New analyses of the stress ratio and stress regime in the Earth’s lithosphere from numerical simulation models of global mantle convection

A series of numerical simulations of mantle convection in 3D spherical-shell geometry were performed to evaluate the intraplate stress regime from numerically obtained velocity and stress fields. The intraplate stress regime was quantitatively classified into nine types by analyzing the principal deviatoric stress axes and the “stress ratio,” which is a continuous parameter accounting for the stress regimes. From the viewpoint of global geodynamics, this study analyzed the depth profile of the stress ratio across the entire depth of the mantle. The results demonstrated that the radial viscosity structure of the mantle interior strongly affected intraplate stress regimes, and the combination of increased viscosity in the lower mantle and the low-viscosity asthenosphere enhanced the pure strike-slip faulting regime within moving plates as indicated using visco-plastic rheology. The temporally averaged toroidal-poloidal ratio (T/P ratio) at the top surface of mantle convection with surface plate-like motion and the mantle’s viscosity stratification may be comparable to the observed T/P ratio of present-day and past Earth. The normal faulting (or strike-slip) regime with a strike-slip (or normal faulting) component, as well as the pure strike-slip faulting regime, were broadly found in the stable parts of the plate interiors. However, the significant dominance of these stress regimes was not observed in the depth profile of the toroidal-poloidal ratio as a remarkable peak magnitude near the top surface of the lithosphere. This result implies that the strike-slip component analyzed in this study does not directly relate to the formation of strike-slip faults that are infinitely narrow plate boundaries compared with the finite low-viscosity boundary obtained from a mantle convection model with visco-plastic rheology. Nonetheless, this first analysis of the stress ratio may contribute to an improved understanding of the intraplate stress reproduced by future numerical studies of mantle convection with further realistic conditions.