Along-strike translation of a fossil slab

The Isabella anomaly is a high seismic velocity anomaly beneath the southern Central Valley of California that has previously been interpreted to represent a lithospheric drip or delaminated Sierra Nevada root. However, recent work suggests that the anomaly is a remnant slab, left over from Cenozoic subduction, attached to the Pacific plate underneath the edge of the North American plate. This hypothesis requires the slab to translate hundreds of kilometers along-strike while remaining intact and attached to the Pacific plate despite drag from the surrounding asthenosphere and overriding lithosphere. We use 3-D finite element models to simulate this scenario, and calculate the viscosity ratio between the slab and the surrounding asthenosphere required for the slab to translate undeformed. The required viscosity ratio increases with increasing downdip extent of the slab, and decreases with increasing slab dip; for geometries approximating that of our proposed slab, the required ratio ranges from 102 to 104. Given the thermal and petrologic history of the slab, mantle flow laws predict viscosity contrasts greater than or equal to these requirements. As such, we conclude that along-strike translation of a remnant slab is feasible, and serves as a possible explanation of the Isabella anomaly. The significance of this finding extends beyond our general understanding of subduction dynamics, in that the presence of such a slab could have implications for the water budget of the San Andreas Fault and its role in aseismic slip.

► We model subducted slabs translating along strike. ► We calculate slab–asthenosphere viscosity contrast needed for rigid translation. ► Longer and more shallowly dipping slabs require a greater viscosity contrast. ► Mantle flow laws predict viscosity ratios equal to or greater than those required. ► The presence of a slab could help explain the creeping section of the San Andreas.