Arcuate stress state in accretionary prisms from real-scale numerical sandbox experiments

The stress states in accretionary prisms are important for understanding the building and releasing of seismic energy. Numerous researchers have conducted sandbox experiments as a scaled physical analog model to understand the formation of accretionary prisms. However, measuring stress states in laboratory sandbox experiments is still practically infeasible. Here we performed real-scale numerical sandbox experiments using the discrete element method to understand the 3D stress state in the accretionary prism. Despite the nearly uniform initial conditions, macro-scale undulations of faults, which are similar to those observed in the trenches of an accretionary prism, appear. We reveal that these undulations are caused by the formation of stress arches. We show that the mechanism behind the arch formation is the discontinuous change in the stress orientation during the rearrangement of the stress chain. Furthermore, analyses demonstrate that the in-situ stress orientation from borehole data can be a signal of either the regional direction of plate convergence or the local stress orientation associated with the stress arch. The results may greatly enhance the outcome of long term monitoring in areas, such as the Nankai Trough.