Subduction zones thermal structure

Helffrich G., Stein S., and Wood B. J. (1989) Subduction zone thermal structure and mineralogy and their relationship to seismic wave reflections and conversions at the slab/mantle interface. J. Geophys. Res. 94, 753-763. 

THERMAL STRUCTURE AND MINERALOGY OF THE SUBDUCTING PLATE. 2.1 Subduction Zone Thermal Models... 

Tatsumi Y., Sakuyama M., Fukuyama H., and Kushiro I. (1983) Generation of arc basalt magmas and thermal structure of the mantle wedge in subduction zones. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 5815-5825. 

As noted earlier, quantitative element fluxes in subduction zones are tricky. They depend on magma production rates, which are often poorly known. They also depend on specific fluid-fluxing or sediment melting models, which implicitly or explicitly invoke a specific thermal structure and mineralogy for the slab, a subject of much debate. 

Peacock S. M. (1996) Thermal and petrologic structure of subduction zones. In Subduction Top to Bottom, Am. Geophys. Union Monogr. 96 (eds. G. E. Bebout, D. W. Scholl, S. H. Kirby, and J. P. Platt). American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp. 119-133. 

Abers, G.A., van Kelcen, P.E., Kneller, E.A., Ferris, A., and Stachnik, J.C., 2006. The thermal structure of subduction zones constrained by seismic imaging implications for slab dehydration and wedge flow. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 241, 387-97. 

The global depth distribution of deep earthquakes (Fig. 6) shows a strong decrease of activity to about 300 km depth, a broad, weak maximum at about 400 km depth, and a significant increase in seismic activity below about 530 km (down to the maximum observed depth of about 700 km). Variations to this general pattern between subduction zones are likely due to differences in slab thermal structure, which depends on relative plate motion rate, age of the subducting plate, and whether the slab is continuous or not. Intermediate-deep earthquakes (70-300 km depth) reach about Mw = 8 (Table 1). The largest deep earthquakes occur close to the base of the seismically active part of the slab below 600 km depth and can exceed M = 8. Examples include the 1994 Bolivia (M = 8.2) and the 2013 Sea of Okhotsk (Mw = 8.4) earthquakes (Table 1). 

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