GEODYNAMIC MODEL OF THE INTERACTION OF THE SUBDUCTION ZONE WITH THE CONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE IN THE AREA OF TRANSITION BETWEEN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND EAST ASIA

Abstract

East Asia is the vast region of Asia which is characterized by a complex geological structure and high activity of seismic and tectonic processes. Satellite geodetic data, reflecting the recent crustal movements in the region, demonstrate a considerable variability in magnitude and direction of motions both along the strike of island-arc margins and deep into the continent. To explain the anomalies in the Earth's surface displacement field, the paper proposes a geodynamic model of East Asia which involves the mechanism of interaction between the continental lithosphere of the region and the continent-to-ocean transition area along the Kuril-Kamchatka and Japanese island arcs. The proposed concept includes the model of the upper-mantle convective cell, developing beneath the continental lithosphere, in combination with the keyboard-block model explaining the regularities of seismic cycle in the island-arc margins. It has been shown that the consideration of interaction between the lithosphere and upper mantle in the continent-to-ocean transition area in the framework of the model of non-stationary convective cell allows us to explain the recent crustal movements observed up to a distance of 2000 km and the seismic tomography data without involving additional lithospheric blocks. The model contributes to the development of the physically grounded geodynamic approach to the analysis of recent tectonics and eliminates the inconsistencies between the observed data and classical plate tectonics in East Asia.

Keywords

• east asia
• geodynamic process
• largest earthquake
• mantle convection
• subduction zone
• seismic cycle
• recent earth’s surface displacements
• satellite geodesy
• numerical modeling