We study slab breakoff of subducting plates with variable orientations of passive margins
(ocean-continent transition: OCT) using three-dimensional laboratory experiments. Our
results show that the initial obliquity of the OCT with the trench determines the depth and
timing of slab breakoff. The reference model involves a straight OCT parallel to the trench.
Slab breakoff first starts in the central section of the subduction zone at a depth equivalent
to∼ 250 km and then propagates rapidly towards the edges of the subduction zone where it …

We study slab-breakoff of subducting plates with variable orientations of passive margins
(continental-ocean transition (COT)) by using three-dimensional laboratory experiments. Our
results show that the initial obliquity of the continental-oceanic transition with the trench
determines the depth and timing at which slab-breakoff occurs. Models with straight COT
show that slab-breakoff takes place first in the central section of the subduction zone at a
depth equivalent to~ 250 km and then propagates rapidly toward the edges of the …