EPS 108 Geodynamics

Homework #6 (due Thursday October 20, 2016)

(1) Please read section 3.17 of Turcotte and Schubert, which describes a model for
bending of the oceanic lithosphere at subduction zones. Note that this section
actually describes the work of Caldwell, Haxby, Karig, and Turcott (Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 31, pp. 239-246, 1976), in which they derive the
universal flexure profile for subducting lithosphere. You dont need to read this
paper, as it is a bit tedious, but when you read section 3.17 of T&S pay close
attention to how the boundary conditions are used to constrain the solution,
irrespective of the rather involved algebra, and how the solutions are normalized to
quantities that can be determined directly from observations.
(2) Now, please read the paper by Turcotte, McAdoo, and Caldwell (Tectonophysics,
47, 193-205, 1978), which I have posted on bCourses. In this paper, a significant
modification of the simple elastic plate model is made, namely, introducing plastic
failure at some critical (bending) yield stress. This paper will challenge you, and
there are some sections that may be a bit over your head, e.g., the second half of
page 200. Dont let this throw you off, though, as you already have the basic skills
and knowledge to understand in principle what the authors are doing. Do the usual
scan first abstract, figures, conclusions before trying to read the paper. It
might help then to read backwards from the final two figures (Figures 7 and 8),
where the true objects of concern in modeling are revealed the mismatch between
the universal flexure profile and the profiles for the Aleutian and Tonga trenches.
(3) After you get the basic idea of what problem the paper is attempting to solve, and
what approach is being used, then begin the 6-question quiz posted on bCourses
that will walk your through the highlights.
Reading section 3.17 of T&S should take you about - 1 hour.
Reading the Turcotte et al. (1978) paper may take you 1-2 hours, depending upon how
thorough you are. In the case of this particular paper, I recommend that you actually
read most of this paper, as it is succinct (short), mostly well-written, and quite
informative on both the theoretical (beginning) and observational (ending) sides.
A take home message from these readings is that good modeling is often an iterative
process: A simple (analytical) model may explain the most important features of an
important data set, but then the deviations of the data from the simple model become
both interesting and informative, leading to a better, or more general, model, and
additional physical insights. Suffice it to say that the 1978 paper was not the last word
on this subject, and many subsequent studies have continued to glean new information
and insights from the basic phenomenon of plate bending at subduction zones.