ocean Rise in the Indian Ocean if slab push were to be responsible for
the northward movement of the Indian plate carrying the Indian continent. The forces
acting on a plate boundary must do work against gravity during the raising of high
mountains and plateaux. The force balance must take into account the Argand number,
which expresses the relative magnitudes of the buoyancy forces arising from contrasts in
crustal thickness and the forces required to deform the medium. England's results show that
the horizontal stress arising from slab push is enough to explain not only the motion of the
Indian plate before collision but also the continuation of motion after the India–Asia
collision, with the result that India indents Asia, and a wave of deformation has spread
across the Asian continent for over 2000 km north of the Himalaya. Using a viscous sheet
model and a non-Newtonian rheology for the lithosphere, England showed that the elevated
Mid Ocean Rises relative to the deep ocean basins provide a force of 2 1012 N per metre
and the negative buoyancy of the slabs may provide about 2 1013 N per metre of trench.
The estimated average driving force per unit length of subducting slab is 5 1012 N/m,
enough to provide a reasonable balance for the forces resisting plate motion. The implica-
tion is that the continuing orogeny in southeast Asia requires the driving force given by
2500–5000 km of subducting slab or 12,000 km of Rise. These conditions are met in broad
terms in the Indian plate, and so there is plenty of available force (slab push) to drive the
Indian plate. The extensive slab system there is crucial in the Indo-Asian collision, in
contrast to the smaller slab in the case of the Africa–Europe collision which was marked by
slow collision and substantial strike-slip motion.
The above account firmly relates orogenesis to plate convergence, and there is a broad
consensus now on that interpretation, but we should mention other models. For example,
10
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11 Driving forces for plates
the compressional stress which generated orogens has been related to the intrusion of large
batholiths which made space for themselves in the upper crust. Another suggestion is that
orogens can form far from subduction zones, the compressional stress arising from the
stress transmission from subduction zone far into the overlying plate. Some of the late
Proterozoic orogens in central Australia have been explained by so-called far-field stresses
(Dyksterhuis and Müller, 2007).
Retreat and advance of subduction zones
Royden (1993a,b) has discussed the expression of slab pull at convergent plate boundaries
(Figs. 2.1, 2.2). She classified orogens according to whether the subduction zone retreated,
i.e. the hinge of the down-bent slab moved away from the continent, or advanced, i.e.
moved towards the continent. Orogens such as the Apennines or the Hellenides are in
extension and are associated with retreating slabs, while the Alps or Himalaya, which are in
compression, are associated with advancing slabs.
Advancing and retreating slabs are determined by different rates of subduction. If the
overall convergence rate is less than the rate of subduction then the deformation of the
overriding plate is extensional. Where the rate of plate convergence is greater than the rate
of subduction the deformation in that plate is compressional. In addition, the hinge line
retreat has been explained by several mechanisms: negative buoyancy of the downgoing
plate with respect to the asthenosphere into which it sinks (Fig. 2.1a); pushing of the
overriding plate on the hinge caused by its excess potential energy or by tectonic forces
(Fig. 2.1b); or overall east-directed flow in the asthenosphere or a net westerly rotation of
lithosphere which is related to the Earth's rotation and/or tidal effects (Fig. 2.1c).
Based on examples from Italy, Greece, the Alps and the Himalaya, Royden set out the
differences between the orogens at the retreating and advancing boundaries, as given in
Table 2.1. This table shows the rather neat way in which large-scale plate motions have had
important consequences for the nature of orogens.
Schellart and Lister (2004) discussed four tectonic models for arc-shaped convergent
zones and back arc basins. Of these four, three, including gravity collapse, extrusion
tectonics and orogen-parallel, were discarded but one, slab rollback, was adopted.
Although at retreating convergent zones, the hinge line of the subducting plate moves
causing extension in the overriding plate, contraction continues near the trench owing to
friction between the two plates.
Gravity differences as driving forces in orogeny
Platt and England (1993) have taken this topic further and discussed the problem of late
stage extension and orogenic collapse, as seen in many orogens but best exemplified in the
Tibetan Plateau where recent extension by normal faulting occurs despite the fact that plate
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12 Orogenesis: the making of mountains
Table 2.1 Comparison of orogens at retreating (RSB) and advancing subducting boundaries (ASB)
ASB RSB
Topographic elevation High (2–6 km) Low (1–3 km)
Erosion Great (<30 km) Minimal (c.5–10 km)
Metamorphism Medium to high grade Low grade at most
Post-collisional convergence Protracted (tens of Ma) Short-lived (a few Ma)
Sedimentary facies in the foredeep Molassic Flysch
basin
Compensation Topographic Dominated by subduction loads
Figure 2.1 Three possible driving mechanisms for regressive hinge-line migration of a subducting slab. a, Migration due to sinking of
the slab because of negative buoyancy of the slab. b, Migration due to push exerted from the overriding plate to the hinge
line. c, Migration of west-dipping subduction zone due to global east-directed asthenospheric flow. FSB, slab buoyancy
force; FRP, ridge push force; FOB, overriding plate buoyancy force; FEF, eastward asthenospheric flow force. From Schellert
and Lister (2004), GSA Special Paper 383, published by permission of the Geological Society of America.
convergence continues. In contrast to the recent extension in Tibet, recent deformation in
the Himalaya is accommodated by compressional south-verging thrusts. From this contrast
in the stress regimes in Tibet and Himalaya it is inferred that the horizontal stress arising
from plate motion no longer supports the high plateau, or, more likely, that there have been
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13 Driving forces for plates
Figure 2.2 Tectonic setting of the Philippine Sea region with large E–W extension. The figure indicates the following features
as shown in the key: 1 – normal fault; 2 – subduction zone; 3 – inactive subduction zone; 4 – land; 5 – continental
shelf/topographic feature on ocean floor, 6 – ocean floor/back-arc basin. Curved arrows along the Mariana Ridge
indicate rotation since the Late Eocene. From Schellert and Lister (2004) GSA Special Paper 383, published by
permission of the Geological Society of America.
density changes in the Tibetan lithosphere. Similarly in the Andes above an altitude of
3–4 km the dominant mode of deformation is normal faulting with, as in Tibet, thrusting at
lower levels directed at high angles to the plate vector.
Platt and England argued that plate convergence is a result of the differences of
gravitational potential energy between two columns of rock, one existing at Mid Ocean
Rises and the other on the continents. The basis of the idea is that these columns achieve
complete isostatic compensation (see Box 8.1 in Chapter 8) at some level. The column with
the greater gravitational energy will exert a horizontal compressive deviatoric stress on the
column with lower potential energy. Elevated Mid Ocean Rises, where the hot astheno-
sphere is near to the Rise crest, will be columns of high gravitational energy relative to
orogens on continents where the thickening dense mantle root of orogens will partly or
completely offset the buoyancy of the thickened crust. Sandiford and McLaren (2002) have
shown that this gravitational state will evolve with time, as the thickened continental crust
self-heats because of its inbuilt inventory of heat producing elements.
The important observation here is that whole lithosphere thicknesses are considered, not
just crustal thickening. In consequence it shows that the thickening of the dense litho-
spheric mantle which may take place in an orogenic belt implies a decrease in gravitational
potential energy. If, however, the mantle lithosphere is thinned, say by convective removal
or delamination of the lower part of the mantle, called the thermal boundary layer, uplift
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14 Orogenesis: the making of mountains
results simply because of an increase in the gravitational potential energy of the orogen.
This is an interesting model which has been advanced by England and Houseman (1988)
and developed by Sandiford and Powell (1990) for variable proportions of crustal versus
lithospheric thickening. The old concept, alluded to in Chapter 6, is that thickening of the
crust will slow down and cease when the surface elevation is too high to be supported by
the horizontal stress.
Applications of the Platt and England model
Applying this concept to the Himalayan–Tibet orogen, Platt and England considered that
the crucial point is that the proposed change in Tibet from lithospheric thickening, under
compressional stress, to extension and collapse can be attributed to an increase in gravita-
tional potential resulting from the thinning of the lithospheric mantle. Under these circum-
stances the removal of dense lithosphere would trigger uplift. The extension is occurring
because the enhanced potential energy of the Plateau is too great to be supported by the
compressional stresses.
What is the time lag between the onset of compressive stress and the attainment of the
large downward velocities that leads to loss of part of the dense mantle root? This depends
on the Rayleigh number (a dimensionless number related to the coefficient of thermal
expansion, gravity layer thickness and heat flow through the layer) of the convecting upper
mantle. The time interval between the start of compression and mantle thinning decreases
with increasing Rayleigh number. At low Rayleigh numbers the time may be 100 Ma, but
with very high numbers the interval is only about 10 Ma. Furthermore, once convective
removal reaches peak velocities it proceeds to completion in a short time.
There are important consequences to the sudden removal of the thermal boundary layer.
Hot asthenosphere is brought into direct contact with the overlying crust and mantle. The
result of this is the generation of melts which appear at the surface as lava flows. Another
consequence is that a wave of temperature increase, enhanced by the transfer of mantle-
derived melts into the crust and their crystallisation there, would move through the upper
lithosphere giving rise to high-temperature (and perhaps UHT) granulite metamorphism.
These points are further discussed below and in Chapter 5.
Platt and England applied their model to other regions for example the Basin and Range
of the western United States (WUSA), Anatolia and the Betic cordillera in southern Spain.
The Basin and Range region evolved from compressional tectonics in the late Mesozoic
and early Cenozoic era to an extensional regime in the Cenozoic after the Eocene to the
present. Extension was accompanied by considerable igneous activity during extension and
also before it. Platt and England's contention that the evolution of the Basin and Range is
related to mantle thinning, as in Tibet, has been contested. Thus an alternative mechanism
to convective removal has been suggested, called slab steepening. Anatolia is another place
where the Platt and England model may apply. There, a late Cenozoic volcanic province
occurs in a belt running from eastern Turkey to Iran, 900 km long and <350 km wide.
These volcanics were erupted at c.6 Ma after a period of crustal thickening.
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15 Driving forces for plates
In the Betic cordillera of southern Spain and North Africa, coeval (early Miocene)
magmatism and extension have been recognised as late events in a collision type orogen
with high grade metamorphic rocks which are dated as early Miocene and have been
exhumed along high-temperature paths accompanied by appreciable loss of pressure, as
manifested in the partial replacement of denser high-pressure metamorphic assemblages by
lower-density but still high-temperature ones. These ‘near isothermal decompression’ P–T
records, or ITD paths, provide important metamorphic constraints on the behaviour of the
orogen and hence models for how orogens work. In the case of the Betics the comple-
mentary time information obtained from dating of minerals grown in the metamorphism
and the cooling ages of micas in the schists shows that the exhumation took at most a few
million years.
The Platt and England conclusion is controversial in two respects: firstly the postulated
timescale for Tibet, especially the suggestion that a sharp uplift of Tibet was dated in the
late Miocene or early Pliocene (8 Ma), and secondly the proposed link between litho-
spheric thinning and magmatism in Tibet, i.e. the sudden removal of the lower mantle
lithosphere and the consequent heating of the lithosphere by hot asthenosphere. These
points are pursued further in Chapter 5.
Finally, the England–Houseman (1988) model invoked a homogeneous thickening of
the Tibetan lithosphere. This proposition is in conflict with suggestions that the crustal
thickness of Tibet is due to the subduction of Indian lower crust and mantle lithosphere
under Tibet. The subduction model involves no mantle thickening because Asian mantle
has been pushed out of the way in order to make room for the Indian mantle. Manifestly
there is much more work to be done on this topic, but that fact does not diminish the
importance of the Platt and England model.
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