Stress distribution due to olivine-spinel phase transition in descending plate and deep focus earthquakes

The stress field due to olivine-spinel phase transition in and around a descending plate is studied based on the calculations for an equilibrium phase transition with a constant Clapeyron's slope and for a nonequilibrium transition taking a kinetic effect into consideration. The material concerned is assumed to be a viscoelastic body whose physical coefficients are functions of temperature and pressures. The calculated stress distribution for the equilibrium transition is characterized by a compressional stress near the upper and/or lower surfaces of the plate and by a tensional stress at the central part in the depth range from 200 to 550 km, the magnitude of principal stress being greater than 0.5 GPa. However, for the nonequilibrium transition a tensional stress predominates near the upper and lower surfaces, and the central part is compressional in the depth range from 300 to 600 km, unlike the case of equilibrium transition. The maximum principal stress in the latter case is greater than 2 GPa, which is much more than that for the equilibrium transition. The principal axes in the high stressed region are oriented almost parallel to the descending direction in both cases. Comparison of the calculated results to the actually observed seismicity-depth relation and to focal mechanisms of deep focus earthquakes in descending plates beneath island arcs shows that the nonequilibrium phase transition agrees better with the observations.

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