Research Article (Open Access)
- Title
- Lithospheric models supported by the Caribbean and Levant examples help rethink transpression at plate boundaries
- Authors
- Anthony Jourdon, Laetitia Le Pourhiet, Dave A. May, Manuel Pubellier, Alice-Agnes Gabriel
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41467-025-68051-2
- Publication date
- 06 January 2026
- Abstract
- Strike-slip restraining bends, such as the Levant Fault (push-up systems) and the Jamaican fault network (duplex systems), show contrasting fault geometries and deformation patterns that reflect different modes of lithospheric-scale strain localization. To investigate what drives this variability, the authors develop 3D numerical models of transpressional strike-slip systems using heterogeneous simple shear boundary conditions and thermally dependent, non-linear rheology. Unlike models that impose velocity discontinuities, this approach allows faults to localize spontaneously and generates three end-member configurations: (1) push-up systems with a single strike-slip fault and outward-propagating thrusts, (2) duplex systems with interacting parallel faults linked by P-shears, and (3) non-interacting parallel faults. The results emphasize how inherited lithospheric heterogeneities control the long-term evolution of transpressional plate-boundary deformation.
- Full text
- Read on Nature Communications
