Oceanic crust recycling controlled by weakening at slab edges

Retreating subduction zones such as the Lesser Antilles, Gibraltar and Scotia have been migrating towards the Atlantic Ocean by cutting their way through the oceanic crust. This spontaneously retreating subduction is enabled by the development of faults at the edges of the slab, but the physical mechanisms controlling fault propagation and direction remain unknown. Here, using 3D numerical subduction models we show that oceanic lithosphere recycling is mainly controlled by the intensity of strain-induced weakening of fractures forming at the edges of the slab. Intense strain-induced weakening causes predominantly brittle fault propagation and slab narrowing until detachment. Without weakening, preponderantly ductile slab edge propagation occurs, which causes slab widening. This rheological control is not affected by the proximity of non-weakened passive continental margins. Natural examples suggest that slab edges follow convergent paths that could be controlled by fractures weakening due to deep water penetration into the oceanic lithosphere.