Numerical simulation of the initiation of subduction at the fracture zone.

Abstract

In order to predict the future process of crustal and lithospheric movement at the gigantic fracture zone in the Northeastern Pacific, numerical simulation of contact between two kinds of viscous fluid of different density was performed. The results suggest that there occurs downgoing motion of the higher density fluid towards the lower density fluid and that formation of a trench will appear in several tens of million years from the standpoint of both bottom topography and lithospheric structure.