Articles | Volume 15, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-1-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-15-1-2024
Research article
 | 
08 Jan 2024
Research article |  | 08 Jan 2024

Thrusts control the thermal maturity of accreted sediments

Utsav Mannu, David Fernández-Blanco, Ayumu Miyakawa, Taras Gerya, and Masataka Kinoshita

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Movies for Paper Utsav Mannu, David Fernández-Blanco, Ayumu Miyakawa, Taras Gerya, and Masataka Kinoshita https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aPM2_s7bvyiZU1m0908qAvE79eJJ3GHb?usp=sharing

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Short summary
Accretion during subduction, in which one tectonic plate moves under another, forms a wedge where sediments can be transformed into hydrocarbons. We utilised realistic computer models to investigate this and, in particular, how accretion affects mobility in the wedge and found that the evolution of the wedge and the thrusts it develops fundamentally control the thermal maturity of sediments. This can help us better understand the history of subduction and the formation of hydrocarbons in wedges.