Fig. 1: The global distribution of proposed generalized mode-III VTs.
From: Vertical tearing of subducting plates controlled by geometry and rheology of oceanic plates
a The crack surface displacement modes4. Mode-I refers to opening or tension mode, where the crack surfaces (gray planes) move directly apart in a direction perpendicular to themselves. Mode-III refers to out-of-plane shear mode, where the crack surfaces move relative to one another in a direction paralleling the crack tip (red line). b The generalized Mode-III VTs. Based on their geodynamic settings, they are subdivided into STEPs (yellow diamonds, near the subduction zone edge) and mode-III VTs (red cycles, within two subducting segments). The topography data is from ETOPO1 arc-minute Global Relief Model75. The slab depth shows the geometry of subducting slabs12. The color of the lines shows the different plate boundary types from Bird (2003)13. The blue lines indicate convergent boundaries, consisting of subduction zones and oceanic and continental convergent boundaries. The red lines indicate divergent boundaries, including oceanic spreading ridges and continental rift boundaries. The yellow lines indicate the transform boundaries, containing oceanic and continental transform faults. Transform continental margins from Mercier de Lépinay et al. (2016)14 are marked by orange lines. Abbreviation descriptions and approximate locations of VTs are summarized in Supplementary Table 1.
