Tb. Larsen et al., DYNAMICAL CONSEQUENCES ON FAST SUBDUCTING SLABS FROM A SELF-REGULATING MECHANISM DUE TO VISCOUS HEATING IN VARIABLE VISCOSITY CONVECTION, Geophysical research letters, 22(10), 1995, pp. 1277-1280
We have studied 2-D time-dependent convection for a theology which is
both non-Newtonian and temperature-dependent. Strong effects associate
d with viscous heating are found in the downwelling sheets, which are
heated on both sides with an intensity around O(10(2)) times the chond
ritic value. The magnitude of viscous heating increases strongly with
the subduction speed. The slab interior is weakened by viscous heating
and slab breakoff then takes place. This process provides a self-regu
lating mechanism for governing the speed of intact stabs able to reach
the deep mantle. Timescales associated with viscous heating are quite
short, a few million years. Internal heating by radioactivity decreas
es the amount of shear heating.