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New maps of S velocity variation for the upper and middle crust making up the northwestern most corner of South America have been developed from cross correlation of ambient seismic noise at 52 broadband stations in the region. Over 1,300 empirical Green's functions, reconstructing the Rayleigh wave portion of the seismic wavefield, were obtained after time and frequency-domain normalization of the ambient noise recordings and stacking of 48 months of normalized data. Interstation phase and group velocity curves were then measured in the 6-38 s period range and tomographically inverted to produce maps of phase and group velocity variation in a 0.5° × 0.5° grid. Velocity-depth profiles were developed for each node after simultaneously inverting phase and group velocity curves and combined to produce 3-D maps of S velocity variation for the region. The S velocity models reveal a ~7 km thick sedimentary cover in the Caribbean region, the Magdalena Valley, and the Cordillera Oriental, as well as crustal thicknesses in the Pacific and Caribbean region under ~35 km, consistent with previous studies. They also display zones of slow velocity at 25-35 km depth under regions of both active and inactive volcanism, suggesting the presence of melts that carry the signature of segmented subduction into the overriding plate. A low-velocity zone in the same depth range is imaged under the Lower Magdalena Basin in the Caribbean region, which may represent either sublithospheric melts ponding at midcrustal levels after breaching through a fractured Caribbean flat slab or fluid migration through major faults within the Caribbean crust. ©2018. American Geophysical Union.

Interactions between subduction dynamics and magma genesis have been intensely investigated, resulting in several conceptual models derived from geological, geochemical and geophysical data. To provide physico-chemical constraints on these conceptual models, self-consistent numerical simulations containing testable thermo-mechanical parameters are required, especially considering the three-dimensional (3D) natural complexity of subduction systems. Here, we use a 3D high-resolution petrological and thermo-mechanical numerical model to quantify the relative contribution of oceanic and continental subduction/collision, slab roll-back and tearing to magma genesis and transport processes. Our modeling results suggest that the space and time distribution and composition of magmas in the overriding plate is controlled by the 3D slab dynamics and related asthenospheric flow. Moreover, the decrease of the bulk lithospheric strength induced by mantle- and crust-derived magmas promotes the propagation of strike-slip and extensional fault zones through the overriding crust as response to slab roll-back and continental collision. Reduction of the lithosphere/asthenosphere rheological contrast by lithospheric weakening also favors the transmission of velocities from the flowing mantle to the crust. Similarities between our modeling results and the late Cenozoic tectonic and magmatic evolution across the eastern Mediterranean region suggest an efficient control of mantle flow on the magmatic activity in this region, which in turn promotes lithospheric deformation by mantle drag via melt-induced weakening effects.