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Model of mantle convection in a zone of a complete subduction cycle
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A 2D numerical model of the immersion of a cold oceanic plate into the thickness of the Earth’s upper mantle has been developed, where the stage of the initial immersion of the plate is preceded by the establishment of a regime of thermogravitational convection of the mantle substance. The model approximation of the mantle is a two-dimensional image of an incompressible Newtonian quasi-liquid in a Cartesian coordinate system, where, due to the high viscosity of the medium, the equations of mantle convection are accepted in the Stokes approximation. It is assumed that seawater that has leaked here enters the first horizons of the mantle together with the plate. With depth, the increase in pressure and temperature leads to certain losses of its light fractions and fluids, losses of water and gases of water-containing minerals of the plate, restructuring of their crystal lattice and, as a consequence, phase transformations. These losses cause an increase in the plate density and an uneven distribution of stresses along the plate (the initial sections of the plate are denser), which subsequently, together with the effect of mantle currents on the plate, causes its fragmentation. The state of mantle convection is considered when the plate and its individual fragments have descended to the bottom of the upper mantle. Computational schemes for solving the model equations have been developed. Mantle convection calculations are performed in terms of the Stokes approximation for vorticity and the stream function, and SPH is used to calculate the state and subsidence of the plate. A number of computational experiments have been performed. It is shown that fragmentation of the plate occurs due to the effect of mantle convection on the plate and the development of inhomogeneous stress fields along the plate. Following the equations of the model, the time of the final stage of subduction is estimated, i.e. the time of the entire oceanic plate reaching the bottom of the upper mantle. In geodynamics, this process is determined by the collision of plates that immediately follows subduction and is usually considered as the final stage of the Wilson cycle (i. e., the cycle of development of folded belts).
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International Interdisciplinary Conference "Mathematics. Computing. Education"