Building and releasing stresses in the lithosphere

Thanks to plate tectonics, the Earth’s lithosphere is composed of very different lithologies, most of
which consisting of peridotites, usually covered by either oceanic or continental crust. Depending
on several parameters including composition, pressure, temperature, and strain rate, lithospheric
materials can appear to deform smoothly and silently or generate large seismic ruptures. Collision
belts and subduction systems, including subducted materials being heated and sheared in the mantle
transition zone, are characterized by intense seismicity; in contrast, the bottom of lithospheric
plates, known as lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), does not seem associated with any
seismicity, giving the impression that oceanic plates have the intrinsic ability to maintain their basal
shear stress at relatively low values. Comparing results from experimental geophysics, field geology,
geodynamics modelling and seismology, I discuss the representativity of experimental findings and
potential consequences on our understanding of the rheology of the lithosphere.

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