New Constraints on the Complex Subduction and Tearing Model of the Cocos Plate Using Anisotropic Pn Tomography

Abstract

Abstract To better understand the structure and process of the Cocos plate subduction, we obtained the first Pn velocity and anisotropy model of the uppermost mantle in southern Mexico using the Pn tomography method and new ISC‐EHB data. This study confirms that the subducted Cocos oceanic plate exhibits mid‐oceanic ridge‐perpendicular anisotropy, and there is an arc‐parallel anisotropic structure beneath the subduction arc. The variation of the Pn velocity and anisotropy structure at the east and west ends of the flat‐slab subduction zone in the Guerrero area provide new and clear seismological images for a plate‐tearing model which might be caused by the Orozco and O'Gorman fracture zones. The Pn low‐velocity and trench‐perpendicular anisotropic structure found north of the flat‐slab subduction zone support the slab retreat model of the Central Cocos plate. The Pn structure supports the existence of tearing corresponding to Teuhantepec Ridge in the Cocos plate beneath the Isthmus of Tuxtlas. Our study provides a reliable tomography basis and new constraints for a complicated subduction dynamics process in the southern Mexico subduction zone.

Keywords

• uppermost mantle
• Pn wave
• tomography
• Cocos plate
• slab tearing
• anisotropy