A numerical study of subduction zone dynamics using linear viscous to thermo-mechanical model setups including (de)hydration processes

Title: - A numerical study of subduction zone dynamics using linear viscous to thermo-mechanical model setups including (de)hydration processes. Author: Matthieu Quinquis. Department / Institute: Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague. Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: doc. RNDr. Ondřej Čadek, CSc. Consultant: RNDr. Susanne J.H. Buiter, DrSc. Abstract: Subduction zones are complex systems that include different types of material behaviour, several time-scales from short-term earthquakes to long-term mantle flow, and melting and (de)hydration processes. These complexities can be chal- lenging to include in numerical experiments, both from a physics perspective of representing a process in equations, and from a numerical perspective of keeping calculation times reasonable. Numerical models therefore often simplify the sys- tem, by, for example, limiting the size of the model domain, reducing viscosity contrasts, using simple boundary conditions, or approximating water and melt migration through the mantle wedge with simplified equations. The aim of this thesis is to show how simplifications in the set-up of a numerical model could affect the mechanical evolution of the modelled subduction system. A first set of experiments shows how the numerical..