Articles | Volume 8, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-899-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-8-899-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Sep 2017
Research article |
| 11 Sep 2017
Global patterns in Earth's dynamic topography since the Jurassic: the role of subducted slabs
Michael Rubey
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Earthbyte Group, School of Geosciences, the University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia
Sascha Brune
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences,
Potsdam, Germany
Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of
Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
Christian Heine
Specialist Geosciences, Shell Projects & Technology, Rijswijk,
the Netherlands
D. Rhodri Davies
Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University,
Canberra, Australia
Simon E. Williams
Earthbyte Group, School of Geosciences, the University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia
R. Dietmar Müller
Earthbyte Group, School of Geosciences, the University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia
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- India‐Elan Bank‐East Antarctica Breakup, Crustal Architecture, and Margin Evolution: Results From Constrained Potential Field and Process‐Oriented Gravity Modeling of Conjugate Margin Segments G. Rao & M. Radhakrishna https://doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005804
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- Relative contributions of tectonics and dynamic topography to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic subsidence of southern Patagonia F. Dávila et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2019.05.010
31 citations as recorded by crossref.
- A Large Cenomanian Carbonate Ramp at the Transition Between Two Domains of the Zagros Sedimentary Basin, SW Iran: Cyclic Evolution and Its Eustatic and Tectonic Controls F. Moradi-Doreh et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13061084
- Earth's surface responses during geodynamic evolution: Numerical insight from the southern East China Sea Continental Shelf Basin, West Pacific Z. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.12.011
- How Slab Age and Width Combine to Dictate the Dynamics and Evolution of Subduction Systems: A 3‐D Spherical Study F. Chen et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010597
- Global Models From Sparse Data: A Robust Estimate of Earth's Residual Topography Spectrum A. Valentine & D. Davies https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009240
- Deep and surface driving forces that shape the Earth: Insights from the evolution of the northern South China sea margin S. Bukhari et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.05.005
- Constraining Plateau Uplift in Southern Africa by Combining Thermochronology, Sediment Flux, Topography, and Landscape Evolution Modeling J. Stanley et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB021243
- Drainage system organization after mantle plume impingement: The case of the Horn of Africa A. Sembroni et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103582
- The fate of the Farallon slab beneath Patagonia and its links to Cenozoic intraplate magmatism, marine transgressions and topographic uplift C. Navarrete et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103379
- Comparing the Dynamics of Free Subduction in Cartesian and Spherical Domains F. Chen et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010757
- Geodynamic processes control sediment routing: Insight from the Earth surface evolution of the northern South China Sea margin and SE Tibetan Plateau S. Bukhari et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2023.105555
- The uplift of the East Africa - Arabia swell A. Sembroni et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104901
- The Accuracy Assessment of Lithospheric Density Models R. Tenzer & W. Chen https://doi.org/10.3390/app131810432
- Ghost plumes hidden beneath Earth’s continents S. Pilia et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119467
- Neogene Retroarc Foreland Basin Evolution, Sediment Provenance, and Magmatism in Response to Flat Slab Subduction, Western Argentina T. Capaldi et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005958
- PyBacktrack 1.0: A Tool for Reconstructing Paleobathymetry on Oceanic and Continental Crust R. Müller et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017GC007313
- Earth’s multi-scale topographic response to global mantle flow D. Davies et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0441-4
- Linking deep-time subduction history to modern day expressions of dynamic topography C. Calvelage et al. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2024.0254
- Redox conditions, productivity, and volcanic input during deposition of uppermost Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous organic-rich siltstones in Spitsbergen, Norway M. Rakociński et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.02.014
- Kinematics of fault-propagation folding: Analysis of velocity fields in numerical modeling simulations B. Plotek et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2022.104703
- A Sequence Stratigraphic Framework for the Middle to Late Jurassic of the Sundance Seaway, Wyoming: Implications for Correlation, Basin Evolution, and Climate Change S. Danise & S. Holland https://doi.org/10.1086/697692
- Investigating the formation of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway using landscape evolution simulations C. Chang & L. Liu https://doi.org/10.1130/B35653.1
- Towards automatic finite-element methods for geodynamics via Firedrake D. Davies et al. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022
- Deciphering mantle, tectonic and climatic drivers of exhumation S. Boone et al. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03005-6
- The Topographic Signature of Mantle Pressure Build‐Up Beneath Subducting Plates: Insights From Spherical Subduction Models A. Holt https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100330
- On Applicability of the Radially Integrated Geopotential in Modelling Deep Mantle Structure R. Tenzer et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences15070246
- GPlates: Building a Virtual Earth Through Deep Time R. Müller et al. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GC007584
- India‐Elan Bank‐East Antarctica Breakup, Crustal Architecture, and Margin Evolution: Results From Constrained Potential Field and Process‐Oriented Gravity Modeling of Conjugate Margin Segments G. Rao & M. Radhakrishna https://doi.org/10.1029/2019TC005804
- The Accuracy Assessment of the PREM and AK135-F Radial Density Models R. Tenzer et al. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22114180
- Modelling Mie scattering in pyrolite in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell: Implications for the core-mantle boundary temperature determination S. Lobanov et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2021.106773
- The assumed Aalenian stage-long eustatic lowstand did not exist: A review of the fresh evidence from Africa and other continents D. Ruban & E. Sallam https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.12.022
- Relative contributions of tectonics and dynamic topography to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic subsidence of southern Patagonia F. Dávila et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2019.05.010
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 18 Sep 2026
Short summary
Earth's surface is constantly warped up and down by the convecting mantle. Here we derive geodynamic rules for this so-called
dynamic topographyby employing high-resolution numerical models of global mantle convection. We define four types of dynamic topography history that are primarily controlled by the ever-changing pattern of Earth's subduction zones. Our models provide a predictive quantitative framework linking mantle convection with plate tectonics and sedimentary basin evolution.
Earth's surface is constantly warped up and down by the convecting mantle. Here we derive...
