Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

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Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Long-term evolution of a plume-induced subduction in the Neotethys

realm
Mathieu Rodriguez a,∗ , Maëlis Arnould b,c , Nicolas Coltice a , Mathieu Soret d
a
Laboratoire de Géologie, Ecole normale supérieure, PSL research university, CNRS UMR 8538, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
b
Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
c
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, Université Lyon 1, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and CNRS, Villeurbanne, France
d
Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orléans (ISTO), UMR 7327, CNRS–BRGM, Université d’Orléans, 45071, Orléans, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The head of a mantle plume can weaken the oceanic lithosphere through the combined action of its
Received 4 July 2020 buoyancy forces and excess temperature, which eventually induces intra-oceanic subductions. However,
Received in revised form 12 December 2020 the dynamics of plume-induced subductions, their lifetime and their ability to propagate at the scale of
Accepted 30 January 2021
an entire ocean remain unknown. Here, we combine a quantitative synthesis of the ophiolitic record of
Available online xxxx
Editor: A. Webb
the Neotethys subduction in the Late Cretaceous with 3D spherical modeling of mantle convection self-
generating plate-like tectonics to propose that the pre-Deccan plume initiated the Southern Neotethys
Keywords: Subduction. We suggest that this subduction retreated at 5-10 cm yr−1 until it reached the continental
subduction margins of Arabia and India. The sequential segmentation of this subduction during its retreat and the
mantle plume diachronous deactivation of the resulting segments drove the Late Cretaceous-Eocene series of plate
Neotethys reorganization events recorded in the Indian Ocean’s fabric.
ophiolites © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Indian Ocean

1. Introduction iments using brittle elasto-visco-plastic fluids (Davaille et al., 2017)

How a subduction zone initiates, grows and eventually deacti-
vates is critical for the understanding of the driving forces of plate
tectonics and the evolution of Earth changing faces in the frame
of the Wilson cycle (Stern and Gerya, 2017). Based on numerical
models and the natural example of the Galapagos plume and the
Caribbean subduction in the Pacific Ocean, it has been suggested
that mantle plumes can initiate intra-oceanic subductions (What-
tam and Stern, 2015; Ueda et al., 2008; Burov and Cloething, 2010;
Gerya et al., 2015; Coltice et al., 2017; Davaille et al., 2017, 2020).
In their earliest stages (<5 Myrs), plume-induced subductions are
confined at the scale of the plume-head (i.e. several hundreds of
km). They display ring-shaped trenches, which delimit microplates
rotating above the nascent slab (Gerya et al., 2015; Baes et al.,
2020). These trenches can also be discontinuous, depending on the
rheology of the lithosphere (viscous, Baes et al., 2020, or brittle,
Davaille et al., 2017), its age (lithosphere younger than 30 Ma with
a thin crust, Baes et al., 2020) and the pre-imposition of exten-
sional stresses (Baes et al., 2020).
Both the geological record of the subduction induced by the
Galapagos plume (Whattam and Stern, 2015) and laboratory exper-
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rodriguez@geologie.ens.fr (M. Rodriguez).
indicate that these subductions may retreat away from the plume
and be persistent features of plate tectonics. However, the abil-
ity of plume-induced intra-oceanic subductions to grow as ocean-
scale features over several tens of million years in a dynamic sys-
tem including interactions with other plate boundaries and mantle
plumes, remains unknown, from both modeling and geological as-
pects. The way a plume-induced subduction may impulse the clo-
sure of an ocean is critical to the understanding of the origin of
Global Plate Reorganization Events and may represent a still un-
recognized component of the Wilson Cycle (Müller et al., 2016).
The Neotethys Ocean used to separate Laurasia from the
Gondwana-derived continents during the Mesozoic (Gibbons et al.,
2015). The Southern Neotethys Subduction initiated around 110-
100 Ma, in a global context of increased plume activity (Matthews
et al., 2012; Jolivet et al., 2016). Ocean Island Basalt (OIB) found
within ophiolites formed above the Southern Neotethys subduc-
tion (Mahoney et al., 2002; Dilek and Furnes, 2014; Yang and
Dilek, 2015; Furnes et al., 2020; Esmaeili et al., 2019) and the
thermal anomaly recorded in the metamorphic soles lying below
those ophiolites are both supporting the proximity of a plume dur-
ing subduction initiation (Soret et al., 2017; Guilmette et al., 2018;
Pourteau et al., 2018).
Moreover, the lifetime of the Southern Neotethys Subduction
spans the Global Plate Reorganization Event at 73-63 Ma, which
is marked by a drastic change in the configuration of the Indian

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116798
0012-821X/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

Fig. 1. Map of the Indian Ocean and peri-tethys ophiolitic belts. The ophiolites related to the Southern Neotethys Subduction (pink dotted lines) are exposed north of Arabia
at Troodos (Cyprus), along the Sanandaj-Sirjan suture Zone (Iran) and at Semail (Oman). The ophiolitic belt continues in Middle East from Bela to Waziristan and north of
India at Nidar and Spongtang. The ophiolitic belt along the Indus Yarlung Tsangpo suture (Xigaze, Luobusa; red dotted line) derives from the Northern Neotethys Subduction.
The proto-Deccan plume tracks are recorded from the Ladakh to Bela ophiolites (Mahoney et al., 2002). (For interpretation of the colors in the figure(s), the reader is referred
to the web version of this article.)

Ocean’s plate boundaries coeval with the eruption of the Deccan
traps (Eagles and Hoang, 2014; Cande and Patriat, 2015; Rodriguez
et al., 2020). This set of evidences makes the Southern Neotethys
Subduction a good candidate for a long-lived plume-induced sub-
duction and asks about the potential relationship between its evo-
lution and the triggering of the Global Plate Reorganization Event
at 73-63 Ma.
The objective of this study is to investigate how subductions,
initially confined at the plume-head, may grow at the scale of an
entire ocean and drive its closure while affecting global-scale geo-
dynamics. We first document the different modes of propagation
of plume-induced subductions using global-scale models of plate
tectonics and show their ability to spread at the scale of an entire
ocean and survive for several tens of million years. We show that
episodes of dislocation of plume-induced subductions drive global
plate reorganization-like events. Then, the integration of the ophi-
olitic record of the Southern Neotethys Subduction from the Late
Cretaceous to the Eocene allows us to constrain the long-term evo-
lution of a plume-induced subduction as predicted in the models.
We highlight the potential role of the pre-Deccan plume (Mahoney
et al., 2002) over the closure of the Neotethys and the origin of
thermal anomalies recorded in the metamorphic soles of ophio-
lites scattered over 6000 km along the suture zone. Finally, we
suggest that the dislocation of the Southern Neotethys Subduction
into different segments, likely driven by the fast retreat of initially
ring-shaped trenches surrounding the plume, acted as a driving
mechanism for the 73-63 Ma plate reorganization event.
2. The Neotethys realm during the Late Cretaceous-Early
Paleogene
Nowadays, the Neotethys Ocean has almost entirely vanished
in the mantle (Hafkenscheid et al., 2006). The series of ophio-
lites, scattered along the complex suture zones formed in the
wake of the Cenozoic collisional events (e.g. Zagros, Himalaya)
records the development of at least two major subduction zones
involved in its closure (Fig. 1; Agard et al., 2011; Hébert et al.,
2012; Yang and Dilek, 2015; Furnes et al., 2020). Yet, gaps in
the geological record make it difficult to continuously track the
evolution of the Southern Neotethys Subduction, which results
in various scenarios proposed for the closure of the Neotethys
(Fig. 2). Most scenarios consider the initiation of several thou-
sands of kilometers-long, NW-SE-trending, intra-oceanic subduc-
tion segments about ∼500 to 1000 km north of Africa and
India margins (Agard et al., 2007). A minimum of two coeval
events of subduction initiation are required to explain the dif-
ferences between the ophiolitic record of India and Africa (Buck-
man et al., 2018). At the time of the initiation of the Southern
Neotethys Subduction (around 110-100 Ma, e.g. Guilmette et al.,
2018), the oceanic lithosphere was about 100-Myrs-old north of

2
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al.
Fig. 2. a) Reconstruction of the Neotethys Ocean and the configuration of the Southern Neotethys Subduction, from Matthews et al., 2016; b) Absolute plate motion of Africa
and India during the Late Cretaceous Paleogene period, from van Hinsbergen et al., 2011; Doubrovine et al., 2012; Gaina et al., 2013; c) main geological events affecting the
Neotethys realm during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene interval. The blue lines correspond to the lifetime of each branch of the Southern Neotethys Subduction.
Africa, which implies a thick and cold, therefore strong litho-
sphere, which likely hampered any subduction initiation. Trans-
form faults may constitute areas of weaknesses prone to subduc-
tion initiation (Zhou et al., 2018), with various transform systems
proposed as likely candidates for the initiation of the Southern
Neotethys Subduction (Buckman et al., 2018; van Hinsbergen et
al., 2019).
The conditions of initiation of the Southern Neotethys Subduc-
tion are recorded in metamorphic soles found at the base of most
obducted ophiolites (Table 1). Metamorphic soles correspond to
thin metamorphosed tectonic slivers detached from the downgoing
plate during the first few million years of intra-oceanic subduction
(Agard et al., 2018). Peak P-T conditions of metamorphic soles tes-
tify to much higher thermal conditions (≥30 ◦ C km−1 ; Agard et al.,
2016; Soret et al., 2017) than those typically observed in mature
subduction zones (7–10 ◦ C km−1 ; Penniston-Dorland et al., 2015;
Pourteau et al., 2018). Moreover, the dating of the metamorphic
soles of the Semail (Oman–UAE) and Turkish ophiolites indicates
that the subduction interface remained anomalously warm for at
least 8 Myr (Guilmette et al., 2018; Pourteau et al., 2018) despite
the progressive burial of cold material. The origin of this ther-
mal anomaly may be found in the influence of a mantle plume.
However, the number, the identity of the mantle plume at the ori-
gin of the thermal anomaly and the way it could have affected
metamorphic soles nowadays scattered over 6000-km remain un-
known.
The timing of initiation of the Southern Neotethys Subduction
∼110 Ma is roughly coeval with the earliest traces of the Dec-
can plume activity (Fig. 2), which are preserved in the ophiolitic
belt running from Ladakh to Bela (Fig. 1, Mahoney et al., 2002),
3
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798
asking for the pre-Deccan plume as a potential origin for the ther-
mal anomaly recorded in the metamorphic soles of the Neotethys
ophiolites. The 660-km-depth discontinuity in the mantle is pro-
posed as a likely mechanism for the ∼45 Myrs-long delay be-
tween the onset of the Deccan plume and the peak of eruption
of the Deccan traps (Kumagai et al., 2007). The peak of Deccan
plume activity at ∼65.5 Ma and the resulting enhanced plume-
head forces (Courtillot and Rennes, 2003; Hooper et al., 2010)
are proposed as a likely driver (Cande and Stegman, 2011) for
the major episode of change in the configuration of plate bound-
aries recorded in the Indian Ocean between 73-63 Ma (Cande
and Patriat, 2015; Rodriguez et al., 2020). According to Pusok and
Stegman (2020), the peak of Deccan plume activity around 70-
65 Ma might also have initiated a subduction, contributing to the
plate reorganization event and the fast convergence between In-
dia and Eurasia. However, both the geological signature of the
Deccan-induced subduction and the magnitude of the peak of
India-Eurasia convergence rates at 65 Ma are called into question
(Pandey et al., 2019Clift et al., 2020; Pérez-Diaz et al., 2020; Ro-
driguez, 2020).
The initiation of the Southern Neotethys Subduction is inter-
preted as part of a Global Plate Reorganization Event ∼110 Ma
(Fig. 2; Matthews et al., 2012), expressed by the deactivation of the
Eastern Gondwana Subduction, the deactivation of a segment of
the Northern Neotethys Subduction (Olierook et al., 2020) and the
onset of a super-plume event (East et al., 2020). The onset of the
Southern Neotethys Subduction marks the transition towards the
increasing rates of convergence between India-Africa and Eurasia,
culminating at ∼15 cm yr−1 at 65 Ma (Fig. 2, Jolivet et al., 2016).
The Cretaceous super-plume event and the resulting enhanced
 M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

convective movements, affecting Africa and India, have been pro-

63-89 (Parlak and Delanoye,

90-91 (Mukasa and Ludden,

Late Cretaceous (Al-Riyami

Age of the overlying Supra

80 Ma (Kakar et al., 2012)

Subduction Zone ophiolite
posed as the trigger for subduction initiation events within the
96-94 (Rioux et al., 2013,

1987; Chen et al., 2020)

92-93 Ma (Babaie et al.,

Neotethys (Agard et al., 2007; Jolivet et al., 2016). However, the
influence of plume head forces as dominant driving mechanisms
of plate tectonics has been challenged (Coltice et al., 2017, 2019).

et al., 2002)
Therefore, the existing scenarios based on the geological record
do not fully integrate the mode of initiation and propagation of
(Myrs)

2012)

1999)

2006)
the Southern Neotethys Subduction, the distribution of thermal
anomalies in the metamorphic soles of the ophiolites and the tim-
ing of obduction events. Moreover, the influence of the evolution of
104.5 ± 3.5 (Pourteau et al.,

the Southern Neotethys Subduction over the driving mechanisms

104.1-103.2 (Guilmette et

of the global plate reorganization event at 73-63 remains unclear.

To test if a plume-induced subduction can produce such a diverse
set of observations, one needs to explore the dynamics of the long-
Lu-Hf (Garnet)

term evolution of intra-oceanic subductions induced by plumes,

and their subsequent interactions with the mantle convective flow
al., 2018)
≥900 ◦ C

and their regional tectonic environment.

2018)

3. The Wilson cycle in light of global-scale numerical models

96.2 (Guilmette et al., 2018)

Global-scale numerical models self-consistently coupling man-

96.1-95.0 (Rioux et al.,

tle convection with lithospheric deformation enable an investi-

gation of oceanic plates evolution within virtual Earths at the
time-scale of an entire Wilson cycle, emancipated from gaps in
U-Pb (Zircon)

the geological record. From the first models of Gurnis (1988) in

a 2D periodic box to the most recent 3D ones (Coltice et al.,
700-800

2016)

2019), numerical studies of the Wilson cycle in convection mod-

els point to the dominant role of subduction for both aggregating
and dispersing continents. A subduction zone is indeed a conver-
95.6 (Guilmette et al., 2018)

gent area where continents collide when they are dispersed, but it
is also a force to tear continents apart when they are aggregated.
Zhong et al. (2007) proposed a toy model based on convection
calculations, which advocates for supercontinent formation when
U-Pb (Titanite)

there is one large subduction system on the planet drawing conti-

nents together, and dispersal when there are multiple subductions
600-650

around a supercontinent breaking it apart. This vision has been

somewhat confirmed by a variety of models afterwards, indepen-
dently of their complexity (Phillips et al., 2009; Philips and Coltice,
Ages of the metamorphic soles of the ophiolites derived from the Southern Neotethys Subduction.

2010; Lenardic et al., 2011; Rolf et al., 2012; Coltice et al., 2019).
94.7 ± 7 Ma (Lanphere and Pamic, 1983)

The role of plumes remains debated, but both geological observa-

80.5 ± 5.3 (K/Ar; Sawada et al., 1992)
70.7-65.1 (±5; Mahmood et al., 1995)
93.6-92.6 (Parlak and Delaloye, 1999)

128.9-123.5 (Guilmette et al., 2012)

127.7-123.3 (Guilmette et al., 2009)

tions (Fournier et al., 2010) and state-of-the-art numerical models

92-90 (Dilek and Whitney, 1997)
101.1 ± 3.8 (Harris et al., 1994)
102-99 (Gnos and Peters, 1993)

of convection in a spherical shell (Coltice et al., 2019) point to

94.9-92.6 (Hacker et al., 1996)

93-91 (±1; Celik et al., 2006)

88.9-75.7 (Chan et al., 2007)

88.4-71.7 (Chan et al., 2007)

scenario in which they weaken supercontinents and help strain lo-

65-67 (Gnos et al., 1998)

calization while slab-pull triggers the break-up.

95.7-92.4 (Hacker, 1994)

In the past decade, numerical models have shown a possible

interaction between plume and subduction within the Wilson cy-
cle hypothesis (Ueda et al., 2008; Gerya et al., 2015; Koptev et
Ar/Ar (Amp)

al., 2019). However, such models are regional models with a fo-
500-550

cus on the lithosphere and do not consider the dynamic feed-

backs with the full convective mantle flow. The difficulty of mod-
eling plume-induced subduction in the context of global mantle
convection has been overcome thanks to the simulation of plate-
93.6-90.9 (Hacker

like behavior in 3D spherical convection models (Tackley, 2008).

95-90 (Gnos and

Thuizat et al.,

When convection models involve strongly temperature-dependent

Peters, 1993)
et al., 1996)
Ar/Ar (Mus)

93-91 (±3;

viscosity and pseudo-plasticity, plumes, plates and subduction self-

350-450

organize into a tectonic framework, and plume-induced subduc-

1981)

tion naturally emerges (Coltice et al., 2017, 2019; Arnould et al.,

2020). Moreover, in these models, mantle plume excess tempera-
ture, buoyancy flux, heat flux, upper-mantle radius, lifetime, num-
Temperature of closure

ber, pulses of activity and lateral motions are comparable to obser-

vations derived from seismic tomography images, hotspot basalt
Method of dating

Yarlung Zangbo

chemistry, paleomagnetism, surface residual topography and grav-

Muslim Bagh
Baer-Bassit

ity anomalies (Arnould et al., 2020). In the following, we use such

Troodos

models to describe how a plume-induced subduction propagates,

Turkey
Semail

Neyriz
Table 1

Bela
(◦ C)

ultimately closing oceanic basins and leading to continental aggre-

gation.

4
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

4. 3D numerical models Table 2

Non-dimensional and dimensional model parameters.
Building a 3D spherical model of convection that produces per- Parameter Non-dimensional value Dimensional value
tinent balance of forces for plate-like tectonics is a challenge be- Surface temperature T top 0.12 300 K
cause four types of stresses have to be comparable as they are on Basal temperature T bot 1.12 2250 K
Earth: stresses caused by elevation gradients (dynamic and static), Reference density ρ0 1 4400 kg m−3
viscous shear, buoyancy of geodynamic features like plumes and Reference thermal 1 3 × 10−5 K−1
subduction and yield stress. Therefore, the range of model parame- expansivity α0
ters in which plate tectonics emerge is reduced. Computing limita- Reference diffusivity κ0 1 1e−6 m2 s−1
tions impose the parameterization of the temperature dependence Reference viscosity η0 1 1022 Pa s
Activation energy E a 8 142 kJ mol−1
of viscosity, which is the dominant factor to generate plate-like
Activation volume V a 3 0.44 cm3 mol−1
behavior (Crameri and Tackley, 2015) and dynamic plumes (Ribe
Maximum viscosity cutoff 104 1026 Pa s
et al., 2007). Once this choice is made, we have built on the pa- Viscosity increase factor in 30
rameter space exploration of Arnould et al. (2019) in 2D spherical the lower mantle
annulus geometry to narrow the range of models where the bal- Continental interior 100
ance of the four types of stresses mentioned earlier is physically viscosity increase factor
relevant for our planet. Continental margin 50
viscosity increase factor
The evolution of three theoretical Earth-like planets is then
Gas constant 1 8.314 J mol−1 K−1
simulated over 300 Myrs (Coltice et al., 2019; Arnould et al., 2020) Gravity acceleration at the 1 9.81 m s−2
as follows. The 3D-spherical numerical solutions are computed us- surface g0
ing the code StagYY (Tackley, 2008), which solves the following Mantle thickness D 1 2890 km
Continental interior 0.0692 200 km
equations of mass, momentum, energy and composition conserva-
thickness Dcont
tion for an incompressible viscous medium assuming a Boussinesq Continental margin 0.0432 125 km
approximation: thickness Dmarg
Internal heating rate H 40 6.81 10−12 W kg−1
∇. v = 0, Yield stress depth-derivative 2.34 106 1088 Pa m−1
   dσY
∇ p − ∇. η ∇ v + ∇ v T = Ra(α T + BC )e r , Oceanic surface yield stress 2–3 104 27–48 MPa
DT σY o,oc
= −∇.(∇ T ) + H , Continental interior surface 7 105 932 MPa
Dt yield σY o,cont stress
DC Continental margin surface 3 105 400 MPa
=0 yield σY o,marg stress
Dt
Continental interior −0.32 −150 kg m−3
with v the velocity, p the pressure, T the temperature (vary- buoyancy B cont number
ing between 0.12 and 1.12), η the viscosity, C the composition, Continental margin −0.4 −188 kg m−3
α the thermal expansivity, H the heat production rate, B the buoyancy B marg number
chemical buoyancy ratio and e r the radial unit vector. D/Dt is
the Lagrangian time derivative. The reference Rayleigh number Ra
α ρ T g D 3
σY = σY 0 + z ∗ dσY
(defined as 0 0κ η 0 ) is set to 107 , which leads to Earth-like
0 0
convective surface velocities, heat flow and topography. All param- with σY 0 the surface yield stress, and dσY the yield stress depth-
eters are detailed in Table 2. derivative. When σY is reached, viscosity drops following:
The mantle deforms linearly, following an Arrhenius viscosity σY
ηY =
law depending on both pressure and temperature: ε̇II
  
Ea + p V a with ε̇II = 0.5 ε̇i j ε̇i j the second invariant of stress. We chose our
η( p , T ) ∝ exp A + model surface yield stress values (Table 2) based on the prior ex-
RT
ploration of the effect of the yield stress on the strength of the
with R the gas constant, A a prefactor ensuring that η is equal lithosphere and on the surface behavior in 2D spherical annulus
to the reference viscosity η0 at a surface pressure and a temper- models (Arnould et al., 2018), during which we found that us-
ature of 1600 K, E a the activation energy and V a the activation ing a Ra number of 107 , dimensionalized yield stresses >80 MPa
volume. In these models, computational limitations require the use always result in episodic-lid or stagnant-lid behavior. While such
of an activation energy two times lower than experimental esti- yield stresses are low compared to experimental constraints of rock
mates for olivine in diffusion creep. We expect that using a larger deformations, they are within the range of the stress release by
activation enthalpy results in increasing radial and lateral varia- earthquakes (∼10 MPa) and experimental rock deformation exper-
tions of viscosity with temperature, likely to cause mantle plume iments on pristine rocks (300–500 MPa).
material to rise even faster and potentially favor the occurrence We used free-slip top and bottom boundary conditions. Al-
of plume-induced subductions. Although driven by computational though this does not favor the formation of one-sided subduction
limitations, our choice of parameters allows for 7 orders of mag- at the surface, we observe asymmetric subductions, likely thanks
nitude of variation of viscosity, facilitating the emergence of a to the modeling of large lateral viscosity gradients. The use of a
plate-like behavior and successfully decoupling the speed of ris- surface free-slip condition does not seem to artificially favor the
ing plume conduit material from the ambient mantle. We also occurrence of subduction polarity reversals since 3D models with a
imposed a viscosity jump by a factor of 30, consistent with geo- sticky-air layer show similar behaviors (Crameri and Tackley, 2014;
physical studies (Ricard et al., 1993; Ricard, 2007). Ulvrova et al., 2019).
In order to model a plate-like behavior, we considered a In all simulations, we model continents using tracers with a
pseudo-plastic rheology using the following yield-stress law to higher viscosity than oceanic lithosphere and a positive buoy-
model lithospheric strength and localize deformation: ancy (Table 1). We chose an arbitrary initial shape and configu-

5
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

Fig. 3. Plume-induced subduction and propagation in numerical model 1. (a) Surface velocity maps at 3 distinct time steps (the reference frame for the velocity field is
an equivalent of the no-net rotation reference frame adapted to the numerical models); b) surface view of the plate boundaries configurations; c) 3D cross sections of the
plume-induced subduction system. The background shows model temperatures. Plume isotherms are contoured by depth and slabs are in transparent blue. In Model 1, a
one-sided, semi-circular subduction initiates near an existing hotspot, located close to a mid-oceanic ridge where asymmetric spreading results in asymmetric lithospheric
thickness. Subduction retreats and evolves into three curved trenches, progressively deactivated after propagating along the strike of the continent.

ration, which corresponds to Earth continents as reconstructed 80
Myrs ago to start with dispersed continental blocks. Each conti-
nent is composed of two parts: a cratonic center, which is thicker,
more viscous and less deformable than its belt in order to fa-
vor their stability throughout the model evolution (Lenardic et
al., 2003). Tracers are initially fixed during a convective equili-
bration phase, after which we verify that mantle temperature,
average surface velocity and top and bottom heat flow are quasi-
statistically stable. Then, we allow them to advect self-consistently
with mantle flow and surface tectonics during at least 200 Myrs
before computing a ∼300 Myrs model evolution ready for analy-
sis.
After carrying sets of 3D spherical calculations, we selected
three models (Figs. 3–5). They all display surface heat flow of
about 50 TW, surface velocities on the order of 5 cm yr−1 and in-
dividual mantle plumes characterized by temperature excess and
buoyancy fluxes comparable to Earth (Arnould et al., 2020). In
Models 1 and 2, thermal expansivity decreases by a factor of
3 throughout the mantle, as suggested by high-pressure high-
temperature rock experiments (Chopelas and Boehler, 1992). In
Model 3, thermal expansivity is constant, which results in a more
vigorous plume and slab flow in the deep mantle. Moreover, in
Model 1, the surface yield stress is 27 MPa, 1/3 times lower than in
Models 2 and 3 (σY 0 = 48 MPa), which results in more and smaller
plates at the surface (Mallard et al., 2016), making subduction ini-
tiation easier.
5. Results: global-scale numerical models of long-lived
plume-induced subductions
The three models highlight a vast range of patterns of sub-
duction evolution (from inception to deactivation) and resulting
changes in the configuration of the surrounding plate bound-
aries (Figs. 3–5). Plume-induced subductions are self-consistent
emergent features of the models, which appear about every 100
Myrs on average. However, the time interval between two plume-
induced subductions is unsteady (Table 3), suggesting that plume-
induced subductions require the conjugation of specific factors in
order to occur, among which are the plume buoyancy flux, the
nature of the lithosphere above the plume (age, thickness and tec-
tonic context) and the ambient lithospheric stresses, as pointed by
e.g. Baes et al. (2020). We identified three configurations favoring
plume-induced subductions in the models:
(1) when an existing plume is located at an asymmetric ridge
and moves away from it, the abrupt difference on lithosphere
thickness due to both asymmetric spreading and thermal erosion
by the plume (Supplementary Fig. 1) can cause the growth of
instabilities on the sides of the plume thermal trail and the subse-
quent initiation of a subduction (Fig. 3 and Supplementary Movie
1 and 4);
(2) when a new plume impinges a thin oceanic lithosphere near
a ridge with a buoyancy flux large enough, it can thermally erode
its base, further thinning it and initiating downwelling instabilities
on the sides of the plume trail (Fig. 4 and Supplementary Movie
2);

6
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

Fig. 4. Plume-induced subduction and propagation in numerical model 2. (a) Surface velocity maps at 4 distinct time steps (the reference frame for the velocity field
is an equivalent of the no-net rotation reference frame adapted to the numerical models); b) surface view of the plate boundaries configurations; c) 3D cross sections of
the plume-induced subduction system. In Model 2, the plume hits a young (0–15 Myr) and thin (0–50 km-thick) lithosphere near a ridge, and initiates a two-lobe-shaped
subduction. One lobe quickly vanishes. During its retreat, the second lobe meets a second mantle plume. Subduction vergence flips and the trench breaks into two branches.
One branch propagates northwards along the eastern side of the continent, whereas the other branch retreats southwestwards.

Table 3
Detailed characteristics of all model plume induced subductions.

Model Time of the subduction Upper-mantle Upper-mantle Plume buoyancy flux when Lithosphere thickness Lithosphere age before
initiation plume radius plume average the subduction initiates before the subduction the subduction initiates
(Myr) (km) Temperature (× 1e3 kg/m3 ) initiates (Myr)
(K) (km)
1 66–75 70 193 5.5 >100 >100
1 64–70 95 184 7.1 >100 >100
1 230–240 85 174 Pulse of 13.5 at 240 Myr >100 >100
2 24–30 94 263 73 at 24 Myr / 21.6 at 30 Myr ∼0–50 km 0–15
2 115–125 68 203 6.6–7.2 >100 >100
2 210–215 67 199 7.7 at 214 >100 >100
3 0–3 52 242 5.1 at 3 Myr ∼100 ∼60
3 101–105 52 264 8.1 at 103 Myr 0 0–10
3 122–125 86 170 11.3 at 122 Myr >100 >100

(3) when the plume is located away from any ridge below ini-
tially thick oceanic lithosphere (Fig. 5 and Supplementary Movie
3 and 5), it can locally rejuvenate a 100-km-thick lithosphere by
thinning it by 50-km in a few tens of million years. Due to ambient
lithospheric stresses, a ridge can sometimes initiate right above the
plume, as described by Davaille et al. (2017), with a spreading axis
interestingly aligned with direction of the small-scale convection
rolls which were in place before the thermal erosion started (Sup-
plementary Movie 5). The abrupt changes of lithospheric thickness
and the development of small-scale convection on the sides of the

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M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

Fig. 5. Plume-induced subduction and propagation in numerical model 3. (a) Surface velocity maps at 4 distinct time steps (The reference frame for the velocity field is
an equivalent of the no-net rotation reference frame adapted to the numerical models); b) surface view of the plate boundaries configurations; c) 3D cross sections of the
plume-induced subduction system. In Model 3, a one-sided arcuate subduction trench initiates near a plume located away from any plate-boundary. In only 30 Myrs, the
trench length increases by a factor of ten. Interactions with a mantle plume to the south changes its vergence and the presence of a ridge tears it in two segments. Two
distinct segments progressively hit the continent to the west, whereas the last segment remains intra-oceanic for about 145 Myrs.

plume thermal trail can eventually lead to the initiation of a new
subduction.
The age of the oceanic lithosphere at the time of subduction-
initiation ranges between 10 to 100 Myrs (Table 3), with most
events occurring when an old and thick lithosphere is rejuvenated
(or thinned), due to plume-induced thermal erosion (Table 3). This
result contrasts with the results of Baes et al. (2020) in which most
episodes of multi-slab plume-induced subductions occur for young
lithosphere. One possible reason for this difference is the lack of
tails associated with the plume head in the models of Baes et
al. (2020), therefore limiting the timespan of the action of their
anomalously hot patch on the lithosphere. When a narrow plume
tail is included, the range of situations leading to plume-induced
subduction increases, but the small duration of the models ham-
pers the potential thermal erosion of thick lithosphere. Moreover,
temporal variations of plume buoyancy flux due to pulses of activ-
ity are not accounted for while in our models, occasional increase
in buoyancy flux due to plume merging events can enhance lo-
cal thinning of the oceanic lithosphere above pre-existing plumes,
triggering plume-induced subductions (Supplementary Fig. 2 and
Movie 5). The different modalities of plume-induced subductions
can also result from the use of a different rheology (presence of a
crust and multi-layered lithosphere, drastic decrease of viscosity of
the crust (“melting”) on a vast area above the plume). Contrary to
Baes et al. (2020), Davaille et al. (2017) predict that plume-induced
subductions should affect relatively thick lithosphere in present-
day Earth-like conditions, based on an elastic bending criterion. In
the absence of hot mantle material flooding the lithosphere and
causing a rapid bend of the lithosphere in our model setup, the
asperities created by the thermal erosion by plumes at the base
of the lithosphere play the most critical role on plume-induced
subductions (Fig. 3c, 4c, 5c, Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2, Supple-
mentary Movies 4 and 5) by favoring the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor
instabilities. The resulting plume-induced subductions always start
from the catastrophic growth of one or two of these instabilities.
As a result, in all cases (Figs. 3–5), the corresponding trenches
are highly curved and display either a one-lobe or multi-lobe pat-
tern, but are never fully-circular. The radius of the trench curvature
increases by a factor of 2–3 in 30 Myrs while their length increases
by a factor of 4–9. Trenches retreat at a rate of about 5–10 cm yr−1 ,

8
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al.
Fig. 6. Sketches of the interactions between plume and subduction governing the long-term evolution of plume-induced subduction in the models. A) When a subduction
hits a plume, the slab divides in several branches, adopting a distinct evolution (cf. Fig. 4); B) A plume-induced subduction can act as a lid for the plume at its origin (cf.
Fig. 3 and Supplementary Movie 1). The accumulated plume material promotes the opening of a slab window.
likely favored by fast plume-induced lateral flow (Figs. 4–6c). Some
segments eventually reach continental margins and retreat along
their strike at a rate of about 5 cm yr−1 , for most of them over
several thousands of kilometers, inducing diachronous surface up-
lift or subsidence along the continental margins (Figs. 3–5). The
lifetime of the plume-induced subductions varies between the dif-
ferent segments. Some subducting segments vanish after a few
million years due to the fading of the negative buoyancy of the
lithosphere when the retreating slab reaches areas marked by
younger, thinner and hence, less buoyant lithosphere (Fig. 4). Oth-
ers segments survive for more than 100 Myrs (Fig. 5). According to
these models, plume-induced subductions may therefore develop
into long-lived subductions. Distinct, thousands of kilometers-long
subduction segments scattered in an ocean may therefore actually
share the same origin (a one lobe or multi-lobe subduction focused
at a plume-head in our case). Moreover, the back-arc domain of
the plume-induced subductions is characterized by the formation
of micro-plates, marked by complex patterns of rotation due to the
retreat of slabs and the increased obliquity of the subduction zones
during their propagation (Figs. 3–5a and b).
In the models, the first event of dislocation of the subduction
occurs 20 to 30 Myrs after the initiation of the subduction. The
upkeep or dislocation of a plume-induced subduction mainly relies
on interactions with the plumes encountered during its propaga-
tion (Fig. 6). Two main interactions are observed in the models.
The first one occurs when the retreating slab crosses the path
of a pre-existing plume. In this case, the plume favors its dislo-
cation, which splits in two segments bypassing the plume. The
second mode of interaction occurs when the slab initiated at a
plume subducts so fast that it acts as a lid for the plume at its
origin. During a period of about 10 Myrs, plume material accu-
mulates at the base of the slab until it promotes the opening of
a slab-window and the subsequent dislocation of the trench into
distinct segments. In this case, the plume rising through the slab
window reaches an oceanic lithosphere where the conditions for
initiation of a new subduction lobe are gathered. The dislocation
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Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798
of the plume-induced subduction may also occur away from the
influence of any pre-existing plume, when reaching a mid-oceanic
ridge (Fig. 4, at 50 Myrs).
The pattern of development of the plume-induced subductions
strongly influences the evolution of the velocity field of the tec-
tonic plates (Figs. 3–5). During the earliest stages, the increase
in plate velocity is only observed in the back-arc domains. Then,
the growth of the subduction increases the velocity of the sub-
ducting plate (Figs. 3–5). The dislocation of the subduction zones,
sometimes associated with transient episodes of slab dip reversal,
occurs as a series of short, less than 10 Myr-long episodes (Fig. 4,
t 0 + 73; Fig. 5, t 0 + 50). During these short episodes, changes in
configuration of the subduction zones induce the fragmentation
of the subducting plate into several, smaller plates. This leads to
the formation of new plate boundaries or major changes in their
configuration, comparable to Global Plate Reorganization Events.
In these models, the distinct evolution of subduction zones dislo-
cated from an initially single, continuous plume-induced subduc-
tion, connects the series of Global Plate Reorganization Events.
6. Discussion
6.1. Initiation of the Southern Neotethys Subduction Zone at a
pre-Deccan plume?
In the light of these models, the thermal anomaly in the meta-
morphic soles lying below the ophiolites of Turkey and Oman
(Soret et al., 2017; Guilmette et al., 2018; Pourteau et al., 2018)
appears consistent with an intra-oceanic subduction starting near
a single plume, rather than coeval episodes of subduction initia-
tion at multiple plumes or transforms at various locations within
the Neotethys Ocean. In this framework, the metamorphic soles
and the associated subducting slab progressively retreated along
with the trench until reaching a cold steady state away from the
thermal influence of the plume (after ∼10 Myrs, corresponding to
a retreat distance of 500 to 1000-km).
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798

Fig. 7. Paleogeographic reconstructions of the Neotethys and Indian Oceans, modified after Matthews et al. (2016). Stage 1: reconstruction of the southern Neotethys
subduction at 100 Ma, 5 Myrs after initiation of a one-sided, semi-circular subduction around the Deccan Plume. The eastern branch forms supra-subduction basins and an
andesitic arc, whereas the western branch mainly forms supra-subduction basins. Spreading centers and transform faults, with a radial pattern around the plume, isolate
several rotating microplates. Stage 2: Reconstruction of the southern Neotethys subduction at 90–80 Ma. Interactions with the Kabul Block and the India-Africa Transform
boundary split the subduction in three independent branches. The Semail basin is close to the Oman margin. The Deccan plume is below the stretched margin of Greater
India. Stage 3: Reconstruction of the Southern Neotethys at 70 Ma. Obduction occurred along Arabia at Semail, Kermanshah, Neiriz. The subduction deactivates at Troodos.
The eastern and southern branch of the southern Neotethys subduction are still active between Kabul and India and north of India. Stage 4: Reconstruction of the Southern
Neotethys at 60 Ma. Almost all of the segments of the subduction deactivated in the wake of obduction processes. Obduction of Spongtang and Nidar ophiolites occurred
around 55 Ma, soon before the collision with the Gangdese-Xigaze arc. Muslim B.: Muslim Bagh; W.: Waziristan Ophiolites.

The pre-Deccan plume (Mahoney et al., 2002) was located at
∼20◦ S, which corresponds to the latitude of Arabia at 110–105
Ma, when the Southern Neotethys Subduction initiated (Fig. 7). The
oceanic lithosphere overlying the plume was around 30–40 Myrs-
old at the time of subduction initiation (Gaina et al., 2015), which
is in agreement with the conditions predicted in our numerical
models (Figs. 3–5 and Table 3) and those required for the forma-
tion of metamorphic soles (∼800 ◦ C at ∼40-km-depth; Dubacq et
al., 2019). We therefore suggest the Southern Neotethys Subduction
zone initiated ∼110-105 Ma as a relatively short, ring-shape series
of segments at the Pre-Deccan plume head, i.e. several hundreds of
kilometers away from the passive margins of northern Africa and
India (Fig. 7). This configuration contrasts with previous models
(Agard et al., 2007; Jolivet et al., 2016; Ulvrova et al., 2019). First, it
does not imply subduction initiation along a strong oceanic litho-
sphere formed during the earliest stages of the Neotethys Ocean

10
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al.
and does not require the localized buckling of the lithosphere or
a strong gradient in potential energy along the continent-ocean
transition. Second, the subduction results from the thermal erosion
of the oceanic lithosphere by the plume head and the subsequent
sinking of its borders, instead of enhanced convective circulation
beneath the subducting plates.
6.2. The long-term evolution of a plume-induced subduction: the
Neotethys realm revisited
The joint evolution of plumes and subductions in the models
paves the way to propose a geodynamic guideline for the sequence
of geological events related to the Neotethys subduction between
105 and 47 Ma (Fig. 7).
Once formed, we suggest that the Southern Neotethys trench
retreated away from the Pre-Deccan plume following a radial pat-
tern, with retreat velocities on the order of 5-15 cm yr−1 . At this
rate, the subduction reached subequatorial latitudes at ∼95 Ma,
as documented from the paleo-latitude of some supra-subduction
zone basins, including the Semail (Pozzi et al., 1984; Rioux et al.,
2016). Traces of andesite arc dated at ∼95 Ma were reported in
the segment running from Spongtang to Muslim Bagh (Buckman
et al., 2018; Siddiqui and Ma, 2017) and potentially also along
the Sanandaj-Sirjan Suture (Bonnet et al., 2020) and offshore the
Semail ophiolite (Ninkabou et al., 2020). The ring-shape subduc-
tion then split into various segments and propagated at the scale
of the Neotethys Ocean. The dislocation of the slab likely resulted
from interactions with the Kabul block (Fig. 7), a micro-continent
isolated during the earliest stages of the Indian Ocean’s opening
in Jurassic (Gaina et al., 2015). Interactions with the India-Africa
transform boundary, active since 100–90 Ma (Rodriguez et al.,
2020), could have also helped the dislocation of the initial trench.
The dislocation event gave birth to at least three independent
branches of the Southern Neotethys Subduction, with distinct geo-
logical evolution (Fig. 2c). A first branch retreated westward along
Arabia (Fig. 7), triggering the diachronous obduction of the Se-
mail, Kermansha-Neiriz and eventually Troodos ophiolites during
the Late Cretaceous (Maffione et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2018). A sec-
ond branch propagated eastward along India (Fig. 7) and remained
active until the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene with the obduction of
the Spongtang and Nidar ophiolites (Buckman et al., 2018). Finally,
a third branch of the subduction zone propagated southwards be-
tween India and Kabul (Fig. 7), forming the supra-subduction zones
recorded in the ophiolitic belt running from Waziristan to Bela
(Fig. 1). At ∼65 Ma, the Amirante Ridge and Trench system (lo-
cated south of the Seychelles; Fig. 1) was in line with this branch
of the Neotethys, with the supra-subduction zone identified along
the NW Indian margin (Burgath et al., 2002). Within this frame-
work, the Southern Neotethys Subduction results from the 30-
Myrs-long propagation over more than 6000-km of a subduction
initially confined near a unique plume head, similar to what ob-
served in the models. The three subduction segments would there-
fore have shared a common history during the first 15 Myrs of
their lifetime and follow a distinct evolution after their dislocation
(Fig. 2).
The distinct evolution of the subduction branches explains the
diversity of the ophiolite record scattered along the Neotethys Su-
ture Zone, in terms of metamorphic soles ages and P-T conditions,
and OIB distribution. For the western (Arabia) and eastern (In-
dia) branches, metamorphic soles traveled along with the trench,
whereas for the southern branch (Pakistan), the ages of subduction
initiation from the metamorphic soles follow the migration of the
subduction along NW India. The models also provide an explana-
tion for the observed rotation of the multiple microplates isolated
in the supra-subduction domain during the slab retreat, such as
the 90◦ -150◦ counter-clockwise rotation of the Oman ophiolite and
11
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 561 (2021) 116798
Semail Basin (Thomas et al., 1988; van Hinsbergen et al., 2019)
or the 60–90◦ counter-clockwise rotation of the Troodos ophiolite
(Clube et al., 1985; Morris et al., 2002).
6.3. Linking Global Plate Reorganization Events together
We investigate the potential influence of the long-term evolu-
tion of a single plume-induced subduction on the geodynamics of
the Neotethys realm and the Indian Ocean (Fig. 2 and 7). First, the
Global Plate Reorganization Event at 110-100 Ma (Matthews et al.,
2012) finds a new driver in the fast propagation of the subduc-
tion initiated at the pre-Deccan plume. As a result, the increased
convergence rates between India and Eurasia during the Late Cre-
taceous (Cande and Stegman, 2011; van Hinsbergen et al., 2011;
Jagoutz et al., 2015; Jolivet et al., 2016) may reflect the increasing
length of the Southern Neotethys Subduction, culminating at ∼65
Ma around India (NW Indian subduction running from Ladakh to
Amirante and northern branch of the Indian subduction preserved
in Spongtang and Nidar). In this framework, enhanced mantle con-
vection beneath Africa and India during the Late Cretaceous would
be the consequence of the evolution of the Southern Neotethys
Subduction, not the origin.
Second, the paleogeographic reconstructions highlight the dis-
tinct behavior of the branches of the Neotethys subduction during
the 73-63 Ma Global Plate Reorganization Event. While the sub-
duction branch running along Africa deactivated at Troodos ∼75
Ma (Robertson, 1977), the NW India subduction deactivated ∼63
Ma (Gnos et al., 1998). The fact that a ∼1500-km-long subduc-
tion segment remained active at India’s northwestern boundary 10
Myrs longer than the subduction north of Africa likely contributed
to the faster motion of India compared to Africa during the 73-
63 Ma Global Plate Reorganization Event (Cande and Patriat, 2015;
Pérez-Diaz et al., 2020) and hence, the instability of the configu-
ration of the Indian Ocean’s plate boundaries during this period
(Rodriguez et al., 2020). A Global Plate Reorganization Event can
therefore be tied to the successive episodes of dislocation of a sin-
gle plume-induced intra-oceanic subduction and the diachronous
deactivation of the resulting segments. Consequently, the plume
head forces at the Deccan may not be the dominant driver of the
73-63 Ma Global Plate Reorganization Event.
7. Conclusions
We show that the patterns of long-term evolution of plume in-
duced subduction evidenced in the models are compatible with the
main characteristics of the Southern Neotethys Subduction docu-
mented by the ophiolitic record. We therefore propose that the
Southern Neotethys Subduction initiated at a pre-Deccan plume
(Mahoney et al., 2002) then spread along Arabia and India. The
suggestion of the Pre-Deccan plume as the origin of the South-
ern Neotethys Subduction adds to the growing set of evidences
that increased plume activity at 110–105 Ma triggered several sub-
ductions in distinct oceans worldwide (Whattam and Stern, 2015).
The conditions for plume-induced intra-oceanic subduction may
be rarely gathered during the lifetime of an oceanic lithosphere,
only once every hundred million years. In this view, mantle plumes
better affect long-term plate kinematics through subduction initia-
tion rather than through plume-head forces. This view differs from
previous studies (Jolivet et al., 2016; Pusok and Stegman, 2020)
invoking a large-scale mantellic conveyor belt beneath Africa or In-
dia as the main driver for the initiation of the Southern Neotethys
Subduction. The fast development of plume-induced subductions
at the scale of an entire ocean constitutes a new key driver of
the Wilson cycle. Below continents, the connection between flood
basalts and break-up is the well-known side of the cycle, in which
plumes could be a driver or a rheological facilitator (Bellahsen
M. Rodriguez, M. Arnould, N. Coltice et al.
et al., 2003), as illustrated in the Indian Ocean by the succes-
sive roles of the Marion and Deccan Plumes over the break-up
of the Madagascar-Seychelles-India continent (Yatheesh, 2020). Be-
low oceanic lithosphere, plume-induced subductions can pull on
tectonic plates once trenches are sufficiently developed, further
contributing to the fragmentation of continents within the sub-
ducting plate. The pattern of dislocation and deactivation of the
plume-induced subduction may also drive some Global Plate Re-
organization Events and hence, episodes of reorganization of the
seafloor fabric.
The validation of our scenario of evolution of the Southern
Neotethys Subduction asks for a more detailed investigation of the
metamorphic soles found at the base of the Neotethys ophiolites
(Fig. 1; Table 1), based on a systematic use of the Lu-Hf system
for the precise dating of the subduction initiation event and the
tracking of the thermal anomaly related to the plume. A better in-
vestigation of the Indian Ocean’s fabric during the Late Cretaceous-
Paleocene period (e.g. the East and North Somali Basins, the Ami-
rante Ridge and Trench System) would also help to better un-
derstand the far-field record of the development of the Southern
Neotethys Subduction, especially the timing of dislocation events,
and solve the remaining biases in kinematic reconstructions of this
period.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
• All the authors contributed to the conception of the study, the
writing of the manuscript and the design of the figures.
• Maelis Arnould and Nicolas Coltice designed and ran the nu-
merical models, and strongly contributed to their analysis.
Maelis Arnould designed the figures dedicated to the models
and the supplementary material files.
• Mathieu Rodriguez provided the geological expertise over the
Neotethys and the Indian Oceans and contributed to the anal-
ysis of the numerical models. Mathieu Rodriguez designed the
figures related to the Neotethys realm.
• Mathieu Soret provided geological expertise for the Neotethys
ophiolites, especially for the characteristics of their metamor-
phic soles.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary material related to this article can be found on-
line at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116798.
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