Workflow for code to making reconstructions of slab geometries, and associated slab windows, using topological plate reconstructions through deep time.
The code is based on this repository: https://github.com/siwill22/pgpslabs but has been altered and extended in several ways.
The idea is principally inspired by various papers of Derek Thorkelson's and others, including a paper by McGirr et al. (2021) that included an implementation of the workflow at https://github.com/siwill22/pgpslabs, to map the extent of slab windows through geological time. The windows form where mid-ocean ridges intersect with subduction zones. This code maps points in the slabs themselves, so that slab-windows are visualised as gaps between different slab segments.
Assumptions:
• Instead of assuming a single dip angle throughout all slabs, this workflow uses a published method to compute the paleo-slab dip based on a combination of parameters, based on a paper by Mather et al. (2023). The workflow to compute slab dip can be found here: https://github.com/brmather/Slab-Dip
• convergence rates and ages of subducting plates are taken from a given plate reconstruction and associated paleo-age grids. Usualy, the paleo-age grids are computed using GPlately:
https://github.com/GPlates/gplately/blob/master/Notebooks/10-SeafloorGrids.ipynb
In the current version, the slabs are represented as points along lines of equal subduction age (currently no method is implemented to turn these into a surface). The attributes at each point are the age of subuction, and the age of the subducting seafloor.
McGirr, R., Seton, M. and Williams, S., 2021. Kinematic and geodynamic evolution of the Isthmus of Panama region: Implications for Central American Seaway closure. Bulletin, 133(3-4), pp.867-884.
Mather, B.R., Müller, R.D., Alfonso, C.P., Seton, M. and Wright, N.M., 2023. Kimberlite eruptions driven by slab flux and subduction angle. Scientific Reports, 13(1), p.9216.